CricketWeb Tennis - Season I

[SirBloody Idiot]

Clowich Masters
Wednesday - Clowich Masters - Clowich (CWLand)

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

• Randy Smeltz has secured perhaps the biggest win of his career after upsetting world No. 8 Juan Moreno in straight sets. In front of a home crowd, Smeltz played brilliantly to stick with the Argentine despite being broken at 4-4 and 5-5 in the first set. In a lengthy tiebreaker, the CWLander converted his third set point to take it 9-7 and have a vocal crowd cheering him on. From there, the seventh seed became more and more frustrated as the errors began to pile up in the face of consistent returning from Smeltz who cruised to a 7-6(7), 6-2 win.
• Thirteenth seed Jefferson Drake again looked good on Centre Court, but overcame a late comeback from Spain's Sergio Joaquin to pick up a straight sets win. It looked like business as usual for Drake in the first set as he raced through it 6-2, before the Spaniard toiled hard in the second set to cut down Drake's free flowing ability. But the CWLander did well enough to maintain his cool and take his tiebreaker record to 7-8 with a 6-2, 7-6(3) win. His task gets much harder in the third round as he faces Radek Špidlá for a place in the quarterfinals.
• Jojo Mustard only managed to limp over the line in the first round, but came out with his best performance in weeks in his straight sets win over Tiago Matias. It was business as usual for Matias on hard courts who looked back to his pushing best after stunning Dwayne Murdoch in the opening round. Mustard made all the play and cut down on his errors to walk away with a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 win to set up an all-CWLand clash in the third round against Sven Oxenstierna.
• Costa do Sauipe finalist Jamee Hancianu managed to an improved performance, but for the second week in a row he fell to fellow teenager and fifth seed Darcy Cowan. After slumping to a 1-6, 3-6 loss in Montréal, Hancianu started well against Cowan to be level at 3-3. But he continues to lack the strength to trouble the best players, and Cowan took advantage of unthreatening serves to take the first 6-4. Hancianu would fail to bring up a break point all match as Cowan rarely looked troubled by his Romanian-born opponent; advancing to the third round with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
• There were no surprises on Court 3 as Martti Korpinen was easily accounted for by fourteenth seed Henry Charles. Korpinen was smashed 1-6 in the opening set by Charles who easily dominated the match, before finding himself in a sticky spot in the second as Korpinen earned a surprising break of service. But keen to finish things off in two, Charles hit back to take the set to a tiebreaker and to eventually claim the match 6-1, 7-6(3).
• Elsewhere, eighth seed József Boros was another big casualty as he fell to Indian Wells finalist Almen Benaglio in three sets. The Hungarian looked set for a crushing victory, before Benaglio hit back to take his second come-from-behind victory of the week 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. In Montréal, Benaglio fell first round to Diego Hurtado, and faces the Colombian in the third round following his marathon 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 win over Li Wang. Third seed Radivoj Daneu overcame an early scare to claim a three-set win over Russia's Dmitry Orlov. Orlov struggled to capitalise on the first set as Daneu controlled the play to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win to keep his aspirations of a third Masters Series title alive. Finally, Jason Hall extended his winning streak to eleven with a 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of Ivan Genov.

• Seeded players out: József Boros; Juan Moreno; Zoltán Varga.

• Randy Banks and Roy Daniels were unable to replicate their first round upset as they were roundly thrashed by French Open finalists Tal Cohen and Raz Teper. Slow to start, Banks and Daniels made a brief fightback from 1-6, 0-4 down in the second to draw back to 4-5, before Cohen and Teper overcame their indifferent form as of late to cruise into the quarterfinals 6-1, 6-4.
• In the boilover of the day, top seeds Hugh James and Ralph Robinson were beaten in straight sets by Montréal finalists Andrej Konc and Evgeniy Maximov. In a thrilling match on Centre Court, the Slovak-Belarusian pair held their nerve in a match tiebreaker after giving up a 4-2 lead in the second set to steal a 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-7 win. They face eighth seeds Morton Blundell and Carlos Machado in the quarterfinals after they too struggled to a 6-3, 4-6, 11-9 win over Liam Bailey and Matthew Charnock. In the Montréal semifinal, Konc/Maximov produced a brilliant come-from-behind performance to smash Blundell/Machado 4-6, 6-1, 10-2.

• Seeded players out: Hugh James/Ralph Robinson.

Thursday Schedule

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[dontcloseyoureyes]

Happy to improve my abysmal tiebreaker record and go through in straights, very disappointed for Korps though, thought he was in with a good shout of an upset. Hopefully we can make up for it in the doubles.

