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January
The first month of the year starter off with a bit of a surprise, as Sri Lanka is in the Junior Team Cup for the first time. Going up against South Africa, Prakash Mooljee split his pair of matches as we lost 4-1.
Girish Girsh meanwhile was in Chennai, India(250) as the third seed. He did reasonably well, getting a bit of revenge on Milan Farkas to even their matchup at 2-all, then getting blasted by Iglar in the semis. No shame there of course.
The following week in Auckland, both Girsh and Anil Mehul took part. It looked like the best chance as it had the weaker field overall of the two events on the docket. Unfortunately, Girsh was the 5th seed here and was drawn in Mehul's section, getting blasted again in the semifinals. It would have been nice if he'd made one of the matches competitive, but getting beaten by the best two hardcourt players in the world is no shame.
As for Mehul himself, he cruised through to a final against Marcel Bahana. The Spanish prodigy put the tennis world on notice that he is indeed ready to hang with the best in the world, and not just on clay. He stole the first set and it was only by the narrowest of margins that Mehul was able to prevail, 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5). If this is indicative of the kind of performance he'll put forward on a regular basis, Bahana could well be in the Top 5 by the end of the year. Mehul just managed to get by him though, claiming his fifth career professional title and maintaining what is so far a perfect record in the young season.
A quality start for both, and they are ready for the first Slam of the year in Australia.
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