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Brian Swartz · 02-12-2016, 09:36 PM

Canada Masters

In the third round, Girish Girsh had his first test, and almost didn't escape it. Mugur Kinczllers, who had beaten him at Madrid, almost stopped him short of the quarterfinals for the second time this year before Girsh completed a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 comeback, taking the decisive third set in grand style. It is their first hardcourt meeting as professionals, and the Italian still holds a 5-3 overall edge due to winning all four juniors encounters.

Sadly, Benda stopped him for the third straight time after that, 7-5 in the third despite Girsh trying to hold out for winning chances. Another in a long line of quarterfinal exits. Anil Mehul got past Gaskell in straight sets for his quarterfinal after surviving a close tiebreak in the opening stanza. Benda was dismissed fairly routinely, getting only one break chance while Mehul converted both of his. That meant a final against Antonin Iglar. We've seen this movie before. Iglar was out to re-establish himself as the dominant player on hardcourts that we've seen him to be time and time again. Mehul won the first set, faded in the second, fell behind early in the third ... but rallied to even it at 2-all. From there things changed a bit, both players having opportunities, but this time it was the Czech who faded late, and Mehul snatched the title 6-3, 3-6, 7-5! It's his first hardcourt win against Iglar since Indian Wells way back in '40, three and a half years ago, breaking a 10-match losing streak.

It was a close one, and mostly Mehul just took his opportunities a little better and finished well after looking like he was beaten early in the final set. Still, it is not like Iglar to lose on hardcourts, and he looked strong coming into the final. Could his grip on the tour be weakening?

Cincinatti Masters

The next week, a near-repeat of Canada ensued. Girsh once again found trouble in the third round, getting through 6-4, 7-6(4) against Milan Farkas. He then won just four games against Iglar in the quarterfinals; certainly didn't seem to him that the world no. 1 has lost a step. That's 11 times they've played, and Girsh has yet to win.

Mehul had an even easier time, flattening a somewhat resurgent David Alvarez and then Cestmir Marcek to reach another final. This time, Iglar was able to get a little more consistent pressure on his serve, but both players misfired often on break chances, combining to convert just 3 of 25 opportunities. Mehul's opportunities were just as numerous but he was able to concentrate them more effectively, and he won another evenly-played match, 6-4, 7-6(5)!!

That takes the Masters Shield count for the year to four, tripling his career count to six of them with Iglar, Benda, and Marcek each having one each(two more to go). That's a rather astonishing turn of events, as is this: he now trails the long-unreachable Iglar by just 680 points in the rankings. If he makes the USO final in three weeks' time, and Iglar fails to win it, or if Mehul manages to repeat his successes here and take the title, he will ascend to the throne of #1 player in the world. It is now, unexpectedly, within his grasp.

Normally I don't do this until after the USO, but under the circumstances I thought I'd update the top of the Race rankings:

Anil Mehul -- 8,560
Bjorn Benda -- 7,940
Antonin Iglar -- 7,910

Nobody else is relevant. There's a long way to go, but Mehul has seized the pole position and has a very legitimate chance now to end the year as number one. I didn't think he would ever get this close to it. Iglar, who could just have easily have won these past two weeks as lost them, now has to answer to a real challenger, something he hasn't really had. He's still the best player, but he's not finished well too often this year and if he doesn't answer the bell now, it will be too late.

Elsewhere ...

Prakash Mooljee's unbeaten singles year continues as he topped all opposition in his first tier-2 futures to move into the Top 500. In a clay event in Switzerland, it was hometown opposition in the form of 5-seed Hein Fehrenbacher that provided the stiffest opposition, this time anticlimactically in the quarterfinals. Mooljee survived as he has all year, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(2), recovering from a poor middle set. He'll now be playing tier-1 futures until he reaches the Top 200, at which point he'll jump to challengers. Possibly even sooner than expected, at the rate he's going.

02-12-2016, 09:36 PM	#255
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Canada Masters In the third round, Girish Girsh had his first test, and almost didn't escape it. Mugur Kinczllers, who had beaten him at Madrid, almost stopped him short of the quarterfinals for the second time this year before Girsh completed a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 comeback, taking the decisive third set in grand style. It is their first hardcourt meeting as professionals, and the Italian still holds a 5-3 overall edge due to winning all four juniors encounters. Sadly, Benda stopped him for the third straight time after that, 7-5 in the third despite Girsh trying to hold out for winning chances. Another in a long line of quarterfinal exits. Anil Mehul got past Gaskell in straight sets for his quarterfinal after surviving a close tiebreak in the opening stanza. Benda was dismissed fairly routinely, getting only one break chance while Mehul converted both of his. That meant a final against Antonin Iglar. We've seen this movie before. Iglar was out to re-establish himself as the dominant player on hardcourts that we've seen him to be time and time again. Mehul won the first set, faded in the second, fell behind early in the third ... but rallied to even it at 2-all. From there things changed a bit, both players having opportunities, but this time it was the Czech who faded late, and Mehul snatched the title 6-3, 3-6, 7-5! It's his first hardcourt win against Iglar since Indian Wells way back in '40, three and a half years ago, breaking a 10-match losing streak. It was a close one, and mostly Mehul just took his opportunities a little better and finished well after looking like he was beaten early in the final set. Still, it is not like Iglar to lose on hardcourts, and he looked strong coming into the final. Could his grip on the tour be weakening? Cincinatti Masters The next week, a near-repeat of Canada ensued. Girsh once again found trouble in the third round, getting through 6-4, 7-6(4) against Milan Farkas. He then won just four games against Iglar in the quarterfinals; certainly didn't seem to him that the world no. 1 has lost a step. That's 11 times they've played, and Girsh has yet to win. Mehul had an even easier time, flattening a somewhat resurgent David Alvarez and then Cestmir Marcek to reach another final. This time, Iglar was able to get a little more consistent pressure on his serve, but both players misfired often on break chances, combining to convert just 3 of 25 opportunities. Mehul's opportunities were just as numerous but he was able to concentrate them more effectively, and he won another evenly-played match, 6-4, 7-6(5)!! That takes the Masters Shield count for the year to four, tripling his career count to six of them with Iglar, Benda, and Marcek each having one each(two more to go). That's a rather astonishing turn of events, as is this: he now trails the long-unreachable Iglar by just 680 points in the rankings. If he makes the USO final in three weeks' time, and Iglar fails to win it, or if Mehul manages to repeat his successes here and take the title, he will ascend to the throne of #1 player in the world. It is now, unexpectedly, within his grasp. Normally I don't do this until after the USO, but under the circumstances I thought I'd update the top of the Race rankings: Anil Mehul -- 8,560 Bjorn Benda -- 7,940 Antonin Iglar -- 7,910 Nobody else is relevant. There's a long way to go, but Mehul has seized the pole position and has a very legitimate chance now to end the year as number one. I didn't think he would ever get this close to it. Iglar, who could just have easily have won these past two weeks as lost them, now has to answer to a real challenger, something he hasn't really had. He's still the best player, but he's not finished well too often this year and if he doesn't answer the bell now, it will be too late. Elsewhere ... Prakash Mooljee's unbeaten singles year continues as he topped all opposition in his first tier-2 futures to move into the Top 500. In a clay event in Switzerland, it was hometown opposition in the form of 5-seed Hein Fehrenbacher that provided the stiffest opposition, this time anticlimactically in the quarterfinals. Mooljee survived as he has all year, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(2), recovering from a poor middle set. He'll now be playing tier-1 futures until he reaches the Top 200, at which point he'll jump to challengers. Possibly even sooner than expected, at the rate he's going.