[Samuel_Vimes]

Oxenstierna in happier times

CWLand's highest ranked player, Sven Oxenstierna, considers a rethink of his October schedule following last year's disappointing autumn performance, which included notable wins over Daniel Páez and Jefferson Drake in a final, but also painful losses to Juan Moreno, Davis Kennedy, Danes Kasper Buur (world No. 105) and Rasmus Olesen, as well as Randy Smeltz in the prestigious end-of-year national championship. Oxenstierna says that the Stockholm tournament is still a priority despite the horror show last year, but also says he has to consider ATP commitments.

"I'd rather like to get some decent training done after the CW Open," Oxenstierna says. "If we're allowed to skip masters without big fines this year, I would like to take 3-4 weeks out of the game and work on some technical details to come back strongly in October and November. If that's not possible, though, I fear the jetlag after competing in Shanghai will be too much to make a decent effort at the Stockholm tournament."

Oxenstierna declined to make an extensive comment following charges that he had "succumbed to financial pressures" when ditching Auckland for the ExxonMobil Open in Qatar in his preparations for the first Slam of the year, but noted that "if I wanted cheap money I'd probably choose a tournament that didn't have most of the top ten in it."

Oxenstierna also affirmed his commitment to CWLand, stating that "Düsseldorf and the Davis Cup are high priorities this year. I had a great Team Cup last year and enjoyed my trips with the team to Germany; even if political developments have weakened the team, we have one of the world's strongest doubles pairings, and should go in as favourites in the play-offs." He named injuries and the as yet unscheduled play-off match as the largest threats to a big team title this year.

When asked about the political problems of his planned doubles pairing with Jamee Hancianu, who has been fronted by the East Robbham regime as a star athlete of the new era, Oxenstierna emphasised that "all of us have friends in the so-called democratic republic. It is important that we keep all ties that the regimes allow alive."

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