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

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open 13
1st Round - Marseille (France)

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

• Heath Davis has survived a potentially difficult first round clash in Marseille as he beat in form Turkish player Aksu Emrem. Aksu last week took a victory over David Champion in San Jose to go with his Zagreb semi final the week before, and faced a similar player to the Australian in the form of Davis. Nevertheless, the sixth seed started strongly and looked almost unstoppable on service despite the Turk throwing everything he had at him to derail his rhythm. After never letting Aksu to 40 in the first set, Davis broke just once in the ninth game with a booming forehand approach shot before serving out the set 6-4. The World No. 82, however, was not going to go down easily and finally got his opportunity in the sixth game of the set as he brought up two break points. Although he could not return the first serve, he got on to the second to steal a 4-2 lead. Whilst Davis managed to break back, he was giving the unseeded Turk more and more chances on serve and Aksu took full advantage of three set points to send the match to a decider. But on the ropes, Davis stormed away with the third set inside of just thirty minutes to secure a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Aksu sought medical attention for a thigh half way through the set, but to his credit played on in three-set defeat. Davis now faces wildcard entrant David Lebègue who prevailed 7-5, 6-4 against Finland's Lari Färkkilä.

• There was no such luck for Jarkko Maxum as the East CWLander was beaten in three sets by France's Jean-Christophe Genghini. The transition to the hard courts following a successful performance in Brazil last week seemed to be affecting Maxum as he struggled to hold serve in the first set against the solid Frenchman. Genghini looked in fine touch on his forehand side, but gave Maxum some looks on the backhand side; the Easterner attacking it relentlessly in the second to earn a deserved break of serve to send the match to a third. But after only arriving in France on Sunday, Maxum's body clock obviously had not adjusted as he paid the price for some inconsistent serving; Genghini breaking twice in the decider against 48 per cent first serve to advance 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

• Fellow East CWLander Matt Bre was in dire straights early against wildcard Sébastian Lachance, but performed a remarkable turnaround to improve his PTA record to something respectable. Previously 'boasting' a record of 3-8, it looked like falling to 3-9 as Lachance took advantage of some woeful tennis to bagel the qualifier. Bre's qualifying form looked completely out the window as he struggled to adapt to the indoor conditions in front of a sparsely populated crowd. But he managed to luck into a break of service early in the second as Lachance served back-to-back double faults to hand it to him on a platter. That gave him some real confidence to take the second set 6-3, and then carry that form into the decider as he eased past Lachance with some energetic play to shake off the first set nerves in a 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 win. He needs to start much better against Zagreb champion Miroslav Brdar who has had the benefit of a week's break and a bye since his Zagreb triumph.

• Finally, Rob Bowenburg has picked up a much-needed victory in his first round clash as he survived an encounter with Latvian giant Ivars Emsis. So often it is a waiting game against Emsis who is generally unreturnable - particularly in the still indoor conditions. Nevertheless, Bowenburg got an important break of service mid way through the first and took advantage of the lack of ground strokes from Emsis as he took the set 6-4. Despite the break, it remained a battle for Bowenburg as although he continued to hold, Emsis did too as the pair raced through the second set with twelve consecutive holds. In the tiebreaker, Emsis got the early jump and took it 7-3. He still did not look like breaking Bowenburg's serve, and the Westerner started to grow in confidence as he took more risks; lifting his aces count from 8 to 15 in the third set. But it was the last game of the match that Bowenburg earned a second break to snatch a well-deserved 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5 win in an intensely frustrating affair. He'll now face Russia's Dmitry Orlov who beat Ukraine's Viktor Vuriak very convincingly 6-0, 6-2.

• In other results, the ordinary form of Patrick Pascaul continued as he backed up his first round Australian Open exit with a 3-6, 1-6 thrashing at the hands of Portugal's Valter Cordiero. Cordiero, more noted for his clay court ability, was nothing more than solid as he relied on a littany of unforced errors from Pascaul. The local hope was obviously not fit, but continued to look for the hail mary. It didn't come, and he fell in humiliating fashion.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Patrick Pascaul;
  
  Atthaphol Sae-ul.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Can Smeltz win in two sets?

Haha it is becoming ridiculous.

