Bob Brooker | Marbella Tennis Lessons

12 year old Jeannie is Tournament Runner Up

December 10, 2017December 10, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

Jeannie Barcia was in action once again, appearing in this weekend’s tournament at The Royal Tennis Club in Marbella. Jeannie fought through to the final and was the runner up in the X1 championship, 14 years and under class.

Jeannie has had plenty of success this year in both, the 14 year and 16 year and under categories, and sometimes it’s worth remembering that she is still only 12 years old. Her future is looking very good.

To be able to keep doing well in tournaments, every day, Jeannie has to put a lot of hard work into her training. For this weekend’s tournament Jeannie spent a lot of time with her tennis coach (and Father) Orlando developing and practising her double handed backhand.

Andalusian 2017 Under 12 Doubles Champions

November 23, 2017November 23, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

In a great weekend of tennis, Jeanine Barcia and Paula Moreno triumphed to become this year’s Andalusian Under 12 Doubles Champions.

This was how the weekend unfolded:

The Quarter-final, Saturday 18th

On Saturday, Jeannie and her partner Paula have an emphatic win, overcoming their opponents in straight sets: 6-0, 6-0.

The Semi-final, Sunday morning 19th

Early Sunday morning, their opponents for the semi-final were Laura Villanueva and Udvardy Luca. Both Laura and Udvardy are strong players with a good reputation, so this was always going to be a hard match. Jeannie’s Marbella tennis coach, her dad Orlando Barcia, was looking on nervously.

However, once the match started Jeannie is showing a lot of confidence, hitting strong forehand and backhand shots. Her partner, Paula, is also playing very well, consistently keeping the ball in play. This helps Jeannie to take advantage, and with great down-the -line and passing shots, they take the first set 6-1.

At the start of the second set their opponents are playing very well hitting strong forehands and the match gets exciting and really comes alive. Even with the rule of single point deuces (sudden death at 40 all), the games were long and hard, sometimes lasting 10 minutes long. In a great match, eventually, Jeannie and Paula triumphed 6-1, 6-4.

The Final, Sunday evening 19th

The final match was against the tournament number one favourites, Claudia Camuñes and Christina Mateos, these two players are the number one under 12 doubles players in Seville. The outcome of the final was a big surprise as Jeannie and Paula played very well from the start with some very strong stroke play. The top favourites couldn’t recover to fight back and Jeannie and Paula pulled of an exciting win to take the championship. The final score was 6-1,6-1.

Rafael Withdraws from the ATP World Tour Finals

November 16, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

This week Rafael Nadal was one of the world’s best ranked eight players competing for the end of season Tour Finals at London’s O2 arena. With Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic absent, Rafael joined Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, and David Goffin.

However, after losing his opening match against David Goffin, Rafael withdrew on Monday night ending his season complaining of a persistent knee injury. Now that Rafael is absent from the mix, Roger Federer becomes the headline act at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Federer, looking for his Tour Finals title, got off to a winning start by defeating the America Jack Sock in straight sets on the opening day. Each player plays three group matches with the top four advancing to the semi-finals.

Jeannie Reaches Semi-final in Andalucian Regional Under 13 Championship

October 31, 2017November 1, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

It has been a good couple of weeks for Jeannieross Barcia that have culminated in a great performance at the Andalucian Regional Under 13 Championships. Jeannie has had some tough matches, having to first qualify and then battling to reach the semi-final on the final weekend of the championship. But first of all, on the 21st October Jeannie also became under 16 champion at Polideportivo San Pedro Alcántara Marbella.

Andalucian Championship Qualifying

On 22nd October Jeannie won the first qualifying match 6-0, 6-0 to go forward to the final draw. In the final qualifier against Dana Aylan, a consistently good player, Jeannie played an almost perfect game with confident passing, forehand down the line and cross-court shots. The final score was 6-1, 6-0, a great result and Jeannie went through to the final 16 playing the next weekend.

Andalucian Championship Final Weekend

On 28th October Jeannie played two matches, she won the first match against Claudia Garcia Jimenez ranked number 4. It was a really exciting game taking 4 hours and the final score was 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 taking Jeannie into the quarter finals. In the quarter finals Jeannie won again 6-3, 6-3 becoming the first Filipno to make the regional semi-finals.

