Todd and Cory have performed at their best in Canada. They played three events and brought home two Golds and one SILVER.
Canada F1: Finals
Canada F2: WINNERS
Canada F3: WINNERS
Todd’s highest Ranking in Doubles April 12, 2010: #295
May 11 2010 | Tournaments | No Comments »
Todd has just completed his 3 tournaments in ISRAEL with great success….
Week 1: ISRAEL F1 FUTURE / Eilat / $10,000
Detailed Results – Singles:
| 32 | W | Ze ZHANG (CHN) | 6-3 6-2 | ||
| 16 | W | Miloslav MECIR (SVK) | 6-3 3-6 6-4 | ||
| QF | W | Valentin DIMOV (BUL) | 6-3 6-2 | ||
| SF | W | Thomas FABBIANO (ITA) | 6-4 6-7(1) 7-6(3) | ||
| FR | L | Andrej MARTIN (SVK) | 2-6 2-6 | ||
Week 2: ISRAEL F2 FUTURE / $10,000
Week 3: ISRAEL F3 / FUTURE / $10,000
Detailed Results – Singles:
| 32 | W | Alexandros JAKUPOVIC (GRE) | 6-3 6-2 | ||
| 16 | W | Di WU (CHN) | 6-4 6-4 | ||
| QF | L | Noam OKUN (ISR) | 3-6 1-6 | ||
Good Job, Todd!!!
February 13 2010 | Tournaments | 1 Comment »
STAMFORD — It has been a long summer for Stamford residents Todd Paul and Marc Powers.
However, all their hard work on the tennis court will be rewarded this weekend as both have earned berths in the Men’s Singles Qualifying Draw of the 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament at the Connecticut Tennis Center.
The qualifying draw has not been finalized, but Paul and Powers will probably play Saturday morning in New Haven if tournament officials follow their usual format.
For Paul, it will be the third consecutive year he takes part in the Men’s Singles Qualifying Tourney. For Powers, it will be his first appearance.
Paul, who had an illustrious college tennis career at Wake Forest, has been busy toiling on the US Futures Tour and the Challengers Tour since April.
“The travel wears you down. After four straight weeks on the road, you want to go home,” Paul said. “But by playing this much, I’ve learned that every week is different. Things can click at any time. I’ve learned that I can’t get too down on myself if adversity comes.”
As is the case with every young tennis player who wants to play alongside Roger Federer, James Blake, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal on the big stage, it is all about the rankings.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound lefty Paul, who will turn 24 the day after Christmas, is currently No. 681 in the singles rankings.
Where Paul has made great strides this summer is in doubles. Playing with former Wake Forest teammate Cory Parr of Jericho, N.Y., Paul is at No. 429 in the doubles rankings.
In fact, Paul and Parr have won titles at the last three USA Futures Tour doubles events they’ve competed at.
“Cory and I played some matches together at Wake Forest. We talked before Cory graduated that we’d be good together in doubles,” Paul said. “Cory and I put an application in for a wild card into the Pilot Pen doubles. We’ll see what happens.”
All of the doubles activity has had an effect on Paul’s singles strategy.
“All the doubles play has helped me cover the net better,” Paul said. “Before I just tried to beat singles opponents from the baseline. But now, if I get to the net it puts pressure on the opponents. It forces them to make shots.”
The other benefit to Paul of his partnership with Parr is it makes both the travel and the day-to-day goings-on at each tournament easier.
“It means a lot to me to have a best friend to travel with,” Paul said. “It also good to have someone to hang out with during downtimes at tourneys.”
What makes Paul’s approach to reaching the ATP Tour a bit unique is that his parents, Rovitta and Frantz Paul, are subsidizing Todd’s tennis dream. Todd played some events in Canada last spring as well as played in events in Sweden and France last fall.
“My parents have been so good to me to give me this opportunity to play tennis all over. I don’t know what I’d be doing without their support,” Paul said. “It’s been great to be home these last few weeks. It’s going to be great to have a short (45-minute) car ride to get my tournament for a change.”
