CricketWeb Tennis - Season I

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Fair play to the Ox, clearly the still the superior player.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Player in Focus: Sven Oxenstierna

Cheers for the stats.

Forgot to say congrats to Rivers. Classy celebration.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Tough draw at Shanghai, but with decent form, I could cause a boil-over.

Disappointing to fall to the Onwyes in the doubles final, but the Davis/Mustard partnership again proving to be solid.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Tough draw at Shanghai, but with decent form, I could cause a boil-over.

Disappointing to fall to the Onwyes in the doubles final, but the Davis/Mustard partnership again proving to be solid.

Tough doubles draw too.

2R: Lee/Qingdong or Malachenko/Yarkin
QF: Likely Konc/Maximov
SF: Onwye/Onwye or Andueza/Emelio
​

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Shanghai ATP Masters
1st Round (Day 1) - Shanghai (China) - Indoor Hard

Men's singles (Finals - Seeds - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4)
Men's doubles (Top Half - Bottom Half)

• Sixteenth seed Randy Smeltz has overcome a sluggish start to take a victory over inform Finnish qualifier Lari Färkkilä in the first round in Shanghai. In his first match on hard courts since making the fourth round in Nixonstown, Smeltz looked scratchy as the world No. 67 took the first set 6-3. But Smeltz came back well; breaking in the third game of the second set and never looking back as he charged to victory 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Smeltz now faces Ion Andueza who impressed in his 6-3, 6-3 win over Ross Onwye.
• Unfortunately for Jamee Hancianu, his gutsy display was all for nought as he fell in a near three-hour slog against fifteenth seed and Wimbledon semifinalist Zoltán Varga. The Hungarian was vigourously tested by the Bucharest finalist, but managed to do just enough in the third set tiebreaker as his class shone through in a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(3) win.
• After a couple of unconvincing qualifying matches, Rob Bowenburg found the step up in class too much as he fell to world No. 25 Patrick Pascaul in straight sets. In his 27th tournament of the season, Bowenburg found it difficult to keep up with Pascaul who showed why his ranking doesn't represent his undoubted class at this level. The Metz champion held every game he served and returned well to advance to a massive second round clash with Rick Henson 6-2, 6-3. In a rematch of their five-set classic at the CW Open, Henson pulled off a tight 7-5, 6-4 win against Bulgaria's Ivan Genov.
• In the day's only upset, Colombian Diego Hurtado was stunned in three sets by world No. 101 Fok Zhenyu. In his first tournament since making the third round at the CW Open, Hurtado struggled to get into the swing of things and suffered a shock exit as an excited Fok advanced to a second round clash with world No. 7 Rasmus Olesen 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

• Seeded players out: None.

• The men's doubles draw got underway with two of the world's premier teams squaring off in an enthralling encounter. Once ranked the second best team in the world, Morton Blundell & Carlos Machado took the first set 6-0 against CW Open quarterfinalists Artem Krohmal & Merab Shvelidze. But the Ukrainian-Georgian pair fought back, and after stealing the second set in a tiebreaker waltzed home in the match decider to a stunning 0-6, 7-6(3), 10-4 boilover.
• Elsewhere, the horror season for Wayne Boyd & Morgan Carter continued as they fell to a 6-7(6), 1-6 defeat against Manfried Manz & Walter Schiller.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Shanghai ATP Masters
1st Round (Day 2) - Shanghai (China) - Indoor Hard

Men's singles (Finals - Seeds - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4)
Men's doubles (Top Half - Bottom Half)

