CricketWeb Tennis - Season I

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I wonder if a similar simulation league could work for golf. I wonder if there's any software out there where you can edit players on the PGA tour and simulate tournaments day-by-day. I've no idea, however.

 

[ripper868]

I wonder if a similar simulation league could work for golf. I wonder if there's any software out there where you can edit players on the PGA tour and simulate tournaments day-by-day. I've no idea, however.

Would be gun. Matchplay ftw

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Eastbourne; 's-Hertengenbosch; Boodles Challenge (R32/R32) - June 14-20, I

AEGON International
Qualifiers - Eastbourne

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Top Half - Bottom Half)

Sixth seed Jojo Mustard has begun his attempt to bounce back from a disappointing exit in Queen's last week, with a straight sets victory over Czech Václav Zeman in the first round of the AEGON International in Eastbourne. Zeman, who as recently as the Australian Open earned a seeding, started solidly against the CWLander by managing to cling onto his service and stay level at 5-5. But the world number 32 looked easily the better player out of the pair, and it was in the eleventh game that he got his rewards by breaking the Zeman serve to love. After serving out the first set, Mustard started brightly in the second by quickly racing to a 2-0 lead. With Zeman faltering, the French Open quarterfinalist continued his charge into the second round by closing out the second set to seal a 7-5, 6-2 victory. His opponent will be French veteran Jean-Alain Depuis who has maintained a fantastic run of form since his great French Open.

Elsewhere, Spas Delev and Alex de Wet continued their lacklustre form in international series tournaments as both suffered first round defeats. Delev last week made it to the second round of Queen's, but started horribly in his matchup with Oscar Highsmith. After being bagelled by the local in the first set, Delev looked to avoid an embarrassing defeat as he fought hard to clinch the second set 6-4. But the CWLander was unable to pull off a spectacular comeback as the Brit regained his steel to break service early en route to a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win. Meanwhile, de Wet's record was extended to 2-6 after he fell in two tight tiebreakers to Fin Lari Färkkilä. De Wet was made to fight hard throughout qualifying, and looked in aggressive form against the Finnish number one. Much to his chagrin, though, de Wet blew the match in the two tiebreakers after easily looking like Färkkilä's equal - the Fin escaping with a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) victory to advance to a second round clash with Dmitry Orlov.

In other matches, second seed Zhijun Sun's shaky return from injury continued as he escaped with a three-set win against wildcard Leon Skinner. The Chinese number one dropped the first set in a tiebreaker, before playing his best tennis over the past couple of weeks to advance 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-2. Another man who failed to win a match last week was Almen Benaglio, and he too very nearly was beaten by a local wildcard. Scott Whitehouse put up a tremendous fight against the Swiss ace, but fell short as he threw away a 30-0 lead in the final game of the match to hand Benaglio a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 win.

• Seeded players out: None.

Ordina Open
Qualifiers - 's-Hertengenbosch

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Top Half - Bottom Half)

After ruing his luck in recent weeks, Rob Bowenburg finds himself with a clear path into the quarterfinals after a three-set nailbiter against Spanish sixth seed Sergio Joaquin. Joaquin, who was defeated by a qualifier in the first round in Warsaw last week, brought his form to Den Bosch as he failed to defeat the world number 71. The pair traded tiebreakers to begin with in what was an even encounter; Joaquin looked surprisingly competant on the clay surface despite his grinding style. But Bowenburg's more upbeat and aggressive game more than matched the Spaniard, and finally he got the all-important break of service to shoot ahead to a 4-2 lead in the third. With both players serving confidently throughout the rest of the match, it was Bowenburg who closed it out 7-6(5), 6-7(8), 6-4 to advance to a winnable second round clash with wildcard Wouter Veidman.

