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Old 07-05-2017, 11:13 PM   #638
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
Estoril Open

The week before the clay season really heats up, Ritwik Dudwadkar entered both singles and doubles in this 250-level event in Portugal. Relative to the rest of the tour, clay is his strongest surface, particularly since his skillset due to his footspeed and unimpressive power makes him a natural grinder. Dudwadkar smashed his way through easily as the top seed to his second 250 final of the year, where he faced Argentine 2-seed Andres Varas. Varas has the #3 or #4 manager around, Nevstar, who has made a couple appearances here in this thread. I expected a very competitive match. Dudwadkar dominated early and in the second-set tiebreak, winning 6-0, 7-6(0). Jumping ahead a bit, Varas would go on to win a warm-up 250 before Roland Garros; he's a quality clay player so this was another good result. Ritwik's first professional-level title as well -- one week under a year later than Mooljee achieved it. That comparison is not mere idle chatter; he's fallen just a hair behind Prakash's training pace, largely due to spending the extra year in the challenger ranks. Dudwadkar is here now though, and appears to be making the most of things so far this year. It's past time, and a welcome sight.

Madrid Masters

Mehul/Kroese showed solid form until running into #1s Aspelin/Cordasic, who beat them 11-9 in a SF super-TB that could have gone either way. Shyam Senepathy qualified, but lost quickly to German Joseph Boller, a solid clay player. Ritwik Dudwadkar isn't quite high enough to be seeded at the smaller Masters(Top 16) yet, and his first matchup was (14)Andres Guardado. Unlike most players in the Spanish-speaking world, the Mexican is not a strong player on clay and this is exactly the kind of matchup that could present an opportunity. Dudwadkar won a solid straight-sets victory, yet another one against a player ranked above him.

Guardado was the only seed to lose in the first round(half have byes). His budding rival and fellow rising young gun Ruben Piazzola of Chile knocked out another one in the second round, Besson. Piazzola is an extreme clay-court guy, so this is his time of year to make a move. Meanwhile Dudwadkar had an easy match against a qualifier. In the third round, an unfortunate all-Sri Lanka matchup with Mooljee easily dumping Dudwadkar in their first-ever matchup, 6-1, 6-4. I thought it would be a little closer, but Prakash still has a considerable technical edge. Piazzola kept right on moving with a three-set upset of #4 Johnny Browne. Browne has clearly slipped below the level of the Mooljee or Fangio, but beating the top American and world no. 4 is still a thing to be noticed.

The Chilean was the only player not seeded 9th or better to reach the quarterfinals. And he wasn't done, thumping aside Guus Dircx, 6-3, 6-2. That might be an even more impressive win. Mateo Kaspar is at perhaps his most vulnerable here, and he lost a set for the first time since I can't remember when, surviving Sigmund Kronecker 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4. Fangio crushed Borja, and Prakash Mooljee had himself a rather epic confrontation with Zarco. The standard-bearer for Spain came out on top, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5. A close one, but it was the proper result; he was better on this day.

Kaspar dropped a set again in the semis, then rallied to beat Gillo Fangio once again, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Clearly he doesn't rule here like he does on the hardcourts. Martin Zarco had more than enough to end Piazzola's run, but it was definitely an announcement: Ruben is here to stay as a player not to be ignored on clay. Zarco couldn't provide a whole lot of resistance in the final though, and Kaspar's perfect season continues, 6-3, 6-4.
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