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Brian Swartz · 10-26-2022, 05:32 PM

Year 100 US Open: Opening Rounds

Before we actually get to the tournament, we need to talk about Bartolome Riffo (GUA), poster child for 'alternative scheduling'. At the time of writing, Riffo is ranked 13th in the world and hasn't played a Masters or Slam tournament in more than two years. He's not playing here. What he does have is excellent WTC results, plus 4 250 titles and 3 250 finals. Of course, this is not sustainable. He's going to get 0-point results from Masters and Slams until he either drops out of the Top 30 by force since he won't have enough points from the remaining ranking slots, or until he changes his approach. But suffice to say Riffo should be here and he isn't, to his detriment. At 26 and less than a year from his peak I would guess, he doesn't have long to figure this out.

A couple of first-round exits for lower seeds: (27) Roger Manuel was the latest victim of Italy's Gespare Ceresa, who was bageled in the first set and then proceeded in win in four. A good match between young Irish players saw (28) Daniel Long outlasted by Matthew Hughes, 6-3, 7-6(9), 4-6, 7-6(3). As ever some good five-setters between some of the unseeded players, but nothing sticking out as noteworthy. Round two brought the downfall of (24) Mahjab Thabet (NLD) against crowd favorite Collin Tupper, who lost a two-set lead only to prevail in a 5th-set breaker. More surprisingly, one of the rising Spaniards (18) Hector Mendias was on the short end against British hardcourt specialist George Hood.

In the third round, there were no major surprises and the remaining unseeded players were swept aside. Some matches closer than expected, but the only lower seeds to advance were (20) Vinnie Goodbody (USA) over 14th-seeded Pet Sampras of France, and (17) Alketas Albanos dumping (9) Ale Ballok 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ballok overplayed coming in, and he's not good enough to get away with that. Also worth noting is Ene Caballero beating Goya Banqueria in a matchup of Spanish young guns; Caballero went on to take a set from Polychroniadis before losing in four. He's definitely not biding his time.

The fourth round held a number of competitive matches; only three of the higher seeds, Cananis, Xanthos, and Faille, got through it without losing a set. But none of them lost. Particularly brutal was Xanthos' beat-down of fellow Cypriot Albanos, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Ouch. It does appear though that Urazov replacing Ballok in the top 8 is a secure change, and that for the time being nobody else is breaking into that club.

Elsewhere ...

Sushant Srivastava was easily the top seed at a FT2 in Japan, as many of the players at and above his level were at the US Open qualifying. I briefly considered putting him in there, but I don't think it's worth doing unless you are confident of at least making the final qualifying round. Srivastava won the tournament, but had a couple of close matches. He's losing more than winning in practice tournaments lately, which is right where you want to me in terms of improving, but it also shows he's not under-ranked in the high 200s.

Girish Raychaudhari had a less successful venture, heading to his first JG5 at Vina del Mar. I was thinking it would be an opportunity, what with the junior USO also ongoing. Seeded 5th, he lost in the first round of singles and QF of doubles. Message received; we'll go back to JG5 for another couple tournaments unless there's a clear opening.

10-26-2022, 05:32 PM	#1309
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Year 100 US Open: Opening Rounds Before we actually get to the tournament, we need to talk about Bartolome Riffo (GUA), poster child for 'alternative scheduling'. At the time of writing, Riffo is ranked 13th in the world and hasn't played a Masters or Slam tournament in more than two years. He's not playing here. What he does have is excellent WTC results, plus 4 250 titles and 3 250 finals. Of course, this is not sustainable. He's going to get 0-point results from Masters and Slams until he either drops out of the Top 30 by force since he won't have enough points from the remaining ranking slots, or until he changes his approach. But suffice to say Riffo should be here and he isn't, to his detriment. At 26 and less than a year from his peak I would guess, he doesn't have long to figure this out. A couple of first-round exits for lower seeds: (27) Roger Manuel was the latest victim of Italy's Gespare Ceresa, who was bageled in the first set and then proceeded in win in four. A good match between young Irish players saw (28) Daniel Long outlasted by Matthew Hughes, 6-3, 7-6(9), 4-6, 7-6(3). As ever some good five-setters between some of the unseeded players, but nothing sticking out as noteworthy. Round two brought the downfall of (24) Mahjab Thabet (NLD) against crowd favorite Collin Tupper, who lost a two-set lead only to prevail in a 5th-set breaker. More surprisingly, one of the rising Spaniards (18) Hector Mendias was on the short end against British hardcourt specialist George Hood. In the third round, there were no major surprises and the remaining unseeded players were swept aside. Some matches closer than expected, but the only lower seeds to advance were (20) Vinnie Goodbody (USA) over 14th-seeded Pet Sampras of France, and (17) Alketas Albanos dumping (9) Ale Ballok 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ballok overplayed coming in, and he's not good enough to get away with that. Also worth noting is Ene Caballero beating Goya Banqueria in a matchup of Spanish young guns; Caballero went on to take a set from Polychroniadis before losing in four. He's definitely not biding his time. The fourth round held a number of competitive matches; only three of the higher seeds, Cananis, Xanthos, and Faille, got through it without losing a set. But none of them lost. Particularly brutal was Xanthos' beat-down of fellow Cypriot Albanos, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Ouch. It does appear though that Urazov replacing Ballok in the top 8 is a secure change, and that for the time being nobody else is breaking into that club. Elsewhere ... Sushant Srivastava was easily the top seed at a FT2 in Japan, as many of the players at and above his level were at the US Open qualifying. I briefly considered putting him in there, but I don't think it's worth doing unless you are confident of at least making the final qualifying round. Srivastava won the tournament, but had a couple of close matches. He's losing more than winning in practice tournaments lately, which is right where you want to me in terms of improving, but it also shows he's not under-ranked in the high 200s. Girish Raychaudhari had a less successful venture, heading to his first JG5 at Vina del Mar. I was thinking it would be an opportunity, what with the junior USO also ongoing. Seeded 5th, he lost in the first round of singles and QF of doubles. Message received; we'll go back to JG5 for another couple tournaments unless there's a clear opening.