 

[Mister Wright]

2nd round victory joy has been quietened by the realisation Mustard is up against the Ox in the 3rd round. He'll need to be even more impressive than he was in the 2nd round.

 

[David]

Should've taken that second set and run on from there, alas, it was not to be. No point worrying about it now, fully focused on dominating the doubles.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

2nd round victory joy has been quietened by the realisation Mustard is up against the Ox in the 3rd round. He'll need to be even more impressive than he was in the 2nd round.

Well, with the Ox's form, probably the kindest top-eight seed draw you could get (aside from Argentinean clay courters)

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Clowich Masters
Thursday - Clowich Masters - Clowich (CWLand)

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

• World No. 6 Sven Oxenstierna has overcome a sluggish start to prevail in three sets against Jojo Mustard in the battle of the CWLanders in Clowich. After the draw opened up for him earlier in the day with the stunning upset of Jason Hall, a nervous Oxenstierna started slowly against an who had little to lose and threw everything he had at CWLand's premier player. But after dropping the first set 4-6, Oxenstierna regained his focus in the break between sets and proceeded to break the Mustard service on three occasions; Mustard seemingly conceeding the set in his final service game as he was broken to love trying to conserve energy. With the scores level at 3-3 following some tense rallies in the third set, Oxenstierna saw an opening as Mustard left the backhand side of the court unguarded to give Oxenstierna an easy tap away for the break of serve. He consolidated and then served it out two games later to win through to his third Masters Series quarterfinal - all three coming on his less preferred hard courts.
• Surprise packet Randy Smeltz has continued to wow his home crowd by outgunning another top ten seed; this time Croatia's Miroslav Brdar falling victim to the super-fit veteran. The 28-year old continued with the attacking tennis he produced in the second round in a brilliant display against the world No. 11 who struggled to hit winners against the nimble CWLander. Despite hitting less winners than his opponent, Smeltz also hit half the unforced errors as he manoeuvred the tenth seed around the court and forced him to utilise his lanky frame to reach for balls. In just over two hours, Smeltz picked up another big victory 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 and will hope to go one further than he did in Madrid (where he lost to Sanchez Emelio).
• Jefferson Drake's tournament again met its demise in the third round to Czech No. 1 Radek Špidlá in an enthralling match on the Grandstand Court. With all his focus on the singles following a lethargic doubles performance, Drake matched Špidlá in more impressive style than he did last week in Montréal. Whilst the scoreline was no closer than it was in Canada, Drake created more opportunities in his 5-7, 5-7 loss, but was unable to capitalise as the Czech giant served his way out of tight corners. With the scores level at 5-5, Drake for the second set in a row gave up a break of service with an unforced error as Špidlá set up a quarterfinal date with Smeltz.
• In the upset of the day, fifteenth seed Carlo Amato played his best match all season to stun red-hot American Jason Hall in straight sets on Centre Court. Hall was on an eleven-match winning streak since his semifinal exit at Wimbledon, but could not go back-to-back at Masters level as Amato played out of his skin to stun the Clowich crowd and Hall 6-4, 6-4. Elsewhere, Montréal finalist Rasmus Olesen prevailed in one of the matches of the season against Wimbledon champ Darcy Cowan. In a near-three hour affair, both men brought up match points in the tiebreaker, but it was the Dane who closed it out with an ace to secure a fantastic 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(8) upset.

• Seeded players out: Miroslav Brdar; Darcy Cowan; Henry Charles; Jefferson Drake; Jason Hall

• Earlier in the day, Jojo Mustard and Heath Davis advanced to the quarterfinals of the doubles draw after a tight win over Jason Bradley and Björn Donaldson. In a fiery affair, Mustard and Davis managed to arrest their recent poor form to secure a confidence-boosting victory 7-5, 6-4 heading into a quarterfinal showdown with Wimbledon champions Sandro Bachunelli and Hicham Hadir.
• But the big names kept on falling, as Jefferson Drake and Martti Korpinen followed Hugh James and Ralph Robinson out of the tournament in a disappointing straight sets loss. Neither Drake nor Korpinen looked 100 per cent focussed - Drake obviously tiring from the hectic workload he's endured over the past couple of months and thinking ahead to his singles match later this afternoon. Artem Krohmal and Merab Shvelidze, however, were in fine form as they backed up their convincing first round victory with a 7-5, 6-3 upset over the fourth seeds.

• Seeded players out: Morton Blundell/Carlos Machado; Tal Cohen/Raz Teper; Jefferson Drake/Martti Korpinen.