Still, better to be winning them than losing them.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
1st Round - PTA 500 - Memphis, TN (United States)

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

• Qualifier Randy Banks was lucky enough to draw Waylon Jones in his first round match, but was distintly unimpressive as he was beaten in straight sets. Jones had already claimed a title this season in the USA (the Carson Challenger), and his whippy forehand was causing Banks some real difficulties. Without windy conditions to battle with (unlike the now defunct Delray Beach tournament), Jones was able to take the match to Banks who looked more defensive than usual. After claiming the first set 6-4, Jones bolted out of the gates in the second to establish a 5-0 lead. Staring down the barrel of a bagel, Banks managed to string two games together but it was far too big a mountain to climb as he fell out 4-6, 2-6. Jones now faces Canada's Davis Kennedy following his 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over veteran Frenchman Jean-Alain Depuis.

• In contrast, Jojo Mustard had perhaps his most convincing and impressive victory of the season as he thumped World No. 30 Becker Haas in straight sets. With a record of 4-4 this season, Haas would have hoped to build on promising signs in San Jose by taking the fight to Mustard. But he was up against it early as a determined Mustard secured the first break of serve as Haas put an approach shot into the net. Although he managed to get a look in in the very next game on the Mustard serve, he was unable to break as Mustard finally showed some consistency when starting points. With just a solitary break in the first, Mustard set about attacking the German's serve in the second by stepping inside of the second serves. The tactic worked as he broke twice to take a 5-0 lead to give Haas the task of avoiding the bagel. Despite leading 40-30, Haas could not get on the board as he framed a backhand when down match point to allow Mustard a 6-3, 6-0 win. The victory will give Mustard a great deal of confidence heading into a second round match with Li Ming-Wang who survived a tight three-set affair against Oscar Highsmith 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-4.

• After a career best fourth round appearance at the Australian Open, Spas Delev was made to fight for his second round spot with a three-set win over American qualifier Randy Bruce. Expecting victory, Delev could be forgiven for underestimating the World No. 117 who played to the conditions with some consistent serving and solid ground strokes. Despite the convincing tennis from the American, Delev managed to hold on and his class prevailed in the in the tiebreaker as he fought off a set point to seal it 8-6. That missed opportunity would come back to haunt Bruce as he played well to secure the second set; Delev missing vital forehands at the worst times to move to a third set. But there his undoubted ability finally started to show as Bruce struggled under the pressure of some aggressive returning. After four break points in one game, Delev finally broke the set open 4-1 and went on to advance to the round of 16 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2.

• There he will face countryman Jefferson Drake after his 7-5, 6-2 win over Oleg Puder. In his first match since his Australian Open exit, Drake took some time to get warmed up as he fell behind 2-4 early in the first. Puder, however, did nothing to earn the break and nothing to hold it as Drake found his feet at the right time to take the first set 7-5. Puder clung on to two service games, but really made few inroads against Drake whose aggressive and clean-hitting style is absolutely suited to the indoor conditions as he advanced in straight sets.

• Back-to-back first round exits for David Champion have continued his poor lead up to Australia's Davis Cup campaign as he was rocked by a 6-4, 6-2 thrashing by doubles specialist Ralph Robinson. Robinson was a surprise qualifier after entering as a wildcard, and previously held an 0-2 record in PTA singles matches. That did not stop him, though, from taking advantage of an ordinary performance from Champion as he stunned him in straight sets. Champion, who stands to lose big points when Dubai drops off next week, has sought to limit the damage by applying for a wildcard entry after being a finalist last year. If accepted, it means he'll will not have a tournament off between the Australian Open and the end of March following the Miami Masters.

• Seeded players out:
  
  David Champion.

 

[Matteh]

Wanted to see if i was any good on clay....now i know.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Solid win there. Good to be back on court.

The challenger results will be up later today.

 

[Cevno]

Can we signup now?
Or have to wait till next season?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Sign up here: http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/cricket-web-tennis/39831-signups.html

And then go into each subsequent week thread (Week 9 etc.) and sign up for the CHALLENGER tournaments.

 

[Mister Wright]

Fantastic win for Mustard. Should give me a lot of confidence going into the first doubles match and of course the rest of the singles.

 

[Simon]

Haha it is becoming ridiculous.

Still, better to be winning them than losing them.

Just giving the crowd a bit more entertainment.