It gets harder from there for the CWLander who faces an imposing quarterfinal clash with top seed Radivoj Daneu. Daneu looked unstoppable early against Sipko Wetzel; but after taking the first set to love, he was tested by the world's number 126. Daneu now faces Latvian wildcard Ivars Emsis who has found himself in a bit of a purple patch of late now he's off the slower and more taxing clay courts of continental Europe. The world number 154, just one week after taking set from world number two Jason Hall, will head into the second round with a mountain of confidence of causing a boilover after he smashed Massimo Prodi 6-4, 6-1 after firing down twenty-four aces. It was a poor round for the seeds as Nilikar Midid was unceremoniously destroyed by Pierre L'Estrange, and eighth seed Toby Brookes gave up a one set lead against Zbiginiew Boniek en route to a defeat. In the final match of the round, second seed Juan Moreno bounced back from a first round exit in Halle by defeating AEGON International third rounder Mikel Fosdike in straight sets in a welcome return to form.

• Seeded players out: Toby Brookes; Sergio Joaquin; Nilikar Midid.

 

[Mister Wright]

Great to see Mustard into the 2nd round. Hopefully he can go futher.

 

[NUFAN]

Huge win against the 6th seed!! Greatest Tennis match of all time? probably not.

 

[Johnners]

FFS, might be best off playing challenger only to get a bit of form...

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON International
Second Round - Eastbourne

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Top Half - Bottom Half)

Sixth seed Jojo Mustard has again suffered a frustrating second round defeat on his favoured surface after bowing out to French veteran Jean-Alain Depuis. Just one week after bowing out to Dmitry Orlov in straight sets at the AEGON Championships, Mustard gave up a one-set lead to the 36-year old Frenchman to end a frustrating fortnight ahead of the Championships next week. Mustard played solid tennis early against the world number 74, but after taking the first set suffered from an inability to serve consistently. With his first serve percentage dropping to around fifty per cent, the world number 32 was made to pay as the dogged Depuis managed to scrape a late break in the second set to level the match at one a piece. Come the decider, Mustard again was broken in the very first game as Depuis pulled off a stunning passing shot to beat his opponent positioned at the net; a break of service which would again eventuate in the final game of the match as Mustard put a backhand wide to seal his exit 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Depuis' victory gives him a quarterfinal clash with out-of-form Chinese teenager Zhijun Sun who won a topsy-turvy match against Jean-Christophe Genghini. Mustard, meanwhile, will be forced to wait in hope to see whether he will earn a seeding next week.

Elsewhere, third seed Becker Haas fell in straight sets to surprise packet Tal Cohen. The world number 98 put a stop to Haas' only preparation ahead of Wimbledon in decisive fashion as he sealed a 7-5, 7-5 upset to book a showdown with Zoltan Varga in the quarters. Meanwhile, Swiss eighth seed Almen Benaglio finally found some consistency in a straight sets thrashing of Gregor Gorshkov, but will face a tougher test in the form of seventh seed Wayne Boyd in the quarterfinals.

• Seeded players out: Becker Haas; Jojo Mustard.

Ordina Open
Second Round - 's-Hertengenbosch

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Top Half - Bottom Half)

At the Ordina Open in s-Hertogenbosch, unseeded CWLander Rob Bowenburg has earned a place in his second career quarterfinal after easily accounting for local wildcard Wouter Veidman in his second round clash. Off the back of an upset win against Sergio Joaquin in the first round, Bowenburg came into his match with the Dutchman full of confidence. Veidman held service first up, but from there was no match for the exciting Bowenburg who controlled the court and ran hard in a straight sets win. After closing out the first set 6-1, The Lob was troubled early in the second as Veidman brought up two unlikely break points. But Bowenburg managed to save both, and reply with a break to love of his own as he cantered to a 6-1, 6-4 win. Bowenburg now faces top seed and world number three Radivoj Daneu in what seems to be an impossible matchup for the CWLander after Daneu did just enough to scrape past big-serving Latvian Ivars Emsis in two straight tiebreakers. Bowenburg's previous dalliance in the quarterfinals came at the Johannesburg Open earlier in the season, where he fell to top seed Zhijun Sun in an embarrassing 6-2, 6-0 defeat.