San Marino Cepu Open
2nd Round - San Marino (Republic of San Marino)

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

• After a less-than-convincing first round victory, fourth seed Jarkko Maxum has bounced back to claim the scalp of Umag semifinalist Adem Tadić in straight sets. Sounding out a warning to the rest of the draw, Maxum leapt out of the blocks to claim the first set 6-1 before facing a tougher battle in the second by the frustrated Croat. But the 20-year old had too much class and went on to take a late break to secure a 6-1, 7-5 win and a quarterfinal with top seed Valter Cordiero.
• Suryakant Singh has advanced to his third straight Challenger quarterfinal after prevailing in three sets over Marco Pellegrini. Keen not to fall to an Italian two weeks running, Singh fought out a lengthy match against the Italian veteran to prevail 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. He faces an arduous quarterfinal against Jean-Christophe Genghini who continued his good form with a 6-3, 6-2 win over wildcard Imre Medgyessy.
• In the upset of the day, Bogdan Maurer finally looks set to find his very best form after beating three-time ATP level quarterfinalist Oliver Engel in three sets. The Romanian, who the unofficial rankings had as the 35th best player in the world at the start of the season, had drifted out as far as No. 143, but looks set to establish his place further inside the world's top hundred following his 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win. He faces Denmark's Kasper Buur who produced an awesome display of attacking tennis to beat German Gunther Heug 6-0, 6-2.

• Seeded players out: Oliver Engel; Gunther Heug.

• Jarkko Maxum and Scotland Rivers have started their doubles assault off well with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Christian Auvray and Agustin Morjuet in the first round. The makeshift pair never looked troubled, and Rivers was keen to atone for his singles exit with a particularly determined display. Elsewhere, Olivier Engel and Suryakant Singh teamed up to oust third seeded Serbs Dusko Milosevic and Savo Petkoviä in three sets; 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.

• Seeded players out: Viorel Iftime/Marius Micu; Dusko Milosevic/Savo Petkoviä; Matthias Muller/Tim Zander.

Friday Schedule

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[SirBloody Idiot]

Great day for Drake.

Probably Ox's biggest chance of winning a tournament in some time. If he can't at least push for it from here, one wonders whether he ever will.

Awesome work from Smeltz, too, who has basically come from nowhere to make the quarters. He's guaranteed eighteenth spot with this finish - and a semifinal will see him seeded inside the top sixteen at Nixonstown (provided Kennedy loses to Hurtado, that is).

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Yeah, great stuff there.

I assume I've got the next week off to rest up for the Open?

 

[Mister Wright]

Damn! Bageled. That's not good at all. Disappointed that Mustard couldn't close it out in the 3rd set. Hopefully he and Davis can do some damage in the doubles.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Happy with that win; iirc Amato is a bit of a clay court phenomenon as well so should be possible to beat. Not having a great record against either Špidlá or Smeltz though.

 

[Jamee999]

This game is stoopid.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Happy with that win; iirc Amato is a bit of a clay court phenomenon as well so should be possible to beat. Not having a great record against either Špidlá or Smeltz though.

He's done OK. Won Johannesburg, QFs in Delray Beach and Brisbane. Other than that he's played very little on the surface, so certainly in with a chance.

Will laugh so hard if Hancianu draws Cowan's section at Nixonstown.

 

[David]

Spewing. Absolutely spewing. Not only for the doubles, but Drake too, very disappointed for him. Going rabid as we speak.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Damn! Bageled. That's not good at all. Disappointed that Mustard couldn't close it out in the 3rd set. Hopefully he and Davis can do some damage in the doubles.

Finally got a win on the board. A bloody tough game in the doubles up next though. These are the sort of games we tend to lose in those annoying 3rd set tie-breaker things. We need to harden up for those breakers and start putting some big wins on the board.

 

[Simon]

Awesome performance to make the quarters, beating that drug cheating Argie in the 2nd round the highlight. Hopefully theres three more highlights to come on the way to winning the tournament.

