Week 3: Auckland [Altman], Sydney [Orlov], Kooyong [Špidlá], AOQ; Salinas [Langley]

[SirBloody Idiot]

Medibank International Sydney II
Quarter Finals - Sydney (Australia)

Men's singles (Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Draw)

• Eighth seed Jojo Mustard is out of the singles draw at the Medibank International after a three-set loss to third seed Henry Charles. Proving that last week's loss to Rod Bosnar was not an indicator of his quality (or lack thereof), the British No. 1 came from a set down to convincingly defeat the FR CWLand player in three. Mustard looked in good touch as he claimed the first set tiebreaker 7-1, but quickly found himself in a spot of bother as he fell to 1-3 in the second set. Charles was gaining in confidence, and took advantage of some lacklustre serving from Mustard to claim the second set 6-3. Needing to turn it around quickly, the eighth seed started the third set aggressively but was unable to hold service despite four deuces. That proved the death knell as he quickly lost confidence in himself and and errors finally began to flow as Charles set up a confident 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-0 win. He will face another player who came from a set down to win his quarter final next after Radivoj Daneu avenged his first round loss in Nixonstown last season against Oneil Stewart with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 win.
• All the seeds in the bottom half are gone in a hellacious quarter final day. World No. 13 Rick Henson was a favourite to take the tournament, but was given a thorough work out against fellow American Wayne Boyd. All three sets went twelve games, and after three hours of enthralling action Boyd took the match of the tournament 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-5. He will need to recover quickly for tomorrow's semi final against Russia's Dmitry Orlov who continued to plow through the draw with a big 6-2, 6-3 win over Davis Kennedy the fourth seed and Chennai finalist.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Rick Henson;
  
  Davis Kennedy;
  
  Jojo Mustard;
  
  Oneil Stewart.

• There was some consolation for Jojo Mustard as he and Spas Delev staged a remarkable turnaround to advance to the semi finals with a straight sets win over Jason Bradley & Roberto Santos. The CWLand pair were in dire trouble early as they fell down a break 2-5 to give their opponents a chance to serve for the match. But a big reversal of form allowed them to send the set to a tiebreaker and then bring up three set points in the ensuing tiebreaker. The needed all three to clinch the set, but stole an early break in the second to set up a 7-6(5), 6-4 win. They'd have hoped to face Lee Inmin & Qingdong Tsai in the semis, but the unseeded Asian pair were not able to take advantage of a set-to-love lead over the top seeds Sandro Bachunelli & Hicham Hadir despite saving three match points in the super tiebreaker.
• In the second semi final, second seeds Andrej Konc & Evgeniy Maximov continued to look good with a 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of Vladimir Gryzlov & Dmitry Orlov, and now set their sights on Eric & Rick Henson.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Whoh. Jamee got smashed.

Very happy with that win over Engel. Knew he'd be a tough opponent. Altman might be a bridge too far. Hopefully I can give him a decent match.

 

[Jarquis]

Uhh, very scratchy performance indeed. Will take the win though, hopefully hit the court running in my next match.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

AAMI Classic
Thursday - Kooyong (Australia)

The exhibition event in picturesque Kooyong got underway on Thursday, and was not short on surprises in a star-studded field.

• In a battle between last week's champions, World No. 3 Radek Špidlá continued his excellent early season form as he came from a set down to beat East CWLand's Randy Smeltz. Špidlá's aim has been to go one better than last year where he lost in the final to Jason Hall, and he started slowly in his first match since touching down in Australia as the Brisbane champ picked up where he left off on Sunday by taking the first set 6-3. The monster Špidlá serve wasn't on early, but it was from then on as he held ten games in a row to completely shut Smeltz out of the match to advance to tomorrow's semi finals with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. Špidlá has so far claimed an exhibition crown in Abu Dhabi and the ATP 250 in Doha, and has expressed confidence about his form heading into the Australian Open.
• In the other matches, the shock of the day came from Hungary's József Boros who blew a set-to-love lead against Portugal's Tiago Matías. Outside of a surprise run at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris last year, Matías has been a liability on the hard surface but played economical tennis to beat the usually consistent Boros. Boros was followed out of the main field by third seed Rasmus Olesen who was tamed in three by Juan Moreno. The Argentine has been on a slippery downward slope since going well into the second week at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and fell first round in Chennai. He came back well here, though, and despite dropping the second set 0-6 took the win 6-3, 0-6, 6-4. Finally, fourth seed Dwayne Murdoch looked in rare touch as he upstaged fiery Italian No. 1 Carlo Amato 6-4, 6-4.

