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Brian Swartz · 08-31-2019, 03:28 PM

2068 Wimbledon

On the doubles side, Godinic/Kaspar surely seem on the rise, winning their second straight Slam event. Hughes/Hart reached the final though, their first as a pairing and they definitely appear to be on their way up. Guha/Chiba got a nice win over 9-seeds Castegali/Pargeter in the first round, eventually losing in the third to the top-seeded Mexican duo. They appear to be improving as well. Guha lost his first singles match, so he didn't do as well on that side.

(24) Guillermo Valturri (MEX) was the only seeded casualty of the first round in singles, and all of the Anilophiles in the main draw moved through pretty uneventfully. A couple more low seeds were knocked out at the next hurdle. Joao Narciso had himself a near miss, losing 9-7 in the 5th set to Dogic, a real coin-flip of an epic struggle in that one. Seamus Hughes bowed in straight sets to Gulley, and (23) Ross Vicars (USA) was the highest seed to yet lose, against another American Jaak Christ. And then there was the interesting showdown between Tommy Fitzpatrick and Mark Smith. Smith had just sneaked in as the last seed after a strong grass campaign that included the Eastbourne 250 title the previous week. Impressive job there, and this is his turf - he booted Fitz 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-6(5).

Per usual, carnage accelerated in the third round. (26) Helmut Edlund was kicked out easily by N. Perez, (17) Sushant Chiba got to one tiebreak but left in straights against Aviles, and (29) Willy Weigl went out similarly against L. Perez. Others struggled harder before losing. (20) Algot Hakanson had no. 2 Wentz down two sets to one before falling, Smith suprisingly - at least to me - went out to (13) Clavet Moniotte in a relatively easy four, and (12) Amrik Kasaravalli lost to Gonzoles in a match I had him as a slight favorite in. Gonzoles is one of the few players who is superior to him mentally, but I thought his superior baseline skills would carry him through. 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 was the scoreline, an unfortunate result that could have gone either way.

I figured it was no big deal as third-ranked Chisulo Mpakati was going to mow down the winner anyway ... and then Gonzoles prevailed in another five-setter there by a very similar count. The 11-9 4th set tiebreak would have changed the result if it went against him, but he pulled it out and Mpakati had to leave this tournament frustrated. The four-tiebreak win by Haas over Kjaerstad was also full of quite a bit of drama. (4) Calisto Aviles lost in four sets to L. Perez, further thinning out the top players. (9) John Hart officially ended his title defense in meek form, a 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 defeat against Velilla. Moniotte had an up-and-down match against Jung, but came up on the short end of a 6-2 final stanza.

There were a handful of usual suspects in the quarterfinals, but all three lower-seeded players who made it were from Argentina. Four in all from there. Ollie Haas pushed N. Perez to a couple of tiebreaks but couldn't win any of them; three close sets against Tim de Jong all went the way of L. Perez; and Constantino Gonzoles lost in his third straight 5-setter, but not by much ... it took an 11-9 third-set TB and a 9-7 finale to get him out. Velilla was fortunate to survive that one. It was also fairly suprising to see no. 2 Harald Wentz defeated as easily as he was by Jung.

Three players from the same country in the semis, and both matches were rather spectacular. Lucas Perez tried to play spoiler again, pushing the world's best to a 5th set by saving 16 of 20 BPs. Nicolas eventually came through 7-5, but it was quite a scare. In the second one, Il-Sung Jung lost a match he probably should have won, also in five sets. Tobias Velilla served brilliantly to rally for the comeback win there. Attempting to duplicate his AO upset of Nicolas Perez, he came up woefully short in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 final. The semi was really the only time Nicolas was seriously challenged, and he can now say he did something that Hart did not; won each of the four Slams at least once. This gives him seven in all, and he's showing no signs at all of slowing down yet.

Elsewhere ...

Nasir Chittoor was back on the court committing highway robbery at his first CH+ event in Braunschweig. A relic of the days when Wimbledon was played a week earlier, the field was considerably weakened and he figured to take it easily. Manuel Iruso was more trouble than usual though, and he wasn't far from losing the final before coming through 5-7, 7-6(1), 6-1. Overall stats were very one-sided in favor of Chittoor, but he dropped four of six chances against his serve. Definitely a bullet dodged there.

The second week, CH2 Oberstaufen beckoned. There was a CH1 event, but with Fitzpatrick entered there I stayed away from it. Chittoor easily smashed the laughable resistance for another title. Guha entered CH2 San Benedetto, where there were three other Anilophiles. His first real test was the second round against Lubos Rucklov, narrowly escaping in a third-set tiebreaker. After getting through another close one in the semis, Helmut Hoetker denied him in the final 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-4. Still a fine run, I doubt he'll see challenger finals again anytime soon, and it should decisively move him out of the futures ranks for good.

Coming Up ...

After work today (hopefully) I'll delve into the updated rankings, including a revised look at the Challenger Hero situation and our traditional first appraisal of the Race for this year.

