FTL Cup Round 3

 Here is the draw for Round 3 of the FTL Cup

This round will be played during Game Week 16

The schedule for the remaining rounds is below:

Game Week 13 Roundup

 

ah,,,,,game week 13.    Wasn't it nice to get away from the glitz and glam of the Masters events, away from the tedious inevitability of carrot head winning again and get back to some proper tennis!

A week of smaller events, of random names, of withdrawals galore and of unpredictability.  Pure FTL chaos - everything we love about FTL.  The perfect week to have a cup week if you ask me although not everyone agreed!

Lets do them in order of our champs from left to right.

ATP Geneva  (winner Learner Tien)

Just the 6 withdrawals from Geneva but not the significant one we were all expecting.   After reaching the final in Rome, I think many of us expected that Casper Ruud would choose not to come and defend his title in Geneva.  He had been played some excellent tennis in Madrid and Rome and it seemed logical that he would choose to rest up before his favourite slam.  

But nope, Casper turned up and not only that he won a few matches too before finally coming undone in the semi finals at the hands of Argentinian Mariano Navone who is having an excellent clay court swing.

On the other side of the draw Learner Tien was showing that he'd learned a few claycourt skills from coach Michael Chang.  He started off with a 2nd Round win over wild card Stefanos Tsitsipas and then followed that up with hard 3 set wins over his buddy Michelsen and then Alexander Bublik in the semi finals.

If I was a betting man I would still have gone for Navone in the final but despite losing the 1st set, it was Learner Tien who came out on top 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to win his first ATP title on clay. Those hard fought wins on a surface that he had hitherto struggled on set him up nicely for Roland Garros.

WTA Rabat (winner Petra Marcinko)

The next champ in our anime depiction is a certain Petra Marcinko, a 20 year old talent from Croatia. Tennis fans have been quietly talking up Petra for the last couple of years and she has steadily been moving up the ranking without setting the heather alight but she certainly chose this tournament to show off her talent. 

This was a tough tournament to call.  Janice Tjen the top seed isn't entirely at home on the clay and she went down in the 2nd Round to a more seasoned clay courter in Camila Osorio who herself then lost surprisingly to Anna Bondar. Third seed Tatjana Maria seemed to have a great draw facing a couple of local players in the opening rounds but succumbed to the 2nd of those opponents Yasmine Kabbaj who in truth performed magnificently in this event.

Perhaps two of the favourites for the event Anna Bondar and Anhelina Kalinina met in the quarter final and it was the Ukranian who came out on top - she's always a threat on the clay if she can stay injury free.

And then there no 2 seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. JBM would face Marcinko in the quarter finals and she was blown away by the aggresive hitting of the young Croat - everything seemed to land.

In the semi finals Kalinina trounced Udvardy and Marcinko took down Teichmann to set up an interesting final.  Marcinko dominated the first set 6-2 and sadly at 3-0 in the 2nd set, Kalinina had to retire due to blisters.

ATP Hamburg  (Ignacio Buse) 

You know that Franki Valli song - I love you baby (Can't take my eye Off you). Dang songs been in my head all week thanks to Ignacio's Buse's team serenading him during the winner's press conference in Hamburg,   "Ig-na-cio-Bu-se, na-na-na-na-na-na, Ig-na-cio-Bu-se......."  I hope it's in your head now.  

But what a week it was the Peruvian. Now, i'm gonna blow my own trumpet a bit here but when I saw he has cruised through his 2 qualy matches for the lost of just 5 games, I was telling everyone on our chat forum, this guy is gonna be a problem this week but did i pick him.  Nope!!

And a problem has became. First round draw Coboli - it had to be didn't it.  Many FTLers had Coboli as you never know where he quite is in the win-a-title, 1st-round-flop cycle he is but in fairness to Flavio this was a rough daw and Buse despatched him 6-2, 7-5.

The 2nd Round was a statement win. A humbling of the talented Jakub Mensik for just 3 games while on the same side of the draw Kovacevic pulled off a surprise win over FAA.  Buse then pulled off a hard fought win over Humbert and a routine win over Kovacevic followed and found himself  in the final. 

