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Brian Swartz · 04-16-2016, 07:58 AM

Paris Masters

Paris was, in some ways, the opposite of Shanghai; nothing in the final rounds went as planned. Earlier, Shreya Ujjaval qualified again but lost narrowly to another qualifier, and that was that. Girsh cruised early while Mehul sputtered a bit in his first match, but both made it through to semifinals along with the other members of the elite without losing a set.

Girish Girsh had Antonio Iglar again. Take 24. Only this time, the script flipped and Girsh easily beat the man he'd never beaten in 23 tries, 6-3, 6-4! That was rather anti-climactic. He didn't lose his serve once. On the othr side, Anil Mehul was fairly shockingly upset by Bjorn Benda in what ought to have been a gimme match given Mehul's facility with indoor courts, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. He was just flat outplayed; Benda was fresher but frankly in this matchup that shouldn't have mattered much.

This left Girsh favored to take his first Masters title ... and he nearly did. Unfortunately, while neither player did well on their break chances, Girsh did particularly poorly at 1-11 and didn't quite have enough at the very end, losing, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(4). Benda, who hadn't won here in five years and hadn't made it past the quarterfinals the last two, all of a sudden seizes the upper hand in the race for #2 again with his second Masters of the year. He's tied for 7th overall with 13.

Elsewhere ...

Prakash Mooljee faced a weak field in Sao Leopoldo, one of four challengers this week. As the top seed and strong favorite, he bashed his way to final with virtually no opposition, then bageled Venezuelan Luco Benauides in the first set of the final ... and still managed to blow it, 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). Benauides is an all-rally, no-serve kind of player and a clay specialist, but after that kind of a start this is pretty disastrous.

Up Next ...

Despite the disappointment of losing the Paris final, Girsh has now made three straight in big events and should be able to improve on his round-robin departure from last year in Norway at the Tour Finals. Mehul will go into the event having stunningly dropped behind Benda briefly into the #3 spot, and needing a good result to not stay there. Mooljee will have a week off and then another challenger or two in the final weeks, which have tougher competition as pretty much everyone else has the same idea as well: getting enough matches in to make it through the end-of-the-year break.

04-16-2016, 07:58 AM	#312
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Paris Masters Paris was, in some ways, the opposite of Shanghai; nothing in the final rounds went as planned. Earlier, Shreya Ujjaval qualified again but lost narrowly to another qualifier, and that was that. Girsh cruised early while Mehul sputtered a bit in his first match, but both made it through to semifinals along with the other members of the elite without losing a set. Girish Girsh had Antonio Iglar again. Take 24. Only this time, the script flipped and Girsh easily beat the man he'd never beaten in 23 tries, 6-3, 6-4! That was rather anti-climactic. He didn't lose his serve once. On the othr side, Anil Mehul was fairly shockingly upset by Bjorn Benda in what ought to have been a gimme match given Mehul's facility with indoor courts, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. He was just flat outplayed; Benda was fresher but frankly in this matchup that shouldn't have mattered much. This left Girsh favored to take his first Masters title ... and he nearly did. Unfortunately, while neither player did well on their break chances, Girsh did particularly poorly at 1-11 and didn't quite have enough at the very end, losing, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(4). Benda, who hadn't won here in five years and hadn't made it past the quarterfinals the last two, all of a sudden seizes the upper hand in the race for #2 again with his second Masters of the year. He's tied for 7th overall with 13. Elsewhere ... Prakash Mooljee faced a weak field in Sao Leopoldo, one of four challengers this week. As the top seed and strong favorite, he bashed his way to final with virtually no opposition, then bageled Venezuelan Luco Benauides in the first set of the final ... and still managed to blow it, 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). Benauides is an all-rally, no-serve kind of player and a clay specialist, but after that kind of a start this is pretty disastrous. Up Next ... Despite the disappointment of losing the Paris final, Girsh has now made three straight in big events and should be able to improve on his round-robin departure from last year in Norway at the Tour Finals. Mehul will go into the event having stunningly dropped behind Benda briefly into the #3 spot, and needing a good result to not stay there. Mooljee will have a week off and then another challenger or two in the final weeks, which have tougher competition as pretty much everyone else has the same idea as well: getting enough matches in to make it through the end-of-the-year break.