Meanwhile, third seed Danijel Micic looks on course for a semifinal showdown with countryman Daneu after he took no time to dispatch China's Li Ming-Wang. The tall Chinese player lacked any real weapons against the aggressive Micic who usually only toils against the more dogged and hard-hitting players. The volatile Serb will face his toughest test yet in the quarters against Zbiginiew Boniek who upset fellow Austrian Heinz Hainisch in straight sets. In the bottom half, Juan Moreno produced another straight sets victory over a French qualifier by edging past Christophe Durand; the second seed avoiding a quarterfinal with fifth seeded local Maarten Berg after the Dutchman fell in three to Hugh James. In the third quarterfinal, Pierre L'Estrange and Patrick Pascaul will square off in an intriguing all-French quarterfinal.

• Seeded players out: Maarten Berg.

Boodles Challenge
Buckinghamshire

Boodles Challenge Draw (Finals)

Day One: The Boodles Challenge at the Stoke Park Club got underway with one favourite winning, and the other bombing out in two exciting first round clashes. In the marquee match of the day, top seed and local hero Henry Charles continued to build up his Wimbledon aspirations after he picked up a straight sets victory over forty-year old Russian Vladimir Gryzlov. After a semifinal appearance at Queen's last week, Charles looked to build on that form against the eighth seed. It started well for the Brit as he broke service early to take a commanding 3-0 lead, and whilst Grzylov fought back well, he was unable to overturn the deficit. But the knowledgeable Stoke crowd were treated to a more competitive second set as it was Gryzlov who took the unlikely early break. But the oldest player on tour could not maintain his lead as Charles edged back into the contest and eventually sealed a 6-3, 7-5 win over the super-fit veteran.

His opponent in the semifinals will be sixth seed Paolo Mandonna who stunned American Morgan Carter in straight sets. With both men in scratchy form, it was the lanky sixth seed who started the best as he raced to a 4-1 lead early in the first. Carter could only hold service once more as Mandonna broke serve again to seal a set to love lead. In a closer second set, Mandonna again got the better of the world number thirty as he advanced to the quarterfinals 6-2, 7-5. Whilst Mandonna and Charles will square off on Thursday, Carter and Gryzlov will square off to earn a place in the fifth place playoff.

Day Two: Fourth seed Heath Davis has suffered an unwelcome start to his Boodles Challenge as he fell in straight sets to fifth seed Kim Vollan. With just two spots separating them on the world rankings, many expected a close encounter between the two power hitters, but were left sorely disappointed as the Norwegian crushed the CWLander. Davis last week fell in the second round at Queen's, and hoped to put in a better performance this week. That didn't start well as Vollan easily held his service to love, whilst Davis was dragged to three deuces before he managed to scrape level at 1-1. The Kiwi-born Davis then dropped service the game after to find himself perilously behind 1-3; Vollan going on to close out the first set comfortably. The second set saw Davis produce a better fight, but he was still overwhelmed by an on-song Vollan who, on his day, is nigh on impossible to stop. With eighteen aces under his belt, Vollan waltzed to the semifinals 6-2, 6-3.

His opponent will be second seed Rick Henson whose promising rehabilitation continued with a straight sets thrashing of Oliver Engel. The Luxembourg number one troubled Henson early by breaking serve in the third game, but quickly found himself on the back foot as Henson lifted a gear as he sounded out a warning to his competition. The world number eighteen took the first set 6-4, and went into the second with a mountain of momentum behind him as he cruised to a semifinal showdown with Vollan 6-4, 6-1. Henson, who injured his calf back in April, will hope to produce similar form next week to begin his ascent back inside the world's top ten.

 

[Mister Wright]

Sux to be Mustard. Far from impressive. Will probably drop out of seeding contention for Wimbledon now. Will likely need a break after the championships to spend some much needed time on the practice courts.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Poor week for CWLand, hope Bowenburg can make it his breakthrough though.

Wimbledon qualifiers starting soon?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

That, my friends, is exceedingly lame. Very disappointing.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Eastbourne; 's-Hertengenbosch; Boodles Challenge (QF/QF/SF) - June 14-20, I

AEGON International
Quarterfinals - Eastbourne

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

French veteran Jean-Alain Depuis' brilliant run of form has continued as he produced another three-set upset against seeded opposition; this time in the form of Chinese second seed Zhijun Sun. The 36-year old played superb tennis against a player nearly eighteen years his junior; breaking early in the first set to seal a set to love lead. Whilst the Chinese number one levelled the match at a set each with a solid second set display, his indifferent form cost him dearly in the third as Depuis ran out to an unassailable 3-1 lead en route to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win. His opponent in the semifinal will be Zoltan Varga who made light work of Israel's Tal Cohen. Cohen was an unlikely winner in the second round, but was outmatched by the Hungarian fifth seed who romped to a 6-1, 6-3 win.

