CricketWeb Tennis - Season I

[SirBloody Idiot]

Pickford Cup
Tuesday - Pickford (CWLand)

Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4)
Men's Doubles (Doubles)

• Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard are set for an all-CWLand third round clash for a spot in the Pickford Cup quarterfinals after both recorded first-up victories. Davis overcame a determined comeback from Israel's Tal Cohen to prevail in three sets; the world No. 45 looking in ominous form in the first set before letting the Israeli No. 1 back into the match in the second. But he managed to find his steel in the decider to secure a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 win and to regain some much needed singles form. Mustard meanwhile built on his momentum from Clowich with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Lee Inmin. The Korean looked a step behind Mustard at all times who seems to be hitting his straps at the right time.
• Spas Delev likewise seems to be finding his best tennis at the perfect time after smashing Ivan Genov in straight sets. The tenth seed, who made the the final in Halle and the quarterfinals in Miami, has struggled to regain his form and was outdone by an inspired Delev whose aggressive tennis has seen him become a crowd favourite in Pickford. The 6-2, 6-4 upset sets up a third round clash with Jamaican Oneil Stewart who returned to the winner's list with a 6-0, 6-4 demolition of Zhenyu Fok.
• It was not the same story for Rob Bowenburg, though, as his topsy-turvy season saw him suffer a shock loss to Australian Adam Murray. Bowenburg has had a real battle with the Australian players over the past month, and started poorly as Murray broke service in the second game of the first set. Whilst Bowenburg managed draw level to 3-3, Murray's persistance forced Bowenburg into errors as the Aussie took the first 6-3. Bowenburg struck back in the second with a late break, but still struggled on service as Murray shot out to 3-0 in the third. The crowd did all they could to will Bowenburg back into the contest, but it wasn't enough as Murray secured a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 upset.
• Finally, a solid performance from Roy Daniels wasn't enough to avoid defeat against fifth seed Morgan Carter. Daniels clearly struggled in the step up in intensity from Sunday, and battled on service against the 28-year old American. In a press conference yesterday, Daniels noted the unpredictableness of Carter, but was left struggling as Carter returned well and served consistently in a well-rounded performance to pick up a 6-4, 6-4 win. He now faces France's Pierre L'Estrange who has looked shaky since returning from a broken ankle. L'Estrange dropped the second set against little known Dutchman Ronald Bergsma, but eventually won out 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

• Seeded players out: Rob Bowenburg; Ivan Genov; Pascal Schmidt.

• Later in the day, second seeds Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard showed their singles matchup will not result in any hard feelings as they comfortably accounted for fellow CWLanders Rob Bowenburg and Scotland Rivers. Gaining confidence from their performance in Clowich, Davis and Mustard cohesively put away the makeshift pair 6-2, 6-3. Bowenburg will link up with Jarkko Maxum next week in Nixonstown, whilst Davis and Mustard face Romanian duo Viorel Iftime and Marius Micu who saved two match points to win 5-7, 7-5, 13-11 against Julian Day and Denis Isaev.

• Seeded players out: None.

---

Ballsed up a bit because I forgot this is a 48 draw and began on the Sunday, so this was meant to go with the last update. I'll do day-by-day for this week because Pickford, quallies and Langforth have completed rounds on the Wednesday. Anyway, we're up to date to the Wednesday now.
​

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Wow. Its going to be a great game against El Mustardo. With my form and his superior ranking, he's gotta be the favourite, but we know each other's strengths and weaknesses after our doubles campaign, so it could shape up to be really, really close.

Good luck, Mustard. But I'll be hoping to take you down, no offence!

Plus another 6 - 0 set for the statisticians there.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Pickford Cup
Wednesday - Pickford (CWLand)

Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4)
Men's Doubles (Doubles)