The draw for next week's Australian Open will occur following the quarter final fixtures in Salinas.

 

[Johnners]

(y) gonna win this

 

[Mister Wright]

Very disappointed to be out of the singles in Sydney, especially after winning the 3rd set. However, it is very pleasing to be hitting some fantastic doubles form heading into the open. With all efforts now on the doubles there are high hopes...

 

[Matteh]

Very happy with that singles win, doubles win helps fill the coffers with a bit more cash.

 

[Simon]

Not too disappointed with that result, it's all about match practice here. On that note Nick, is there any way I can withdraw from the tournament after my next match?

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Not too disappointed with that result, it's all about match practice here. On that note Nick, is there any way I can withdraw from the tournament after my next match?

Yeah that's no worries.

 

[Simon]

Yeah that's no worries.

Excellent, will give me a few extra rest days at the casino before the open.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Australian Open - Qualifying
1st Qualifying Round (Wednesday) - Melbourne (Australia)

• Wildcard entrant Pierre Rose has earned his first ATP points in the Open qualifying as he produced an upset win over world No. 256 Andriy Zhukov. The Ukrainian started strongly in his first match in Australia and managed to take the first set 7-5. But Rose struck back, and in a confident display took advantage of a loose drop shot from Zhukov to earn a decisive break and to send the match to a decider. There he proved far too good for the Ukrainian who was broken twice as Rose comfortably served out a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 win. It gets tougher for him, though, as eighth seed and Sao Paolo finalist Fernando Aguero awaits following his 6-2, 6-4 win over Nikolay Ryzhikov of Russia.
• The seeds in the top half had a poor day, and top seed and world No. 115 Felipe Menon was the biggest casualty as he was beaten by France's Joseph Tessier 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. 22nd seed Mario Timko followed him out in a disappointing display with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 loss to Justin Williamson.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Felipe Menon;
  
  Andy Russell;
  
  Mario Timko.

Australian Open - Qualifying
1st Qualifying Round (Thursday) - Melbourne (Australia)

• Eleventh seed Martti Korpinen may be more well-known for his doubles pedigree, but it did not stop him earning a place in the second round of qualifying with a tight win over Australian wildcard Harry Bavister. In an unconvincing performance, Korpinen was stunned early by the youngster who snatched a late break of service to take the opening set 7-5. The second was just as tight, but Korpinen managed to keep his head on service and send it to a tiebreaker; one he served well in to take 7-4. The deciding set could have been dangerous for Korpinen, but Bavister had failed to take his chances and looked less impressive as Korpinen surged to a 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-1 win. Korpinen now faces Dutchman Marc Lubbers who easily beat countryman Ronald Bergsma 7-5, 6-0.
• Alternate Phoenix Wleft put up a fight in his first round clash, but could not overcome world No. 205 Pat Ambrose over three sets. After debuting on the rankings at No. 301 last week, Wleft started strongly in an attractive first set that he took 7-5. But Ambrose's experience in these conditions proved to be Wleft's undoing as the DR CWLand new kid fell to a frustrating 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 loss.
• In the other big loss, fourteenth seed Michael De Kinsele was shocked by little known Hungarian Imre Medgyessy 6-4, 0-6, 6-0 in a bizzare affair.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Paul Arroyo;
  
  Michael De Kinsele.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Salinas Challenger 1
3rd Round - Salinas

Salinas, Ecuador again proved a happy hunting ground for competitors from the two fledgling CWLand states. One player in particular enjoyed a massive boil-over.

