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Brian Swartz · 10-10-2016, 01:49 PM

Indian Wells Masters

Everybody gets into the act, relatively speaking, for the big masters events. Shyam Senepathy lost just two games against a qualifier in the first round, then lost against Petko Ljaljevic in the second, 7-6(6), 6-3. Unfortunately, it wasn't really that close. Davide Poilblan was the first to fall early; the world no. 8 was beaten by one of the hordes of American players, Jake Jolland, in three sets. Janin and Jurco came through despite close calls. Most of the third round was pretty straightforward also. Bjorn Benda lost to 22nd-seed Johnny Browne, another US player off to a good start this year, and Jolland kept on moving against one of the lower seeds. Girsh(over Andronikov) and Mehul(over Janin) had competitive matches but moved on in straight sets.

In the fourth, the American contingent had it's ups and downs. Browne kept moving with an impressive upset of Kinczllers, while McCuskey bowed out to Mehul, Srbulovic lost in a match that didn't live up to it's billing, 6-4, 6-2 against Mooljee, and Jolland was easily dismissed as well. Pierce Gaskell kept going though, eliminating Bourdet in three. Gustavo Caratti was pushed to a third-set breaker by Agustin Herrera, the second straight three-set match but he continues on. A solid run by Shreya Ujjaval ends also as he loses in straight sets to Iglar.

Five of the top eight made the quarterfinals, but this is where the real surprises came. Girish Girsh was stopped early again, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Browne. Girsh was only 2 of 14 on break points in a match where he had the advantage. Anil Mehul was also pushed out, in this case by Gaskell in a 7-5, 7-6(5) final, but he was just plain outplayed. He's 22-4 against the top American, having re-established dominance with four straight wins, but that ended here in a match where neither player could count on their serve. Prakash Mooljee kept moving with a hard-fought, but deserved 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Antonin Iglar in his first big tournament under new management. Two of the three best in the world on this surface, they just met a bit early here. Caratti's luck ran out, with Tomas Niklas edging past him in another third-set tiebreak.

So the semifinals come around, featuring none of the top four players and Mooljee the sudden prohibitive favorite as the only remaining player in the Top 10. This isn't exactly the changing of the guard I had in mind ... I thought it'd be a bit more gradual. Not this tournament, at any rate. The fans got a treat in the first semi with young vs. old, a matchup of players from their home country, and experience won the day with Gaskell prevailing over Browne, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. In the second match, Mooljee defeated Niklas routinely, his third straight win after losing their first encounter. In the final, Gaskell did a good job of creating opportunities but wasn't able to convert them as successfully. Prakash Mooljee rode much more consistent pressure and control of the match to a 6-4, 7-6(4) win. It appears his US Open title is not a fluke, and his first Masters here leaves him still unbeaten on the year and just a hair behind Mehul for the #4 spot. Meanwhile, the aging Gaskell pops his head back onto the first page at #9.

Elsewhere ...

The last round of group play in the Junior WTC was up during the second week of IW. Ritwik Dudwadkar led the way with two wins in singles. We lost the other two, but got an unexpected comeback win in doubles from two sets down ... and it was just enough for a 3-2 win over Spain! Lousy feeling for them as a pair of narrow defeats send them out in the group stage, but instead of a 3-way tiebreaker, we end up moving on to the quarterfinals ourselves which means more good experience for Dudwadkar. He'll be off for a solid month and a half now during which he'll undoubtedly slide down the rankings, but come back better for the work. A hardcourt match against the United States will await whenever the Junior QFs resume -- the schedule is different from the senior level. Dudwadkar is the only guy we have who can hang with their singles players, both of whom are listed in the Top 20, so another upset will be needed if we hope to advance further.

10-10-2016, 01:49 PM	#523
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Indian Wells Masters Everybody gets into the act, relatively speaking, for the big masters events. Shyam Senepathy lost just two games against a qualifier in the first round, then lost against Petko Ljaljevic in the second, 7-6(6), 6-3. Unfortunately, it wasn't really that close. Davide Poilblan was the first to fall early; the world no. 8 was beaten by one of the hordes of American players, Jake Jolland, in three sets. Janin and Jurco came through despite close calls. Most of the third round was pretty straightforward also. Bjorn Benda lost to 22nd-seed Johnny Browne, another US player off to a good start this year, and Jolland kept on moving against one of the lower seeds. Girsh(over Andronikov) and Mehul(over Janin) had competitive matches but moved on in straight sets. In the fourth, the American contingent had it's ups and downs. Browne kept moving with an impressive upset of Kinczllers, while McCuskey bowed out to Mehul, Srbulovic lost in a match that didn't live up to it's billing, 6-4, 6-2 against Mooljee, and Jolland was easily dismissed as well. Pierce Gaskell kept going though, eliminating Bourdet in three. Gustavo Caratti was pushed to a third-set breaker by Agustin Herrera, the second straight three-set match but he continues on. A solid run by Shreya Ujjaval ends also as he loses in straight sets to Iglar. Five of the top eight made the quarterfinals, but this is where the real surprises came. Girish Girsh was stopped early again, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Browne. Girsh was only 2 of 14 on break points in a match where he had the advantage. Anil Mehul was also pushed out, in this case by Gaskell in a 7-5, 7-6(5) final, but he was just plain outplayed. He's 22-4 against the top American, having re-established dominance with four straight wins, but that ended here in a match where neither player could count on their serve. Prakash Mooljee kept moving with a hard-fought, but deserved 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Antonin Iglar in his first big tournament under new management. Two of the three best in the world on this surface, they just met a bit early here. Caratti's luck ran out, with Tomas Niklas edging past him in another third-set tiebreak. So the semifinals come around, featuring none of the top four players and Mooljee the sudden prohibitive favorite as the only remaining player in the Top 10. This isn't exactly the changing of the guard I had in mind ... I thought it'd be a bit more gradual. Not this tournament, at any rate. The fans got a treat in the first semi with young vs. old, a matchup of players from their home country, and experience won the day with Gaskell prevailing over Browne, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. In the second match, Mooljee defeated Niklas routinely, his third straight win after losing their first encounter. In the final, Gaskell did a good job of creating opportunities but wasn't able to convert them as successfully. Prakash Mooljee rode much more consistent pressure and control of the match to a 6-4, 7-6(4) win. It appears his US Open title is not a fluke, and his first Masters here leaves him still unbeaten on the year and just a hair behind Mehul for the #4 spot. Meanwhile, the aging Gaskell pops his head back onto the first page at #9. Elsewhere ... The last round of group play in the Junior WTC was up during the second week of IW. Ritwik Dudwadkar led the way with two wins in singles. We lost the other two, but got an unexpected comeback win in doubles from two sets down ... and it was just enough for a 3-2 win over Spain! Lousy feeling for them as a pair of narrow defeats send them out in the group stage, but instead of a 3-way tiebreaker, we end up moving on to the quarterfinals ourselves which means more good experience for Dudwadkar. He'll be off for a solid month and a half now during which he'll undoubtedly slide down the rankings, but come back better for the work. A hardcourt match against the United States will await whenever the Junior QFs resume -- the schedule is different from the senior level. Dudwadkar is the only guy we have who can hang with their singles players, both of whom are listed in the Top 20, so another upset will be needed if we hope to advance further.