 

[ripper868]

Glad to have had a straight sets win, can hopefully knock off the top seed, will be a good gauge of just where Maxum is and if he is ready to step up to ATP level more often. Also stoked with the doubles victory, super stuff Rivers.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Clowich Masters
Friday - Clowich Masters - Clowich (CWLand)

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

• Sixth seed Sven Oxenstierna has advanced to the semifinals of the Clowich Masters after a three-set win over Italy's Carlo Amato. The French Open finalist played his most convincing tennis in weeks as he outdid the Italian No. 1 who was fresh off upsetting the world's best player. Both men looked solid on service in the first two sets as they were both broken just the one time. But the with the scores level at 2-2 in the third set, Oxenstierna edged ahead in a tense encounter as he cleanly struck a backhand down the line to convert a rare break point opportunity on the Amato service. From there he didn't look back as he held his nerve to advance to a second Masters Series semifinal 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. His opponent will be Indian Wells and Miami champion Radivoj Daneu who came from a set down to beat Montréal runner up Rasmus Olesen 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
• It wasn't such a pleasant experience for fellow CWLander Nicolás Almagro Randy Smeltz who was thrashed in straight sets by in-form Czech gun Radek Špidlá. Špidlá has yet to drop a set this week, and had too much fire power on the hard courts for the CWLander. Whilst Smeltz managed to play attacking tennis against the powerful serve of Miroslav Brdar in the third round, Špidlá provided an insurmountable hurdle with his power game forcing Smeltz to defend for the best part of his straight sets loss. Bringing up three match points, Špidlá fired down his twelfth ace to secure a 6-1, 6-2 passage to the semifinals. His opponent will be Colombia's Diego Hurtado who edged a tight affair with Davis Kennedy 7-5, 7-5.

• Seeded players out: Carlo Amato; Rasmus Olesen.

• Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard have completed a dramatic turnaround from their second round exit in Montréal with a confident straight sets win over Wimbledon champions Sandro Bachunelli and Hicham Hadir. In what will go a long way to securing them a spot in the World Tour Finals, the CWLand duo lit up Centre Court as they bullied the third seeds with some aggressive tennis. In contrast to their four-set loss at Wimbledon, Davis and Mustard finally looked to have put some form together with a confident 6-2, 7-5 victory. They now face second seeds Hayden and Ross Onwye in the semifinals; a team they lost to 4-6, 3-6 in their last meeting at Queen's.
• The other semifinal pits Montréal finalists Andrej Konc and Evgeniy Maximov against seventh seeds Ion Andueza and Sanchez Emelio who prevailed 7-6(4), 3-6, 10-5 over Artem Krohmal and Merab Shvelidze.

• Seeded players out: Sandro Bachunelli/Hicham Hadir.

San Marino Cepu Open
Quarter Finals - San Marino (Republic of San Marino)

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

• A class third set from Jarkko Maxum has propelled him to a second straight Challenger semifinal after upsetting top seed Valter Cordiero in the first quarterfinal. Despite being up a mini break in the second set tiebreaker, Maxum failed to take advantage as Cordiero shot back to take the breaker 7-5. But an early break in the third hamstrung the Portuguese No. 2 and Maxum lifted the intensity to oust the fragile European 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-0.
• He will face third seed Jean-Christophe Genghini in the semifinals after the Frenchman comfortably accounted for Suryakant Singh. The Houston semifinalist has looked in unstoppable form this week, and had little trouble against an in-form Singh as he secured a confident 6-4, 6-2 victory.
• The other semifinal pits fourth seed Martin Reiter against Dane Kasper Buur. Reiter took a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 victory over highly rated Russian youngster Boris Denisov, whilst Buur took a 7-5, 6-2 win over Bogdan Maurer.

• Seeded players out: Valter Cordiero.

• Singh and partner Oliver Engel again managed to come back from a set down in the doubles to defeat Dutch pair Marc Lubbers and Thomas Velten. Dropping the first set 3-6, the pair looked in trouble at 2-4 in the second set against the confident pair from the Netherlands. But they struck back to take a long second set tiebreaker, and then a match tiebreaker 14-12 to set up a tough quarterfinal with Marzio Claverini and Flavio Augusto Martins 3-6, 7-6(6), 14-12.
• The match tiebreaker wasn't so successful for Scotland Rivers and Jarkko Maxum as they fell 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-10 to Boris Denisov and Bogdan Maurer. The Russian-Romanian pairing fell in the quarterfinals of the singles draw later in the day, but played superb tennis right throughout the match in a hotly contested showdown. They face Italian wildcards Carlo Andsoldi and Francesco Vecchio in the second semifinal.

• Seeded players out: None.

Saturday Schedule

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[Simon]

Nicolas Almagro come on down. Stoked to get that far but was hoping for a better showing.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Well, that's the best result myself and El Mustardo have put together for a while. I guess an early exit in the singles can work wonders... If only I hadn't been exiting early for a succession of tournaments.

A big match against the Onwyes - a great doubles pairing. I think Konc and Maximov will overcome in the other semi. They're too good a team to be unseeded.

 

[ripper868]

Second Straight Semi, feel im a shot for a second straight challenger title here, unlucky in the doubles, cheers to rivers for the match practice prior to the open.