Week 25: Eastbourne; Den Bosch; Nottingham Ch 2; Boodles (e)

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON International II
PTA World Tour 250 - Quarterfinals - Eastbourne,

United Kingdom - Grass

• World No. 45 Scotland Rivers is through to his first grass court semi after a straight sets win over Norway's Haiku Morkel. Morkel, fresh off ousting top seed Diego Hurtado of Colombia yesterday, took in buckets of confidence to his quarter final showdown with Rivers, but a horror start led some to believe those buckets had holes in them. Rivers was irresistible early as he broke the big Norwegian three times as the lumbering veteran struggled to bring any weapons to the contest. After dropping the first 0-6, Morkel was staring down the abyss at 0-3 and 15-40 before he mustered enough to get on the board. Soon after he had his first break of serve, and at 5-5 he looked to have a second life. But Rivers forced him to serve again to stay in the match, and that was a bridge too far as the West CWLander clinched a 6-0, 7-5 win with a powerful forehand winner. Yet to drop a set this week, Rivers puts his form to the big test against defending champ Patrick Pascaul. The third seeded Frenchman was in cruise control early and paid for it; coming back from dropping the first set to beat Fok Zhenyu 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

• In the other semi final, teenage sensation Marcuss Deane will not be present after he was bundled out by fourth seed Morgan Carter. The American was a whole new level of opponent for Deane, and he struggled to adjust early to the increased tempo that the American brings. After being shell-shocked inside twenty minutes in the first set, Deane brought a more resilient style of tennis in the second and his serve began to hold up under huge pressure. While Carter went missing for large gaps in the second set (as he does), the American woke up in time to steal the tiebreaker from 0-4 down to advance to tomorrow's semi 6-1, 7-6(5). He plays Aussie Toby Brookes who beat American Hugh James 6-3, 6-2.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Boodles Challenge II
PTA World Tour 250 - Thursday - Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire,

United Kingdom - Grass

• All eight competitors were in their second of three matches this week, and were helped by clear conditions in the English "summer". Of the CWLanders, Jojo Mustard will be left to fight it out in the third place play-off on Saturday after he was beaten in three sets by China's Zhijun Sun. The impressive 20-year old notched up another big victory, but was made to do it tough after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker. In a genial contest, Mustard dropped the second set convincingly to move into a third set shootout for Saturday's final. Zhijun led all the way and with six match points it was just a matter of time before he won 6-7(2), 6-2, [10-7]. He meets World No. 2 Daniel Páez Blanco in the final on Saturday after the Spaniard ousted Miroslav Brdar 7-5, 4-6, [10-5]. Mustard faces Brdar in the play-off for third.

• In his second appearance at Boodles, Heath Davis will again play for fifth after beating Oneil Stewart. It was an improved performance by the Jamaican after his flogging on Tuesday, but he still didn't produce enough against the Westerner who looks in fine form. Davis provided many highlights as the two used the match as a competitive hit out - the Westerner's serving a real treat to watch as he won 7-6(5), 6-2.

• He plays East CWLand's Jefferson Drake after the World No. 8 easily accounted for an out-of-sorts Dwayne Murdoch. It was another poor performance from the American all-courter who looks in ominously bad form ahead of Wimbledon. Drake monstered him with a flurry of huge groundies and rarely had any troubles; moving to the fifth-place play-off 6-3, 6-2.

SCHEDULE

17th June, II
5th place play-off:

Heath Davis vs.

Jefferson Drake
7th place play-off:

Dwayne Murdoch vs.

Oneil Stewart
Davis Kennedy vs. Radek Špidlá

18th June, II
3rd place play-off:

Miroslav Brdar vs.

Jojo Mustard
Darcy Cowan vs. Dmitry Orlov
Boodles Challenge Final:

Daniel Páez Blanco vs.

Zhijun Sun
​

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

UNICEF Open II
PTA World Tour 250 - Quarterfinals - 's-Hertogenbosch,

The Netherlands - Grass

RESULTS

Ivars EMSIS def.

Thomas VELTEN, 7-5, 7-6(7-2)

Yves PARMENTIER def.

Evgeny VOLKOFF, 7-5, 1-6, 6-0

Anvar JURAEV def.

3-Almen BENAGLIO*, 6-3, 6-2

2-József BOROS def.

Maarten BERG, 7-5, 6-1

* denotes defending champion
​

 

[Jarquis]

C'est la vie. Can't say it wasn't expected. Avoided a bagelling and took the 2nd to a tie break. Fair effort?

