Game Week 30 Roundup

 

Congrats to our 5 winners this week.  An entertaining week of tennis which certainly shakes things up a little with regard to the WTA and ATP Tour finals race.

Lets start with the woman first.  The race to Riyadh took a significant turn in this game week.  With 6 players already qualified, the battle for the two remaining spots was between Mirra Andreeva, Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina.

Mirra has been on a poor run of form of late since her defeat to Taylor Townsend at the US Open.  There was a surprise loss to Sonay Kartal in Beijing followed by a loss to Laura Siegemund in her opening match in Wuhan.  It was the same story unfortunately in Ningbo as she lost surprisingly to the resurgent Lin Zhu, a player she had beaten comfortably a few weeks earlier.

That left the door open wide to Paolini and Rybakina and they grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Paolini followed up her great run to the semi finals in Wuhan by reaching the semi finals again thanks to wins over Kudermetova and a battling win over Bencic.

Her opponent?  Elena Rybakina who followed up a tough win over Yastremska with a comfortable win over Tomljanovic.  By this stage Paolini had already passed Andreeva in the race but Rybakina still had a lot of work to do and realistically had to win the title in Ningbo.  She did just that, beating Paolini comfortably and overcoming Alexandrova in the final despite losing the 1st set.

Andreeva was not scheduled to play the following week but with her place at the Tour Finals in jeopardy, would she change her mind and take a late wild card?  Apparently not....  So Paolini was now officially qualified for the Tour Finals and qualification is now entirely in Rybakina's hands.  Two wins in Tokyo will be enough to get her there.

One woman who stands in her way, quite neatly for the purposes of this blog, is a certain Leylah Fernandez who will be Rybakina's 2nd Round opponent in Tokyo.  Leylah was the champ at the end of an entertaining week at the 250 event in Osaka last week.

The favourite for the title had been Naomi Osaka playing in her home city and the city that bears her name.  Frustratingly for Naomi she picked up an injury right at the end of a battling 2nd Round win over Suzanne Lamens and ended up spending her birthday in the hospital before withdrawing from her quarter final with the Romanian Jacqueline Cristian.

One player making waves this week was Teresa Valentova, the 17 year old Czech, who is attracting a lot of attention this year. Valentova trounced both Eala and Mertens before showing she had battling qualities too, coming from behind to beat Danilovic and Cristian to reach the semi final.

Fernandez dropped just one set en route to the final (to Sorana Cirstea in the semi final) and she looked on course to romp to the title winning the first set 6-0 against her less experienced opponent. But Valentova showed her fighting qualities once again bouncing back to win the 2nd set before Leylah saw the match out in a 6-3 third set winning her 5th WTA title and 2nd of this year. 

Next up Brussels.  Felix Auger Aliassime os having a phenomenal end to the season and has put himself right back in the chase for the ATP Finals.  A run to the semi final at the US Open set him firmly back on track in the rankings and he followed that up with a run to the quarter finals in Shanghai beating race rival Musetti in the process. 

With Musetti falling in the Quarter Final to Mpetshi Perricard, the opportunity presented itself for Felix to make up even more points in the race. He nearly stumbled in his opening 2nd Round match to Dzumhur but made no mistake against qualifier Spizzirri or wild card Collignon in the semi final.

That set up a final with Jiri Lehecka and it turned into a heck of a battle. But after two shared tie breaks, Felix proved too strong in the 3rd set and managed to further close the gap on Musetti in the race. With big points on offer in Basel and Paris, FAA has every chance.

Two other players who we are used to seeing at tour finals are Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud.  It hasn't been the best of seasons for either of them but both have had a bit of a resurgence in form of late and are not entirely out of the running for a place at the Tour Finals or at the very least an alternate spot.

Casper featured in Stockholm where his main rival would be a familiar foe in fellow Scandinavian Holger Rune. Tragedy struck for Holger in the semi finals as he picked up an awful injury while a set up to Ugo Humbert in the semi finals and that unfortunately has ended not only his chances of reaching the tour finals but his entire season.