• Eleventh seed Heath Davis has advanced to his first ATP semifinal since Zagreb back in February after upsetting doubles partner Jojo Mustard in straight sets in a good natured third round clash of the Pickford Cup. Davis, whose ranking has slided thirteen spots since February, played perhaps his best singles tennis all season as he out-played Mustard in a 6-4, 6-4 win. Davis served well and, more importantly, returned brilliantly as he outgunned Mustard with his superior firepower which, for once, was on target. Mustard meanwhile played conservatively as he struggled to get any momentum against the constant barrage from the other side of the net. Davis' victory sets up a quarterfinal clash with Henry Charles who replicated his second round result with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Julian Day.
• Elsewhere, Spas Delev was unable to keep the pressure up on Jamaica's Oneil Stewart as he succumbed to a disappointing straight sets loss. The Roland Garros quarterfinalist was tested in the first set by Delev who managed to break serve twice. This was replicated by the world No. 35 who took the set to a tiebreaker; edging clear at the most important time to take the first set 7-6. That was the end of Delev's resistance as his focus turned from a struggle against Stewart to a struggle with himself; his unforced error count sharply rising as he failed to cause the Jamaican any problems; Stewart closing out the second set in 24 minutes to secure a comfortable 7-6(4), 6-0 win.
• Second seed Zoltán Varga's form leading up to the CW Open continued its inconsistency as he struggled to a three-set win over Thailander Atthaphol Sae-ul. The Wimbledon semifinalist dropped the second set 2-6 and looked on the brink of a catastrophic exit as Sae-ul broke in the first game of the third. But Varga struck back and then clung to another service break as he escaped with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win. The biggest name to fall was Morgan Carter as the fifth seed was upset by France's Pierre L'Estrange 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Third seed Almen Benaglio also found himself on the brink of defeat, before coming back from a set and a break down to beat thirteenth seed Toby Brookes 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

• Seeded players out: Wayne Boyd; Toby Brookes; Morgan Carter; Jojo Mustard; Atthaphol Sae-ul.

• It was a double blow for Delev as he and partner Roman Dorogan pushed Vladimir Gryzlov and Oleg Puder, but ultimately fell just short as the Russian duo advanced to the second round. After a convincing second set, Delev and Dorogan looked on the verge of pulling off a comfortable victory, and at 6-6 in the match decider seemed to be the more likely to win. But a double fault from Dorogan handed the Russians an opening that they gleefully accepted to secure a 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 win.
• In the upset of the day, top seeds Tal Cohen and Raz Teper continue to spiral southwards since their Roland Garros finals appearance after they were beaten in straight sets by Bulgarians Ivan Genov and Yordan Zakov. The Bulgarian duo also knocked off the then second seeds in the first round at Wimbledon, and a meek display from the Israelis ensured it would happen again as Genov-Zakov prevailed 6-2, 6-4. Elsewhere, Boyd Mulenga and Adam Murray finally produced their first tour victory; improving their record to 1-4 with a 6-1, 3-6, 10-1 thrashing of Rod Bosnar and Toby Brookes.

• Seeded players out: Tal Cohen/Raz Teper.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

CW Open
Days 3 - Nixonstown (CWLand)

• David Briggs is just one win away from a historic berth in the CW Open main draw, but France's Benoît Rio stands in his way after the latter's come-from-behind win over Algeria's Khaled Moussaoui. Briggs was on the verge of a disappointing defeat after dropping the second set 0-6 to France's Mikel Fosdike, before staging a remarkable turnaround to claim the third with a late break and to secure an upset 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 victory. If Briggs wins, he will be the first qualifying wildcard to advance to a main draw this season.
• Elsewhere, Vladimir Stakhanov will look to join his compatriot in the main draw when he plays Niko Ulemek tomorrow. Stakhanov stunned American 23rd seed Sam Lazzeri in straight sets in a dominant display early on Wednesday morning. His Croatian opponent in the qualifying round, however, also looks in ominous form after a big win over Germany's Marcus Heindrich.
• Unfortunately, Randy Banks will not be joining those two in action tomorrow after he was outdone in three sets by Petr Brozik. The brave Banks turned in an admirable performance to lead 7-5, 1-0 before the nineteenth seed found his bearings and eased to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory over his disappointed opponent. Brozik now faces second seed Akihiko Veno for a spot in the main draw after Veno upstaged Jason Schmidt in three.

• Seeded players out: Mikel Fosdike; David Jones; Sam Lazzeri; Christian Mary; Oliver Thursfield; Cameron van der Cleer; Stipo Vučemilović; Sipko Wetzel.

---

Banks has the choice of looking to improve his singles ranking in a Challenger over the next week, or staying in Pickford to play doubles with Smeltz. If he goes the former, I think Alex Peters would make a decent partner for Smeltz over the coming week.
​

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Langforth River Masters
Wednesday Matches - Langforth (CWLand)

• 
  Juan Moreno def.
  
