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Brian Swartz · 05-07-2019, 09:05 PM

Clay is definitely weird right now, with a lot of young players being good on it and then higher-ranking players not so much. That's still a tough defeat though

World Team Cup, Group Play Round 3

Surprisingly Sri Lanka takes down India 3-2, removing any doubt; we escape group play and make it to the quarterfinals for the first time in three years! Used to be an annual assumption, as it had been 23 consecutive seasons, since our second-ever year at level 1 way back in '42, that we made it that far. We have a very winnable match against Mexico in a kind draw, so could make it even further, and are back up a spot to #3 overall.

All that is good news, and yet I'm not sure I don't wish we lost. A strange thing to say, but it was just a weird tie. Brian Meikeljohn beat us in both of his matches as expected, though Chiba gave him more fight than expected and should have won. Took two of the first three sets, losing the other in a close tiebreak, before the world no. 2 rallied for a 5-set victory. He's India's only Top-100 player, so wins by both players against their other singles gave Kasaravalli a very useful 50-point boost. But the real surprise was in doubles, where it was weakness against weakness. Maitreya/Pallavan for us, Neeraj/Sheather for them. If you've ever heard of any of those players before I'm calling you a liar. Both pairings won exactly 161 points in a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win for our guys. A see-saw match in which we spread out our best play over three sets and they concentrated theirs into two, and that was literally the difference in not just the match but the whole tie. Meikeljohn can't rescue India by himself.

Why is this potentially a bad thing? Well, Sweden stomped Poland 5-0, not losing so much as a set. So we would have advanced anyway, and now Maitreya/Pallavan got a huge 100-point boost to their doubles points. That means Guha/Chittoor can pretty much forget about joining the national team this year; they have a third of Pallavan's points total and a quarter of Maitreya's, and that single match got the higher-ranking duo as many points as we'd get from three FT1 titles. The youngsters are up to third and fourth nationally, but have a long way to go to break in. Much longer than it was before. For Pallavan, it was nearly a doubling of his points total - he had 110 before, and 210 after.

The one event for my young players during this stretch also took place during the WTC. A first FT1 title was achieved by Nasir Chittoor in Hungary, and we lost another super TB final in doubles with Satyagit Guha, who once again took an early singles exit. Chittoor is now up to the mid-200s in singles, and Anil Mehul - who recently turned the big 50!!, proving I've been playing this game way too long - is really busy now. Both growing players are approaching physical peak now and they need training most weeks as even practice tournaments don't quite cut it. And that's not even getting into what happens when things don't go well for Kasaravalli. Time for my supertrainer to really earn his keep - this is the last great thing he's going to do in tennis.

In the in-between week, Amrik Kasaravalli entered the Houston Open(250, Clay), and was stunned in the second round by former #10 Nintau Ariyanuntaka, one of those guys for whom I have to check the spelling like four times. It was a close match that went the distance but the proper result based on how it played out. I was surprised though. Ariyanuntaka does still possess an elite serve, but clay's a real weakness for him and I thought that would be more than enough to counterbalance that. It should have been, but I think Amrik just didn't show up for this one and mailed it in.

Monte Carlo

The quarterfinals held four of the top 8 seeds, a few lower ones, and then the previously-mentioned Argentine Lucas Perez. Not only did he beat Nicolas, but he backed it up against 12-seeded de Jong to make the semis where he lost to Hart. The tournament backed up the narrative of Hart, then Meikeljohn, then who the heck knows as the Indian did defend his title from last year in winning the final, and those two do still appear to be the class of the sport. He only had one easy match and was pushed to three on three occasions, including a tiebreak to decided it against Mike Rhodes, but each time the world no.2 pulled through. The Irish standard-bearer didn't have it much easier, and might have won the match of the tournament, a third-round 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(7) win over rising Korean Il-Sung Jung who continues to play well and refuse to be left out of the headlines. That could have easily gone either way.

For my guys, Sushant Chiba had a chance to make noise in the third round against Molyneaux, a finalist last year who made the semis (l. Meikeljohn) this time. 72-70 was the points count and that's pretty much how it played out; a couple points decided it in a 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat. Amrik Kasaravalli was in a real tough spot. Almost nobody skips Monte Carlo anymore. That didn't use to be the case. So the choice is basically between a crappy practice week or a masters tournament where he's not going to be seeded and probably bugs out early. With him, and probably going forward in these kinds of situations, I'm opting to play the masters which is not what I used to do. However, he is excellent on clay and at least this way there's a chance of making something happen. The other option ensures it'll be a bad week. All I needed was one win to make it worthwhile. Didn't get it though - lost in the first round of qualifying and then met up with Harald Wentz in singles. Last falls win over an over-played Wentz in the Orleans challenger was avenged here, 6-3, 6-4. Wentz's altheticism and world-class serve more than trumped Kasaravalli's somewhat better baseline play and superior clay proficiency.