Paul is hoping for a better outcome at the Pilot Pen. He lost 6-3, 6-2 to Davis Cup veteran Ramon Delgado of Paraguay in the opening round of the 2008 Pilot Pen Men’s Singles Qualifying Draw.
“It’s all about the draw,” Paul said. “But I have a feeling this year’s Pilot Pen draw will be even tougher.”
As for Powers, New Haven is becoming the new center of his universe.
This fall, Powers will be a freshman at Yale University as well as a member of the Bulldogs’ men’s tennis team.
In fact, the Greens Farms Academy graduate won the Men’s Singles title at the Yale Summer Tennis Championships back on July 12 to earn his spot in Pilot Pen Men’s Singles Qualifying Draw.
Powers defeated former Yale Summer champ Kabelo Maleka, 6-3, 6-4 in the finals.
“It’s an incredible opportunity. I’ve also wanted and dreamed about playing in the Pilot Pen. And now, it’s here,” Powers said. “All the training and all the work I’ve put in this summer is paying off. I couldn’t be more excited.”
It has been a wonderful summer for Powers, who finally had time to relax after choosing to attend Yale.
“There was so much stress over the 18 months when I was trying to decide on a college,” Powers said. “I had four schools to consider. All had fine academics, good athletics and outstanding facilities. But in the end, the decision came down to Yale coach Alex Dorato and the guys on the team. Yale is the perfect place for me. I have peace of mind.”
Powers, who is coached by John DeFilippo of Stamford Indoor Tennis Academy and trains with Ben Prentiss at Body Tuning in Darien, has had a light tennis schedule. Besides the Yale Summer Championships, Powers played two rounds of singles at a USA Futures event in Rochester, N.Y.
“I wanted to focus on the Yale Championships because of the Pilot Pen,” Powers said. “I beat some guys I had faced in USTA Junior tennis and a few solid college players. But the finals against Maleka were nervewracking. The opportunity was there for the Pilot Pen and I didn’t want it to slip away.”
For both Powers and Paul, Saturday can’t get here soon enough.
September 17 2009 | Tournaments | No Comments »
November 3, 2008 / Hawaii
Congratulations, Todd!!!
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December 01 2008 | Tournaments | 2 Comments »
September 15-21 / F1 Future $10,000/ Gothenburg, Sweden
Todd had a great start in Gothenburg, where he reached semifinals. Please see the links below for detailed results.
Singles: Main Draw
Doubles: Main Draw
-TP Team-
September 17 2008 | Tournaments | 1 Comment »
August 17-23 / Pilot Pen / New Haven, CT / Prize Money: $708,000
Todd had a tough 1st round in the qualifying draw. He played Ramon Delgado, an experienced ATP and Davis Cup Player.
Read the below article written by Rich Depreta (Stamford Advocate)
New Haven – Todd Paul was exactly where he wanted to be. At an Association of Tennis Professionals Tour event. And playing before friends and family at the 2008 New Haven Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament. However, it was Saturday. Men’s Singles Qualifying Draw day. That means the 15,000-seat Connecticut Tennis Center and its center court was empty. Play was confined to the outdoor courts by the fan plaza by Yale University. Attendance Saturday was in the hundreds not thousands.
In fact, Paul, a Stamford resident, was playing on a newly-constructed Court I – a former practice court at the far end of the complex and hidden from view and easy access. It was there that Paul battled Ramon Delgado of Paraguay in the chase for one of the five qualifier slots in the Pilot Pen men’s singles 64-player draw. It was a good experience and a good lesson but a loss, nevertheless, as Delgado won, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the qualifying round of 16.
“I had one break on my serve in the first set,” the 22-year-old Paul said. “I didn’t really have a chance against Delgado’s serve to break. At this level, you have to beat good players to qualify.”
Paul, a former Atlantic Coast Conference singles champion at Wake Forest University, had his work cut out for him. The left-hander entered yesterday’s match ranked No. 533 in the world.
