Week 8: Marseille (Špidlá), Memphis (Mustard), Buenos Aires (Smeltz), Belgrade (Berg)

[Simon]

**** yes, Smeltz, best guy.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
Semi Finals - PTA 500 - Memphis, TN (United States)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• Despite a lacklustre start to the season, Jojo Mustard has won through to his second PTA tour final after a comfortable win over American Wayne Boyd. With his first final last year in the United States too (Los Angeles), Mustard had shown obvious liking to the Memphis courts with a strong week. But the local Boyd, fresh off a huge upset of second seed Jefferson Drake, posed a difficult test for the World No. 29. Nevertheless, he played confidently and was able to dictate play. Boyd found himself pushed behind the baseline too often and was content with getting the ball back in play; Mustard being given the opportunity to come to the net and was rewarded for doing so. Boyd was unable to make the shots he did against Drake and was reduced a pushing style; Mustard being given the rare opportunity to play his natural game and to surge into the final 6-4, 6-3.

• His opponent will be Australian Open quarter finalist Henry Charles who continued to bounce back from his first round San Jose exit with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Oneil Stewart. Stewart continued to frustrate fans as he failed to back up his three-set win over Darcy Cowan yesterday; falling in straight sets to a clinical Brit who looks in prime position to claim the second PTA 500 championship.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Oneil Stewart.

• There was no such luck for World No. 3 team Jefferson Drake & Martti Korpinen as they were bundled out in a tight straight sets loss to Jean-Alain Depuis & Becker Haas. The Australian Open finalists had been in fine touch this week, but as had the French-German combination who combined well in their first tournament together. In a tense first set, it was the veteran Depuis who starred at the net as his quick reflexes earned his team big points at crucial occasions. None of those occasions were more crucial than at set point as he got a racquet on a searing forehand from Drake to seal the first set. The second set started close, but quickly the unseeded pair got the jump on their highly rated opponents. The Australian Open runners-up clawed back from 2-5 to be within a game, but a break of the Korpinen serve handed them a finals berth 7-6(7), 6-4.

• They'll play Wayne Boyd & Morton Blundell after they made their second final in as many weeks; coming from a set down to beat Tal Cohen & Raz Teper 2-6, 7-5, [10-8].

• Seeded players out:
  
  Tal Cohen &
  
  Raz Teper;
  
  Jefferson Drake &
  
  Martti Korpinen.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Awesome.

 

[Goughy]

So far my best event in my short career

 

[David]

Swear words.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

BUENOS AIRES SUNDAY PREVIEW
Buenos Aires, Argentina
by PTA Staff | 20.02.II

Juan Moreno has his best chance yet of taking home a second PTA title after winning through to the final of his home tournament on the back of a tremendous run of form. Standing between him and Buenos Aires is Randy Smeltz who makes his second appearance in a clay final in as many weeks after succumbing to Illya Altman last week in Brazil. He has a fantastic record of 15-2 at PTA level this season, and a win in the final could further consolodate his place inside the world's top sixteen. Moreno, meanwhile, might be a chance of sneaking back into the top ten in time for the clay court season. Whilst Moreno searches for his first title of the year, Smeltz is after his second following a second career win in Brisbane (b Bachunelli in the final).

Smeltz's record on clay continues to improve and now sits at an imposing 41-15 (0.732), but Moreno is a semi finalist at Grand Slam level on the surface and also impresses with his record of 31-10 (0.757). The pair have met just once before in Smeltz's previous home of Clowich where he won in straight sets.