The other semifinal will pit top seed József Boros against fourth seed Almen Benaglio. Whilst Boros accounted for eighth seed Dmitry Orlov in a tight two-set affair, Benaglio put in a more confusing display against seventh seeded American Wayne Boyd. The Swiss youngster has been in poor form since returning from injury, but looked like having hit form at the best possible time as he bagelled a stunned Boyd in the first set. But Boyd hit back in the second as he raced to a 5-1 lead to level the match at a set each; Benaglio being forced to do everything in his power to advance to the semifinals. His efforts paid off in the final game of the match; Boyd handing Benaglio three match points of which the Swiss star needed only one as he put away a fine forehand winner.

• Seeded players out: Wayne Boyd; Dmitry Orlov; Zhijun Sun.

Ordina Open
Quarterfinals - 's-Hertengenbosch

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

Rob Bowenburg has bowed out of the Ordina Open in Den Bosch over night after a straight sets defeat at the racquet of world number three Radivoj Daneu. Bowenburg looked to be living a repeat of his nightmare loss in the quarters at Johannesburg earlier in the season as Daneu raced to take the opening set 6-0 in just twenty-four minutes. Whilst The Lob worked hard, he was unable to make any impression on the Serbian top seed who looked intent on finishing the match as quickly as possible. But the second set saw a completely different Bowenburg come out; he quickly gained in confidence by holding serve and, one break late, found himself sitting pretty with a 4-2 lead. But the world number three fired back with his own break of service to ensure the second set would go to a tiebreaker. After shooting out to a 3-0 lead, Daneu scraped over the line in the tiebreaker to pull through a real scare from the CWLander; advancing to the semis 6-0, 7-6(9). For the first time this season, Daneu will face off with fellow Serb Danijel Micic after the third seed continued to improve as the tournament progresses. After escaping with a straight sets victory in the first round, a dominant Micic had no trouble in dispatching Zbiginiew Boniek 6-2, 6-2 to ensure at least one Serb will play in the final.

In the bottom half, fourth seed Patrick Pascaul will appear in his maiden semifinal after coming from a set down to defeat countryman Pierre L'Estrange. The fighting L'Estrange took the first set in a tiebreaker, before the flamboyant Pascaul hit back in the second set to level the match at one each. But in the decider, it was the favourite who got the early jump on his opponent and never looked back as he secured a 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3 win. His opponent will be Juan Moreno who continues to atone for his first round exit last week by defeating Hugh James in straight sets. James was a surprise quarterfinalist and showed heart against the second seed, but ultimately could not defeat the French Open semifinalist who sealed a 6-4, 7-5 win.

• Seeded players out: None.

Boodles Challenge
Buckinghamshire

Boodles Challenge Draw (Finals - Exhibition Matches)

Day Three: Top seeded local Henry Charles is the first man to qualify for the Boodles Challenge final after a third set tiebreaker victory over Argentina's Paolo Mandonna. In a tight contest, Charles dropped the first set in a tiebreaker as Mandonna looked in superb form early with his first serves on song and troubling the world number thirteen. But Charles, who last week made the semifinals of the AEGON Championships in Queen's, began to exhibit his best tennis as he raced through the second set to return to match to level peggings. In the deciding tiebreaker, Charles shot out to a 5-1 lead early and the result was never in doubt as he sealed a 6-7(3), 6-2, [10-4] win to advance to the final on Saturday.

