Week 20: Madrid Masters [Blanco]; Busan [Langley]; Sarasota [E.Henson]

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sarasota Open II
PTA Challenger Tour - 1st Round - Sarasota, FL - Clay (Green)

• Marcuss Deane has made made a successful green clay debut with an easy straight sets win over Niko Ulemek in Sarasota. The in form teen has shown great fitness in recent weeks to play as much tennis as he has, and continues to improve as he ousted the Croat 6-4, 6-4. Ulemek struggled to get a read on Deane's serve as he made the most of the faster clay surface with some accurate serving and well-timed volleying. While the Har-Tru surface is unpopular with many, Deane clearly enjoyed it as he avoided overly taxing rallies against Ulemek in his win. He received a double bonus as Italian sixth seed Michael De Kinsele was beaten 2-6, 5-7 by World No. 137 Jiří Gross.

• Ishan Narang also secured victory, but did it harder against local Anothy Ficher. The World No. 125 was favourite to beat the World No. 152 Narang, but the East CWLander showed his quality in a fine third set where he dominated the American youngster. Narang's serve packs some real punch and he has an economical set of ground strokes that give him great value against a baseline counterpuncher like Ficher. He conserved energy well and took advantage of a tiring Ficher following some lengthy rallies in the second set to secure a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win. He now meets fourth seed Anvar Juraev who was an easy winner on Monday.

• Elsewhere, local second seed Julian Day was beaten in straight sets by Australian qualifer Steve Cole in a... [more]

• Seeded players out: Julian Day; Michael De Kinsele.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

By the way, Jojo Mustard could become the World No. 1 doubles player with a good result this week. He's just 100 points behind James and Robinson, so if he and Davis can get a bit further than the top seeds Mustard leaps in No. 1.

What that means for Roland Garros seeding... I have no ****ing idea.

 

[ripper868]

Well in Lob!

 

[Jarquis]

Good performance and the draw's been kind for the next round. Hopefully can get a few more wins under my belt

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open II
PTA Masters 1000 - Tuesday (1st Round/2nd Round) - Madrid, Spain - Clay (Red)

• In the battle of East CWLanders it was Spas Delev who secured a surprising win as he thumped in-form compatriot Jarkko Maxum in straight sets. Maxum has played a lot of tennis in the past three weeks, but much more was expected for him against a man who hasn't really got going this clay season. Nevertheless, East CWLand's No. 3 played some delightful tennis as he overpowered Maxum with his spectacular forehand in a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win. His win over the helpless Maxum sees him face the dangerous Dwayne Murdoch in the second round who made the final in Monte Carlo less than one month ago.

• Twelfth seed Jojo Mustard has survived a tough opening encounter to book a second round clash with Ion Andueza following a straight sets win against World No. 69 Nilikar Midid. The Belgrade semi finalist showed he wasn't too disheartened by his flogging at the hands of eventual champ Radivoj Daneu as he worked tirelessly to counter the penetrating groundstrokes of the Croat. In a match where both players struggled on serve, Mustard kept at it and managed to get the better of Midid at the most important times. Needing three match points to get it done, Mustard hammered down just his fourth ace of the match to secure a 6-4, 7-5 win to begin his Madrid campaign strongly.

• He will be joined in the second round by doubles partner Heath Davis whose great run on clay continued with a straight sets win over fourteenth seed Diego Hurtado. The Colombian slumped to a second defeat since returning from injury last week, and finds himself in bad shape to make up for his first round exit in Roland Garros last year. Admittedly, this was the best possible surface for Davis as Madrid provides one of the hardest and fastest clay courts on the European schedule. Hurtado was solid but could not handle Davis' power as the West CWLander broke serve twice and only gave Hurtado one break point all match. His convincing 6-4, 7-6(4) win sets up a second round clash with compatriot Rob Bowenburg. The winner of that clash faces top seed Jason Hall who survived an awful start to beat the man who beat him last week in Estoril 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

• Up a set and coming off a title in Belgrade last week, Radivoj Daneu looked back. Unfortunately for the seventh seed, his run of wins came to an end at the racquet of Pierre L'Estrange as the Frenchman took a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Radivoj Daneu;
  
  Diego Hurtado.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Andrej Konc &
  
  Evgeny Maximov.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Get in! A solid win over a seeded player! Nice. Now to take on the The Lob. Should be a good natured game; assuming neither of us loses our temper. Bring it, Bowenburg!