On the other side of the draw 2nd seed Shelton managed to scramble through his 1st match but couldn't repeat the trick against the impressive Daniel Altmaier who just loves to humble top ranked players on the clay. Alex De Minaur (a late wild card for the event replacing home fave Alex Zverev) was finally finding a bit of form on the red stuff. He followed up and impressive opening round win over Cerundolo, with a win over Davidovich Fokina and a humbling of Luciano Darderi (who may have been tired from his impressive in run in Rome the previous week).  But ADM finally came undone against Tommy Paul in the semi final.

Tommy was looking to secure his 2nd clay court title of the year having already won in Houston but there was stopping Buse who won a closely fought three setter to win his first ATP title.  TP took it well and was kind enough to show Ignacio the ropes when it came to uncorking a champagne bottle before spraying his all over his young student!

WTA Strasbourg (Emma Navarro)

OK last up WTA Strasbourg and another surprise winner in the shape of Emma Navarro.

Its been a tough season for Emma. She lost a lot of matches early in the year and her ranking suffered. She was then out for some time with an undisclosed illness so it was good to see her back on the clay where she can play some of her best tennis and not only that she was playing great.

In the 2nd round she faced the impressive American youngster Iva Jovic who has shown herself to be pretty handy on the red stuff this season and was probably one of the favourites for this event. They shared the first two sets but surprisingly Navarro romped the 3rd set and showed that she was very much back as a force to be reckoned with. Wins over Zhang Shuai and Ann Li followed as Emma secured a spot in the final.

On the other side of the draw we had another young talent in the shape of Canadian Victoria Mboko who was top seed for this event. One of the biggest young talents in the game at the moment, the tennis world was keen to see how Mboko's game would hold up on the clay.  Pretty well it seems!  Mboko took down last years French Open semi finalist Lois Boisson in the 2nd Round then followed that with a comfortable win over fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez and a more hard fought battle against Jacquelin Crisitan.

In the final Navarro came storming out the blocks taking the first set 6-0 but Mboko showed that fighting spirit she is becoming known for to take the 2nd set 7-5 before Navarro closed it out to secure a title which will no doubt mean a lot to her after a tough time.

This was a chaotic week in FTL and for those who selected the right players it proved to be a great opportunity to make up some serious points. Here are a few of the FTLers who struck gold in game week 13.

Global Weekly table  

    

Massive congrats to mtl89 (Kevin G)  and Grylla's slicing moonballers (Elin Bondal) who both had an astonishing week and really separated themselves from the pack.  

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

Both Kevin and Elin had Hamburg runner up Tommy Paul, Rabat runner up Anhelina Kalinina and Strasbourg rnner up Victoria Mboko.  In fact Elin had the full set of runner ups as she had Mariano Navone in Geneva. 

But only one of them had a winner and that was Kevin with Emma Navarro so perhaps that was the main difference between the two sides which secured the game week for Kevin.

So congrats to Kevin and Elin and everyone else who made up some ground on the season table in Game Week 13.

Altogether now

"Ig-na-cio-Bu-se, na-na-na-na-na-na, Ig-na-cio-Bu-se......."  

Game Week 12 Roundup

 

Jannik Sinner wins another Masters Event.   A Ukranian wins the women's title. A dark horse option runs riot.   Have we been here before?

A different city but a very similar narrative to last week as the tennis tour moved onto Roma.

But its worth repeating the crazy records that Jannik Sinner is setting at the moment.  Sinner has now completed the series of Masters titles at the tender age of 24.  He has won 6 back to back Masters 1000 titles.  Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and now Rome.  And he has now broken Novak Djokovic's seemingly unbreakable record of straight wins at Masters 1000 level making it to 34 straight wins.  

Its just ridiculous and begs the question.... how many more records is he going to set this year?  With Carlos missing from Roland Garros and Wimbledon and possibly beyond that, the stage is set for Sinner to dominate men's tennis for the next few months.  Can anyone stop him?

The only thing that seemingly can stop Jannik is his own health at times as was evident in his semi final match against Medvedev.  He looked decidedly unwell in his semi final match with Daniil Medvedev. Was it the culmination of matches, the stress of trying to win a Masters title in Italy. Who knows? He managed to survive, somehow, did the rain delays help?  Possibly...