05-07-2019, 09:05 PM	#993
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Clay is definitely weird right now, with a lot of young players being good on it and then higher-ranking players not so much. That's still a tough defeat though World Team Cup, Group Play Round 3 Surprisingly Sri Lanka takes down India 3-2, removing any doubt; we escape group play and make it to the quarterfinals for the first time in three years! Used to be an annual assumption, as it had been 23 consecutive seasons, since our second-ever year at level 1 way back in '42, that we made it that far. We have a very winnable match against Mexico in a kind draw, so could make it even further, and are back up a spot to #3 overall. All that is good news, and yet I'm not sure I don't wish we lost. A strange thing to say, but it was just a weird tie. Brian Meikeljohn beat us in both of his matches as expected, though Chiba gave him more fight than expected and should have won. Took two of the first three sets, losing the other in a close tiebreak, before the world no. 2 rallied for a 5-set victory. He's India's only Top-100 player, so wins by both players against their other singles gave Kasaravalli a very useful 50-point boost. But the real surprise was in doubles, where it was weakness against weakness. Maitreya/Pallavan for us, Neeraj/Sheather for them. If you've ever heard of any of those players before I'm calling you a liar. Both pairings won exactly 161 points in a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win for our guys. A see-saw match in which we spread out our best play over three sets and they concentrated theirs into two, and that was literally the difference in not just the match but the whole tie. Meikeljohn can't rescue India by himself. Why is this potentially a bad thing? Well, Sweden stomped Poland 5-0, not losing so much as a set. So we would have advanced anyway, and now Maitreya/Pallavan got a huge 100-point boost to their doubles points. That means Guha/Chittoor can pretty much forget about joining the national team this year; they have a third of Pallavan's points total and a quarter of Maitreya's, and that single match got the higher-ranking duo as many points as we'd get from three FT1 titles. The youngsters are up to third and fourth nationally, but have a long way to go to break in. Much longer than it was before. For Pallavan, it was nearly a doubling of his points total - he had 110 before, and 210 after. The one event for my young players during this stretch also took place during the WTC. A first FT1 title was achieved by Nasir Chittoor in Hungary, and we lost another super TB final in doubles with Satyagit Guha, who once again took an early singles exit. Chittoor is now up to the mid-200s in singles, and Anil Mehul - who recently turned the big 50!!, proving I've been playing this game way too long - is really busy now. Both growing players are approaching physical peak now and they need training most weeks as even practice tournaments don't quite cut it. And that's not even getting into what happens when things don't go well for Kasaravalli. Time for my supertrainer to really earn his keep - this is the last great thing he's going to do in tennis. In the in-between week, Amrik Kasaravalli entered the Houston Open(250, Clay), and was stunned in the second round by former #10 Nintau Ariyanuntaka, one of those guys for whom I have to check the spelling like four times. It was a close match that went the distance but the proper result based on how it played out. I was surprised though. Ariyanuntaka does still possess an elite serve, but clay's a real weakness for him and I thought that would be more than enough to counterbalance that. It should have been, but I think Amrik just didn't show up for this one and mailed it in. Monte Carlo The quarterfinals held four of the top 8 seeds, a few lower ones, and then the previously-mentioned Argentine Lucas Perez. Not only did he beat Nicolas, but he backed it up against 12-seeded de Jong to make the semis where he lost to Hart. The tournament backed up the narrative of Hart, then Meikeljohn, then who the heck knows as the Indian did defend his title from last year in winning the final, and those two do still appear to be the class of the sport. He only had one easy match and was pushed to three on three occasions, including a tiebreak to decided it against Mike Rhodes, but each time the world no.2 pulled through. The Irish standard-bearer didn't have it much easier, and might have won the match of the tournament, a third-round 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(7) win over rising Korean Il-Sung Jung who continues to play well and refuse to be left out of the headlines. That could have easily gone either way. For my guys, Sushant Chiba had a chance to make noise in the third round against Molyneaux, a finalist last year who made the semis (l. Meikeljohn) this time. 72-70 was the points count and that's pretty much how it played out; a couple points decided it in a 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat. Amrik Kasaravalli was in a real tough spot. Almost nobody skips Monte Carlo anymore. That didn't use to be the case. So the choice is basically between a crappy practice week or a masters tournament where he's not going to be seeded and probably bugs out early. With him, and probably going forward in these kinds of situations, I'm opting to play the masters which is not what I used to do. However, he is excellent on clay and at least this way there's a chance of making something happen. The other option ensures it'll be a bad week. All I needed was one win to make it worthwhile. Didn't get it though - lost in the first round of qualifying and then met up with Harald Wentz in singles. Last falls win over an over-played Wentz in the Orleans challenger was avenged here, 6-3, 6-4. Wentz's altheticism and world-class serve more than trumped Kasaravalli's somewhat better baseline play and superior clay proficiency.