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Brian Swartz · 01-23-2017, 10:49 PM

It's a week or two later than I wanted, but the clay season is starting and so it's time for another update.

World Team Cup -- Group Play

Sri Lanka started out against the Czech Republic, who eliminated us last year to end our long streak in this competition. This time it was indoors, and we beat them easily 4-1. After skunking overmatched Serbia, we got a bit of a surpise as Italy put up more of a fight than either. Anil Mehul got his first WTC doubles action in many years as Ujjaval's partner, but it wasn't enough to prevent a competitive straight-sets loss. Gillo Fangio defeated Girsh for our second defeat, but we cruised through the last couple days behind Mooljee and the fact that Italy's #2 singles player, Vito Brandini(81st), was just not good enough to be competitive. So we're through as the Group 4 champions.

The quarterfinals set up with three of the four matchups on clay. That includes us, as we face off against third-ranked Argentina. Not real thrilled with that matchup. Caratti is still at the very least quite dangerous. I'd call it a toss-up overall, and a real chance for an even earlier exit. Hopefully we can avoid that.

Rankings Update

1. Prakash Mooljee(25, SRI) -- 14,890

Mooljee's tear continues unabated; he has now, in Iglar-esque fashion, lost just one match in the past 9-10 months. That'll end now on the clay, but he has the biggest lead over the rest of the field that I've ever seen. He's not totally dominating; some matches have close, with a few sets lost in the Australian Open and a narrow 7-5 third-set win over Jurco at Indian Wells that could easily have gone the other way. Prakash is enough better than the competition that it takes almost a perfect match for them to beat him on hardcourts though. An impeccable 29-0 this year, and counting.

2. Tomas Niklas(26, CZE) -- 7,225

A runner-up finish at the Miami Masters allowed Niklas to ascend to #2 for the first time, which will almost certainly be the highest he reaches. And yet he's got less than half of Mooljee's total. Incredible. A big lead is about 4000 points; this was just under 8000 at one point. However the other side of that coin is that things are the most competitive from 2nd through 15th or 20th that I've ever seen. Almost anyone in that range can beat anyone else on a given day, and while these rankings are a snapshot at this point in time they are very much in flux.

3. Girish Girsh(30, SRI) -- 6,930

After making the Australian Open final, Girsh hasn't done quite as well since. For the moment though, he's as good as anyone other than Mooljee.

4. Johnny Browne(24, USA) -- 5,730

Pretty impressive stuff for Browne who continues to rise. He was knocked out fairly early(4th round) at both Masters events though. Don't look for much from him on clay, but he could be a threat at Wimbledon.

5. Khasan Zhakirov(26, UZB) -- 5,730

Tied with Browne, Zakirov was off to a very consistent start before an early exit in Miami. He's typically at his best in the clay and grass part of the season though, so he could well have another push.

6. Gustavo Caratti(30, ARG) -- 4,830

Caratti is no longer relevant anywhere but on clay. That's partly due to not showing up; he hasn't played at all this year, and appears to have simply given up the sport. If so, that's good for our WTC chances, but bad for tennis.

7. Shreya Ujjaval(27, SRI) -- 4,710

Partly due to imperfect preparation, Ujjaval lost in the third round of all three big events so far. It's been a very disappointing year for him, and there isn't much time to turn it around at this point.

8. Antonin Iglar(33, CZE) -- 4,085

Iglar has had three seasons in which he lost fewer than the eight matches he's dropped already, plummeting him through the top ten. Looks like it's time now for him to fade away.

9. Blagota Cojanovic(24, CRO) -- 3,985

Hasn't done much since last year's run to the USO finals, but he'll be relevant until that comes around again.

10. Zourab Andronikov(28, GEO) -- 3,760

This is a bit of a surprise; I thought Andronikov had peaked. He reached the semis at Indian Wells though, moving him ahead of a couple of the others.

Gillo Fangio, Luc Janin, and Tiosav Srbulovic are close behind here. They seem stalled, while Mateo Kaspar reached the fourth round at the AO and won the Dubai 500 to reach 20th overall. He's coming ... perhaps now.

19. Anil Mehul -- The singles decline continues, but he's up to 195th in doubles and part of our WTC contingent again after making a doubles run to the Miami QF.

56. Shyam Senepathy -- Just happened to notice that despite a continued insane schedule, Senepathy has had two of his best challenger wins already this year, at Sao Paulo and Dallas. That has him up to a career-high.

269. Ritwik Dudwadkar -- An undefeated season in three tournaments, the last a tier-1 futures title, has nearly slashed Dudwadkar's ranking in half. He'll have to play probably three more of those before breaking into the Top 200 and moving up to the challengers, but it's clear he's one his way there. Better a little late than never.

