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World Team Cup, Group 2 Second Round
Spain vs. Sri Lanka, Grass
Monday
It all went according to plan until Girish Girsh decided not to cooperate in the third set, taking a long tiebreak from world no. 3 David Almagro. Order was restored, but it was still a nice shot across the bow that they aren't invulnerable. Spain takes the lead in the opening rubber, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-0.
Tuesday
It looked closer than it actually was, but either way Mehul dropped David Alvarez in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-3. He only lost his serve once, but it nearly cost him the middle set.
Wednesday
There's a reason Spain is #1. We met that reason today. There are other countries with top singles players, but none that boast as an ace in the hole the top doubles pairing in the world. Girsh and Mehul have done surprisingly well in doubles since forming up last fall, but they got blasted by M. Serrano/J. Carrera, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1. Ouch.
Thursday
On the brink of elimination, Anil Mehul met up with Almagro in the marquee singles matchup of this tie. it certainly lived up to the expectations. He looked headed for a close loss after winning the first set, but a good tiebreak in the fourth sent the match to a decider. Mehul snatched an early break but couldn't hold it, and momentum swung back and forth a few times. In an ending eerily similar to last week's match against Benda, Anil finally broke through for an epic triumph, 7-5, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(3), 10-8!! Almagro blasted 23 aces to 15 for Mehul, but the rest of the time he couldn't make the tactics work. Only three points separated them at the end.
An interesting side note here: epic matches like this and the Benda encounter really provide a nice bonus to experience. This match alone was worth as much as a decent practice week(singles and doubles combined). Being in the thick of things for best-of-five struggles against other top players is a big boost: not a huge amount compared to a whole year, but when there's a small margin for improving enough to offset aging, anything that can be added is vital.
Friday
So like the first round against the Czechs, it was tied at 2 heading into the final rubber. Girsh was a monstrous underdog against Alvarez, but taking a set from Almagro in the opener served notice that it wasn't completely a foregone conclusion. If he pulled the upset somehow, we'd be very much alive in this year's top level. Neither player had much of an ace count, but Alvarez had much better placement and variety on his serve and maintained a steady advantage with a focused effort, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
Spain defeats Sri Lanka, 3-2!!
So that was that. Spain and the Czech Republic clinch advancement from our group. Mexico will be up next, with the winner avoiding the need to stay up via a relegation playoff, and there will be more focus the rest of the year on individual accomplishments. Interestingly, Sri Lanka still moves up another spot and very slightly in the points to 24th in the world. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but points given are based to some degree on the opponent. Apparently even a close loss against the top-ranked Spaniards was enough to slightly raise our stock.
Coming Up
It's time now for the first significant break of the year. For the next month, all three players I track in terms of tournaments will be on the practice courts. We'll next see them in competition in early March at Indian Wells and Miami.
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