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Clay Masters
The year started living up to the prediction of chaos some here. Sushant Chiba won Monte Carlo in a tight match over Karl Kaspar, who didn't even play here last year. Sbai was a semifinalist, losing narrowly to Kaspar. Chiba then stumbled early in Madrid for the second year in a row, and ultimately John Hart won his first Masters as a 7-seed, with Kaspar again the runner-up. Another close SF loss for Hamal Sbai, to Hart ... and Chalerm Prachuab, seeded 11th, made a surprise run. In Rome, His Karlness broke through to beat Hart in the semis and Chiba in the final, with former RG champ (10)Gilberto Chinaglia the oddball there.
So heading into RG, it looked like Kaspar was the favorite as the most consistent, but then there was Chiba and Hart who'd each beaten him. The steady but unspectacular and underachieving Sbai couldn't be counted out either.
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