 

[ripper868]

Maxum fail is fail.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Belgrade Challenger II
First Round - Belgrade, Serbia
Singles

It was a great first day at Belgrade for competitors from the former CWLand Republic with a 100% record for both fledgling States

• East CWLander Phoenix Wleft was one of the first to take to the court on an uncharacteristically hot day in Belgrade. His opponent, local Wildcard Goran Stefanovic was a real livewire at the start of the first. Unfortunately, Stefanovic wasn't using that energy to good effect, and was unable to judge the length on his forehand - repeatedly hitting the ball long. This cost Stefanovic's serve twice early on, Wleft surging to a 4 - 0 lead before Stefanovic hit back with a break of his own. Wleft held on to win the first 6 - 3. Stefanovic was more focused in the 2nd and pressured Wleft throughout the set. In the ensuing tie break, Stefanovic found himself 6 - 4 up before the pressure told on him and he collapsed 6 - 3, 7 - 6 (8 - 6). Wleft faces 14th seed Gunnar Valsson in the 2nd round
• 11th seed Rick Langley had an easy and faultless win against Tommy Schaap of Holland. Langley barely moved out of 2nd gear in the 6 - 3, 6 - 2 win.
• Koal Kao endured a tense second set tie break to win in straight sets against Michal Simr of the Czech Republic. After easing to a 6 - 3 win in the first and moving 2 breaks up in the 2nd, Simr made an astounding comeback with some aggressive play from the baseline to take the set to a tie break. Kao reversed the momentum to lead 6 - 4 in the breaker and have a couple of match points. However, Simr again came back and had a chance of his own at 7 - 6. Eventually, with his fifth match point, Kao took the breaker 11 - 9
• Jake Loughman had a bizarre victory against local boy Ozren Dimitrijevic. Loughman took the first to love with Dimitrijevic unable to make any traction either on his own serve or Loughman's. With the match there for the taking, Loughman lost his way. Dimitrijevic took his first two service games to deuce, earning 3 break points without taking a game. At the 4th break point opportunity, Dimitrijevic took the break and earned the set. Then, Loughman worked his way through the gears and the Serbian again failed to react and was bagelled for the 2nd time in the match. Loughman progressing 6 - 0, 3 - 6, 6 - 0.
• Jason Lawley progressed to face 10th seeded Scott Whitehouse after a tough fight against Ville Vilkki of Finland. A poor first set from Lawley saw him drop it 6 - 1. He fought back in the next set, but Vilkki was not going to let this one go without a fight. In fact, Vilkki was still on top during the 2nd, with Lawley's stats vastly inferior - more errors, less 1st serves. However, Lawley took the opportunity that came his way thanks to a double fault from Vilkki at break point. The 3rd set had the same 6 - 4 scoreline, but Lawley was hitting his straps and looked good for the 1 - 6, 6 - 4, 6 - 4 win.

• Seeded players out: Jordan Mutch (GBR, 12), Orazio Rizzo (ITA, 15), Karl King (NZL, 16)

Doubles

• Rick Langley and Jason Lawley had a great win over 4th seeds Jordan Mutch and Scott Whitehouse, and Lawley will take great heart into his singles meeting tomorrow with Whitehouse. The Poms took the first set and looked like progressing easily, but the CWLanders fought back hard, taking the Mutch serve before losing the Lawley serve. The tie break was taken by the CWLanders and the momentum remained with them for the match breaker to progress 3 - 6, 7 - 6, [10 - 7]
• They will meet Koal Kao and Phoenix Wleft in the 2nd round after they won a tight affair against Srdjan Ivic & Mario Timko. The match breaker went well beyond the usual 10 point target, the CWLanders finally progressing with a 15 - 13 win in the breaker.

• Seeded players out: Jordan Mutch & Scott Whitehouse (4, GBR)

 

[Number 11]

A win in doubles and my first progression past round 1 in singles. Great day!

 

[NUFAN]

Maxum fail is fail.

I was expecting to come in here and say something similar, I think I've now won 3 matches this year.

 

[luffy]

So glad I won that... Would have been fuming if I lost to a wildcard... Hoping to turn my Atp record around.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Copa Telmex
2nd Round - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

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

• He did it tough, but Randy Smeltz has moved through to a second quarter final in as many weeks after pulling off a tight straight sets win over Paraguay's Aldo Marín. In a cagey affair, Smeltz looked in control for the most part but never really took the fight to the World No. 88; sure enough his lack of aggression saw Marín do just enough to take the first set to a tiebreaker. The second seed has struggled for strong starts, and found himself in a bit of trouble after dropping both points on serve to trail 1-5 at one stage. But finally he began to assert himself, and a good approach backhand forced the Paraguayan to frame the ball as he sealed his seventh out of eight points to take the first set 7-6. Still Marín stuck with him, and he managed to create a huge opportunity as he broke for a 5-4 lead. Serving for the set, though, he could not maintain that pressure and was broken back to love as Smeltz glimpsed the finish line. He claimed three games in a row to avert a third set and to secure a 7-6(6), 7-5 win to move to a quarter final clash with Ecuador's Néstor Moreno. For the second week in a row, seventh seed Sergio Joaquín was unable to book a quarter final showdown with Smeltz after his Santiago title as he choked against the World No. 113. Joaquín had a 6-1, 5-1 lead before throwing the towel in and collapsing to a 6-1, 6-7(6), 3-6.