Third seed Morgan Carter will compete in the fifth place playoff as he too came from a set down to defeat forty year old Vladimir Gryzlov. Gryzlov fought hard against the third seed, but unable to maintain the pressure on the American in the tiebreaker despite having brought up a 6-3 lead. Carter regained his steel and picked up his first win of the week - relegating Gryzlov to the seventh place playoff with a 2-6, 6-4, [10-7] win. Also, in an exhibition match, world number one doubles team Ion Andueza and Sanchez Emelio prevailled in the first of two matches against local pairing Liam Bailey and Matthew Charnock in a clinical 6-0, 6-4 win.

Day Four: Kim Vollan has produced the first real upset of the tournament by booking a spot in the Boodles Challenge final with a straight sets demolition of second seed Rick Henson. In a real blow to his Wimbledon preparation, Henson looked out of sorts against the big-serving Norwegian who stunned the crowd with a flurry of aces and winners against the usually-determined Henson. The loss leaves many questioning the fitness of Henson and the wisdom of playing this tournament as he played his worst match in the past fortnight since returning at Queen's last week. He will face Paolo Mandonna for third tomorrow, whilst Vollan faces off against local hero Henry Charles in the final.

In the other playoff match, Heath Davis earned a spot in the fifth place playoff with a comfortable victory over Luxembourg's Oliver Engel. Davis, who also fell to a fired up Vollan in the quarterfinals, played much better tennis against the more placid Engel; controlling the play right throughout the match. Despite being taken to a tiebreaker in the second by Engel, Davis switched on and lifted several gears as he shot out to an uncatchable 5-0 lead as he went on to secure a showdown with Morgan Carter 6-2, 7-6(2). And in a surprising result, world number one pair Ion Andueza and Sanchez Emelio were upset by Liam Bailey and Matthew Charnock in the second of the doubles exhibition matches. After trading sets to start with, Bailey and Charnock pulled off a remarkable tiebreaker in the third set as they sealed an unlikely 6-3, 3-6, [10-8] win.

• Saturday's fixtures: 7th place playoff - Oliver Engel LUX vs. Vladimir Gryzlov RUS; 5th place playoff - Morgan Carter USA vs. Heath Davis CWL; Exhibition Match - Radek Špidla CZE vs. Jordan Mutch GBR; 3rd place playoff - Rick Henson USA vs. Paolo Mandonna ARG; Final - Henry Charles GBR vs. Kim Vollan NOR.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

 

[NUFAN]

Annoying first set, I showed my potential more in the 2nd set just losing a tie-breaker with dubious line judges no doubt. Beating the 43rd seed and the home town favourite in rounds 1 and round 2 show I have the potential to move up in the rankings.

Can't wait for Wimbledon now!

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Eastbourne; 's-Hertengenbosch; Boodles Challenge (SF/SF/Finals) - June 14-20, I

AEGON International
Quarterfinals - Eastbourne

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

In a massive surprise, unseeded 36-year old Jean-Alain Depuis will become the oldest player to feature in an ATP International Series final this Sunday after he produced an upset win against Hungary's Zoltan Varga. Depuis, who has been on a hot streak since his run in Paris, looked to have blown the match early against the fifth seed as he gave up a 5-1 lead in the first set to the Hungarian who claimed six games on the trot. But the break between sets allowed Depuis to calm himself and to come out firing in the second set to again race out to a 5-1 lead. This time there were no jitters for the veteran as he closed out the set with his first opportunity. Many would have expected Varga to produce one last chase, but it was was not to be as the Frenchman surged to a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory and a place in his first final.

His opponent will be, somewhat surprisingly, Almen Benaglio whose indifferent form ended in style against top seed József Boros. It was clearly not a great day for the Hungarian players as Boros was left stunned early by the Swiss maestro; a man who in the first round toiled to defeat a local wildcard in three sets. Benaglio took an early 4-1 lead against the Hungarian to stun pundits; his aggressive style of tennis finally paying off as he ended points quickly in a twenty-eight minute clinic. The second set was, however, much closer as the top seed played much better tennis. But it wasn't enough as Benaglio booked a second career final with a 6-2, 7-5 upset.

• Seeded players out: József Boros; Zoltan Varga.