 

[Johnners]

Win!

Don't expect to get past Murdoch though.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Win!

Don't expect to get past Murdoch though.

Nah. You can take him, mate.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Busan Open Challenger Tennis II
PTA Challenger Tour - 2nd Round - Busan, Korea Republic - Hard

• Eighth seed Rick Langley has survived a dramatic three-set affair to beat Aussie David Jones in Busan. Langley looked to have blown it after failing to convert a 5-2 second set lead into a victory as Jones saved three match points with some stunning forehands. But after dropping the second set in an amazing fumble, Langley recovered well to regain some of his earlier touch as he broke twice to send the Aussie packing 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.

• He now meets compatriot Brett Read in the quarters after the West CWLander proved far too strong for Samoa's Murphy S'ua. Read came back from the brink in the first round and clearly gained bundles of confidence from it as he crunched S'ua one and three in one of his most impressive performances since returning to the PTA circuit. After falling in the quarters last week in Estoril, Read will hope to go at least a step further in Friday's all-FR CWLand clash.

• Three Westerners took top half victories in the past two days as Scotland Rivers joined Read and Langley in the quarter finals. The top seed again looked shaky as he did just enough to beat Erdi Azgin of Turkey and with his serve continuing to misfire his quarterfinal clash with Kim Roger Olsen looks dangerous. Ultimately he returned well enough and had too much polish for the Turk as he advanced 7-5, 6-4.

• Finally, Roy Daniels failed to convince any one of his good form as he tumbled out to Dieter Bonhof 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.

• Seeded players out: Li Ming-Wang.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sarasota Open II
PTA Challenger Tour - 2nd Round - Sarasota, FL - Clay (Green)

• It was an awful day for the CWLanders on the green clay of Florida as both Marcuss Deane and Ishan Narang were handed bad defeats in second round action on Wednesday. Deane's good run of form came to an abrupt end as Jiří Gross handed him a two and two defeat with some great counterpunching tennis and some quality retrieving. Deane's normally tricky serve was lacklustre and he paid for it as Gross took a 6-2, 6-2 win in a dominant display. Narang started better against Anvar Juraev as he went a break ahead of the fourth seed early. But the fourth seed clawed back and after taking the set to a tiebreaker had it all his way until the conclusion of the match in a 7-6(5), 6-0 win.

• Seeded players out: Randy Bruce; Sam Lazzeri; Waylon Jones; Jefferson Quezada; Ivan Vuka.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

BTW, Tuesday in Madrid saw five of the six finalists last week lose. Oxenstierna didn't play.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Disappointed in Su'a. Should have done better. Especially after bowling so well in the NZ Masters game last week.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open II
PTA Masters 1000 - Wednesday (2nd Round) - Madrid, Spain - Clay (Red)

• Heath Davis has won the all-West CWLand battle in Madrid with a straight sets win over lucky loser Rob Bowenburg. The World No. 29 was in fine touch as he produced some clinical serving in tight moments in an overpowering performance. The two Rome quarter finalists were evenly matched for most of the match, but it was Davis' class and coolness under pressure which allowed him key breaks of serve as he secured a third round place with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. There he'll meet the World No. 1 Jason Hall - a man he's never beaten.

• Davis' doubles partner Jojo Mustard will be at his side in the round of sixteen after a 6-4, 6-3 win over Spain's Ion Andueza. It was regulation for Mustard who played far better than he did yesterday with some confident ground strokes and attacking flair. Mustard's backhand carried too much punch for Andueza who for the most part relied on errors from the World No. 18. Unfortunately for him they didn't come as Mustard cruised into the next round in straight sets.

• He will meet American fifth seed Dwayne Murdoch who came from a break down in the second set to beat Spas Delev. The American was in cruise control in the first set as he answered Delev's power with interest to claim the set six games to two, but in the second he found himself down a break at 2-4. Avoiding a decider, Murdoch broke back and then broke Delev's will with a dominant tiebreak performance to secure a 6-2, 7-6(0) win. Murdoch and Mustard recently met in the semis of Monte Carlo with the American winning 6-1, 6-3.