Ruud had been on fine form all week defeating Cilic, Korda and Shapovalov en route to the final with Humbert and Casper was awesome in the final raising his game to a level that Humbert could just not compete with. The Norwegian triumphed 6-2, 6-3 moving himself up to 11th in the race rankings (effectively 10th with Draper out for the season)

And in Almaty, Daniil Medvedev finally got back to the winners stage after a long hiatus.  The signs have been there in recent weeks as Medvedev's level has definitely improved as he navigates the tennis world with new coach Thomas Johansson.  Semi final runs in Beijing and Shanghai showed that Medvedev was on the right track despite frustrating defeats at both these events.

In Almaty he got the win his recent play deserved.  He had to work hard for it, coming from behind to beat James Duckworth in the semi final and another three setter was required in what turned out to be a thrilling final against the talented Frenchman Corentin Moutet.   This run may have come to late to restore Medvedev back to the top 10 but if he still has some running in those legs, the points are still available to him to stage an unlikely bit to restore his place at the top table. Medvedev is currently 13th now but effectively 11th with Rune and Draper out!

Here is the Global League Table for the week

Congratulations to our game week winner - Return of the Champion  (Kazz)

Kazz dominated the game week for the most part but Ultimate Zverev Hater and Surprise Surprise mounted a significant challenge in the latter stages.

Here is the game week winning team.

This was a terrific game week team with some key differentials which gave them a decent advantage over the best of the rest. Crucially Kaz had Ningbo winner Rybakina as Captain,  Osaka winner Leylah Fernandez as a key player and Brussels runner up Lehecka as a key player.  Perfect player placement.

But the whole team weighed in with valuable points by winning two or three matches.  Picks like GMP, Humbert and Shnaider were more unusual picks that more than played their part.

The battle for the level 2 prize was between Ultimate Zverev Hater and Surprise Surprise.

Here is the head to head between the two teams.

Congrats to these two teams on a great game week.   Ultimate Zverev Hater backed Medvedev as their captain and that proved to be an inspired choice.  They also had the two Brussels finalists as KPs and the two Ningbo finalists as team players. A pretty solid team with only Musetti under performing.

Player placement might have cost Surprise Surprise a few points.  Brussels champ FAA and Osaka champ Fernandez were team players while kps Humbert and Michelsen didn't score as highly.  But a team of 8 with 3 champions and two runners up is a pretty amazing week by any standards.    

FTL Cup Final (Game Week 32)

 

FTL Cup Final 2025

The final of the FTL Cup will be played in Game Week 32.

It features Nadal's Forehand (Dragan Josifoski) who are still in with a great chance for a historic league and cup double.

And

Rydal 250 Sponsor's Exemption (Eric Zoberman and Michael Sommer)

Here is the tale of the tape so far with some pointless facts and figures!

Rydal have scored more points across the 9 matches so far outscoring Nadal's Forehand by 317 points.

Both sides lost their 2nd Group Stage Match with Nadal's Forehand losing to Petrarca Trionfi (Evan Dersio who went on to win the group) and Rydal losing to Acehammer. (Demy Kunst)

One team has had misfortune to lose to both of them. Lucky Losers AU (Brigitte Kramer) lost to Rydal in the Group Stage and then to Nadal's Forehand in the knockout stage!

A great cup run from both teams. Looking forward to seeing how the final pans out. Does either side have a joker up their sleeve? can Eric and Michael take advantage of Dragan's focus on the league to bolster their squad for that game week?

The race for FTL Supremacy

 

The race for FTL supremacy is now down to the last few weeks.

Dragan Josifoski (Nadal's Forehand) lead the way with a commanding 153 points lead over Alex (Broccoli).

Силви Георгиев (FC Izrodite), Mat Mrmd (new calc aces), Nikhil Idnani (nbladeweilder) make up the rest of the top 5.

Here are how the Game Week 31 teams look.

With few differentials likely to be in play in the remaining game weeks, it will be difficult for the chasing pack to make up ground but not impossible.

For instance if Medvedev has another great week and Shelton flops then Alex could make up ground. Силви Георгиев has 4 differentials on Dragan so could make up some serious points if fortune favours him this week.

