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This actually happened a couple of days ago, but ... I was busy in the run-up to Christmas.
Shanghai Masters
The Spanish contingent made themselves the theme of the week. Only missing player in the quarterfinals out of the Top 8 was (5) Toni Bardales, beaten by compatriot Goya Banqueria by a razor thin margin in a third-set tiebreak. Banqueria would lose to Xanthos in three sets in the quarterfinals, and two of the others were straight-sets for the expect winners; Faille over Oleg Urazov, Cananis over Jochen Weigle. Ene Caballero provided an upset though, breaking through over world no. 2 Leon Polychroniadis, 6-3, 6-4.
Ben Faille won a competitive match in the semis over Renke Cananis, also 6-3, 6-4, while Cabellero kept right on going in downing Themis Xanthos in three sets. It was pretty even until the third, which was dominated by the young Spaniard. He was thumped fairly good by Faille in the final, 6-4, 6-2; the French champion didn't lose a set in the tournament, confirming the idea that his slump is over. It definitely looked like a coming-out party for Caballero though. He appears to be ready to push his way further upwards.
Elsewhere ...
Sushant Srivastava officially graduated from futures tournaments with a fourth straight FT1 title, this one in Pecs, Hungary. Now he'll need to play a few Challenger events to end the year and hopefully get enough matches in but there will be some training to do yet before that push.
Mixed results continue for Aparna Chandrasekharan, a first-round loss and then a semifinal. Still searching for that first futures hardware, while Girish Raychaudhari grabbed another JG4 to ensure his position.
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