Impressions of the tournament:


Spoilers!



Firstly, Manu and all backcourt players seem slightly more vulnerable on this court than they were at Magic City. Somehow, it allows for them to get jammed up by placement or spiked by very fast balls easier than before. Still, I was surprised that Manu missed as many as he did.

Inaki missed a few as well, but he is usually good for a miss or two at the middle side wall per game.

Nicolas played amazing and only made one error that I saw. What a great player!

Douglas was simply not offensive enough. I know that everyone was playing conservative and that Douglas is much less aggressive in doubles than singles but it seems like such a waste of offensive potential. I don't remember if he threw any outside shots at all. He had one great inside placement that caught Manu out of position but other than that...

Arrasate & Goikotxea vs. Goixerri & Aratz: what a game!!! Goikotxea was doing miraculous things in the back, giving it his all. Arrasate was quite capable and completely unafraid of Goixerri. Both Arrasate & Goikotxea were a revelation! I saw Goikotxea play in one other game before. He was competent but this performance was something special. These guys need to be recruited if at all possible. I would love to see more of them, either at Jam Arena or Dania!

Zulaika & Amigorena played very defensively, impressively so. Zulaika's attempts at offense mostly resulted in errors. For me Zulaika has two modes: amazingly effective and much too error prone. He was in the latter when it mattered for this tournament.

Goixerri & Aratz. Sigh. Goixerri, Aratz cannot single-handedly win the game for you. You have to score some darnit! There is conservative play and then there is turtling. You had nothing to lose in the later stages of the second set of the final. You could have been brave and completely gone for it but no, you continued to play with very few shots whatsoever. WTF? Take some chances dude.

Goixerri's best aspect is his offense and it was barely there. Meanwhile, Aratz gets utterly hammered over and over and eventually a ball gets through. Aratz is amazing but he is not a miracle worker Goixerri! Don't get mad at him! It is not his fault! You have to do your part too and end points sooner!

Meanwhile, Alex & Benny showed some good, old fashioned Eye of the Tiger™ (cue music). Unperturbed and unruffled by losing the first set, they came back with a vengeance.

Benny played extremely well. Did he miss any? He was quite offensive from the back, placing the ball in inconvenient places just like Manu does. Benny gets better and better every year. His future looks bright. Alex was Alex, one of the best up and coming players on planet Earth. Both of them well deserve this win. Congratulations!!