What we don't know is the amount of trades each team has left. But the squads all looks strong to play out the remainder of the season with just a handful of trades. Any withdrawals or retirements this week could also change things up.

Dragan remains on course for a historic league and cup double with the cup returning in Game Week 32.

Game Week 29 Roundup

 "I know Coco - but who's that other guy!"

Game Week 29 brought us one of the craziest stories in tennis history and also one of the most dramatic endings to an FTL game week both in the league and the cup!!

With all respect to the awesome Coco, there really only is one place to begin when summing up the last week.

A Shanghai Surprise

Valentin Vacherot.  The Monegasque Maestro!  The little cousin who upstaged the world!

Vacherot wasn't even in qualies for this event - he was an alternate for qualies - i think i heard 9th alternate at the outset (but that sounds crazy).  As is the way at the events, a few withdrawals happened and suddenly Vacherot was in the qualies draw -  a nice wee break for him right?   

In qualies he came back from behind twice (against Basavareddy and Draxl) to make it into the main draw.  Nice one - opportunity to play at a big event, get some experience, maybe a win or two to get some very valuable ranking points.

But Valentin had bigger plans!   Djere was despatched but then Valentin took out his first big name - Bublik in the 2nd round, again coming from a set down.

Meanwhile things were opening up in the draw. Alcaraz had already withdrawn before the event but in Vacherot's section, his dream of a clash with Sinner was dashed when Sinner crashed out to Griekspoor. Jannik went down with horrific cramping (which turned out to be a theme for the week with many players).

A retiral by Machac paved the way for Vacherot to set up a 4th Round clash with Griekspoor and once again Vacherot came through coming from a set down.

By this stage, it was already becoming a bit of a fairytale for Vacherot.  Next up was Rune.  Vacherot admitted himself that this was a level up again for him - he wasn't used to playing players like this!  Rune took the first set 6-2, but once again Vacherot came back - taking the 2nd set in a tie break and coming through in the 3rd against Rune who by this stage was also cramping.   Vacherot was physically outlasting his more experienced opponents!

And it was the same story in the semi final against Novak!!  I know - right!??  I can't believe I'm writing this either. To be fair to Djokovic, he seemed to be having physical issues throughout this tournament but in his inimitable way - he was still winning his matches.  The semi final was a match too far though and he just couldn't get passed his inspired opponent.  Vacherot did not break under pressure.

So what was happening on the other side of the draw?  Well this is where things got even more crazy. So the guy making waves on the other side of the draw was Arthur Rinderknech (not quite as surprising - he's had some good results this year) but the bonkers revelation (to most of us) was that Arthur was Valentin's  cousin.  

As Rinderknech progressed through the draw - beating Zverev for the 2nd time this season in the third round, there were already a few jokes about the cousins meeting up in the final.  Yeah - pull the other one - nice idea - but that's never going to happen is it?   

Straight sets wins for Lehecka and FAA followed for Rinderknech and all of the sudden he was in a semi final against Medvedev.  Medvedev has seen his fortunes turn recently and has definitely being playing better tennis but despite taking the first set in the semi final, it was Rinderknech who prevailed. It was destiny right?   Vacherot came on the court after the match to congratulate his cousin.  

After all that, the final itself seems almost academic.  It was already an incredible story but there really could only be one winner and only in one way.  Valentin Vacherot, the qualifier, came back from a set down to beat his big cousin Arthur.   4-6, 6-3, 6-3.  And as he held the trophy aloft after the match, Rinderknech keeled over onto the ground suffering from cramp and comically rolled off the stage!

Dang - this is turning into War and Peace and i've not even started on Wuhan yet!  I'll keep this one brief!

There were surprises in store for our top two seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

Iga's record against fellow top 10 players has been surprisingly poor this year and the manner of her defeat to Jasmine Paolini (6-1, 6-2) in the quarter finals was certainly an eye-opener. 

For her part, Paolini along with Elena Rybakina is putting considerable pressure on Mirra Andreeva in the race for two remaining tour final spots. Andreeva has been on a poor run of form of late and this time she fell at the first hurdle to veteran Laura Siegemund.