In the final Jannik would safe Casper Ruud who once again presented himself as a Dark Horse option. In Madrid he didn't quit deliver the points everyone was hoping for surprisingly losing to Blockx but there was no stopping Casper in Rome as he cruised through his semi final against Italian Darderi who himself was enjoyed his best ever Masters Run.  (Maybe the shades were a bit over the top Luciano).

There was one man who could stop Casper however and that was Sinner in the final.  Ruud played pretty well if truth be told but Sinner was just too good  6-4, 6-4 to Jannik.

In the women's event it was another tournament where a Ukranian was to hold the trophy come the end of the event.  In Madrid it was Marta Kostyuk but in Rome it was a more seasoned campaigner in the shape of tennis Mom Elina Svitolina.  

And boy did she take down some scalps to win the title.  In the Quarter Final she came from a set down to defeat Australian Open champ Elena Rybakina.  In the semi final she bounced back from a 2nd set loss to see of the Wimbledon Champ Iga Swiatek. And in the final, she was her determined best to see out a three set tussle with reigning French Open champ  Coco Gauff.

If you're taking down three reigning Grand Slam champ to win a Masters 1000 title, its fair to say you absolutely deserve it.  What about the reigning US Open champ I hear you ask...well you probably didn't but humour me here.  Aryna actually lost out to Sorana Cirstea in thee third round. Sorana was to go on to reach the semi finals in another incredible week for her in what is proving to be a remarkable retirement year for her as she moves into the World top 20.  Will she reconsider?  

In Fantasy Tennis we had the rather unique situation of three different winners this week.  As you know we have three tiers of Fantasy Tennis in terms of Prize Options.  The global level open to everyone where the only prize is bragging rights!  Level 1 members are eligible for the end of season prize.  But if you are one of the Level 2 sponsors then you are in the running for weekly and monthly prizes!

Here the Global Leaderboard for the game week.  

Massive congrats to Maria Varano and her team AlwayswithRafa who just edged out Aditya Sharma and his team Harakiri by the smallest of margins to top the Global Leaderboard charts this week.  Maria's team finished with an excellent 835.799 points.

Aditya can finally celebrate some glory however by topping the Level 1 standings for this week. He was only 3 points behind Maria.

And the Level 2 prize winning honour goes to Tricia and Prepare for Czech Mate who finished on 814 points.

Here are their teams for the week.

Maria had a terrific team. She captained Rome champ Jannik Sinner (didn't we all) but she also had WTA Champ Svitolina and WTA Semi finalists Swiatek and Cirstea!  Significantly Maria had men's finalist Casper Ruud as a Key Player rather than a dark horse which significantly boosted his total. Her starting 8 more than made up from the sub par performance of her dark horse which makes the game week win all the more impressive!

A good week too for Aditya, who's loyalty to Elina Svitolina was rewarded in kind this week has he picked up almost 150 points from having Elina in a key player role. In fact he had all four finalists with Sinner as captain,  Coco as a TP and Ruud in the DH position. His only regret may be making Tabilo DH instead of Darderi, With Fils withdrawing Tabilo came into play but the points he could have got from Darderi would have been far more profitable!

The same could be true for Tricia who also had Darderi on the bench but that was more academic as Tricia's replacement for Fils was Rafael Jodar who turned out to be a more than adequate replacement. As well as three of the finalists - Sinner, Ruud and Gauff,  Tricia had strong performances from Pegula, Rybakina, Andreeva and DH Penko.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS & DARK HORSE BREAKDOWN

 

I have attached the French Open Draws (FTL Version) and Dark Horse Breakdown.  Please note that the Qualifying was completed earlier today, so as a result, the 24 Qualifiers and 1 Lucky Loser (Sebastian Korda withdrew) have also been placed.

 

For those that are wondering, the Bottom half of the draw is set to take place on Monday in both the Mens and Womens event, so both sections of the draw has been highlighted in light purple. 

 

Do not forget to select your Dark Horse for both the Mens and Womens events.

 

If you want a copy, click on the link, French Open Draws Once you do so, click on FILE, and scroll to MAKE A COPY, and call it whatever you want

Good Luck!  Btw both the Mens and Womens events are set to take place at the same time on Sunday, so the event specific lockout won't be in place this week.

