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World Team Cup, Level 2 Semifinals
Sri Lanka vs. Chile, Indoors
- G. Raychaudhari l. T. Chiostro, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(6)
- A. Chandrasekharan l. F. Gonzalez, 6-3, 7-6(1), 7-6(2)
- Srivastava/Raychaudhari d. Larkin/Falcon, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- G. Raydchaudhari d. F. Gonzalez, 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-6(3)
- A. Chandrasekharan l. T. Chiostro, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4
Chile defeats Sri Lanka, 3-2!!
That ... was not the plan. I didn't give Tobia Chiostro enough respect going in; I assumed Raychaudhari at least would beat him, and combined with Chile's weak doubles team that would assure us of victory. Playing indoors definitely favored Chile, but not being able to beat a declining player ranked in the mid-40s is still concerning. Now we don't get to the finals, and I definitely have to dial back our odds of getting promoted. I really don't want to spend another year at Level 2; the lower-level nations are total pushovers for us. But we'll have to see how the matchup goes.
Events elsewhere didn't go as expected either. Morocco beat Georgia 3-2, and in Level 1 Austria returned to the final. That gives Renke Von dem Knesebeck an extra WTC round, and also moves him up to 16th. He's just been on a tear lately, and all I can really do is hope he chills out. He outperformed his counterpart, #3 Jan Schleicher, by managing to beat #4 Przalowik; a win that made the difference in Austria beating Germany. Just gotta tip your cap to that.
If we weren't involved here, I would have had Raydchaudhari play in a 500 event next week. China and Japan 500s in the same week is an opportunity, but he can't afford the matches with Shanghai coming up the following week. Meanwhile, with no wins Chandrasekharan dropped a few spots to 38th so he's got some ground to try and make up. All in all, it was not an award-winning week for Sri Lanka tennis.
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