• Marcuss Deane faced what was on paper a much easier game than his second round victory over the 12th seed. Local qualifier Michael Chala, however, came in to the match on the back of a significant straight-sets triumph over 7th seed Massimo Prodi in the previous round. His early form, however, was clearly lacking as Deane strolled to a five set to love lead. However, in a massive turnaround of fortune, Deane lost his next two service games to bring Chala right back in it at 5 - 4. At the third time of asking, Deane held his serve to take the set. However, a shaken up Deane struggled to gain traction in the 2nd set. Concentrating too hard on holding his own faltering serve, he didn't make any progress on Chala's. As such, Chala was able to press the Deane serve hard and gain another couple of breaks. A timely call for the trainer at a break down in the 3rd saw yet another reversal of fortunes in a topsy-turvy match for Deane. Whether he had an injury or not is anyone's guess, but after the treatment he looked a different player and waltzed through the third set to win 6 - 4, 1 - 6, 6 - 2.
• Mat Mitchell had enjoyed a successful outing in the previous round against the 14th seed Rafael Fernando. However, 3rd seed Johan Ortiz was sure to be another step up for the East CWLander. However, the form that Mitchell had gained in his previous outing carried forward into the match as he proceeded to dominate Ortiz in a display of raw talent and aggression that wow'ed the local fans. Ortiz never made an impression on the Mitchell service and struggled on his own, despite making relatively few errors. Mitchell progressed 6 - 2, 6 - 2. Mitchell will feel very confident of overcoming Marcuss Deane in another classic East vs. West battle in the next round.
• Finally Rick Langley suffered another long, tiring slog against 11th seed Christopher Durand. Following the gruelling 3-setter against Scalforo in the 2nd round, another long 3-setter followed by a doubles encounter was not really what Langley was after. The match was characterised by very few break opportunities and an unusually low error rate. The standard of tennis maintained by both players was of the highest standard and it was no surprise that the two breaks of serve that same in the first two sets were when a player was able to launch off a platform of a rare error. The third set was equally tough, with the match eventually proceeding to a tie break. With the break nip and tuck and poised at 6 - 5 to Langley, and both players visibly tired, it was a real shame that the match ended on a double fault. Durand fell to his knees, shattered, but was lifted by the firm handshake and embrace of Langley. 4 - 6, 6 - 4, 7 - 6 (7 - 5).
• It may prove tough for Langley to make further progress against 2nd seed Oleg Puder in the quarterfinals as the Russian thrashed David Lebegue 6 - 0, 6 - 0.
  

• Seeded players out: Johan Ortiz (3, COL) Vaclav Zeman (4, CZE), Domingo Gutierrez Gomez (6, PUR), Christopher Durand (11, FRA) .

Salinas Challenger 1
2nd round - Doubles - Salinas

• Koal Kao & Mat Mitchell fell out of the doubles tournament in a straight sets defeat the 4th seeds Doug Plunkett & Anthony Weatherby. The match could easily have swung the other way as the British duo only managed a single break in each set to progress 7 - 5, 6 - 4.
• If Richard Langley and Ninteh Doh were after an easy game against Austrian pairing Roland Winkler and Philipp Dlopst then they were left disappointed. The first two sets went the full distance with a break each way at the end of each sets throwing the match into a tie breaker. Having played 3 sets in the singles earlier in the day, both Langley and Doh showed serious signs of tiring and Langley collapsed in a heap, dehydrated from the Ecuadorian sun towards the end of the 2nd set. With the Doh and Langley in conference about continuing the match, Langley was able to take on fluids and continue into the match decider. That too went the full distance before Langley smacked a return from the Dlopst serve down the tramlines to win the match 7 - 5, 5 - 7, [12 - 10]. Doh in particular looked in serious strife at the end of the match, and questions will need to be asked as to whether this pairing will continue in the doubles whilst both are making progress in the singles draw.
  