On the following day Jeannie played in the semi-final and, although she lost, gained great experience at playing in a regional championship at a high level.

Jeannie is coached by Marbella tennis coach Orlando Barcia who runs tennis lessons in Marbella.

Under 14 Champion of the X11 Tournament at The Royal Tennis Club

October 15, 2017October 19, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

Jeannie Barcia became the under 14 champion of the X11 tournament at the The Royal Tennis Club this weekend.

The Semi-final

After a marathon semi-final match, that lasted for two hours and forty five minutes, against Sofía Marinesco, a strong player with a hard hitting forehand and backhand top spin. After losing the first set 4-6, Jeannie used her powerful forehand and backhand drives to take the second set 6-1. The match then went into a super tie-break which Jeannie, now full of confidence, won (10-5). During the match Jeannie fell three times whilst trying to return very difficult balls, it was a very emotional match.

The final score to Jeannie: 4-6, 6-1, (10-5)

The Final

The final was against Maria who was physically taller than Jeannie with powerful serves, forehands and backhands. However, Jeannie, full of confidence after the semi-final, won the championship after a good match.

The final score to Jeannie: 6-1, 6-4

Federer Catching Nadal in the ATP Rankings

October 15, 2017October 19, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

Following his victory over Rafael Nadel on Sunday, Roger Federer has renewed his chances of catching Rafael in the ATP world rankings and finishing the year as the world number one.

Federer’s win was the 94th title of his long career and surprisingly one-sided in two straight sets. The final result was 6-4, 6-3.

ATP Rankings - 16th October 2017

Player	Points	Ranking
Rafa Nadal	10,465	1
Roger Federer	8,505	2
Andy Murray	5,290	3
Marin Čilić	4,505	4
Alexander Zverev Jr	4,400	5

Jeannie in the under 14 junior final – Costa del Sol circuito Royal Tennis Club

October 8, 2017October 15, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

Jeannie reached the final of the 6th edition of the Circuito Costa Del Sol under 14 tournament at the Royal Tennis Club Marbella where she was up against the under 16 number one seed Alicia Romero Gómez.

It was a nervous start by Jeannie in the first set but in the second set Jeannie gained confidence and started to attack every point. The second set was decided after a difficult point where Jeannie lost her balance and fell down.

The final score was 6-2, 6-3 in favour of Alicia, but it was an excellent well fought match.

Jeannie – A double champion

October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

In great form over the last two weeks, Jeannie has won two tournaments.

Sunday 1st October – Estepona Tennis Club

Jeannie became champion in the under 14 age group. In the final match, her opponent was Hermine Kosich, who put up a great fight.

During the first set, Hermine used her forehand with power and effect and Jeannie lost the set 5-7. However, in the second set Jeannie started to find her big forehand and was also successful with many backhand passing shots; she won the second set 6-2. With the match evenly balanced the championship had to be decided by a 10 point super tie break. In the tie break, Jeannie maintained her game and confidence; finally winning the championship 5-7, 6-2, (10-5).

Sunday 24th September – Royal Tennis Club Marbella

Royal Tennis Club Marbella.open tournament.in Marbella .24.09.2017

Jeannie became champion in the 12 years old and under category.

Nadal takes US Open Title

September 11, 2017September 13, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

Rafael Nadal, of Spain, beat Kevin Anderson, of South Africa, to win the men’s singles final of the U.S. Open. The 31-year-old has returned to the top of the world rankings and this win takes the number of Grand Slam singles titles he has won during his career to 16, second only to Roger Federer.

During the match, Nadal’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win produced tennis that Anderson was unable to match. Nadal’s mastership and command meant that Anderson had no break points at all, whilst on the other hand, Anderson had to fight off 12 deuces and save four break points to win his first three service games.

Like Nadal, Anderson is a big-hitter, but in comparison to Nadal he looked meak, after two hours and 27 minutes it was all over and the crowd were treated to the image of Nadal biting the champion’s trophy.

Jeannie is a finalist in the Master xx Circuito Andalucía de Verano

September 4, 2017September 4, 2017 by Bob Brooker Comment Closed

Jeannie played some excellent tennis at this weekend’s Master xx Circuito Andalucía de Verano tounament to become a finalist in the twelve years and under category.