In contrast, the 32-year-old Delgado, ranked No. 293 in the world, turned pro in 1995. He got into Pilot Pen qualifying via a wild card.
Delgado, who has $1,261,959 in lifetime ATP earnings, needs two victories to reach 100 career wins.
While Delgado has spent much of 2008 playing on the Challenger Tour, he has made his fame playing Davis Cup for Paraguay. He is 35-8 lifetime in Davis Cup matches, including two triumphs over the Bahamas and two more over El Salvador in 2008.
That’s an incredible wealth of experience for Paul to overcome.
“I feel okay about how I played. You really need to hold serve all the time at this level,” Paul said. “Every week I play ends with a loss.”
The difference this week is Paul can get into the car with his dad, Frantz, and be back home after a 40-minute drive.
Most of his losses in 2008 have been followed by the packing of suitcases and trips to the airport for long flights home.
“No flight home today,” Paul said with a smile.
The question now for Paul is, Where does he go from here?
With his current ranking, Paul can get into the main draw of most Futures Tour events. However, Paul has to go through qualifying draws as he did Saturday to reach the main singles draws on the Challenger Tour.
Paul needs to raise his ranking to the 220 to 350 range to automatically get into the main draws at Challenger Tour events.
The bad news is that the summer Challenger Tour and Futures Tour events in the United States and the Northeast specifically are done.
Nearly all remaining tournaments on both tours are overseas through September. And the majority of those events are on clay – which may not be Paul’s best or favorite surface.
The lone exceptions are a string of Challenger Tour hardcourt events in Oklahoma, Texas, California, Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois.
Either direction the travel is hard and the expenses are not cheap. There is some hospitality that Paul can tap into at the foreign tourneys to save money. But the hotel-based hospitality ends the second he loses at an event so he would have to scramble and make friends quickly.
Either way, the money is significant as Paul’s parents are the ones currently funding his pro tennis dream.
The apprenticeship and paying of dues continues.
Results:
Sinngles Qualifying Draw
Doubles Draw (Todd did not play)
Singles Main Draw (Todd did not play)
August 27 2008 | Tournaments | No Comments »
July 28-August 3, 2008 / F20 Future $10,000 / Decatur, IL
Todd made it to the semifinals in Decatur. Great success before the Pilot Pen.
Results:
Main Draw Singles
-TP Team-
July 23 2008 | Tournaments | 2 Comments »
July 19-27 / $50,000 Challenger / Lexington, KY
Todd beat Jason Jung in the 1st round of the qualifying draw and lost to the 1st seed Chris Guccione (ATP 91) in a close match 7:6 7:6. After the match, Todd said “It could have gone either way, Chris served well and made some great shots.” Todd is still in doubles with Stephen Bass. Check the draw below.
Results:
Qualifying Singles
Main Draw Singles
Qualifying Doubles
Maind Draw Doubles
July 23 2008 | Tournaments | 2 Comments »
July 14-20 / $75,000 Challenger / Aptos, California
Todd was the 1st seed in the Qualifying Draw where he won two matches before he qualified for the Main Draw. Todd lost to Cartsen Ball in the Round of 16.
For Details Click Below:
Singles Qualifying:
Singles Main Draw
Lexington, KY is next
-TP Team-
July 16 2008 | Tournaments | 3 Comments »
July 7-13 / Granby, Canada / $50,000 Challenger
Todd spend the 4th of July weekend in Canada, playing quali at the $50,000 Challenger in Granby. Todd played the 5th seed, IM Kye Tae, in the first round and lost in straight sets. The young man from Korea has been playing on the ATP tour since 2001 and his best ranking was 223 (right now he is in the 500s).
This is Todd’s 1st year on the ATP tour (Full time) and each match is a new experience that will help him in the future. So far his progress is impressive. In January he was ranked 1484 and now he is 624 (in only 6 months).
More to come about Todd and his performance.
Check the Draws below for more results from Granby, Canada.
Quali Singles
Main Draw Singles
Main Draw Doubles
July 09 2008 | Tournaments | No Comments »
