Stuttgart; Båstad; Manta Challenger (2R) - July 13-19 Season I
MercedesCup
Second Round - Stuttgart
Men's Singles (
Seeds -
Finals -
Top Half -
Bottom Half)
Men's Doubles (
Draw)
Fifth seed
Randy Smeltz has continued his assault on the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, but faces a tough weekend if he is to have any hope of claiming a second career crown. The CWLand number three had little trouble in overcoming Paraguayan
Aldo Marin in straight sets as he continues to look impressive on his preferred surface. Smeltz broke the Marin service early in both sets and, whilst being broken back on both occasions, managed to continue to look dangerous on his opponent’s service throughout the match. However it now gets tougher for Smeltz after his
6-3 6-3 win as French Open semifinalist
Dwayne Murdoch awaits in the quarterfinals. The American overcame an early scare to defeat Paraguay’s
Marcelo Alavos in three sets. Alavos took the first 6-4 and found himself in a good position at 4-4 in the second, before the world number fourteen came home with a wet sail to claim eight of the last nine games to record a
4-6 6-4 6-1 victory.
In the same half, teenager
Jarkko Maxum advanced to his first ever ATP level quarterfinal with a massive victory over local hope
Alex Peters. Peters made the fourth round of the
French Open in a sensational run, and came into this match as hot favourite in front of a home crowd. But Maxum, who at times finds himself overpowered by stronger opponents, managed to chip away at the always solid Peters serve to snatch much-needed breaks of service. The German had little trouble of staging a remarkable comeback as he fell 4-6 0-3 down early in the second; Maxum charging on to secure a
6-4 6-3 upset. It does, however, step up a few notches now for the lucky loser as world number one
Daniel Paez Blanco awaits in the quarters. The top seed, who is undefeated on clay, took a tight opening set against Czech big man
Vaclav Zeman before crushing him in the second set with some awesome returning. Zeman’s service was all that kept him in the first set as he fired down nine aces, before watching on haplessly as the top seed cruised to an expected victory.
Jamee Hancianu made it three CWLanders from three in the quarters as he edged a hard-fought contest against qualifier
Samuel Thorpe. Thorpe, who stunned
Sanchez Emelio in the first round, put up another good fight against the highly rated CWLand youngster, but lost games at the most crucial of stages. Neither man looked confident on service as they racked up thirteen break points between them, but it was Hancianu who made the most of these opportunities as he went on to secure a
7-5 7-6(4) win. Much like Maxum, it steps up in intensity for the world number 30 in the quarterfinals as world number ten and clay court specialist
Illya Altman awaits. Altman had little trouble in dispatching Casablanca finalist
Ion Andueza 6-1 7-5. In the final quarterfinal, Argentine second seed and
French Open semifinalist Juan Moreno faces off against
Gregor Gorshkov who stunned local seventh seed
Becker Haas in a come-from-behind win
6-7(3) 6-4 6-4.
- Seeded players out: Becker Haas.
The doubles draw got underway with a smack of surprises, but makeshift duo
Gunther Heug and
Randy Smeltz were unable to pull off such an upset in a tight loss to second seeds
Ion Andueza and
Sanchez Emelio. The wildcards combined well in one of their rare occasions of teaming, and managed to go up a break in the opening set. But it was the Spaniards’ experience which managed to tip the balance in their favour as they went on to take the first set in a tiebreaker. In another tight set, the second seeds secured a late break of service against the Smeltz serve to produce the goods
7-6(5) 7-5.
It wasn’t such a good day for top seeds
Andrej Konc and
Evgeniy Maximov as they were spanked in straight sets by unseeded Brazilian pair
Denis Rodrigues and
Roberto Santos. The Newport semifinalists backed up their great performance of last week with a clinical display against the experienced pair as they smashed the Slovak-Belarusian duo
6-2 6-1. They weren’t the only seeds to fall as Russian pair
Sergiy Malachenko and
Alexey Yarkin gave up a one-set lead against local team
Manfried Manz and
Walter Schiller to fall to a surprise
4-6 6-2 (10-6) loss.
- Seeded teams out: Andrej Konc / Evgeniy Maximov; Sergiy Malachenko / Alexey Yarkin.