Game Week 11 Roundup

 

⭐ FTL Game Week 11 — Madrid Masters: When Dark Horses Became Headliners

Masters events and Slams always give us that delicious FTL twist: the dark horse picks. One man, one woman, each under 6.5 million, quietly tucked into your squad as potential chaos agents. Most weeks you’re hoping for a couple of wins, maybe 40 points if the stars align.

But every so often, FTL hands you a gem — a dark horse who can actually win the whole thing.

Game Week 11 was one of those weeks. On the women’s side: Marta Kostyuk, fresh off a clay title in Rouen. On the men’s side: Casper Ruud, underpriced after a poor hard‑court swing but back on his beloved clay.

Both looked like dream picks. One of them delivered in spectacular fashion.

🎾 WTA Madrid — Kostyuk’s Breakthrough Amid the Chaos

The women’s draw was absolute carnage.

• Iga Swiatek fell victim to the Madrid bug and retired in Round 3.

• Coco Gauff battled illness and still nearly beat Noskova before fading.

• Elena Rybakina was stunned by a resurgent Anastasia Potapova.

• And the shock of the week: Aryna Sabalenka losing to an inspired Hailey Baptiste, who kept finding magic whenever Aryna tried to close the door.

Through all that turbulence, Kostyuk looked like the one player who actually knew what she was doing.

Her supposed stumbling block was Round 3 vs Jess Pegula, but clay is Pegula’s least favourite terrain. Marta flattened her 6–1, 6–4, then powered past McNally and Noskova to reach the semis.

Her semi against Potapova was a rollercoaster — dominant first set, lost second, emphatic third — but she handled it like a player who finally believes she belongs at the top.

In the other half, Mirra Andreeva continued her clay‑court surge, tantrums and all. She toughed out Bondar in three and then ended Baptiste’s dream run.

The final had hype, but in truth, Kostyuk controlled it from start to finish, imposing her game and her presence. Straight sets, first WTA 1000 title, and a statement that she’s a genuine Roland Garros contender.

Just don’t expect her to be a dark horse ever again.

🎾 ATP Madrid — Sinner’s Reign Continues

With Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing and Novak Djokovic absent, the draw opened wide for the unstoppable Jannik Sinner, who seems intent on rewriting Masters 1000 history     one week at a time.

He did get one early scare — Benjamin Bonzi nicking the first set in Round 2 — but Sinner quickly restored order.

Next came the rising Spanish sensation Rafael Jodar, who’s been tearing through the clay swing (Marrakech title, Barcelona semis). Sinner schooled him in the first set, but Jodar made the second competitive and showed he’s the real deal.

Then it was Arthur Fils, Barcelona champion and human highlight reel. But Sinner smothered him too, as if someone had turned the electricity off.

🔥 The Ruud Detour — and the Blockx Bombshell

In the bottom half, Casper Ruud looked every inch the clay titan again, cruising past Munar and ADF before surviving a spirited Stefanos Tsitsipas in Round 4.

But the story of the week wasn’t Ruud. It was Alexander Blockx.

The Belgian teenager quietly took out FAA and Cerúndolo, then produced the shock of the tournament: Blockx def. Ruud 6–4, 6–4.

A dark horse dream for many managers… just not this week. The silver lining? Ruud would be available again in Rome — and as you hinted, we all know how that turned out.

Blockx’s run ended in the semis against Alexander Zverev, who found his Madrid mojo just in time after shaky earlier rounds. He dispatched Cobolli and then Blockx with clinical efficiency.

But Zverev vs Sinner? That matchup feels like a foregone conclusion these days.

Sinner dismantled him 6–1, 6–2 in a final that looked more like a coronation than a contest, sealing his fourth straight Masters title and extending a run that’s starting to look historic.

Here is the Global Game Week table for Game Week 11. 

He's back folks and he means business.  Its been a stuttering start for Dragan Josifoski after his historic league and cup double in 2025 but his 2026 campaign is very much back on track after a cracking game week in Madrid.  He was pushed all the way by Oli and the Gravy Shipwrecks however and ultimately there was less than 10 points between them.

Here is the head to head between the two top teams.