  Jean-Alain Depuis, 6-2, 3-6, 10-8

Roland Garros semifinalist Juan Moreno has prevailed in his final warmup ahead of next week's CW Open in a hotly-contested match with French veteran Jean-Alain Depuis. Moreno's form has taken a turn for the worse since moving to the hard courts with early exits in both Montréal and Pickford, but he looked to have rectified that early by dominating the opening set. However the 37-year old Depuis has made a habit of clinging on when he looks done, and he managed to break the world No. 9's service early in the second to send the match to a deciding tiebreaker. Whilst Moreno prevailed in a tight finish, the lengthy hitout will assist both men who will prey for a good draw to help them make in roads into the Nixonstown draw - Moreno in particular after he lost an all-important top eight seeding and could find himself against one of the top four in the fourth round.

​

• 
  Rick Henson def.
  
  Antonio Bachunelli, 7-6(3), 6-2

Former world No. 3 Rick Henson has completed his preparation for his tilt at a Grand Slam title next week with a straight sets win over Montréal semifinalist Antonio Bachunelli. Bachunelli missed out on a seeding by one spot (though will earn one should Daniel Páez Blanco withdraw), and looked to have rebounded from his first round thrashing in Pickford as he pushed the American in the first set. But Henson took the set in a tiebreaker and then controlled the second set to secure a confidence-boosting win. Henson next week will be seeded nineteenth and will hope to build on his promising form after missing the clay season through injury.
​

 

[Johnners]

Ouch, disappointing way to go out after 2 very good opening round matches. Oh well, at least I'm getting a little more consistency, and seem to have a game that allows me to match it with top 30-40 players.

 

[Mister Wright]

Man, that sux! At least that loss is tolerable - losing to my doubles partner, all the same it is disappointing. You'd better go all the way Heath.

Also, you better not let me down in the doubles now, unless you do...

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Guh. I said talking Davis down was a mistake, then he goes and does that...

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Yuss! That's a big win, and a bit of a boil-over. Mind you, I guess I had a lot of energy in reserve after a run of early exits, so I guess that would have helped against Jojo.

Hope to provide El Mustardo a consolation with a good run in the doubles, but I'm also hoping I can put up a repeat singles performance against Charles. I suspect he has mental strength issues a la Tim Henman.

 

[Simon]

I'dd happily play doubles with Banks next week, if as you mentioned he'd prefer to play the challenger then Peters is an acceptable partner for the tournament.

 

[NUFAN]

So, so stupid - can't believe Muray beat me.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Having just remembered this isn't the US Open, two questions:

1) Should we play first to two ahead or a tiebreaker in the fifth set?

2) Doubles - best of three like everything is becoming, or go the other route and play best of five?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

1) Should we play first to two ahead or a tiebreaker in the fifth set?
2) Doubles - best of three like everything is becoming, or go the other route and play best of five?

Should be two games lead in the fifth set and best of five in the doubles. This is a grand slam tournament and deserves to be the biggest test that a tennis player can face.

 

[NUFAN]

I would go 2 ahead in the fifth set singles.

Is there a way that the doubles can it be 3 sets at the start of the tournament and switch to 5 sets for the semi and final?

 

[Mister Wright]

I would go 2 ahead in the fifth set singles.

Is there a way that the doubles can it be 3 sets at the start of the tournament and switch to 5 sets for the semi and final?

I like Nufan's idea for the Doubles, I thought that was how it was anyway, but apparently not.

I like the fact that the US Open is different with a 5th set tiebreaker, but obviously will go with the consensus.

 

[Simon]

tie break in the 5th set for mine.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Having just remembered this isn't the US Open, two questions:

1) Should we play first to two ahead or a tiebreaker in the fifth set?

2) Doubles - best of three like everything is becoming, or go the other route and play best of five?

1) Two ahead (long set)

2) Best of three with long third set

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Pickford Cup
Thursday - Pickford (CWLand)

Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4)
Men's Doubles (Doubles)