WHAT'S AT STAKE
Winner $81,400 and 250 South African Airways II PTA Ranking Points
Runner-up $42,850 and 150 South African Airways II PTA Ranking Points

FINALS HISTORY
Moreno Appearing in his 3rd PTA World Tour final (1-1 in his first two)
Smeltz Appearing in his 4th PTA World Tour final (2-1 in his first three)

THE BOOKIES
Moreno $1.70
Smeltz $2.20

SUNDAY FINAL HEAD-TO-HEAD

(1) Juan Moreno (ARG) vs (2) Randy Smeltz (CDR) Smeltz leads 1-0
I Clowich (West CWLand) Hard R32 Randy Smeltz 7-6(7) 6-2

Moreno FastFacts:
Season II Highlights:
QF: Santiago (l Buur)
YTD W-L: 9-3
YTD Titles: 0
Career W-L: 56-27
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: January 1, 1985
South African Airways II PTA Ranking: 11 (High of 6 - 7/6/I)

Smeltz FastFacts:
Season II Highlights:
W: Brisbane (d A. Bachunelli); F: Costa do Sauípe (l Altman)
YTD W-L: 15-2
YTD Titles: 1
Career W-L: 66-24
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: March 1, 1981
South African Airways II PTA Ranking: 15 (High of 15 - 15/2/II)

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

MEMPHIS SUNDAY PREVIEW
Memphis, TN, United States
by PTA Staff | 20.02.II

One of Henry Charles and Jojo Mustard will exit Memphis this Sunday with their first PTA title after both booked a showdown with the other following impressive semi final wins. Neither man has really been in danger of defeat this week, and will hope to continue that form into the final of the second PTA 500 tournament of the season. In their respective finals appearances, Charles lost at the Masters Series in Monaco (to Blanco) and in Bangkok (to Rick Henson), whilst Mustard's one final came in Los Angeles (losing to Morgan Carter).

Despite slow start to the season in the singles arena, Mustard obviously enjoys playing on hard courts with two doubles Grand Slam titles and also a singles record of 31-19 (0.620). Charles, meanwhile, boasts a record of 38-21 (0.644) which is not as impressive as his clay record of 12-5 (0.706). The pair have met three times before; Mustard winning the first in Indianapolis before Charles won the next two in three sets. On both occasions, Mustard ran out steam in the third and was bagelled.

WHAT'S AT STAKE
Winner $261,500 and 500 South African Airways II PTA Ranking Points
Runner-up $121,600 and 300 South African Airways II PTA Ranking Points

FINALS HISTORY
Charles Appearing in his 3rd PTA World Tour final (0-2 in his first two)
Mustard Appearing in his 2nd PTA World Tour final (0-1 in his first one)

THE BOOKIES
Charles $1.47
Mustard $2.65

SUNDAY FINAL HEAD-TO-HEAD

(3) Henry Charles (GBR) vs (8) Jojo Mustard (FRC) Charles leads 2-1
I Indianapolis (United States) Hard SF Jojo Mustard 6-4 6-3
I Bangkok (Thailand) Hard QF Henry Charles 6-5 4-6 6-0
II Sydney (Australia) Hard QF Henry Charles 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-0

Charles FastFacts:
Season II Highlights:
SF: Sydney (l Daneu); QF: Australian Open (l Hall)
YTD W-L: 11-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career W-L: 56-27
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: June 31, 1986
South African Airways II PTA Ranking: 14 (High of 11 - 7/6/I)

Mustard FastFacts:
Season II Highlights:
QF: Sydney (l Charles); Rotterdam (l Boros)
YTD W-L: 10-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career W-L: 53-31
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 25, 1985
South African Airways II PTA Ranking: 28 (High of 27 - 24/8/I)

 

[Mister Wright]

Stoked to be in the final. Hopefully can reverse the fortune of my last finals appearance. Good luck to Smeltz also, would be great to see the East & the West in finals victories.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Belgrade Challenger II
Quarters - Belgrade, Serbia
Singles