Both Dragan and Oli made most of the right choices this week and had all four finalists with Sinner as Captain and Kostyuk as a dark horse.  In fact, from a line up point of view there was only one difference in their starting 10.  Dragan had Machac and Oli had Iga who of course was a surprising early exit. Now of course Iga outscored Machac so how did Dragan win?  It all came down to player positioning! While Oli had Gauff as a TP, Dragan had her as KP.  And while Oli had Coboli as a dark horse,  Dragan had him in his main team scoring additional points.  And that's what made all the difference in the end!

Congrats to Dragan and Oli on a great week!

FTL Cup - Game Week 13

 

The FTL Cup returns in Game Week 13 and its time for the seeds to enter the fray as we play the 2nd knockout round.

This is likely to be a challenging week for the cup participants with most of the top players having a week off prior to the French Open.

A couple of the top players who we hoped might be available for selection have now withdrawn.  So no Kostyuk, Machac or Jodar.  And now no Musetti who sadly will be missing the French Open this year.  The question also remains as to whether Casper Ruud will play as he is still very much involved in the latter stages of the Italian Open.

And if you are short of players for Game Week 13, who do you trade out?  Most of us will now have a core group of 9 or 10 players who we will make our French Open selection from and will therefore be reluctant to take the decision to release them before we even know the draw.

ah decisions, decisions.  Who's idea was it to hold a cup week in Game Week 13.

Here is a full rundown of the fixtures.

Top Half

Stanimal Rights Activist (1)          vs            Prepare for Czech Mate

The Gravy Shipwrecks                  vs            Soul Power Tennis (28)    

No AO No Problem (20)                vs            Djoker's Sympathy Card

Swift Team                                     vs            Harakiri (15)  

Mirzini Sinovi (10)                         vs            Thunder Turkeys

Read or Die                                     vs            In the Volley of Rivendale (17) 

Rafa (32)                                         vs             Bits and Pieces

Dukla Pumpherston                        vs             Goaldies (5)

The Champs (8)                               vs            DreamTeam

Blinkova Nigh                                 vs            Big Tom Day (30)

Carlitos Way (22)                            vs            Team Le Tourneau   

Possesors of Glory                           vs             Charly Cheatcode (11)

Bandits (16)                                    vs             Referee

Vlad the Macedonian                      vs             Ospreys (18)

Volt (29)                                          vs            Even more Sinn-sational

Just Married with Child                  vs             Hail to the Victors (3)

Bottom Half

Blocked by Wembanyana (4)         vs              Stripes IX

The Fed Express                             vs               Chip and Charge (25)

Gordon Trailers (19)                       vs              Bazinga

Yet Again                                         vs             Roger That (14)

 jbatta44 (9)                                     vs             Fantasy Addict

Aces in Spaces                                vs             Stan's Farewell Party (24)

FAAnatics (26)                                vs             Ternopil

Good Hits                                        vs             Grylla's Slicing Moonballers (7) 

Advantage Infinity (6)                    vs              Anton's Amazing Team

Keys to Victory                                vs              Rafalicious (31)

Slice for the Win (23)                      vs               MAOUST

Nadal's Forehand                              vs              Kalinin-out Burger (12)

Team Espana 3  (13)                        vs                Crimini

CooCoo 4 Coco Gauffs                    vs              🥜🧈🥒🧃🎾👻 (21)  

nbladeweilder (27)                            vs             Alcarazzziiii

Lucastryard                                       vs             Jannik Winner (2)

ROME DRAWS & DARK HORSE BREAKDOWN

I have attached the Rome Draws (FTL Version) and Dark Horse Breakdown.  Please note that the Qualifying will not be completed until Tuesday May 5th, so as a result, the Qualifiers and Lucky Losers have not been placed.  Sadly, there are a slew of Main Draw matches in the Womens event that are also set to be take place on Tuesday as well, so the Qualifying won't be completed by the time that the initial lockout commences.  The good thing about the new Event Specific Lockout is that when the Mens Main Draw is set to take place on Wednesday, the Qualifiers will be placed, so when you are locking in the Mens portion of your team, you'll have that information available to you :)

 

Do not forget to select your Dark Horse for both the Mens and Womens events.

 

If you want a copy, click on the link, ROME FTL DRAWS Once you do so, click on FILE, and scroll to MAKE A COPY, and call it whatever you want

Good Luck and I hope you enjoy the change to the lockout setup :)