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It's time -- actually well past time -- for a summary/catch-up update. A new year is upon the tour, and yet my last report is about four months previous to that.
Synopsis
The short version is what I'm sure you'd expect: Mateo Kaspar won Cincinatti. And the US Open. And ... everything else from there to the end. 31-match winning streak to conclude the season. More about his accomplishments in the year-end update, but this was a year to be remembered for him. Before Cincy though, and just after the latest reports here, there was the Canada Masters. And he didn't win that, losing to Fangio in the semifinals. On the other side of things, Ritwik Dudwadkar had a breakout week, defeating #8 Kronecker and #4 Browne easily, then getting his first victory ever over Prakash Mooljee in the semis(6-4, 6-4, in their 4th meeting). My top player would get him back later in the year. In the final, perhaps an even more stunning result as he outlasted Gillo Fangio 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in an epic title match to claim his first Masters title!
This vaulted Ritwik to #9 in the rankings, as he basically bypassed most of the 'teens' entirely, and gained about half of the distance he was lagging behind his predecessors in terms of ascending at this point in his career. Unfortunately he wouldn't be able to push any further. Dircx beat him in the third round at Canada, he was unfortunate to face Kaspar in the USO 4th round(winning just five games), and he would only have one more big run. That was at Shanghai, where he took down Browne again, then Guus Dircx in an epic QF, before Mooljee re-established the pecking order 7-5, 6-4 in the semis. He's particularly unsuited to indoor play as a grinder, and couldn't do much more at the end of hte year.
As for Prakash, the inevitable finally occurred for him with an early Paris exit and resulting slide afterwards to third. He got his only win this season over Fangio in the WTF semis(after five defeats), but it was merely enough to keep him close. The Race never heated up: it might have gotten interesting if Dudwadkar had won that Shanghai semi, but the gap was just too large as anticipated.
Anil Mehul/Lars Kroese were the top doubles team until the WTF, where they did better than last year in making the SF. Unfortunately they lost to Aspelin/Coradasic there, and the two pairs are separated by just over 100 points in a super-tight finish. Third place is nearly 3k back, so it's definitely between these two for the time being. Sushant Chiba didn't finish well but had some success in tier-1 and tier-2 juniors events before the end of the year. It appears to be a weak field right now which could help him next season; he looks to be ranked a little better than most of my players have been despite the speed issues. Could be an interesting final year in the lower tour for him.
World Team Cup
The most nerve-wracking tournament I've ever experienced in the WTC wrapped up with another tight one, this time involving Germany. As expected, #14 Stefano Espinoza wasn't much of a threat, winning just one set. A disappointing showing by Dudwadkar against Sigmund Kronecker though ended in a 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-2 defeat, evening the match. The doubles went the distance and then some, with Arendt/Olejarz eventually taking a high-quality match that was the highlight of the week, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 8-6. A fine comeback attempt by our boys but it just wasn't enough. That put us down 2-1 and needing both of the reverse singles to claim the title. That's just what we got, in pretty dominating style: both were decided in three sets.
A third straight 3-2 decision after knockout wins over Spain and France. We're back in the winner's circle for our third in four years. Since our first title in '55, we've yet to be deprived in consecutive seasons. Tough for Germany, as they lose narrowly in the final for the second straight season(USA last year).
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