• CWLand's Heath Davis is just one win away from competing in his maiden ATP level final after a come-from-behind upset against top seed Henry Charles. Davis, who will move up to No. 41 in the world regardless of the result of Friday's semifinal, started slowly against Charles as his service was broken in his first service game. The Monte Carlo finalist capitalised on the early break of the Davis service to take the first 6-3, but the signs were not all bad for the CWLander who recovered well to lose just five more points in the rest of the opening set on service. This recovery continued in the second as Davis snaffled a late break of the Charles service to level the match, before charging out to a 4-0 lead in the third to be on the brink of a career best performance. But Charles replied with a much needed break of serve and drew to 2-4 with a passing shot to give himself a slight opening. But Davis shut that close as he broke capitalised on his first match point to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win to advance to a maiden ATP semifinal. Standing in his way, however, is big Norwegian Kim Vollan who has developed a nasty habit of finding form before Grand Slams. The Wimbledon quarterfinalist overpowered Switzerland's Almen Benaglio in the quarterfinals to continue his dominant tournament, and his form on service suggests that tomorrow's match will be decided by who can keep the ball in play the longest.
• The other semifinal, however, is set to be played by two men who are in decidedly worse form than the top half. Fourth seed Becker Haas produced a solid 6-2, 6-4 win over Pierre L'Estrange to complete a much-needed turnaround of form after exiting first round in Montréal and Clowich. Second seed Zoltán Varga stuttered through his first two matches to finally find his form in a 7-6(3), 6-4 nailbiter against Jamaica's Oneil Stewart.

• Seeded players out: Almen Benaglio; Henry Charles; Pierre L'Estrange; Oneil Stewart.

• Second seeds Davis and Jojo Mustard are also through to the doubles semifinals after finally taking a match in the deciding tiebreaker. It looked unlikely to make it that far as the favourites raced through the opening set 6-4, before Romanian opponents Viorel Iftime and Marius Micu got their act together and took the second 6-4. But where the third set tiebreaker has been unkind to the Davis and Mustard this year, they managed to pull free from an 8-8 deadlock to secure an important 6-1, 4-6, 10-8 win.

• Seeded players out: None.

IPP Trophy
1st Round - Geneva (Switzerland)

Men's Singles (Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's Doubles (Doubles)

• Matt Bre's preparation for a CW Open assault may have ended in the second round at Geneva, but he will take a lot from it after pushing experienced clay courter Carlos Gonzá to two tiebreakers. Bre lacked the experience on the surface of his 30 year old opponent, but ensured the Colombian would be in for a dog fight as he served and returned well in a see-sawing encounter. The seventh seed eventually proved too good in the clutch situations to produce a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win to advance to a semifinal with top seed Aldo Marín.
• In the bottom half, the horror form of highly rated Colombian Johan Ortiz continued as he was stunned in three sets by little known Spaniard Eugenio Galindo.

• Seeded players out: Johan Ortiz.
• Seeded players out: Julio Rodriguez / Diego Rodriquez.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

CW Open Qualifying
Day 4 - Nixonstown (CWLand)

• Little known CWLander David Briggs has sensationally earned qualification to the main draw of the CW Open with another come-from-behind victory in Nixonstown. The wildcard entry had been pushed to three sets in his previous two matches, and to win passage through to the main draw would have to do it again as he dropped the first set 4-6 to France's Benoît Rio. But Briggs rallied to take the second set 7-5 and, showing confidence beyond his years, pulled another break out in a clutch part of the third despite having failed to capitalise on two match points earlier in the set. Serving out the match 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, Briggs will wait until tomorrow's draw to see whether his fantastic story will continue into the first week of the Open.
• Vladimir Stakhanov will not, however, join Briggs in the main draw after he was outdone by Croatia's Niko Ulemek. Ulemek claimed the first set within half an hour and made few mistakes from then on as Stakhanov struggled to stick with him. A late break saw Stakhanov create a brief opening by taking the set to a tiebreaker, but it wasn't enough to avoid defeat as Ulemek advanced to his third Grand Slam of the year with a 6-2, 7-6(3) win.
• In other action, Anothy Ficher gave up an almost unassailable lead to fall just short of qualifying as fellow American Justin Williamson advanced at his expense. Ficher lead 6-4 5-1 before Williamson took six games in a row and then the third set to advance to his first Grand Slam of the year 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. If there's one player no one in the draw wants to face, it is dynamic Latvian Ivars Emsis who muscled his way through Merab Shvelidze to earn qualification. The tallest man on the circuit had too much firepower for a red hot Georgian, and will be a man seeds will want to a void after a confident 7-6(5), 6-3 win. Emsis previously took eventual Wimbledon champion Darcy Cowan to five sets in the second round of the Championships in July.

• Seeded players out: Kasper Buur; Anothy Ficher; Jimmy Holland; Waylon Jones; Felipe Pelayo; Akihiko Veno; Václav Zeman.

 

[cameeel]

Stoked to be making my Grand Slam debut in the CW Open.

Should be a grand boost for the confidence, hopefully can cause an upset in the first round.