Mana Games

[Verdasco Fan]

Alright, well I wanted to start an ATP career. I have unfortunately discontinued my WTA career due to technical issues. But I am very much looking forward to this one. I think it will be even better than my last, as short-lived as that one was.

Overview:

Personal Information:

Name: Louis Aiello
Gender: Male
Date Of Birth: 30/4/1983
Country: New Zealand

Tennis-Related Information:

Turned Pro: January 2000
Playing Style: Varied
Plays: Left-Handed; Two-Handed Forehand; One-Handed Backhand

Description:

Louis can hit his forehand very hard with great angles and it's his biggest weapon. His backhand, by contrast, is extremely weak and during a rally he prefers to slice it in hope of drawing the opponent's next shot to his forehand. He hits with a good amount of topspin, has a good serve, and he's not afraid to move forward to the net. He also has solid defense, especially on the forehand side.

He enjoys singles but loves doubles where is backhand is in less danger of being exposed, and his doubles partner is his good friend, Australian Todd Perry. Louis and Todd have a goal in mind to keep improving and win a Grand Slam title together. As for singles, he's just going to see where it takes him.

[Verdasco Fan]

Results: Weeks 1-5

"I'm a bit disappointed I had to pull iout injured of my last two matches," said Louis to the New Zealand press. "I've not had the start in doubles that I'd want to say the least, but I've had a much better start in singles than I thought. It's been an OK start overall. It's early days but I'm hoping to get off the Futures circuit by the end of this year. Hopefully once I get past the qualifying stages of a Future's event, it might be televised somewhere so people can see how I play. "

Singles:

Week 52 (1999): Q R1 (Germany F1)
Week 1: Q R2 (Spain F1)
Week 2: Q R2 (Guatemala F1)
Week 3: Q R1 (Guatemala F2)
Week 4: --
Week 5: Q R2 (Costa Rica F2)

Doubles:

Week 52 (1999): Q R1 (Germany F1)
Week 1: Q R1 (Spain F1)
Week 2: Q R1 (Guatemala F1)
Week 3: Q R1 (Guatemala F2)
Week 4: --
Week 5: Q R1 (Costa Rica F2)

In Other News:

Australian Open Singles Final: [4]Pete Sampras (USA) def. [21]Cedric Pioline (FRA) 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3

Australian Open Doubles Final: [3]Jared Palmer (USA)/David Adams (RSA) def. [10]Patrick Rafter (AUS)/Wayne Arthurs (AUS) 6-4, 6-4

Current Top 5:

#1 Andre Agassi (USA) 6055
#2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) 5920
#3 Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) 4570
#4 Pete Sampras (USA) 3740
#5 Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) 3380

[Verdasco Fan]

Morocco F2: 2000: Week 10

Singles: Q R1

Doubles:

Q R1: [5]Todd Perry (AUS)/Louis Aiello (NZL) def. [3]David Novak (CZE)/Jerdrzeg Zarski (POL) 6-2, 6-4

Main Draw

R1: [Q]Todd Perry (AUS)/Louis Aiello (NZL) def. Jaymon Crabb (AUS)/Rafael Farias (BRA) 6-4, 6-4
QF: [Q]Guillem Burinol (ESP)/Albert Chang (CAN) def. [Q]Todd Perry (AUS)/Louis Aiello (NZL) 4-6, 3-6

"We had chances in the last match, but whatever, it's good to finally get some doubles wins," said Louis after the match.

[Verdasco Fan]

Week 12; 2000; Sweden F1 (Surface: Indoor Hard)

"Ah," said Louis. "Finally there was some televisation going on, so you guys can go back and view these two matches whenever you want. I'm so excited, you people can finally see my game in action. The matches they recorded, I lost, but they were still very tight matches and a good indicator of where things are at for me. I'm only into the 12th week of my career and I'm already winning some matches, so I'm feeling very positive for the future."

