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Brian Swartz · 02-19-2017, 01:05 PM

September/October

World Team Cup

For some reason clay seems to be a favored surface this year -- both semis, the finals, and half the quarters are all on the dirt. We beat the Argentianians first 4-1, with Caratti out of the picture it wasn't too much trouble. Then came Croatia, who waited until the last day to even win a set in a 5-0 skunking. That puts us in the final, where we expected to meet the US. They were knocked out 3-2 in a comeback win by Spain though, who are probably the best clay-court nation again with two rising players, Juan de los Santos(7th) and Martin Zarco(16th). They'll be the obstacle to regaining our crown, and I can see that going either way; we've got better players, but not nearly as skilled as theirs on clay.

Shanghai

Neither Kaspar or Zopp made the big splash they needed to here. Mateo Kaspar was close though, losing a tight match to Mooljee he probably should have won, once again in the round of 16. Prakash moved on to the final, where his serve deserted him repeatedly. He had a chance to serve the match out at the end, but couldn't do it and lost to Gillo Fangio, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4). This has the feeling of a watershed moment. It's the third straight event where Mooljee has failed to take the title, and the younger players are getting tougher and tougher for him to beat. He's still improving a bit, but they are improving more quickly. Fangio in particular has just been on a tear. Mooljee is probably still the best player in the world, but not for much longer and not by nearly the margin he has been. The days of him going into each tournament expecting to win may well be over. Girsh had a good run to reach the semis, but still dropped to 4th after being the champ here last season.

As for Ritwik Dudwadkar, his practice sessions have been better lately. His ranking appears to have nearly caught up to his playing level: he's at about 160th and is playing at a plane somewhere in the 100-150 range. He lost to Colombian Ruben Piazzola in the Belo Horizonte final after beating top-seeded Bonamoni easily in the semis. A pretty good start to his challenger career, and he'll have probably three more events to play at the end to boost him closer to the Top 100.

02-19-2017, 01:05 PM	#575
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	September/October World Team Cup For some reason clay seems to be a favored surface this year -- both semis, the finals, and half the quarters are all on the dirt. We beat the Argentianians first 4-1, with Caratti out of the picture it wasn't too much trouble. Then came Croatia, who waited until the last day to even win a set in a 5-0 skunking. That puts us in the final, where we expected to meet the US. They were knocked out 3-2 in a comeback win by Spain though, who are probably the best clay-court nation again with two rising players, Juan de los Santos(7th) and Martin Zarco(16th). They'll be the obstacle to regaining our crown, and I can see that going either way; we've got better players, but not nearly as skilled as theirs on clay. Shanghai Neither Kaspar or Zopp made the big splash they needed to here. Mateo Kaspar was close though, losing a tight match to Mooljee he probably should have won, once again in the round of 16. Prakash moved on to the final, where his serve deserted him repeatedly. He had a chance to serve the match out at the end, but couldn't do it and lost to Gillo Fangio, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4). This has the feeling of a watershed moment. It's the third straight event where Mooljee has failed to take the title, and the younger players are getting tougher and tougher for him to beat. He's still improving a bit, but they are improving more quickly. Fangio in particular has just been on a tear. Mooljee is probably still the best player in the world, but not for much longer and not by nearly the margin he has been. The days of him going into each tournament expecting to win may well be over. Girsh had a good run to reach the semis, but still dropped to 4th after being the champ here last season. As for Ritwik Dudwadkar, his practice sessions have been better lately. His ranking appears to have nearly caught up to his playing level: he's at about 160th and is playing at a plane somewhere in the 100-150 range. He lost to Colombian Ruben Piazzola in the Belo Horizonte final after beating top-seeded Bonamoni easily in the semis. A pretty good start to his challenger career, and he'll have probably three more events to play at the end to boost him closer to the Top 100. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 02-19-2017 at 01:05 PM.