• Rick Langley became the latest player to be overwhelmed in Belgrade by the number 1 seed Maarten Berg. Prices at the local Bookmakers will fetch you no more than $1.15 for Berg to lift the Belgrade title after he soundly defeated the other in-form player in the draw, 6 - 3, 6 - 3. Langley, who himself had looked in awesome form continued to return excellent serving stats and a low error rate, but Berg was just in another class as Langley found his serve under threat for the first time in the week. Not a capitulation by any means, but Berg was good for his win.
• Koal Kao had his chances against Yevgeny Pushkov, but ultimately succumbed in three sets. Similarly to his previous outing against the Cypriot Tsatsos, Kao did not start at his best. In fact, Pushkov was up 5 - 0 before Kao finally held a service game. Pushkov was not pressed in taking the first 6 - 1. However, Kao had finally displayed some of his better form towards the end of the set, and competed toe-to-toe with the Russian fifth seed in the 2nd set. Kao in fact broke the Russian twice and led 5 - 2 before being broken himself. At the second opportunity, Kao served it out (despite two eagerly contested deuces) to take the second 6 - 4. The third was altogether more cagey. With Pushkov 6 - 5 to the good, with Kao serving at 40 - 0, the match looked destined to be heading to a deciding tie break. However, Kao proceeded to dish up a 5 netted serves in a row, and an aggressive return on the 2nd serve took the game to deuce. Scenting blood, Pushkov attacked and took the break, and the match at the first opportunity. A dejected Kao exiting the tournament 6 - 1, 4 - 6, 7 - 5.
• After his marathon victory over Jason Lawley in the previous round, an exhausted Dieter Bonhof didn't have enough left in the tank to defeat unseeded local boy Novica Kulic. Kulic will have a tough fight against Pushkov in the next round, but with the vocal support of the local crowd behind him, he'll hope to put up a good fight

• Seeded players out: Dieter Bonhof (7, GER), Rick Langley (11, CWL)

Doubles Final

• It was billed as a battle between the two top seeds - the locals Milosevic and Petkovia versus the Asian contingent of Faisal Al-Quireshi and Harpreet Gupte. Some unsavoury elements in the partizan Belgrade crowd took cheering for the home team a little bit too far and it made for a thoroughly unpleasant atmosphere for the Pakistan/India pairing. However, that was no excuse for what turned out to be a walkover win for the Serbian duo. Some poor communication and a high unforced error rate for the Asian duo saw them fail to take a single game in the match. At the first drinks break, and audible flare up between the partners saw the crowd erupt into cheers, further enflaming the atmosphere. The Serbs took the win 6 - 0, 6 - 0, but the WTA may well be asking a few questions as to Belgrade's suitability to control their fans.

• Seeded players out: None

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Copa Telmex
Finals Day - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• World No. 15 Randy Smeltz has won his third PTA title by ruining the day of local hope Juan Moreno in a straight sets victory in Buenos Aires. After failing to take the title in Costa do Sauípe last week, Smeltz looked determined to make amends against the red hot Moreno. But it was a poor start as Moreno looked the fresher player and took a break of service in the seventh game to earn a 4-3 lead. But Smeltz, who has become well-known for his fighting qualities, scrapped to earn three break points in the very next game and levelled it with a deep cross court backhand that just clipped the line. The set went to a tiebreaker, and in an exceedingly tense affair Smeltz had three separate opportunities - including two on his own serve - to secure the first set. But he converted his fourth; handed to him on a platter as Moreno framed a rally forehand and sent it flying well long.

Dropping his first set of the week, Moreno's confidence really plummeted and it was not helped as he was broken again in the second as he missed an open court backhand by the best part of a foot. That blow crippled him, and it was elementary from there for Smeltz as he relegated Moreno to an 1-2 record in finals with a thirty minute second set and a 7-6(4), 6-1. In bizzare scheduling move, Smeltz chose against playing the PTA 500 in Acapulco next week and instead goes to the lucrative tournament in Dubai. He then will likely return to the red clay the following week for East CWLand's Davis Cup World Group tie against Spain.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Juan Moreno.

• In the doubles final, third seeds Carlos Machado & Dênis Rodrígues capped off an excellent week in both singles and doubles as they came from a set down to beat unseeded Argentine pair Julio Rodriguez & Diego Rodriquez. In another disappointing final for the home crowd, the Brazilians reversed a 2-6 deficit to romp it home 2-6, 6-0, [12-10] and to take two titles in as many weeks in South America.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open 13
Finals Day - Marseille (France)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• Third seed Miroslav Brdar missed four set points in the final of the Open 13 in Marseille as he fell to a humiliating defeat to World No. 3 Radek Špidlá. In his first appearance since a shock semi final exit at the Australian Open, Špidlá ensured he would not leave France empty handed en route to Dubai as he survived a huge scare in the first set to take a 7-6(9), 6-0 win. Down 2-6 in the first set tiebreaker, Špidlá rallied to fire down two aces in between two unforced errors from the Croat to level it at 6-6 and then went on to take it 11-9. That blow crippled the impressive Croat whose patience went out the window along with his chances in a crippling straight sets loss.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Miroslav Brdar.

