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Brian Swartz · 05-27-2019, 04:29 AM

2066 US Open

The end of this year's tournament was wacky and unpredictable - except for the guy who won it. But how that happened … well, it wasn't what I was expecting. I'm going to go a bit old-school here and start at the beginning, esp. since we are starting to have so many Anilophiles - may the hair on his beard never wither indeed - showing up in the big events.

** Mark Smith qualifies. And gets drilled by Aas, receiving the fabled and infamous triple-bagel.

** Tommy Fitzpatrick qualifies as well. Even better, he gets his first Slam main-draw win ... and in grand style. Beat fellow qualifier Ryan Verbruggen(NLD) by a final of 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-6(5). That's a veritable truckload of XP ... and then a beatdown by Stachovsky in the second round. Still, got a win in his first Slam event. *clapclapclap*

** Joao Narciso takes his punishment from Chiba again, due to his bad luck in the draw. Gave him one close set in the first round, but that's about it.

Only one seed lost in the first round. Nintau Ariyanuntaka struck again, knocking out 10th-ranked Emilien Mathou in five sets. What the heck?!? Two more drop in the next round, the biggest surprise being 17th-seeded de Jong losing to Andrei Malinovsky. Malinovsky is a Russian, and it might do to remember the name. He smacked around Balzer in straight-sets before Hughes sent him packing easily in the fourth round.

Wentz defeated Haas, Stachovsky over Jung in a tense four-setter, Rhodes with a stunning triple-bagel of hometown hero Gregory Gulley, Belmon finally ending Ariyanuntaka's run - all of these were part of third-round action. Meanwhile Amrik Kasaravalli drew Hart again in the third round, cursing his luck. Took a set, but then the Irishman curtly closed out the final couple of sets 2 & 1 to show the upstart who was in charge around here. And Samuel Aas bowed out in four to L. Perez.

Fourth round - Santino Belmon pushed Hart to four very tough sets as the no. 1 who has never won here started to show his fatigue. There was only one upset, as the top 7 seeds would all make it to week two. What's this? The Top 10 actually showing up when it counts? I remember what that used to be like. And the final player? Well, that was Sushant Chiba, who battled past Calisto Aviles. Won the first two sets in tiebreaks, then lost the next two before taking a 6-4 decider. Draw set up well for him with Aviles and Moniotte the two seeded options in Chiba's section, both poor HC players. And Sushant snuck through to defend his QF from last year.

On to the second week. Cinderella got smacked around pretty good by Molyneaux, but that was no surprise. It was getting here that mattered. The big news was that John Hart went out even earlier than expected. It doesn't look good for his career slam prospects after a five-set tussle with Srba Dogic went the way of the Croatian. Dogic is a hardcourt expert, but at times this year he really hasn't played the part. Showed up in this one though. In the bottom half it was N. Perez outlasting Ali Solberg in a 5th-set TB, and Seamus Hughes going out to Solheim in a fairly surprising result given recent events. The Dane dominated two tiebreaks to win in four.

In the semis, I expected Barry Molyneaux to take advantage of the situation and reach his third straight home Slam final. Instead, Dogic knocked him out in a 5-setter, tiebreak to end it and all, that he absolutely did not deserve to win. Credit to Srba for getting it, but he needed 175 serve points while the American had just 122. 5 of 7 BPs compared to 4 of 23. Yikes. In the bottom half, Isa Solheim went out in four to Perez. I thought Molyneaux would have had a decent shot at it, but figured you might as well crown the Argentine going up against Srba Dogic. It didn't work out that way. Both players needed a 5th-set TB to get here ... and they decided to play another one. And a couple more along the way. 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(5). The Croat came within inches of hogwashing his way into his first Slam crown, and it would have been fitting to have a fourth different Slam champion in the same calendar year. I've never seen that happen. But it was Nicolas Perez taking the trophy to bookend his AO to start the year and throw the race for year-end #1 into serious doubt. There's no question Perez owned this summer with a Masters, the USO, and the Olympic gold.

Elsewhere ...

Nasir Chittoor took a boring practice week. He had too many matches coming in to be fresh, and it turned out he was able to get a decent week's work so he and Satyagit Guha took it. I don't regret it, but impressed by what some of the others did who played. Tomorrowish I'll look at what all the summer chaos means for the rankings and tour finals.