Aryna Sabalenka who had hitherto never lost a match in Wuhan (having won the two previous editions) lost out to Jess Pegula at the semi final stage.  Pegula has shown some serious battling qualities in this Asian swing coming through a number of tough 3 setters in the process. That dogged determination was needed again in her win over Sabalenka. 

Meanwhile Coco Gauff (who many had written off as work in progress in recent months due to her efforts with her new coach to iron out the technical difficulties in her game) suddenly found a bit of form.   She brushed all her opponents aside with minimal fuss en route to her first ever final with her friend and doubles partner Jess Pegula.

Coco prevailed in two tight sets to give her a confidence boosting triumph in advance of the year end finals and there are signs that she is definitely moving in the right direction

OK - and so to FTL - here is the global league table for Game Week 29.

Now first of all - congratulations to The Artists.  Carlito had an incredible game week and outscored the best of the rest by over 30 points.  Here is his picture perfect team!!

So Carlito had both Wuhan finalists including Coco Gauff as a KP.  Solid returns from semi finalists Djokovic and Sabalenka, FAA and dark horse Lerner Tien all added up to an excellent game week.  Massive congrats to Carlito and the artisits!

But the battle for the Level 2 game week prize was where the real drama was at.  

As we progressed to the semi finals in Wuhan, Nachiket and his Amazeballs looked odds on to win an unprecedented 2nd game week in a row.  I may have jinxed him by all but congratulating him on the win but there was the small matter of Jess Pegula - a player Nachiket did not have but who the chasing duo of Nikhil (nbladeweilder)  and Daniel (no strings attached)  DID!!

Pegula's unexpected win over the Wuhan Queen Sabalenka changed everything.  The gap was cut to single figures and all of a sudden Nachiket was reliant on Coco not just winning the final but winning BIG!!   In the end Coco fulfilled the first part but despite a straight sets win, Pegula secured enough points to allow both Nikhil and Daniel to sneak past Nachiket by the narrowest of margins!

And there was have it.  Just 0.04 points between 1st and 2nd.  And Nachiket was only 0.57 points behind the winning total.  I could do an analysis of those three sides, discuss captaincy and KP choices and dark horse selections but it would be a pointless exercise as sometimes FTL just comes down to the smallest of margins.  This week was just simply that.

The managers may point to a few shouldawouldacouldas but at the end of the day I reckon we just have to say - Congrats Nikhil, Daniel and Nachiket - awesome game week!

The FTL Cup brought its fair share of drama too with both semi finals featuring dramatic head to heads and still in the balance right up until the last match but that story was covered in another blog post. 

Congratulations to our two finalists - 

Nadal's Forehand  (Dragan)

and

Rydal 250 Sponsor Exemption (Eric and Michael)

 

 

FTL Cup Semi Final Results

 

Congrats to our winning semi finalists:

Rydal 250 Sponsors Exemption   (Eric Zoberman and Michael Sommer)

Nadal's Forehand   (Dragan Josifoski)

Even though there were few differentials between the teams, its fair to say that the semi finals were both thrillers that went right down to the wire! Much respect to David Josselsohn and Sara Skinner on a fantastic cup run and coming so close to making it to the final!

The matches between Medvedev and De Minaur and between Pegula and Sabalenka proved to be pivotal in the outcome of these ties but even then both matches came right down to Gauff v Pegula match!

But there can only be two finalists who will now be set for the final showdown in Game Week 32.

Nadals Forehand vs Rydal 250 Sponsor Exemption

Best of luck to both teams.

Game Week 28 Roundup

 

Game Week 28 Champions

WTA 1000 Beijing -   Amanda Anisimova

ATP 500 Beijing - Jannik Sinner

ATP 500 Tokyo  - Carlos Alcaraz

2025 just keeps getting better and better for Amanda Anisimova.  It began so well when she won the WTA 1000 title in Qatar in February.  She followed that up by reaching slam finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open (ensuring her place at the year end finals) and she followed that all up by taking another 1000 title in Beijing.  