• Seeded players out: None .

 

[Jarquis]

In someseriously sctratchy form... managing to get the win though

 

[Matteh]

Keep the scatchy form up

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Heineken Open II
Semi Finals - Auckland (New Zealand)

Men's singles (Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Draw)

• Illya Altman of the Ukraine has continued his fine run through the Heineken Open draw in Auckland by advancing to the final with a straight sets win over Heath Davis. Altman hadn't lost a set in either of his previous two matches, but was given his sternest test yet against an in-form Davis and a crowd that claimed Davis as their own. In a tense first set, Altman looked strong on service and managed to scrape his way to a tiebreaker where he earned a big minibreak of service with an aggressive forehand winner off a Davis second serve. The small gap was enough for Altman to eek out the first set, but he quickly found himself on the back foot in the second as Davis broke to lead 2-0. But Altman kept plugging away, and was rewarded in the fifth service game as he managed to draw the set back on service; a place it stayed until 5-5. Davis had the chance to go ahead 6-5, but netted a forehand from the back of the court and allowed Altman to end up breaking with a typically classy backhand slice. Serving for the match, Altman had no troubles in keeping his streak of sets alive as he advanced 7-6(5), 7-5. Davis, meanwhile, will have his fingers crossed for a pleasant draw at Melbourne Park - a draw which occurs today.
• Italy's Antonio Bachunelli has booked his place in a second straight ATP final as he advanced from his semi final match up against Switzerland's Almen Benaglio. Although narrowly missing out on a seeding for next week's Open, Bachunelli will enter the week ranked inside the top 30 for the first time in his career. The third seed looked on song early as he clinched the first set 6-3, but the aggressive Bachunelli won points at key moments to surge back into the match and to take it 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. Bachunelli will now hope to go one better than last week in Queensland as he faces Altman in the final as an underdog.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Almen Benaglio;
  
  Heath Davis.

• Illya Altman will be pulling double duty in tomorrow's finals day as he and Gregor Gorshkov unexpectedly booked a place in the final of the doubles draw. They proved too good for Denis Inomov & Rustam Toshpulatov in a tight 6-4, 5-7, (10-8) win and now face second seeds Ion Andueza & Sanchez Emelio who squeezed past Artem Krohmal & Merab Shvelidze 6-1, 2-6, (13-11).

• Seeded players out:
  
  Artem Krohmal &
  
  Merab Shvelidze.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Medibank International Sydney II
Semi Finals - Sydney (Australia)

Men's singles (Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Draw)

• Top seed and World No. 4 Radivoj Daneu has continued his solid early season form by booking a place in Saturday's Medibank International final with a straight sets win over Britain's Henry Charles. The English third seed had bounced back from a horror start in Brisbane with some good form in Sydney, but looked a class below Daneu in the first set which he dropped 3-6. He managed to lift his game in the second to send it to a tiebreaker, but continued to suffer with a lack of penetration on his first serve - something that will keep him from really contending with the big boys of the game. Despite holding a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker, Charles could not maintain control over the top seed and fell 6-3, 7-6(6).
• Russia's Dmitry Orlov has secured his place in the world's top fifty as his dynamite run through the bottom half continued to the final. The world No. 48 had beaten the likes of Champion and Kennedy already, but fell a set down to a less credentialled opponent in Wayne Boyd. The only stepped the match up another gear and it was the Russian who prevailed in a tense three-set affair to move to his maiden tour final 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Henry Charles.