• Roel Hervelle & Jerzy Kosecki have done the job indoors at Marseille by backing up their Bergamo Challenger title win last week with a fine super tiebreaker win over Daniel Kestenholz & David Zwygart. After the two teams traded sets, the Belgian-Polish pair prevailed in the tense finish to claim their first PTA title 6-3, 5-7, [12-10].

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
Finals Day - PTA 500 - Memphis, TN (United States)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• In a fine end to the weekend for CWLanders, Jojo Mustard has secured his maiden PTA title with a straight sets win over World No. 14 Henry Charles. Charles, an Australian Open quarter finalist, was looking for his first PTA tour title but lacked any real fire early as he looked a step behind an obviously excited Mustard. With Charles content to settle into rallies, Mustard was able to ease into his natural game and put away forehand winners with fine balance and precision. Broken twice in the first set, Charles looked for ways back into the match and saw an opening at break point up 2-1 in the second. He could not convert, though, as he sliced a backhand just long and Mustard went on to hold. The set went on service right to a tiebreaker, where Mustard quickly took advantage of a frustrated Charles by drawing a pair of unforced errors off the Brit's serve. That allowed him a 6-4 lead and his first two championship points; the World No. 28 surging well inside the top 30 with an overhead smash to complete a 6-2, 7-6(4).

A jam-packed month for Mustard continues in Dubai next week, and he will finally rest the week after after West CWLand were given no fixture in the Davis Cup.
​

• Seeded players out:
  
  Henry Charles.

• In the doubles draw, American-Bahamas pairing Morton Blundell & Wayne Boyd earned back-to-back American PTA championships with a confident 6-2, 7-5 win over Becker Haas & Jean-Alain Depuis. After winning in San Jose last week, Blundell and Boyd completed a successful fortnight with a dominant victory over the French-German duo to move further inside the top eight of the PTA Race.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Belgrade Challenger II
Finals - Belgrade, Serbia
Singles

Semi Finals

• Maarten Berg continued his relentless march to the finals in Belgrade with an expert straight-sets thumping of the 9th seed, Stipo Vucemilovic. Like Berg's previous opponents in Belgrade, the Croat just could not gain any traction at all against the sustained pressure exerted by Berg and succombed 6 - 1, 6 - 2.
• Unseeded local Novica Kulic sprung a surprise win over 5th seed Yevgeny Pushkov. Kulic lost the first set, but had actually looked the better of the two players in the early exchanges before Pushkov smelt blood at 0 - 30 on the Kulic serve. Kulic continued to create chances against Pushkov and broke him twice to lead 4 - 0 in the second. The experience of the Russian saw him pull one back, but could not get a second break and lost the set. The third went to a tie break where Kulic prevailed on a wave of euphoria from the crowd 4 - 6, 6 - 4, 7 - 6 (7 - 3)

• Seeded players out: Yevgeny Pushkov (5, RUS), Stipo Vucemilovic (9, CRO)

Final

• It was that man again, Maarten Berg who prevailed against the unseeded local Novica Kulic on finals day. Berg didn't break his chain of not losing a set in Belgrade, but Kulic pushed him close in the second - earning, but failing to convert 2 break points before losing his serve to exit 6 - 1, 7 - 5. Over the course of the week, Berg had proved to be well ahead of the other competitors in Belgrade and it was a deserved victory.

• Seeded players out: None

 

[Mister Wright]

Stoked to have won my first Singles title. It's really pleasing after so much doubles success and the criticism directed during the Davis Cup.

Hopefully this can kick start Mustard's singles career.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Two titles for CWLand. Impressive work.

 

[Simon]

Smeltz what a gun, form player on tour.