Author: dlockwood2@berklee.edu

Greetings members of the 2021 Summer Challenge Ladder.

It is my honor and privilege to announce the winners of the 2021 Summer Challenge Ladder.

The Winner for the Biggest Mover is….Jason Wu!

Jason jumped from the 30th rung to a season-ending 11th rung for a 19 rung LEAP! Well done, Jason!

The Top Two on the Points Ladder are:

First Place: Raúl García with 81!!!

Second Place: Jason Wu with 69 (no comment)

Special kudos to Raúl for really getting out there and committing to TENNIS!

And now… the Winner of the Summer Challenge Ladder 2021 is…John Grosdidier!

The man from Kansas was in dominant form last Saturday despite my best efforts. Well done, John. The battle has just begun….

You will all be receiving fabulous prizes for your efforts.

Thank you all for your reporting, your patience, your playing, your resilience, your wit, your good cheer, your sweaty pits, and your beautiful smiles. I hope to see you again next summer here and on the courts of Boston and vicinity.
Until then….

The Ladder Master, over and out

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous Sunday! Congrats to Mr Wu and Mr. Chuang for getting wins on this beautiful day.

Just a reminder that This is the final week of the ladder, thru this Sunday, the 26th.

Mr. Grosdidier and I have one last tangle scheduled for this weekend. We were both asked to play for Laver Cup but felt this match was more important.  #priorities

Mr García and Mr. Wu are pretty much uncatchable over on the Point Ladder. Well done this summer, guys!

Remember that fantastic prizes will be given to the Two Top Point Accumulators, the Player who made the largest ascension during the Summer, and of course, the Top Player on the Ladder itself.

There is so much riding on this week, it’s almost too much.

Have a terrific week everyone!

-The Ladder Master…

Greetings Ladder People.

In NYC, Ms. Fernandez just keeps going… and so do we!

We are entering the last few weeks of our Summer Challenge Ladder (season ends Sept. 26) and there is a new leader atop the ladder…ME!

Third times the charm they say and well, it proved to be true this time anyway, as I finally got the better of Mr Grosdidier in a third set tie breaker this past weekend. I expect we will play one more time to end the season…Nearby, Mr. Enos also was victorious in a super tie! Well done, great Scott and Mr Hwa for taking it to the tie!

Mr Roda continues to rise and rise….great playing Mr Roda!

Mr García and Mr Wu continue to impress atop the ‘Points’ Ladder although watch out Mr Wu…Mr. Enos is not too far behind.

Some gorgeous weather out there. Play on!

-The Ladder Master

 

Greetings players.

It is I, the ladder master.

It has been a while.

We have a little more than a month left (Ladder season ends on September 26) so I thought I would send a few updates. While the pros do battle in Cincinnati, en route to the US Open….here things are just as spicy!

Mr. Grosdidier continues to sit atop the Ladder, although Mr. Chuang almost took him down earlier in August in a three set THRILLER! After taking the opening set, Mr. Chuang and Mr Grosdidier were neck and neck in set 2, with Mr Grosidider eeking it out 7-5. He then ran away with Set 3, 6-1, as the fans regained their breath. Well played, both of you.

Mr Cunha continues to ascend, finding himself now in the #7 spot. How far can he go? Time will tell.

On the Points Ladder, Mr. García continues to sit well out in front with a whopping 74 points. But remember, Spectacular Prizes are awarded to the top TWO players on the Points Ladder. Currently in the #2 spot sits Mr Wu with 44…with Mr. Hart close behind at 37 and Mr Cunha at 35. Play on, gentlemen!

I haven’t looked too closely yet on who has made the biggest ascension from the start of season to now (this person will also be awarded an incredible prize) but Mr Wu could be the front runner there, as he began at the #30 spot and now sits at #15, with more matches to play, no doubt.

Thanks for your continued reporting and yes, totally fine to play 10 game pro-sets if folks are waiting and if both players agree.

There is still time to shake things up. September is when things begin…to fall!

So, Vamos Rafa (?) and happy Mid-August to you all!

-L.M.

Greetings Summer Ladder Players!

It is mid-July and things continue to heat up, in between various storms, both environmental and emotional…

The Olympics are right around the corner and it makes me wonder…who will stand tallest on our ladder ‘podium’ at the end of summer? Will it be Mr. Grosdidier who remains at the top spot DESPITE my attempts to dethrone him TWICE. Today I did take a set so…careful John. It can be a bit wobbly at the top…(John happens to be new to tennis4all and a swell guy. Damn it.)

Some other movers up the ladder include Mr. Cunha who now appears at #8 and also Mr. Krasikov who has reached #4. Maybe we should all watch our backs? Great playing guys!

Mr García continues to keep a healthy distance on the ‘Points ladder’ with a whopping 60 points with Mr. Cunha in second at 31. Great job getting out there and playing so much, guys! Seriously.

Plenty of time to play. For things to change. For players to rise and fall…

Keep sending in your match reports. Make sure to include who challenged who. And always let me know if I make a mistake. As my 8 year old son Max can attest, it happens.

A lot.

Cheers, summer Olympians!

-Ladder Long Legs Lockwood

With the addition this evening of Sean Singer, I am pleased to announce that the 2021 Summer Challenge Ladder is 40 tennis humans strong!

Please continue to let friends know they are still welcome to join the ladder. Let’s go for 50!

Some close matches of late, with special mention to Sam and Janfevric who went to a super tie-breaker where Sam came out on top. Nice match, guys!

Raúl García continues to astound with a whopping 48 points for matches played mixed in with victories. How high will Raúl go? Only time will tell….

John Grosdidier sits atop the ladder at present, with yours truly a recent arrival right under him.

I see you John…and I will see you on the court the first week in July!

Wimbledon is here. I guess it’s pretty important. But the Summer Challenge Ladder is where it’s at.

If you ask me

-Longlegs

 

The Summer Challenge Ladder is heating up!

Some horribly hot weather mixed in with some delicious conditions.

All kind of movement happening on the ladder, from the bottom to the top

Special kudos to Raul Garcia who is Dominating on the Points ladder by virtue of his playing TONS of matches! Well done Raul!

I have been notified by some lovely ladder lad that the MIT courts are still UN-available so…don’t play there.

I hadn’t thought of it but if you know of any other UN-available courts, feel free to let me know AND also if you know of any courts that maybe others SHOULD know about, feel free to share that info with me too and I will spread the word here in blog land.

Have a fantastic week. Forecast is favorable. And of course, congrats to Barbora and Novak. And she won the doubles title too?! What an incredible two weeks for her. And Novak just simply does not break, even as his body bends in positions I don’t really understand. Just stunning.

On to the grass season!

-Long legs

Greetings! As they get underway in Paris this weekend, the rains have prevailed here in Massachusetts.

However, earlier in the week there was some action on the Summer Challenge Ladder.

John Grosdidiér makes an impressive jump to the #2 spot. Well done John!

Joe Eklund managed to play twice last week and so leads on the Points ladder with 6 total points. Nice, Joe!

Please review the ‘Scoring Rules’ section as we have added some new pre-match possibilities to be discussed between you and your partner.

I’m pleased to report we have 37 members on the Summer Challenge ladder at present. Please let any interested friends know that they can join any time this summer. The more the merrier!

I just checked with my sources on the tennis weather radar and things look better for this week. See you out there!

-The Ladder Master….