• After a good week together, Spas Delev & Jojo Mustard came to a screeching halt in their semi final affair on Friday. Top seeds Sandro Bachunelli & Hicham Hadir showed glimpses of the form that saw them claim the Wimbledon title as they taught the makeshift pair a tennis lesson in straight sets. The mixed CWLand pair never really got rolling, and it was the Italian-Moroccan duo that eased to a 6-1, 6-4 win to move to their first final since last October in Metz.
• The big story, though, was the victory to injury-plagued brothers Eric & Rick Henson. The American pair announced that Sydney would be one of the few non-Grand Slam or Masters Series events they'd compete in, and looked in fine form as they ousted second seeds Andrej Konc & Evgeniy Maximov. Looming as a real threat as an unseeded pair in the Australian Open, the Hensons romped it home in the super tiebreaker to secure a 6-4, 3-6, (10-5) win and a place in tomorrow's final.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Andrej Konc &
  
  Evgeniy Maximov.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

AAMI Classic
Semi Finals (Friday) - Kooyong (Australia)

• Radek Špidlá will tomorrow look to complete the perfect warm up to the Australian Open as he booked a place in the final of the AAMI Classic in Kooyong. The World No. 3 had already claimed an exhibition title in Abu Dhabi and a 250 in Doha (both coming with very lucrative paydays), and looked intent on making it three from three as he easily beat Dwayne Murdoch. The African-American fourth seed was unable to dictate proceedings as well as he'd normally like, and made too many errors to avoid an inevitable 6-3, 6-4 loss.
• Fifth seed Juan Moreno goes into the Australian Open with little pressure; in fact he has just ten first round points to defend and his ranking is unlikely to suffer. That being said, the Open gives him a chance to arrest his downward slump since his quarter final appearance at Wimbledon and also to avoid again falling first up a seeded player folllowing showings in Melbourne and Nixonstown last season. In his semi final he proved that the loss first up in Chennai was not indicative of his form as he survived a tough clash with fellow clay court favourite Tiago Matías. Despite dropping the second set, Moreno regained control to win through to the final 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2.

AAMI Classic
1st Round Play-offs (Friday) - Kooyong (Australia)

• An otherwise satisfactory lead up to the Australian Open has taken a disappointing turn for the worse for world No. 17 Randy Smeltz as he was absolutely thrashed by Carlo Amato. Taking the opportunity to try out some new things in his play-off match, Smeltz never really looked like getting on the board against Amato and very nearly didn't were it not for the fourth game of the second set. Amato, meanwhile, used this match as a litmus test for the Australian Open and the differing intensities proved the difference in a 6-0, 6-1 cakewalk. The DR CWLand player has played seven matches now in his warm up for the Open, and may very well withdraw from tomorrow's seventh place match. In that case, Australian youngster Harry Thompson will compete against whoever Smeltz's opponent would have been.
• It was a similar story between József Boros and Rasmus Olesen as the Dane fell one and one. The two have traded the world No. 7 position regularly over the past months, and it was the Hungarian who looked the superior player in a tame match. Like Smeltz, Olesen used the match as a chance to try things out and to entertain the crowd; not too much as he fell to the humourless Hungarian 6-1, 6-1.

AAMI Classic
Exhibition Match (Friday) - Kooyong (Australia)

• After touching down in Melbourne following a second round loss in Auckland two days ago, world No. 1 Jason Hall has completed his Australian Open preparation with a straight sets mauling of woefully out of form Colombian Diego Hurtado. Having already failed to defend his Brisbane title and bowing out early in Sydney, Hurtado was easily beaten by Hall in just over an hour. Whilst the 6-3, 6-1 scoreline might not have necessarily been representative of how close the first set at least was, Hall will take renewed confidence into his Australian Open defence following a solid victory.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Disappointing, but that could easily have swung the other way. A decent work out ahead of the open. Think I need to make decent progress there (3rd round?) to match last year's performance.

 

[Simon]

Bit of a waste of time that match, got the practice I needed against Spidla.

 

[Mister Wright]

Bummer. However, a much better tournament than in Brisbane.