Sweden F1 Singles Qualifying:

QR 1: Louis Aiello (NZL) def. [4]Juan Pablo Amado (ARG) 6-2, 6-2

QR 2: Louis Aiello (NZL) def. Todor Enev (HUN) 6-3, 7-5

QR 3: Marco Pedrini (ITA) def. Louis Aiello (NZL) 1-6, 7-6(5), 4-6

Sweden F1 Doubles Qualifying:

QR 1: [1]Marin Cilic (CRO)/ Ivaylo Traykov (BUL) def. [7]Louis Aiello (NZL)/Todd Perry (AUS) 2-6, 6-2 (3-10)

"Hmmm," said Louis. "I knew that name Marin Cilic, sounded familiar. I know of another Croatian named Marin Cilic. He's only about 12 years old right now though. But I've seen him play, and wow, I see potential there. I think he could possibly break into the world's Top 10, maybe about 10 years from now ."

[Verdasco Fan]

Weeks 22-27: Something interesting has happened, finally!

First though, an update from the 2000 French Open:

Singles Final: [4]Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) def. [5]Thomas Enqvist 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(6)
Doubles Final: [7]Todd Woodbridge (AUS)/Mark Woodforde (AUS) def. Cedric Pioline (FRA)/Andrei Medvedev (UKR) 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3

True to history, Guga wins the French Open in 2000.

Back to business: Lou's not had much luck in singles so far, but his partnership with Todd Perry in doubles has been beginning to blossom during these few weeks. Weeks 23 and 24 saw the pair reach semifinals in two futures events, in Tunisia and the Netherlands. Then, in weeks 26 27, they showed their most dominant form yet.

Week 26 (Qualifying) and 27: Venezuela F1 (Surface: Cement; Level: Futures)

QR1: [8]Louis Aiello (NZL)/Todd Perry (AUS) def. [2]Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/Nick Lindahl (AUS) 6-0, 6-1
Their best performance as a team so far. They only allowed the opposition 4 points in total in the first set. The opposition might not have played great on this day but on their side of the net they were almost perfect.

Main Draw:

R1: [Q]Louis Aiello (NZL)/Todd Perry (AUS) def. Atsuo Ogawa (JPN)/Patrik Fredriksson (SWE) 6-0, 6-1
The bagel and breadstick streak continued. Surely they were peaking too soon...right?

QF: [Q]Louis Aiello (NZL)/Todd Perry (AUS) def. [1]Julien Varlet (FRA)/Simon Rea (NZL) 6-4, 6-1
It looked like two comfortable sets by the scoreline but this was far from easy. Lou and Todd were lucky at times that the other team didn't take their opportunities, of which there were plenty. This was a matter of hanging in there and refusing to lose.

SF: [Q]Louis Aiello (NZL)/Todd Perry (AUS) def. [Q]Adrien Menendez (ESP)/Leonardo Olguin (ARG) 6-4, 6-2
First final of Lou's career and not a set dropped. Whatever happens, it's been a great week...

F: [Q]Jaroslav Levinsky (CZE)/Andrey Gobulev (RUS) def [Q]Louis Aiello (NZL)/Todd Perry (AUS) 2-6, 4-6
They were just too good. Lou and Todd didn't play badly. In fact they played better than they had the previous two rounds. Levinsky and Gobulev were just on fire. But Lou and Todd's doubles rankings jump up 194 places to 624, and they have accepted a wildcard into their first Challengers event. Lou is also now more than ever determined to get his singles career rolling, where he hasn't earned a single ranking point yet.

To conclude, an update from 2000 Wimbledon:

[3]Singles Final: [3]Pete Sampras (USA) def. [4]Gustavo Kuerten (BRA), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4)
Doubles Final: [1]Jared Palmer (USA)/David Adams (RSA) def. [3]Alex O'Brien (USA)/Rick Leach (USA) 7-6(5), 6-3

The best doubles pair in the world at the moment have done it again, adding a Wimbledon crown to their Australian Open championship earlier in the year.