• It seemed finals over the past weekend have been bad news for many players, but Estoril champ Sven Oxenstierna broke that hoodoo with a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing of Christian Mary. Mary was clearly out of his depth against the World No. 4 who has been the second best clay courter this season, and he didn't need to get out of first gear as he smashed Mary in straight sets. He faces another Frenchman next, though sixteenth seed Patrick Pascaul is a far superior player. After beating Antonio Bachunelli 6-7(8), 7-6(0), 6-4 in the first round, he made light work of Hungary's János Varga winning one and four.

• Finally, fourth seed Jefferson Drake wasn't at his best in his second round match but eventually had too much for Sanchez Emelio. In what was mostly a tight match, Drake put his foot on the gas at the right time after several disappointing moments throughout the match to burst ahead a break late in the deciding set. Emelio had two break back points to take it to 5-5, but Drake finally turned on some of his best tennis including an awesome inside-out forehand winner to bring up match point. When he's on he's a joy to watch, and stringing four points together he won 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4. He now meets Brit Henry Charles who enjoyed a 6-2, 6-2 win over Toby Brookes.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Rick Henson;
  
  Oneil Stewart.

• Miami champions Carlos Machado and Dênis Rodrígues were on the receiving end of a disappointing loss as Rob Bowenburg and Jarkko Maxum picked up a surprise straight sets win. The eighth seeds opened up a 5-1 lead, before completely imploding as Bowenburg and Maxum took twelve of the last thirteen games in an unbelievable display. In fairness, the Brazilians were poor and made ridiculous amounts of errors after going ahead the double break as the CWLanders merely had to keep the ball in play at times. Their amazing 7-5, 6-1 win sees them meet continental allocations Donovan Burbach and Ben Turner next in what is a very winnable second round match.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Carlos Machado &
  
  Dênis Rodrígues.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Tasty win there against The Lob. I've got plenty to play for against Hall as a win there could see a lovely quarter-final match up between doubles partners as Mustard is in the same section of the draw. Seems pretty unlikely I'll beat Hall here, mind, though the incentive is there to perform at my best.

 

[Jarquis]

Fml.

 

[Johnners]

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open II - Singles
PTA Masters 1000 - Thursday (3rd Round) - Madrid, Spain - Clay (Red)

• Twelfth seed Jojo Mustard has earned a measure of revenge for his Monte Carlo defeat with a come-from-behind win over American fifth seed Dwayne Murdoch. In arguably his best win on clay, Mustard clawed his way back from a set and a break down to send their third round clash to a deciding third set with some tremendous defensive hitting. Murdoch was typically aggressive and pounced on his opportunities, but Mustard showed a cool head and great calmness to edge his way to a 4-2 lead in the decider. Murdoch had two more break point opportunities, but failed to convert either as Mustard clung on to a 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4 win.

• He meets World No. 1 Jason Hall in the quarter finals after Hall proved too good for Mustard's doubles partner Heath Davis. That being said, it was a sign of how far Davis has come as he pushed Hall deep in both sets before finally succumbing to the American's poise and class under pressure as Hall won 6-4, 7-5.

• In a big upset, World No. 4 Sven Oxenstierna was beaten in straight sets by sixteenth seeded Frenchman Patrick Pascaul to hand him a rare clay defeat this season. The third seed was a big favourite to win, but in a last minute glitch to his French Open plans he was ousted 4-6, 5-7 by the resolute and flashy Frenchman. Pascaul now meets sixth seed Rasmus Olesen.

• Finally, fourth seed Jefferson Drake won through to a winnable quarter final with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Henry Charles of Great Britain. In a much improved performance, Drake tore through the fifteenth seed with brilliant strokeplay and some great changeups to finally put some wins together. He faces Russian Dmitry Orlov who has dropped just one set this week and eased past Pierre L'Estrange 6-3, 6-4.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Miroslav Brdar;
  
  Henry Charles;
  
  Danijel Micic;
  
  Dwayne Murdoch;
  
  Sven Oxenstierna;
  
  Zoltán Varga.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Dammit. Would have loved a match up with El Mustardo. Biggest shock of the week seeing the Ox exit so poorly.

 

[Mister Wright]

Can't believe I missed this over the last few days. Maybe I should stay away a bit more often, given Mustard is going so well.

Tough match up next round though.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Can't believe I missed this over the last few days. Maybe I should stay away a bit more often, given Mustard is going so well.

Tough match up next round though.

Been a very fine week. Hall might be a step too far, but in a good spot to steal a top 16 seed at Roland Garros.