Ordina Open
Quarterfinals - 's-Hertengenbosch

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

It was a similar day of upsets in the final of the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, as both top seeded players fell short of the final. In the first semifinal, third seeded Serb Danijel Micic game from a set down to defeat bitter rival and fellow countryman Radivoj Daneu in three sets; Micic playing his best tennis of the season as he finally got the breakthrough against a top five player. After a quarterfinal appearance last week in Halle, Micic started slowly against Daneu as he was broken early by the composed world number three. But after dropping the first set, Micic got on to a bit of a run with four games on the trot as he turned a one break deficit into a one break lead. With Micic looking fired up and focussing all of his anger on the ball as opposed to the court or his racquet, his game finally "clicked" as he booked his way into a second career final with an ultimately emphatic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 boilover.

In the other semifinal, fourth seed Patrick Pascaul routed second seeded Argentine Juan Moreno in just under an hour to book a spot in a maiden career final. Already having surpassed previous best efforts in Sydney and Barcelona (quarterfinals), Pascaul looked in terrific shape as he trounced the favoured Moreno. Moreno, who looked to have made amends for his humiliating exit in Halle last week, started solidly by holding service twice to be level at 2-2. But from there, it was carnage as his service went to pot and Pascaul won ten games on the trot - Moreno a hapless spectator as just 36 per cent of his first serves found their way into the box. Pascaul's 6-2, 6-0 demolition job sending him into tomorrow's final as favourite to avenge his loss last week in Halle.

• Seeded players out: Radivoj Daneu; Juan Moreno.

Boodles Challenge
Buckinghamshire

Boodles Challenge Draw (Seeds - Finals - Exhibition Matches)

Local hope Henry Charles has completed a dream warm up for his home Grand Slam by winning the final of the Boodles Challenge in Buckinghamshire. Despite hopes of a close match to end a hectic day of tennis action, Charles dispatched Norway's in form gun Kim Vollan in straight sets to become the first Challenge Winner. Charles took just over an hour to counter the power game of Vollan with some brilliant returns and inch-perfect shot placement to leave Vollan effectively weaponless. Sealing the match with a forehand winner down the line against the net-bound Vollan, Charles became a 6-3, 6-2 winner in a fitting ending to a dominant few days.

To start the day, veteran Vladimir Gryzlov won the seventh placed playoff against Luxembourg's Oliver Engel. In a deserved victory to end a competitive week from the forty-year old, he came from a set down against Engel to send the match to a deciding tiebreaker. It was there that he quickly shot to an 8-2 lead and was never in trouble as he ran out a 4-6, 6-4, [10-4] win. In the fifth place playoff, CWLand's Heath Davis romped home in the match tiebreaker to end his week with a second straight victory. After defeating Engel yesterday, Davis was made to toil against American number 30 Morgan Carter. But after a tight first two sets, both men were on level footing after finding themselves evenly matched. But Davis' big service proved the difference as he fired down a gutsy four tiebreak aces to ease to a well-deserved 7-5, 5-7, [10-2] win.

In the exhibition match, world number five Radek Špidla had little trouble in his final warm-up before the Wimbledon Championships as he made light work of local youngster Jordan Mutch. Mutch, looking to emulate the feats of Liam Bailey and Matthew Charnock from yesterday, started well as he managed to hold his first service game. But it was all downhill from there as a brutal Špidla wasted no time in firing down eighteen aces against the hapless teenager; the flurry of aces intertwined by a dominant performance when receiving. Špidla's 6-2, 6-1 win was about representative of the gulf between the class of the pair; Mutch just not physically strong enough to match it with him. Finally, second seed Rick Henson sewed up third place as he smashed Paolo Mandonna. In a disappointing end to a promising week, the sixth seeded Argentine failed to produce the form that saw him take Henry Charles to three yesterday; Henson avenging his loss in convincing style 6-4, 6-1.

