Stuttgart; Båstad; Manta Challenger (SF) - July 13-19 Season I
MercedesCup
Quarterfinals - Stuttgart
Men's Singles (
Seeds -
Finals -
Top Half -
Bottom Half)
Men's Doubles (
Draw)
CWLand's
Randy Smeltz has fallen well short of expectations in a disappointing display in the first semifinal of the
MercedesCup in Stuttgart. The world number twenty came into his match with high hopes of causing an upset against top seed
Daniel Páez Blanco, but had his aspirations cut from underneath him in a poor first set. Smeltz has come under criticism in the past for his defensive play, and such a game plan came completely unstuck as the world number one crushed the fifth seed in just twenty-eight minutes in a dominant opening set. Smeltz managed just six points on the Blanco service in the opener as Blanco made all the play with dominance from both the baseline and the net. The second set was a much better display from Smeltz as both players struggled on service. With his own serve broken twice, Blanco one-upped the CWLander with another three breaks of service as he raced to an eighth career final with a
6-0 7-5 thrashing.
There were no surprises in the other semifinal as
Illya Altman smashed Russian
Gregor Gorshkov in straight sets. Gorshkov's aggressive style has won him many fans this week, and after dropping the first set 4-6 many expected another comeback. But there was no such comeback against the level-headed Altman who took complete advantage of the error-ridden game of the tall Russian; Gorshkov's service percentage falling to a dismal 38 per cent. He was never going to win from there and sure enough collapsed in a heap as Altman advanced to a second career final with a
6-4 6-0 win.
- Seeded players out: Randy Smeltz.
Spain's
Ion Andueza and
Sanchez Emelio will head into tomorrow's final as favourites to claim their maiden career titles, but will have to account for locals
Manfried Manz and
Walter Schiller after contrasting semifinals. The German pairing had little trouble in disposing of
Denis Rodrigues and
Roberto Santos in straight sets
6-2 6-3, whilst the second seeds were made to come from a set down to beat
Artem Krohmal and
Merab Shvelidze. The tight contest was decided late in the match tiebreaker as Andueza finished the match off with a backhand volley to secure a
4-6 6-4 (13-11) win.
- Seeded teams out: Artem Krohmal / Merab Shvelidze.
Catella Swedish Open
Quarterfinals - Båstad
Men's Singles (
Seeds -
Finals -
Top Half -
Bottom Half)
Men's Doubles (
Draw)
Third seed
Jefferson Drake has pulled off arguably the biggest win of his career and tomorrow will attempt to claim the biggest title of his career after upsetting world number four
Radivoj Daneu in Båstad. Fresh off claiming both titles last week in Newport, Drake booked his place in a fourth singles final - this time in a draw full of high quality opposition. Whilst still not overly comfortable on clay, the world number thirteen more than matched it from the baseline against the left-handed Serbian who was given a rude awakening in the opening set as his service was broken on three occasions. Whilst Drake also struggled on serve, he did enough to secure the one set to love lead before quickly finding himself down 0-3 in the second. Daneu went on to take that set 6-2 and looked like heading into the decider with all the momentum. But Drake hit back and in the longest set of the match showed no signs of being jaded despite the amount of tennis he has played over the past weeks; advancing to the final with a
6-3 2-6 6-3 win.
He will face Italy's
Carlo Amato in the final tomorrow after the fourth seed also surprised in a win over second seed
Joszef Boros of Hungary. In a clinical display, the impressive Italian played some remarkable tennis and sent a real warning to Drake with a
6-3 6-3 win.
- Seeded players out: Joszef Boros; Radivoj Daneu.
Drake won't, however, be able to do the double for the second week in a row as he and partner
Martti Korpinen fell in three sets to
French Open champions
Hugh James and
Ralph Robinson. In the third installment of their exciting series of battles, the Americans looked far and away the better side early as they romped to a one set lead on the back of some brilliant serving from Robinson. But the third seeds hit back and came out in the second set more determined to stick with their American counterparts. Their persistence paid off as they managed to steal the second set in a tiebreaker to force the contest to a match tiebreaker. But it was the second seeds who got the jump on their opponents to take a 4-0 lead; the CWLand duo unable to claw that back as James and Robinson advanced
6-2 6-7(2) (10-7). They now face off against
Hayden and
Ross Onwye who will look to rectify a 0-2 record in finals (0-4 in all finals for Ross Onwye) after their
6-4 6-3 win over
Boris Denisov and
Denis Isaev.
- Seeded teams out: Jefferson Drake / Martti Korpinen.
V Manta Open - Trofeo Ricardo Delgado Aray
Quarterfinals - Manta
Men's Singles (
Finals -
Top Half -
Bottom Half)
Men's Doubles (
Draw)
Jojo Mustard can't win easy, but he's still getting the job done as he advanced to a maiden Challenger final in Ecuador. The world number 32 again was tested by lower ranked opposition; Czech
Jiri Gross testing the top seed in three. Mustard looked the best he has this tournament in the first set as he eased to take the first set 6-3, before being stunned in the second by the world's number 168. But after dropping the second 2-6 and being level at 5-5 in the decider, Mustard again pulled out another big effort to steal victory from the jaws of defeat
6-3 2-6 7-5. He now faces Newport quarterfinalist
Randy Bruce after the American beat Kazakh
Ilja Nesterov in straight sets.
- Seeded players out: Jiri Gross.
Mustard and
Heath Davis would later advance to their first final as a team after smashing third seeds
Roel Hervelle and
Jerzy Kosecki in straight sets. After surviving a scare in the quarterfinals, Davis and Mustard were keen to avoid any such problems in the semifinals as they romped to a massive
6-0 6-3 win. They now face Canadian pair
Tino Boytchuk and
Rory Cross in the final after they took a three-set win over Kazakh duo Nesterov and
Eugeny Tagiev.
- Seeded teams out: Roel Hervelle / Jerzy Kosecki.