There is no doubt she is the form player on tour right now and she'll go into the year end finals as one of the favourites. Most of us will know the personal struggles Amanda had to deal with and the fact  that she took a prolonged break from the game, so its great to see that she is now back not only competing but fulfilling the potential that the tennis world knew she had.

Amanda didn't have the easiest route either.   She came from a set down to beat Muchova in Round 4 and again from a set down to beat Paolini in the Quarter Finals.   It was surprisingly straightforward in the semi final against Coco Gauff who is still a work in progress at the moment as she attempts to bring technical changes to her game.

Beijing had some other good stories too.  Eva Lys defeated Elena Rybakina and McCartney Kessler and Sonay Kartal defeated Mirra Andreeva as they secured places in the Quarter Finals. But the other standout player of the week was Linda Noskova (still remarkably only 20)  who managed to edge Jess Pegula in a titanic semi final battle.

Amanda dominated the opening set against Noskova - a bagel no less but Noskova stormed back in the 2nd set taking it 6-2.  It was Amanda who was to prevail though leaving Noskova having to wait a little longer for her first title at this level but it feels like it won't be long .....until the Noskova era begins!

As for the guys - well those two are just getting annoying now.  Sinner and Alcaraz seems to be dividing up the spoils between them at the moment.  I mean you would think with two 500 events going on they could at least pick the same one to play in and give the other guys a chance but nope, they weren't having any of that - both wanted their 500 points.

There was a little bit of a fright for Carlos in his opening match against Baez in Tokyo when he turned his foot awkwardly and it did genuinely appear he would not be able to continue.  But despite the advice of his team, Carlos was not having it - got his foot taped up and played and won the match...and the rest is history.  Ruud pushed him to three sets in the semi final but the final itself was a straight forward 6-4, 6-4 win over Fritz gaining revenge for the Laver Cup loss.

It wasn't entirely straightforward to Jannik Sinner in Beijing either.  He dropped a set in his 2nd Round match against the inspired Terence Atmane who increasingly look like one to watch for next year and another set was dropped against the tenacious Alex De Minaur in the semi final.  Alex is having the best season of his career and should be a fun addition to the year end finals.

On the other side of the draw it was all about Lerner Tien who is definitely the breakout star of 2025. He has such an excellent game and a very level headed attitude to life and no doubt there is a lot more to come from him.  In Beijing he came back from behind to score victories over Cerundolo in the 1st round, Musetti in the Quarters and a cramping Medvedev in the semi finals.

The score in the final of 6-2, 6-2 looks pretty straightforward for Sinner and perhaps shows how far Tien has to go to compete at the very top level.  Nevertheless his performance was admirable and  the margin of defeat didn't really reflect how much he pushed Jannik,

Here are the final standings in the Global League for Game Week 28

Taylor and Stripes VIII were the overwhelming winners this week with a lead of 30 points over Amaze balls (Nachiket) in 2nd place.   However, as a level 2 participant, Nachiket wins the weekly prize for that contest.  Congrats to both of you on a great game week.

Lets take a look at the head to head between the two.  

Not many differences between these two teams.  Both teams could boast all three winners in the shape of Sinner, Alcaraz and Anisimova.  In fact they had 7 identical players with the only differences between TP Andreeva for Stripes VII and TP De Minaur for Amaze-Balls.  

The most significant difference between the two teams however and one which was to prove crucial

was the choice of dark horse.   Taylor's choice of Navarro outscored Maya Joint for Nachiket by 25 points. Stripes also had Anisimova as a KP which improved her points return.

Monthly Standings for September

Here is a breakdown of the monthly standings for September.

All of our top 5 had a great month with consistently good performances.

They all finished in the top 10 in Game Week 27.

Last years season champ Elin was runner up in Game Week 26 and won game 27 but just feel short in the monthly standings due to a lower finish in Game Week 28.

So the honours go to Violet and Grass Court Masters who were the most consistent team of the month finishing in the top 10 in each of the 3 game weeks and amassing 1234.667 points in the process.

Congrats Violet!!