• Champion: Henry Charles.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

An interesting tournament, the Boodles. Tough loss first up cost me really, but a decent tail end to the tourny. Not exactly in top form for Wimbledon, but hopefully enough to get me through the first couple of rounds.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Finals Preview

(1) József Boros HUN (4) Almen Benaglio SUI vs. (5) Zoltan Varga HUN Jean-Alain Depuis. (First Meeting) Probably the most unlikely of finals when looking at the semifinal fixtures, but both guys pulled through their semis in confident style. Depuis would have felt villainous after giving up a 5-1 lead against Varga, but he regained his composure and from there on was too good for a guy who is about a decade his junior. Meanwhile, Benaglio has had a very shaky road to the final; he was lucky not to embarrass himself against wildcard Scott Whitehouse in the first round, but after escaping in three there he's slowly got better and better. The pair have never met before, and the fact that they are separated by 49 spots might suggest to some that Benaglio is a good pick for the win after a resurgance of form. But don't be fooled; Depuis has knocked off three seeded players en route to the final (Varga, Zhijun Sun and Jojo Mustard) and will be keen to make an impression in his first career final. Whether the 36-year old can do it, though, is a different story. I get the feeling younger legs will win out. PREDICTION: Benaglio in 3.

(1) Radivoj Daneu SRB (3) Danijel Micic SRB vs. (2) Juan Moreno Patrick Pascaul. (Last Meeting: Halle, R16, D. Micic def. P. Pascaul, 7-5, 7-6(5), Micic 1 Pascaul 0) I'm not sure that Pascaul's win over Moreno in the semifinals was all that big a shock considering how vulnerable Moreno has looked despite some convincing victories on paper. But for the headcase Micic to get past Daneu is a big achievement; the Serbian number one has enjoyed domination over Micic in the past so it could be signs that things are on the up for the third seed. Pascaul has a similar story; many thought he would feature in the top ten this season, but that hasn't eventuated due to a mixture of disappointing losses and awkward draws. Both are aggressive players who like to end points quickly, so the 's-Hertogenbosch crowd is more than likely in for a show between two of the most fiery players on tour. In their first ever meeting last week in Halle, Micic got the better of Pascaul - but only just - and I doubt his victory will have all that much effect on Pascaul's confidence. Pascaul was brilliant against Moreno, but Micic has been awesome all tournament and might just be on the right track after an indifferent start to his season. PREDICTION: Micic in 3.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Pascaul nicked Mustard's 32nd seed with that final appearance.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Is that including Li Wang missing?

In any event, once I work out rankings I'll post the direct entrants tonight.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Is that including Li Wang missing?

Good point.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Eastbourne; 's-Hertengenbosch; Boodles Challenge (F/F) - June 14-20, I

AEGON International
Final - Eastbourne

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

Fourth seed Almen Benaglio ended the dream run of unseeded French veteran Jean-Alain Depuis by claiming his first career title in the final of the AEGON International in Eastbourne. The Swiss youngster started his tournament in poor fashion, but has completed a dramatic turnaround within a week to surge inside the world's top twenty ahead of next week's Wimbledon Championships. In a tight opening set, both players struggled on service as the first four games resulted in breaks of service. Whilst the two soon steadied to be level at 4-4, it was the favourite who got the break of serve to take the first set 6-4. Whilst Depuis had proven difficult to defeat throughout the tournament, Benaglio was calm enough to again break service early in the second to damage the confidence of the 36-year old. In a cruisy set, Benaglio secured his first victory in his second career final with a 6-4, 6-2 win.

• Seeded players out: None.

Ordina Open
Final - 's-Hertengenbosch

Qualifying (Draw)
Men's Singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

In an entertaining Ordina Open final, controversial Serb Danijel Micic has moved to 20th in the world with a straight sets victory over fourth seed Patrick Pascaul of France. With both players playing attacking tennis at both the baseline and the net, the crowd were in for a treat and the opening set was no let down as a number of nailbiting rallies saw the momentum edge between the pair right throughout the set. But it was the Serbian who drew first blood in the tiebreaker as Pascaul double faulted at the worst possible time to hand Micic the minibreak. The tiebreaker was in fact a let down for the crowd as Pascaul's confidence fell further as he soon was staring down the barrell of six set points - Micic needing just two to seal the opener. Ahead 4-3, it was the Serb who got the all-important break of service to bring up a chance to serve for the match; the world number 26 securing a 7-6(1), 6-3 victory and his maiden career title.

• Seeded players out: Patrick Pascaul.