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The schedule towards the end of the year is turning challenging in terms of juniors; it's a lot more difficult at this point to find top events with a 'diluted' enough field that Dudwadkar can do well in them. For that reason, he took another event on short break the next week, an indoor tier-2 in Minsk. Doubles didn't go well as he lost in the first round, despite being part of the top-seeded team. Singles was better though; Dudwadkar claimed his second straight title at this level. He moves up into the Top 50 in juniors for the first time, and this point has a projected ranking of 11th to start next season. I'd like to do better, but that's not half bad.
Then ...
World Team Cup Semifinals
Sri Lanka(1st) vs. Argentina(3rd), Indoors
Monday: G. Girsh d. T. Benitez, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
Tuesday: A. Mehul d. G. Caratti, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8)
Wednesday: V. Yumashev/G. Disanti d. S. Ujjaval/P.Moojee, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0
Thursday: G. Girsh d. G. Caratti, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Friday: A. Mehul d. T. Benitez, 6-2, 7-5, 7-6(7)
Sri Lanka defeats Argentina, 4-1!!
Even on our most beneficial surface, it was far from a walk in the park. Give Gustavo Caratti credit for playing a couple of tough rubbers, but we ultimately won all the ones we were supposed to and move into the final. Elsewhere, on clay, Italy defeated the United States in their second straight upset, 4-1. All but one of the singles tilts there were close, two went the distance. The key players on both sides are on the decline, but this time around Kinczllers was the best player. Italy is up to 7th now, and this is to my knowledge the best result they've ever achieved.
The final will be on hardcourt, where Mugur Kinczllers is still one of the best in the world. We only need to beat him once, as Alberti shouldn't be much of a threat. We should take it 3-2 or 4-1; I don't see us losing both times against their standard-bearer.
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