View Single Post
Old 11-14-2016, 06:09 PM   #554
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
World Tour Finals

The only competitive match on the first day was Tomas Niklas over Caratti; other than that the favorites all did pretty well. There were a couple of close ones on Tuesday though; Prakash Mooljee edged by Mehul 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3), and Girish Girsh over Iglar in a weird one, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(8). Everything was pretty decisive on Wednesday, with Mooljee & Mehul advancing from the first group, Girsh & Iglar from the second. No real surprises there, or with the fact that Kinczllers didn't take a single set. He's was the definitely the last man in ... just 10 points ahead of Bourdet ... and was not in good match shape either.

It was a real battle from there on in. In the first semifinal, Mooljee controlled the action well against Antonin Iglar, but was still pushed to three sets. A similar result in the second one saw Girsh defeat Anil Mehul, 7-6(3), 6-3. That left the final as a matchup of two Sri Lanka players, #1 and #2 in the world. Couldn't ask for much more. Given the surface, Girsh was favored to snap a two-match losing streak between the two of them. And he should have, out-acing Mooljee 15-10 overall, taking the first set, and putting more consistent pressure on his serve. The overall points were tight, and Prakash Mooljee was more consistent in the key moments for a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) comeback win to claim his first WTF title. A rough defeat for Girsh to take; if he can't win here, there's really no hope for him to be more than a distant second.
Brian Swartz is offline   Reply With Quote