05-27-2019, 04:29 AM	#1029
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	2066 US Open The end of this year's tournament was wacky and unpredictable - except for the guy who won it. But how that happened … well, it wasn't what I was expecting. I'm going to go a bit old-school here and start at the beginning, esp. since we are starting to have so many Anilophiles - may the hair on his beard never wither indeed - showing up in the big events. Mark Smith qualifies. And gets drilled by Aas, receiving the fabled and infamous triple-bagel. Tommy Fitzpatrick qualifies as well. Even better, he gets his first Slam main-draw win ... and in grand style. Beat fellow qualifier Ryan Verbruggen(NLD) by a final of 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-6(5). That's a veritable truckload of XP ... and then a beatdown by Stachovsky in the second round. Still, got a win in his first Slam event. clapclapclap Joao Narciso takes his punishment from Chiba again, due to his bad luck in the draw. Gave him one close set in the first round, but that's about it. Only one seed lost in the first round. Nintau Ariyanuntaka struck again, knocking out 10th-ranked Emilien Mathou in five sets. What the heck?!? Two more drop in the next round, the biggest surprise being 17th-seeded de Jong losing to Andrei Malinovsky. Malinovsky is a Russian, and it might do to remember the name. He smacked around Balzer in straight-sets before Hughes sent him packing easily in the fourth round. Wentz defeated Haas, Stachovsky over Jung in a tense four-setter, Rhodes with a stunning triple-bagel of hometown hero Gregory Gulley, Belmon finally ending Ariyanuntaka's run - all of these were part of third-round action. Meanwhile Amrik Kasaravalli drew Hart again in the third round, cursing his luck. Took a set, but then the Irishman curtly closed out the final couple of sets 2 & 1 to show the upstart who was in charge around here. And Samuel Aas bowed out in four to L. Perez. Fourth round - Santino Belmon pushed Hart to four very tough sets as the no. 1 who has never won here started to show his fatigue. There was only one upset, as the top 7 seeds would all make it to week two. What's this? The Top 10 actually showing up when it counts? I remember what that used to be like. And the final player? Well, that was Sushant Chiba, who battled past Calisto Aviles. Won the first two sets in tiebreaks, then lost the next two before taking a 6-4 decider. Draw set up well for him with Aviles and Moniotte the two seeded options in Chiba's section, both poor HC players. And Sushant snuck through to defend his QF from last year. On to the second week. Cinderella got smacked around pretty good by Molyneaux, but that was no surprise. It was getting here that mattered. The big news was that John Hart went out even earlier than expected. It doesn't look good for his career slam prospects after a five-set tussle with Srba Dogic went the way of the Croatian. Dogic is a hardcourt expert, but at times this year he really hasn't played the part. Showed up in this one though. In the bottom half it was N. Perez outlasting Ali Solberg in a 5th-set TB, and Seamus Hughes going out to Solheim in a fairly surprising result given recent events. The Dane dominated two tiebreaks to win in four. In the semis, I expected Barry Molyneaux to take advantage of the situation and reach his third straight home Slam final. Instead, Dogic knocked him out in a 5-setter, tiebreak to end it and all, that he absolutely did not deserve to win. Credit to Srba for getting it, but he needed 175 serve points while the American had just 122. 5 of 7 BPs compared to 4 of 23. Yikes. In the bottom half, Isa Solheim went out in four to Perez. I thought Molyneaux would have had a decent shot at it, but figured you might as well crown the Argentine going up against Srba Dogic. It didn't work out that way. Both players needed a 5th-set TB to get here ... and they decided to play another one. And a couple more along the way. 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(5). The Croat came within inches of hogwashing his way into his first Slam crown, and it would have been fitting to have a fourth different Slam champion in the same calendar year. I've never seen that happen. But it was Nicolas Perez taking the trophy to bookend his AO to start the year and throw the race for year-end #1 into serious doubt. There's no question Perez owned this summer with a Masters, the USO, and the Olympic gold. Elsewhere ... Nasir Chittoor took a boring practice week. He had too many matches coming in to be fresh, and it turned out he was able to get a decent week's work so he and Satyagit Guha** took it. I don't regret it, but impressed by what some of the others did who played. Tomorrowish I'll look at what all the summer chaos means for the rankings and tour finals. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 05-27-2019 at 04:30 AM.