Catella Swedish Open
Second Round - Båstad
Men's Singles (
Seeds -
Finals -
Top Half -
Bottom Half)
Men's Doubles (
Draw)
Newport champion
Jefferson Drake has started off his week in Båstad positively after producing the goods in a second round win against Morocco’s
Ross Onwye. In his first match on clay since the semifinals of the men’s doubles at the French Open, Drake looked in impressive touch as he dispatched the world number 43 in one hour and twenty minutes. Drake has had his battles on clay in the past, and started shakily as he dropped service in the first game to the determined Onwye. But following that little hiccup, he rarely looked troubled from then on as he rallied to take the first set 6-2. Onwye was left having to scrap to stay in the contest and struggled as Drake controlled the rallies; the world number thirteen sounding out a warning to the top ten with a commanding
6-2 6-4 win. He now faces fellow Belarusian
Denis Isaev in the quarterfinals after he came from a set down to surprise Italian
Antonio Bachunelli. The seventh seed looked good money to take the match after claiming the first set 6-2, but struggled to maintain the pressure and ultimately collapsed to a
2-6 6-3 6-3 defeat against the world number 95.
In another upset, fifth seed
Tiago Matias was beaten convincingly by Argentina’s
Paolo Mandonna. The world number eighteen was odds on favourite to take the match, but fell victim to the tall Argentine who managed to cut down on the unforced errors. That coupled with his patience made Mandonna a tough prospect for Matias; the world number 54 continuing his tendency to beat highly rated opponents with a
7-5 6-1 win.
- Seeded players out: Antonio Bachunelli; Tiago Matias.
All the seeded doubles players made winning starts to their campaigns at the
Catella Swedish Open; but some had it tougher than others in an interesting couple of days. Third seeds
Jefferson Drake and
Martti Korpinen looked to capitalise on their Newport title last week, but found themselves involved in a tough scrap against
Antonio Bachunelli and Ramat Hasharon doubles champion
Massimo Prodi. In a lengthy affair, Drake and Korpinen just had too much class about them late in the match tiebreaker to secure a
7-6(6) 3-6 (11-9) win. They now play Spanish hot shots
Juan Manuel Cortes and
Javier Villaneuva in the quarterfinals after they proved too good for Romanians
Viorel Iftime and
Marius Micu.
V Manta Open - Trofeo Ricardo Delgado Aray
Second Round - Manta
Men's Singles (
Finals -
Top Half -
Bottom Half)
Men's Doubles (
Draw)
Jojo Mustard’s week in Manta has not been as easy as he’d like, but he still had enough about him to advance to the semifinals against
Sam Lazzeri. Mustard started brightly against Icelander
Gunnar Valsson to take the first set to love inside thirty minutes, but dropped the intensity and was made to pay for it. Valsson stormed back into the match to take the second set and go up a break in the third, before a worried Mustard managed to claw his way back to level footing. In the end, Mustard’s composure helped him secure a
6-0 4-6 7-5 escape, but he’ll need to lift against emerging American Sam Lazzeri on Friday. Elsewhere, second seed
Rob Bowenburg had no such worries as he smashed Argentine wildcard
Xavier Suarez in straight sets. Bowenburg has looked easily the better of the two CWLand seeds, and proved he is rested and refreshed after a three week break in his
6-4 6-1 mauling of the wildcard.
- Seeded players out: None.
Heath Davis and
Jojo Mustard had no such difficulties in the doubles competition as they got underway with a
6-1 6-2 win over
Adam May and
Ryan Miller. The South Africans looked uncomfortable together against the well-oiled machine that was the CWLand outfit, and never looked like taking more than one or two games a set. Davis in particular looked good in his first match since the semifinal defeat in
Wimbledon; firing down eleven aces to help the top seeds into a second round clash with local wildcards. Another CWLand duo also had success in their opening clash;
Rob Bowenburg and
Randy Banks prevailing against local team
Ricardo Andrade and
Miguel Molina. In a tight contest lasting over two hours, the visitors produced the goods as they chased down a 1-4 deficit in the match tiebreaker to secure a
7-5 4-6 (10-7) win. They now face third seeds
Jerzy Kosecki and
Roel Hervelle in the second round.
Elsewhere, second seeds
Lars Baier and
Gunnar Valsson crashed out in straight sets to Canadians
Tino Boytchuk and
Rory Cross.
- Seeded teams out: Lars Baier / Gunnar Valsson.