08-31-2019, 03:28 PM	#1167
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	2068 Wimbledon On the doubles side, Godinic/Kaspar surely seem on the rise, winning their second straight Slam event. Hughes/Hart reached the final though, their first as a pairing and they definitely appear to be on their way up. Guha/Chiba got a nice win over 9-seeds Castegali/Pargeter in the first round, eventually losing in the third to the top-seeded Mexican duo. They appear to be improving as well. Guha lost his first singles match, so he didn't do as well on that side. (24) Guillermo Valturri (MEX) was the only seeded casualty of the first round in singles, and all of the Anilophiles in the main draw moved through pretty uneventfully. A couple more low seeds were knocked out at the next hurdle. Joao Narciso had himself a near miss, losing 9-7 in the 5th set to Dogic, a real coin-flip of an epic struggle in that one. Seamus Hughes bowed in straight sets to Gulley, and (23) Ross Vicars (USA) was the highest seed to yet lose, against another American Jaak Christ. And then there was the interesting showdown between Tommy Fitzpatrick and Mark Smith. Smith had just sneaked in as the last seed after a strong grass campaign that included the Eastbourne 250 title the previous week. Impressive job there, and this is his turf - he booted Fitz 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-6(5). Per usual, carnage accelerated in the third round. (26) Helmut Edlund was kicked out easily by N. Perez, (17) Sushant Chiba got to one tiebreak but left in straights against Aviles, and (29) Willy Weigl went out similarly against L. Perez. Others struggled harder before losing. (20) Algot Hakanson had no. 2 Wentz down two sets to one before falling, Smith suprisingly - at least to me - went out to (13) Clavet Moniotte in a relatively easy four, and (12) Amrik Kasaravalli lost to Gonzoles in a match I had him as a slight favorite in. Gonzoles is one of the few players who is superior to him mentally, but I thought his superior baseline skills would carry him through. 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 was the scoreline, an unfortunate result that could have gone either way. I figured it was no big deal as third-ranked Chisulo Mpakati was going to mow down the winner anyway ... and then Gonzoles prevailed in another five-setter there by a very similar count. The 11-9 4th set tiebreak would have changed the result if it went against him, but he pulled it out and Mpakati had to leave this tournament frustrated. The four-tiebreak win by Haas over Kjaerstad was also full of quite a bit of drama. (4) Calisto Aviles lost in four sets to L. Perez, further thinning out the top players. (9) John Hart officially ended his title defense in meek form, a 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 defeat against Velilla. Moniotte had an up-and-down match against Jung, but came up on the short end of a 6-2 final stanza. There were a handful of usual suspects in the quarterfinals, but all three lower-seeded players who made it were from Argentina. Four in all from there. Ollie Haas pushed N. Perez to a couple of tiebreaks but couldn't win any of them; three close sets against Tim de Jong all went the way of L. Perez; and Constantino Gonzoles lost in his third straight 5-setter, but not by much ... it took an 11-9 third-set TB and a 9-7 finale to get him out. Velilla was fortunate to survive that one. It was also fairly suprising to see no. 2 Harald Wentz defeated as easily as he was by Jung. Three players from the same country in the semis, and both matches were rather spectacular. Lucas Perez tried to play spoiler again, pushing the world's best to a 5th set by saving 16 of 20 BPs. Nicolas eventually came through 7-5, but it was quite a scare. In the second one, Il-Sung Jung lost a match he probably should have won, also in five sets. Tobias Velilla served brilliantly to rally for the comeback win there. Attempting to duplicate his AO upset of Nicolas Perez, he came up woefully short in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 final. The semi was really the only time Nicolas was seriously challenged, and he can now say he did something that Hart did not; won each of the four Slams at least once. This gives him seven in all, and he's showing no signs at all of slowing down yet. Elsewhere ... Nasir Chittoor was back on the court committing highway robbery at his first CH+ event in Braunschweig. A relic of the days when Wimbledon was played a week earlier, the field was considerably weakened and he figured to take it easily. Manuel Iruso was more trouble than usual though, and he wasn't far from losing the final before coming through 5-7, 7-6(1), 6-1. Overall stats were very one-sided in favor of Chittoor, but he dropped four of six chances against his serve. Definitely a bullet dodged there. The second week, CH2 Oberstaufen beckoned. There was a CH1 event, but with Fitzpatrick entered there I stayed away from it. Chittoor easily smashed the laughable resistance for another title. Guha entered CH2 San Benedetto, where there were three other Anilophiles. His first real test was the second round against Lubos Rucklov, narrowly escaping in a third-set tiebreaker. After getting through another close one in the semis, Helmut Hoetker denied him in the final 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-4. Still a fine run, I doubt he'll see challenger finals again anytime soon, and it should decisively move him out of the futures ranks for good. Coming Up ... After work today (hopefully) I'll delve into the updated rankings, including a revised look at the Challenger Hero situation and our traditional first appraisal of the Race for this year.