SAN FRANCISCO AT PALO ALTO-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2007
By Shashin Shodhan
The San Francisco Furies have been doing well since the addition of Misha Kazantsev who has yet to lose a singles match this season. The Furies, Concord Cheetahs, and Mountain View Marauders would all like to avoid the Oakland Lions by not being the #4 seed in the playoffs. Palo Alto has to rely on reserve players today as along with America's best 10-year old Lily Zhang, they field Roshan Naik and Wei Chen who are regular local tournament players.
Misha Kazantsev (San Francisco) vs Roshan Naik (Palo Alto)
In the first point of the match, Kazantsev pulverizes a forehand loop winner on the return of serve. He leads 6-1 and wins the opener 11-5. In the first point of the second game, Kazantsev pulverizes a forehand loop winner on his third ball attack. He goes up 7-1 and wins 11-3. Naik opens the third with a 2-0 lead but soon after.....guess what?...Kazantsev pulverizes some more forehand loop winners to post a very comfortable 3-0 victory. San Francisco is up 1-0 in this best of seven team match.
Spencer Chase (San Francisco) vs Wei Chen (Palo Alto)
Chase has improved the form and power of his forehand loop and it is more of a weapon than it used to be. Chase is attacking Wei Chen's forehand in the beginning of the match and it 11-7 works. Chase attempts to do the same in the second game but makes more errors and Chen is more rock-solid in his countering. The match is tied 1-1. In the third game, Chen is up 6-3, goes down game point 10-9, but wins 12-10. Chase is more erratic after the first game but Chen is much steadier. In the next game, Chase is up 10-6 and 11-10 but fails to convert until his sixth game point at 12-11. Onto the fifth and final game....Chase is playing great and attacking with consistency and power to lead 7-1 but then starts playing erratic....7-5. However, he starts playing spectacular again and wins 4 of the next 5 points to put San Francisco up 2-0 with his doubles partner Vincent Tai playing next against phenom Lily Zhang.
Vincent Tai (San Francisco) vs Lily Zhang (Palo Alto)
These two open with a spectacular opening point where they both return the other's "winners"...or what would normally be winners. Tai goes up 5-0 in the first and second games but Zhang starts playing better and ends up losing by the smallest of margins at 11-9 and 13-11. Zhang had game point at 11-10 in the second game. They have a role reversal in the third game as Zhang starts off playing better in the first part of the game but Tai starts playing better in the latter part of the game. Tai wins the third 11-8 but Zhang plays well as every game was closely contested. Zhang primarily was attacking the Tai forehand this match.
Spencer Chase/Vincent Tai (San Francisco) vs Wei Chen/Lily Zhang (Palo Alto)
Chase and Tai have one of the better records in doubles play in this season. Chen and Zhang are playing together for the first time. Chase and Tai will win, right? That's why the matches are played and sports are exciting. Chen was the best player out of the four in the first game which leads Palo Alto to a 11-7 first game win. San Francisco jumps off to a 4-1 lead in the second but loses 12-10. In the third, it's Palo Alto's turn to jump off to a lead at 4-0 and they fail to convert at 10-8 but do win 12-10. Palo Alto has three match points in the fourth at 10-7 but San Francisco ties it at 10-10 at which point Tai misses a serve. In deuce, San Francisco has two match points but does not send the match to the fifth game. Palo Alto does not convert until its seventh match point to win 3-1 with a 17-15 fourth game win. Palo Alto gets its first victory of the night.
Misha Kazantsev (San Francisco) vs Wei Chen (Palo Alto)
Kazantsev goes up 9-5 in the first but starts fooling around at that point and soon finds himself down 2-0 in games. However, Kazantsev starts trying after that point and the next three games are a route. Kazantsev has a history of sometimes fighting hard in matches and sometimes not trying in matches. San Francisco wins the team tie 4-1.