• Sixteenth seed Randy Smeltz has bounced back from his shaky first round performance to advance to the third round with a convincing straight sets win over Spain's Ion Andueza. Smeltz was forced to come from a set down to beat Finnish qualifier Lari Färkkilä yesterday, but came out breathing fire against Andueza as he consistently hit the ball deep and forced Andueza to play a pushing game and take no control for himself. Whilst Andueza served well, he created few chances on Smeltz's serve and paid for it as Smeltz moved to the round of 16 with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Unfortunately for the CWLander, though, he faces a possible clash with top seed Jason Hall next match.
• In the day's biggest upset, tenth seed Miroslav Brdar crashed out in the battle of the big serves to Pickford champion Heath Davis. Both men looked on early as they held their first games to love, and it was little surprise that with just two breaks of serve in the first two sets that the match was sent to a decider. There both guys earned another break en route to being level at 5-5, where Davis held and then took advantage of a double fault from Brdar to secure a stunning 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 win.
• Eleventh seed Jefferson Drake was pushed by the younger of the Varga Brothers, János Varga, in a tight straight sets win on Centre Court. Drake struggled for rhythm at times against the Hungarian who, according to many pundits, hasn't shown his full ability in an injury-interrupted season. But Varga fell just short at the most frustrating times as Drake showed steel to show why he's won four titles this season; advancing 7-5, 7-6(2) to secure a second round clash with Norwegian giant Kim Vollan.
• As has happened far too often this season, world No. 30 Jojo Mustard showed flashes of brilliance and stretches of mediocrity as he was edged out in three sets by American Morgan Carter. Carter had won their previous meeting in the final in Indianapolis, and started well to take the first set 6-4. But Mustard quickly lifted several gears and looked to have finished Carter as he romped through the second set 6-0 inside half an hour. But the enigma that is Morgan Carter finally hit his straps in the decider; stealing an early lead and clinging on to advance to an All-American second round clash with Darcy Cowan 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.
• The only other seed to fall was twelfth seed Henry Charles who was beaten in straight sets by Serbia's Danijel Micic 7-6(4), 6-4. Micic looks to be hitting form at the right time, and has a real chance of advancing to the quarter finals with a handy draw.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Miroslav Brdar;
  
  Henry Charles.

• CWLand team Rob Bowenburg & Jarkko Maxum made a winning start in the doubles with an upset victory over Bulgarians Ivan Genov & Yordan Zakov. Genov and Zakov were quarter finalists at Wimbledon, and looked in good touch as they came back to take the second set against the CWLanders 6-2. But Bowenburg and Maxum held firm to dominate the match tiebreaker and to snatch a 7-5, 2-6, 10-4 win to earn a rematch with compatriots Jefferson Drake & Martti Korpinen.

• Seeded players out: None.

​

Intersport Heilbronn Open
1st Round - Heilbronn (Germany) - Indoor Clay

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

• Qualifier Randy Banks picked up his biggest victory thus far in the first round at Heilbronn with a 6-3, 6-3 win over world No. 110 and sixth seed Dênis Rodrigues. Smeltz played brilliantly and made the most of his weekend form to charge into the second round where he will play Serbian Savo Petkoviä. There were hopes that he might face fellow CWLander Marcuss Deane, but the big server struggled on the indoor clay and was belted 6-3, 6-0.
• There will be an all-CWLand clash on Thursday, though, after seventh seed Roy Daniels and Matt Bre picked up wins. Daniels picked up an important win in the context of his injury interrupted season with a 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-4 win over Gjorgi Dinov, whilst Bre played well to edge a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Thailand's Adul Doungtong. A fortnight ago, Doungtong found himself a set up against Henry Charles in the semi finals in Bangkok.
• Tarragona Challenger champion Scotland Rivers continued his good clay form by taking a solid-yet-unspectacular win over Robert Isaacs. Rivers rarely broke stride as the South African just worked hard to stay in the match; winning 7-5, 6-4. Suryakant Singh wasn't so impressive, though, as he was easily beaten by third seeded Belarusian Denis Isaev 6-3, 6-2.
• With a Masters tournament this week, this Tretorn Serie+ tournament boasts a strong field; but after the first round the top two seeds were stunningly out. Oleg Puder was beaten in straight sets by countryman and world No. 202 Yevgeny Pushkov who proved too good in tiebreakers with a 7-6(7), 7-6(4) win. Meanwhile, American teen Strongth Badlee produced some fine tennis to upstage top seed Roberto Santos 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

• Seeded players out: Adam Murray; Oleg Puder; Dênis Rodrigues; Roberto Santos.

 

[Jarquis]

Got smashed... dire.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Crikey. That's gotta be one of my best victories to date. It was pretty unexpected, but I'm guessing that these guys ranked between 10-20 really don't want to draw the Heef in round 1.