01-23-2017, 10:49 PM	#570
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	It's a week or two later than I wanted, but the clay season is starting and so it's time for another update. World Team Cup -- Group Play Sri Lanka started out against the Czech Republic, who eliminated us last year to end our long streak in this competition. This time it was indoors, and we beat them easily 4-1. After skunking overmatched Serbia, we got a bit of a surpise as Italy put up more of a fight than either. Anil Mehul got his first WTC doubles action in many years as Ujjaval's partner, but it wasn't enough to prevent a competitive straight-sets loss. Gillo Fangio defeated Girsh for our second defeat, but we cruised through the last couple days behind Mooljee and the fact that Italy's #2 singles player, Vito Brandini(81st), was just not good enough to be competitive. So we're through as the Group 4 champions. The quarterfinals set up with three of the four matchups on clay. That includes us, as we face off against third-ranked Argentina. Not real thrilled with that matchup. Caratti is still at the very least quite dangerous. I'd call it a toss-up overall, and a real chance for an even earlier exit. Hopefully we can avoid that. Rankings Update 1. Prakash Mooljee(25, SRI) -- 14,890 Mooljee's tear continues unabated; he has now, in Iglar-esque fashion, lost just one match in the past 9-10 months. That'll end now on the clay, but he has the biggest lead over the rest of the field that I've ever seen. He's not totally dominating; some matches have close, with a few sets lost in the Australian Open and a narrow 7-5 third-set win over Jurco at Indian Wells that could easily have gone the other way. Prakash is enough better than the competition that it takes almost a perfect match for them to beat him on hardcourts though. An impeccable 29-0 this year, and counting. 2. Tomas Niklas(26, CZE) -- 7,225 A runner-up finish at the Miami Masters allowed Niklas to ascend to #2 for the first time, which will almost certainly be the highest he reaches. And yet he's got less than half of Mooljee's total. Incredible. A big lead is about 4000 points; this was just under 8000 at one point. However the other side of that coin is that things are the most competitive from 2nd through 15th or 20th that I've ever seen. Almost anyone in that range can beat anyone else on a given day, and while these rankings are a snapshot at this point in time they are very much in flux. 3. Girish Girsh(30, SRI) -- 6,930 After making the Australian Open final, Girsh hasn't done quite as well since. For the moment though, he's as good as anyone other than Mooljee. 4. Johnny Browne(24, USA) -- 5,730 Pretty impressive stuff for Browne who continues to rise. He was knocked out fairly early(4th round) at both Masters events though. Don't look for much from him on clay, but he could be a threat at Wimbledon. 5. Khasan Zhakirov(26, UZB) -- 5,730 Tied with Browne, Zakirov was off to a very consistent start before an early exit in Miami. He's typically at his best in the clay and grass part of the season though, so he could well have another push. 6. Gustavo Caratti(30, ARG) -- 4,830 Caratti is no longer relevant anywhere but on clay. That's partly due to not showing up; he hasn't played at all this year, and appears to have simply given up the sport. If so, that's good for our WTC chances, but bad for tennis. 7. Shreya Ujjaval(27, SRI) -- 4,710 Partly due to imperfect preparation, Ujjaval lost in the third round of all three big events so far. It's been a very disappointing year for him, and there isn't much time to turn it around at this point. 8. Antonin Iglar(33, CZE) -- 4,085 Iglar has had three seasons in which he lost fewer than the eight matches he's dropped already, plummeting him through the top ten. Looks like it's time now for him to fade away. 9. Blagota Cojanovic(24, CRO) -- 3,985 Hasn't done much since last year's run to the USO finals, but he'll be relevant until that comes around again. 10. Zourab Andronikov(28, GEO) -- 3,760 This is a bit of a surprise; I thought Andronikov had peaked. He reached the semis at Indian Wells though, moving him ahead of a couple of the others. Gillo Fangio, Luc Janin, and Tiosav Srbulovic are close behind here. They seem stalled, while Mateo Kaspar reached the fourth round at the AO and won the Dubai 500 to reach 20th overall. He's coming ... perhaps now. 19. Anil Mehul -- The singles decline continues, but he's up to 195th in doubles and part of our WTC contingent again after making a doubles run to the Miami QF. 56. Shyam Senepathy -- Just happened to notice that despite a continued insane schedule, Senepathy has had two of his best challenger wins already this year, at Sao Paulo and Dallas. That has him up to a career-high. 269. Ritwik Dudwadkar -- An undefeated season in three tournaments, the last a tier-1 futures title, has nearly slashed Dudwadkar's ranking in half. He'll have to play probably three more of those before breaking into the Top 200 and moving up to the challengers, but it's clear he's one his way there. Better a little late than never.