Game Week 9 results

 

So we are now quarter of the way through the FTL season.  By now most of us have built up a decent budget and put together strong squads and the chase is very much on.  But whether you are flying high in the top 10 or languishing in 87th (..ahem 😞), there is still plenty of time and plenty of points available to reverse your fortunes.

And this week was indicative of just that.  We had 3 ATP 250 events, one WTA 500 event and one WTA 250 event being played across 4 different continents which meant plenty of variety in the teams and the opportunity to make up some serious ground if you got your team selection right.  Its fair to say Andrea Russo pretty much nailed it!

Danielle Collins seems to be intent on making  her final career on tour her best one!  After her amazing title in Miami last week, most of us were debating whether she would even play in Charleston never mind win the thing.  But Danielle is striking while the iron is HOT at the moment and she romped her way through a strong field dropping just one set (to Ons) in the process.

Camilla Osorio rode the wave of home advantage to recapture the Bogota title which she first won as a 19 year old in 2021.  In the interim years its been Tatjana Maria's domain but Camilla managed to see of the German in the Quarter Final and put an impressive performance to see off no 1 seed Bouzkova in the final as she was roared on by a passionate Colombian crowd.

Hubi Hurkacz is not someone I would normally associate with clay court prowess but he showed this week in Estoril that if you have a big serve and a decent game you can triumph on any surface. This was Hubi's 8th career title but his first on the clay.  Favourite for the title Casper Ruud was well beaten by Pedro Martinez in the semi final but the Spaniard was no match for Hurkacz.

Matteo Berrettini defeated another Spaniard, Roberto Carballes Baena in the Marrakech final. I'll be honest, i never really associate Berrettini with clay either. I've no idea where that idea came from because this was Matteo's 7th clay final and 4th clay title. 😂   After all the injury problems he has suffered in recent years its great to see him winning trophies again, coming through some tough battles in the process.  Will be very interesting to see what Matteo can do on clay and grass in the coming months.

Ben Shelton won his 2nd career title in Houston. It was an all American final with Shelton defeating good friend Frances Tiafoe in a hard fought three setter. Its a shame we won't see these two in the Monte Carlo draw this week.  Will be very interesting to see how they manage on the European clay.

Here is the final Game Week table.  Andrea Russo (Sinner Circle 24) almost put in the perfect week with their terrific total of 577.228 points putting him 90 points ahead of the chasing pack.

Here is Andrea's winning team...

Going into the Semi Finals on Thursday, Andrea had all 8 players still in play (while some of us were down to 1 or 2).  I have to admit that by this stage I was following Andrea's team more closely than my own and willing every one of his players to get through to the final!  😀

Ultimately it wasn't the prefect week but it came pretty darn close.  Andrea had 3 winners in Hurkacz, Collins and Berrettini and two runners up in Bouzkova and Kasatkina while Ruudm Etcheverry and Darderi were losing semi finalists.

Congratulations Andrea on a great week.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the other great performers this week even if their scores were overshadowed by the eventually winner.   DreamTeam (Tony) finished in 2nd place on 486 points. Roll Over Kasatkina (David Lin) were third on 479 points and Swing Kings (Kevin) and Russian Warship go Fk yourself (Olya) took 4th and 5th spots.

So what does this mean for the overall table.

Well here it is!!

Sinner Circle 24 (Andrea) moved up an incredible 11 places from 12th placed to 1st place after that outstanding Game Week  performance and the other high scorers all made strong moves to. Olya moved up 6 places from 10th to 4th.  Kevin R moved up an impressive 17 places to 12th and Tony moved up 20 places to 14th

Dr. peRFect hangs on to 2nd spot with Stripes VII dropping from the top spot into third,

Good luck in Monte Carlo folks - who is going to be the big movers this week?

(and remember - the cup returns in Game Week 11)