[Verdasco Fan]

2000: Weeks 33-36

"I made a bit of headway in singles. I finally qualified for a tournament and even won a round. I now have a grand total of one ranking point," writes Lou.
"I played doubles with Todd once. Lost in the quarterfinals, Master Tiebreak. We had chances to close that match out in two sets as well. Oh well, off to practice, see you later."

In Other News:

2000 US Open:

Singles: [2]Andre Agassi (USA) def. [4]Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4
Doubles: [3]Sandon Stolle (AUS)/Olivier Delaitre (FRA)/[1]Jared Palmer (USA)/David Adams (RSA) 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4

Sampras (Australian Open, Wimbledon), Kuerten (French Open), and Agassi are the singles slam champions for 2000. Marat Safin is #1 in the race.

[Verdasco Fan]

Louis has now completed his first year as a professional tennis player. A summary of his results:

Year-End W/L Record (Singles): 28-21 (57.1%)
Year-End W/L Record (Doubles): 23-25 (47.9%)

Year-End Singles Ranking: 472
Year-End Doubles Ranking: 496

A Message from Louis from "Futures Tennis Magazine": Hi guys, Lou here. Just recapping my first year as a pro, there were some ups and downs. I took a long time to get into the groove, especially in singles. But at the end of the year I won a Futures title in singles, and only reached a final in doubles during the year, so there was a bit of a shift in balance. I think the fact that me and Todd (Perry) had some issues during the year, a bit of tension when we were playing might have been the reason we didn't really become the kind of force on the Futures tour the way we would've liked. Me and Todd have now parted ways, and I will be testing new doubles partners during the first part of the year. Anyway, my goals for both singles and doubles during the next year (2001) are just to keep climbing the ranks, and hopefully qualify for my first Grand Slam main draw. It'll be hard to get the results that fast but I think I can do it. See you next year!

Other Results:

Major Tournament Results:

Singles:

Australian Open: [4]Pete Sampras (USA) def. [21]Cedric Pioline (FRA) 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3
French Open: [4]Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) def. [5]Thomas Enqvist (SWE) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(6)
Wimbledon: [3]Pete Sampras (USA) def. [4]Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4)
US Open: [2]Andre Agassi (USA) def. [4]Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4
Shanghai Masters: [4]Andre Agassi (USA) def. [2]Marat Safin (RUS) 7-5, 7-5, 6-4


Doubles:

Australian Open: [3]Jared Palmer (USA)/David Adams (RSA) def. Patrick Rafter (AUS)/Wayne Arthurs (AUS) 6-4, 6-4
French Open: [7]Todd Woodbridge (AUS)/Mark Woodforde (AUS) def. Cedric Pioline (FRA)/Andrei Medvedev (UKR) 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3
Wimbledon: [1]Jared Palmer (USA)/David Adams (RSA) def. Alex O'Brien (USA)/Rick Leach (USA) 7-6(5) 6-3
US Open: [Q]Sandon Stolle (AUS)/Olivier Deltaire (FRA) def. [1]Jared Palmer (USA)/David Adams (RSA) 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4
Shanghai Masters: [3]Alex O'Brien (USA)/Rick Leach (USA) def. [4]Nicolas Lapentti (ECU)/Pete Sampras (USA) 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3

Year-End #1: It wasn't Sampras who won two slams during the year, nor was it Agassi who won a slam plus the Masters Cup. It wasn't even Kuerten who reached three out of the four slam finals during the year. Instead, it was Marat Safin, who despite not winning a slam had solid results such as 8 tournament victories during 2000, including the Monte Carlo and Montreal Masters, reaching the semifinals of 3/4 slams and reaching the final of the Masters Cup.

[Illepingis]

i will probably doa thing like ths and im need advise can you tell me a bit how youdo it on msn or something

Lovely regards Elias