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Japan Open(500)
Everybody else is off for practice this week, but this is a highly important tournament for Prakash Mooljee. This is basically his last, best chance to move up more this year and possibly even get back in the Tour Finals discussion. Last year he was a quarterfinalist this year, but he's aiming higher. Unfortunately he hasn't played well in practice recently, so I'm not optimistic ...
Some good fortune as the draw laid out nearly perfectly. The other 500 this week, the China Open, had a much tougher field but for some reason Marcek bowed out here at the last minute and he was a potential threat. Additionally, Mooljee was drawn on the opposite side of probably the biggest danger, Pierce Gaskell. Mooljee is seeded second, and Ujjaval was here as well in the third spot.
There were no big surprises in the first two rounds. Ujjaval was upset in the third round, a tough three-set match against Andre Herrera. Mooljee met phenom Luc Janin at that stage but it ended up his easiest match of the tournament, as he blasted the Canadian 6-1, 6-2. A fine performance. A strange semi against Fabricio Gilardino, who is good enough to cause problems. Mooljee was by far the better player but couldn't convert(1 of 18!! break chances). Fortunately the American had similar troubles, getting stoned on all six of his opportunities, and Prakash won. That was to be the toughest obstacle as Herrera also knocked out Gaskell in his semi, but was no match in the final. Prakash Mooljee gets a much-needed second 500 crown, both of his career, and this season, which will hopefully give him some confidence going into Shanghai next week.
Beyond that, he moves onto the first page for the first time as #10 ... three Sri Lankans there now! Even more notable, in the grand scheme of things and to the average fan, is the fact that Bjorn Benda drops off for the first time. It's sort of a final good-bye to the former #1 from Germany.
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