• The Spanish seeds continued to fall later on Thursday as local Paolo Mandonna was far too good for third seed Sanchez Emelio. In a distinctly disappointing display, Emelio was beaten 0-6, 2-6 by the aggressive Mandonna who booked a quarter final matchup against Dênis Rodrígues of Brazil. In the top half, the pick of the matches will pit top seed Juan Moreno against fifth seed Antonio Bachunelli.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Sanchez Emelio;
  
  Sergio Joaquín.

• The only upset of the doubles draw saw second seeds Mark Harmel & Yves Parmentier fall in three to Spain's Marc Carretero & Sergio Joaquín. The shoe was on the other foot for Joaquín as he and his partner came back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, [10-8]. They'll play Costa do Sauípe finalists Mario Acosta & Gonzalo Castro who continued their fine form with a 6-0, 6-2 thrashing of Antonio Bachunelli & Jochen Sas.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Mark Harmel &
  
  Yves Parmentier.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open 13
2nd Round - Marseille (France)

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

• The weapon that is Heath Davis' serve again got him out of difficulty in Marseille as he survived a spirited display from local wildcard David Lebègue to win in straight sets. Lebègue, who made a career best 2nd round appearance in Nixonstown last season, was not going to accept an easy defeat as he served strongly despite looking completely incapable of doing anything against his opponent's serve. For Davis, who did not concede a first set break point, it was all about looking for a break of serve that never came as Lebègue held strong under a heap of pressure. That unravelled in the tiebreaker as he was bagelled by the ever game Davis; the sixth seed firing down three of his eleven first set aces to close out the set. It was a similar story in the second as Davis continued to dominate with the ball in hand; winning a huge percentage of points on his first serve. Still, though, Lebègue looked to the tiebreaker as his best chance and managed to hold six times again. But, like the first set, he was undone by the strong mental game of Davis as he raced to a 6-1 lead and took his first match point with a nineteenth ace to secure a 7-6(0), 7-6(1) win. He'll face the dangerous Carlo Amato in the quarters after the Italian started his campaign with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Frenchman Jean-Christophe Genghini.

• Despite sitting inside the top 100, Matt Bre was taught another lesson by high quality opposition as Australian Open quarter finalist Miroslav Brdar started his week off with a thumping win. Bre had survived a mighty scare in the first round, but never looked like challenging the World No. 12 who was comfortably accounted for 1-6, 3-6. After a poor start, Bre started to get his game together early in the second set to be level at 2-2, but just didn't have the game to match the impressive Croat as he fell in straight sets. Brdar now plays local wildcard Mikel Fosdike who remains the last Frenchman in the draw after his 7-5, 6-2 win over Valter Cordiero.

• Rob Bowenburg has finally returned to form as he picked up his biggest win in many months; ousting Sydney champion and seventh seed Dmitry Orlov in an impressive straight sets win. The aggressive West CWLander hadn't made a PTA level singles quarter final since way back at 's-Hertogenbosch in June of last season, and was not about to let his chance slip as he rattled the Russian early. Two service breaks gave him a 4-0 lead, but he started to slip into old habits as he double faulted when down break point to allow Orlov back to 2-4. The seventh seed, however, could not scrape back another break of serve; and it was Bowenburg who served it out as he sweetly struck a smash past the World No. 41 to take the first 6-4. Orlov lifted his game early in the second to take an early break to lead 3-1, but was broken back immediately as Bowenburg took advantage of some ordinary serving. The match looked destined for a tiebreaker, and despite Orlov having a set point in Bowenburg's sixth service game it went to one. In a see-sawing affair, Bowenburg got the decisive minibreak to bring up match point; Orlov sending a forehand long at the end of a tense rally to hand Bowenburg a 6-4, 7-6(5) win. He'll face second seed Rick Henson who had no trouble in dispatching the disappointing Václav Zeman 6-2, 6-0.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Dmitry Orlov.