 

[Blewy]

Suprised and Happy to have made it through to the 2nd Round in Germany... Clay isnt my favourite of surfaces but to pull off a good win like that is great...

 

[Simon]

Glad to have made it through, I think I'm in ok form and should give Hall a run for his money should I meet him.

 

[ripper868]

Maxum and Bowenburg in rematch with Korps and Drake....marketers dream tbh.

 

[Mister Wright]

I doubt whether Mustard will ever crack the top 20.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

8-3 for CWLand, not bad.

Good to get some rest, though. Tough draw, think Kennedy has a big title from somewhere and Davis should be pumped to breaking point in the third round.

 

[luffy]

Good win by Bre there. Tough match coming up against Daniels though.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Shanghai ATP Masters
2nd Round (Day 3) - Shanghai (China) - Indoor Hard

Men's singles (Finals - Seeds - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4)
Men's doubles (Top Half - Bottom Half)

• Heath Davis has produced his best performance yet at Masters level with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Nilikar Midid to advance to the third round. The big-serving CWLander did not look as sharp as he did yesterday against Miroslav Brdar, and dropped his second third service game to fall behind 2-4. However the Croat, looking to avenge his compatriot's loss, failed to take advantage of his lead as the fiery big man stormed back to secure the opening set 7-5. From there, Davis' serve was on and he never looked in trouble as he secured a break in the second set to advance comfortably.
• Elsewhere, eleventh seed Jefferson Drake lit up the court in a comprehensive straight sets thumping of big Norwegian Kim Vollan. Vollan has never really kicked on since his quarter final appearance at Wimbledon, and never looked interested against Drake who gave him no opportunities in a clinical display. The four time ATP tournament champion needs a performance against some of the big guns, and will have his first chance to do so against sixth seed József Boros tomorrow.
• A tough draw has proved to be the downfall of fifth seed Sven Oxenstierna as he was beaten in three by Canada's Davis Kennedy. Kennedy finally looks to have hit his straps after a mid-season slump saw him fall from No. 8 to No. 20 in the world. The Tokyo champion has been notorious for his sluggish starts to tournaments, and this time was caught napping by the aggressive Kennedy who backed up his semi final appearance last week in the same tournament to pick up an upset 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory.
• It was a big day for upsets, but the most comprehensive was Dwayne Murdoch as the thirteenth seed was smashed 6-1, 7-5 by compatriot Jason Bradley. In the same section, eighth seed Juan Moreno continues his brutal loss of form with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3 loss to Tiago Matías, whilst second seed Daniel Páez Blanco was forced to come from a set down to defeat brave local hope Zhijun Sun. In another upset, fourteenth seed Rick Henson was surprisingly edged out by France's Patrick Pascaul in straight sets, and faces rampant fourth seed Darcy Cowan who was far too good for Morgan Carter in his 6-1, 6-1 victory.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Rick Henson;
  
  Juan Moreno;
  
  Dwayne Murdoch;
  
  Sven Oxenstierna.

• French Open finalists Tal Cohen & Raz Teper were the only seeds to fall in the doubles draw as they were smashed by Artem Krohmal & Merab Shvelidze 6-1, 6-3. In the match of the day, second seeds Hayden & Ross Onwye were forced to fight hard to overcome inform locals Gai Kai & Lu Xun in a sensational 2-6, 6-4, 14-12 victory.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Tal Cohen &
  
  Raz Teper.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Useless.

Would have preferred to go out to a CWLander. Cowan or Hall to take out the tourney.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Another great win there. Midid looked a tough opponent on paper. But life doesn't get any easier from here. Kennedy is in ominous touch.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Shanghai ATP Masters
3rd Round (Day 4) - Shanghai (China) - Indoor Hard

Men's singles (Finals - Seeds - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4)
Men's doubles (Top Half - Bottom Half)