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

It resulted in an intriguing match as Drake shifted between serious mode and mocking mode - he even returned an entire service game against Mustard with drop shots.

I used to do this to my brother in Smash Court Tennis 2 all the time just to prove I was better than him. You know me all too well.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON International II
PTA World Tour 250 - Semifinals - Eastbourne,

United Kingdom - Grass

• A good week for Scotland Rivers has come to an end with the World No. 45 falling prey to defending champion Patrick Pascaul. The Frenchman ensured he was in a good position to make it two Eastbourne titles running despite dropping the first set as he outgunned Rivers in a match that went the distance. In an entertaining display of high quality tennis, Rivers matched it against one of the better grass court tennis players and did enough to claim the first set 7-5 after saving a set point. The second set, though, was one-way traffic for the third seed as he kicked into gear and broke three times (and conceded one of his own) to take it 6-2. But Rivers seemed to be phoning it in after going the double break down, and stepped up his intensity in the third to have a double break point very early in the deciding set. Pascaul showed great composure to save it, and soon after had break points of his own. Disappointingly, Rivers dropped serve and could never claw back as Pascaul advance to his second final running at Eastbourne 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

• His opponent in the final will be American fourth seed Morgan Carter after he proved too strong for Australia's Toby Brookes in a convincing 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Scotland Rivers.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

UNICEF Open II
PTA World Tour 250 - Semifinals - 's-Hertogenbosch,

The Netherlands - Grass

Ivars EMSIS def.

Yves PARMENTIER, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(7-2)

Anvar JURAEV def.

2-József BOROS, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1

FINAL

Ivars EMSIS vs.

Anvar JURAEV
​

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Boodles Challenge II
Friday - Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire,

United Kingdom - Grass

• Jefferson Drake has taken fifth place at Boodles with his second win over Heath Davis in as many weeks. Having taken their quarterfinal matchup at Queens Club last week, Drake dropped the first set here to the World No. 26 who looked lively early. Davis has become a real fan favourite at Boodles, and Drake reveled in his role as villain as he took the second set in a canter 6-1. The crowd wanted a tense end, but Drake denied them that as he bolted from the gates and shut Davis out to secure his second win of the week 5-7, 6-1, [10-3] and ending his Wimbledon preparation on a high.

• In the other matches, Dwayne Murdoch continued Oneil Stewart's horror week by boosting his confidence 6-4, 6-3 while World No. 3 Radek Špidlá ironed out some cobwebs and removed doubts over his chances to play Wimbledon with a 2-6, 6-2, [10-6] win over Davis Kennedy.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

"After the epic match, Drake and Davis shared shots of vodka over the net."

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Yeah, definitely giving the crowd what they wanted there. Some great exhibition tennis methinks.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON International II
PTA World Tour 250 - Final - Eastbourne,

United Kingdom - Grass

• Defending champion Patrick Pascaul has been beaten in the final in Eastbourne as World No. 27 Morgan Carter claimed his second title of the year. The American proved too strong for the Frenchman to complete a successful week with a title 6-2, 6-4.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Patrick Pascaul.

UNICEF Open II
PTA World Tour 250 - Final - 's-Hertogenbosch,

The Netherlands - Grass

• Anvar Juraev has become the first Uzbek player to win a PTA tour title after an impressive win over Latvia's Ivars Emsis. Juraev, ranked No. 84 in the world, capped off what could be a pivotal week for his career to come from a set down to beat the seemingly unstoppable Latvian serving machine 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Boodles Challenge II
Saturday - Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire,

United Kingdom - Grass

• West CWLand's Jojo Mustard has taken out third place at the Boodles Challenge in Buckinghamshire with an impressive win over Croatia's Miroslav Brdar. The former Grand Slam quarter finalist produced his best performance of the grass season as he annihilated the Croatian player 6-0, 6-2. While Brdar was decidedly lacklustre, a dominant win over the World No. 15 player will no doubt fill Mustard with confidence ahead of his first round meeting at The Championships against Eastbourne semifinalist Toby Brookes.

• In the day's other matches, defending Wimbledon champion Darcy Cowan made an emphatic statement with a 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of Dmitry Orlov, while China's Zhijun Sun took home the Boodles "title" with a 7-6(2), 7-5 win over Daniel Paez Blanco. He could meet Blanco again in the fourth round next week at The Championships.