• There was disappointment for Bowenburg in the doubles as he and partner Jarkko Maxum fell in straight sets to Roel Hervelle & Jerzy Kosecki in the very first round. After a quarter final appearance in Melbourne, they expected much more in their first outing since but never really got going as they were beaten 2-6, 4-6.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Rob Bowenburg &
  
  Jarkko Maxum;
  
  Viorel Iftime &
  
  Marius Micu.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
2nd Round - PTA 500 - Memphis, TN (United States)

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

• Despite bowing out in the second round, East CWLander Spas Delev showed some real fight as he fell just short against World No. 10 Jefferson Drake in their Wednesday clash. The second seed was in fine touch in the first round, but started slowly against his compatriot. Nevertheless, Delev failed to take advantage of his early chances and was still stuck on 4-4 before Drake double faulted to hand him two surprise break points. This time he took the first one and went on to seal the first set with a raking backhand. But as is so often the case, Drake flicked a switch and turned it on; taking the second set inside of a half hour 6-1 and moving into the decider with all the momentum. Leading 3-2 with a break in hand, though, Drake gave Delev another opening as he put a rally backhand into the net to give the World No. 60 the break back. But in the tiebreaker Drake was too good; after throwing away two match points in earlier Delev service games he shot away and secured a confident 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) win. He now plays Wayne Boyd for place in the semi finals after Boyd beat World No. 1 doubles player Ralph Robinson 6-1, 6-4.

• The draw has opened up considerably for Jojo Mustard as results went his way and he won his second round clash with Li Ming-Wang. It was tougher than he'd have hoped, though, after a strong first round showing, but Li took advantage of the still conditions to play aggressively against the eighth seed. In a tight first set, though, that gung ho approach cost him at 5-6 as he looked for a winner to save set point and missed fractionally to give the West CWLander the all important first set. That did not faze him, though, and Mustard was left trying to catch up after being broken early. The World No. 28 seemed to have fallen into the trap of just playing to stay in points instead of looking to take the ascendancy, and was saved by Li's unforced error count as he looked to red line right throughout the set. Despite that, he was able to win big tiebreak points after being broken at 5-4 and sent the match to a decider. Mustard, however, wasn't done with yet and took advantage of an obviously tiring Chinese No. 3 who was made to fight in the first round and could not maintain it through a third set; Mustard through 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-3. He has the perfect chance of a semi final, though, after Israel's Tal Cohen fought off three straight match points to stun San Jose champion Dwayne Murdoch The fourth seed was immense last week, but from 6-3 in the second set tiebreaker failed to seal the match as the World No. 46 shocked the Music City crowd 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4.

• In the other big result, fourth seed Davis Kennedy was beaten 3-6, 6-7(6) by wildcard entrant Waylon Jones.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Davis Kennedy;
  
  Dwayne Murdoch.

• Jefferson Drake & Martti Korpinen made a winning start in the doubles draw as they came back from a set down to beat locals Donovan Burbach & Benjamin Turner. The East CWLanders dropped the first set 3-6, but rallied to take the second 6-2 and then a 4-1 lead in the match tiebreaker. That lead was never whittled away inside of two as the Australian Open finalists moved through to the quarter finals 3-6, 6-2, [10-7].

• Jojo Mustard awaits in a three-quarter rematch of the Melbourne Park match after he and Spas Delev were too good for another makeshift pair in Sergiy Malachenko & Alexey Yarkin. After last week claiming Rotterdam with Danijel Micic, Mustard looks intent on making up further ground on James & Robinson as the World No. 1 doubles player after a 6-3, 6-2 win.

• He's been helped out by San Jose champions Wayne Boyd & Morton Blundell who came from a set down to beat World No. 1 pair Hugh James & Ralph Robinson for the second time in a week. After winning over the Americans in the semi finals in Texas, Blundell and Boyd again proved too good in an absolute nailbiter; winning 2-6, 7-6(5), [15-13]. It was Boyd's third win in some form over Robinson in a week, too. Runners up in San Jose, Dean Delgado & Andrew Madera, were not able to follow up that great run as they were trounced 0-6, 3-6 by Jean-Alain Depuis & Becker Haas.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Hugh James &
  
  Ralph Robinson.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Solid but uninspiring, feel like Ox over here.

 

[Luffers]

God I nearly messed up there, hoping to go all the way in this one!

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Interesting win there over Lebegue. Huge match against Amato next; I need to win these ones if I'm going to make any progress up the rankings.