• Sixteenth seed Randy Smeltz put in a brave performance against world No. 1 Jason Hall, but ultimately fell short on Centre Court in third round of the Shanghai Masters. In Hall's first tournament since his CW Open triumph, the world's best player was made to work hard against the CWLander who took him deep inside both sets. Ultimately, though, Hall's class proved the difference between him and the German-born veteran who lacked the polish at key moments to take his opportunities as Hall secured a 7-5, 7-6(3) win. For Smeltz, he is starting to show at the tailend of the season that he has the ability to test the world's best players on hard courts as well following a successful clay season. Hall now faces Beijing champion Illya Altman after he continued his run of wins with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Danish star Rasmus Olesen.
• A disastrous third set saw Jefferson Drake join Smeltz in the loser's heap as he was beaten by sixth seed József Boros. The Hungarian looked in trouble after being broken three times in the second set by the eleventh seed who had all the momentum heading into the decider. But the 2-6 second set result gave Boros fuel to press on; taking little over half an hour to coast through the third set to a 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 win. The CW Open quarter finalist now has a tough task in the quarters in China, with world No. 3 Radek Špidlá his opponent. Špidlá came from a set down to defeat Zoltán Varga in a re-match of their Wimbledon semi final where Špidlá again came from a set down to win in five sets.
• The dream run for Heath Davis was the first of three losses for CWLand on Thursday as the world No. 37 fell in straight sets to Davis Kennedy. The Canadian could be forgiven for starting slowly after an upset win over Sven Oxenstierna yesterday, but was on song from the word go as he secured an early break of service. Davis meanwhile looked toothless when returning and managed only one break point on the Kennedy service in the first set compared to six by the Canadian against Davis. After dropping the first set, Davis looked to serve his way out of trouble but continued to drop key points as his first service percentage dipped toward a disappointing fifty. Kennedy, however, looked unflustered and eased towards to the quarters 6-4, 6-3. There, he will face France's Patrick Pascaul who followed up his upset victory against Rick Henson to beat fourth seeded teen Darcy Cowan 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(7).
• In the fourth quarter final, second seed Daniel Páez Blanco is set for a showdown with Serbian No. 2 Danijel Micic. Blanco produced solid tennis to defeat Jason Bradley 6-4, 6-3, whilst the unpredictable Micic was in sparkling touch as he thrashed Tiago Matías 6-1, 6-4.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Darcy Cowan;
  
  Jefferson Drake;
  
  Rasmus Olesen;
  
  Randy Smeltz;
  
  Zoltán Varga.

• There was some respite for Heath Davis in the doubles as he and partner Jojo Mustard came from a set down to beat Lee Inmin & Qingdong Tsai. The talented Asian pair who smashed Davis and Mustard in straight sets in Pickford about two months ago looked in fine form again as they eased through the first set 6-2. But Davis and Mustard finally woke from their slumber; breaking service twice in the second to send the match to a deciding super tiebreaker. There the CW Open champs overcame a spirited comeback to produce the goods; winning 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.
• Unfortunately for Jefferson Drake, there was no saving grace for he and Martti Korpinen as they bombed out in three sets to fellow CWLanders Rob Bowenburg & Jarkko Maxum. Drake and Korpinen breezed through their last meeting in Tokyo 6-4, 6-2, but something wasn't quite right here as Bowenburg and Maxum took the opening set. The fifth seeds hit back in the second to send the match to a super tiebreaker, and even had two chances to seal the match at 10-9 and 13-12. But the underdogs scrapped and fought back into the match to secure a stunning 6-4, 3-6, 15-13 boilover. They face third seeds Sandro Bachunelli & Hicham Hadir in the quarter finals in the biggest match of their careers.
• In what was billed as a big Centre Court match, top seeded team Hugh James & Ralph Robinson produced the goods with a 6-3, 6-1 thumping of world No. 2 singles player Daniel Páez Blanco and his partner Sergio Joaquín.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Jefferson Drake &
  
  Martti Korpinen;
  
  Ion Andueza &
  
  Sanchez Emelio.

Challenger results to come.
​

 

[Simon]

Bad day for CW.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Oh dear. Hammered by Kennedy. A very disappointing exit after a great couple of earlier matches. And not a good day for CWLand by any stretch of the imagination. Looks like Smeltz and Drake certainly had chances in their singles matches, but couldn't follow through.

This doubles draw ain't looking any easier either. Though its good to actually get a tie-breaker win against a decent team on the board.