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We've now reached the new year, and I got that stuff all prepared but we're close enough to the end that I'm going to keep plowing through the reports per normal. Maybe this will teach me to stay more up to date ... nah.
Cincinatti
Anil Mehul did a hair better in doubles, but not much, running into second-seeded Zopp/Srbulovic in the second round. Shyam Senepathy made a better accounting of himself though, qualifying again and making Johnny Browne play a bit before losing 6-4, 6-4.
(15)Beno Duhr lost in the first round to Tomas Niklas, now 31 but still capable of putting in his two cents every once in a while. The second round saw some interesting results in a few spots, including both of my players. Dudwadkar was pushed by young American Stuart Pargeter, but the crowd was not enough as skill won out 7-6(7), 6-3. Still a good show by the upstart and a dangerous match for me. Prakash Mooljee was not so lucky, losing in three to Zimolo. It's one of those where Mooljee was a little more consistent, but couldn't translate that into a winning edge. Elsewhere, Dick Blake took down (10) Schmucker in a nice show for the Americans, while Rosenberg narrowly beat Alexey Nikitin, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The close misses continue to mount for him.
The third was very straightforward, only one 'upset' and it really wasn't one; (13) Matthew Panter over Kronecker, seeded 8th. On hardcourt, with a favorable crowd, this is no surprise. Panter and 12th-ranked Piazzola are the two surprises in the quarterfinals, but not major ones. Ritwik Dudwadkar's run stopped with another loss to Kaspar, 6-3, 6-3. Not at all a terrible showing but he didn't manage a single break opportunity. Zarco outlasted Ruben Piazzola in a hardcourt matchup of two clay experts, and the bottom half was quite interesting. Panter defeated Guus Dircx in epic tiebreak fashion, 6-3, 7-6(12). Could have gone either way in the second set, and no doubt the crowd played a significant part. Then Teng rallied to go the distance and just barely defeat Gillo Fangio in the final match. All in all it was quite good viewing here.
Martin Zarco met his end against Kaspar in the first semi as expected, though he did at least force one tiebreaker. Matthew Panter did very well to make it this far, but went out in straights as well. That left Hsuang-tsung Teng in the final. He stilll lost to Mateo Kaspar, 7-6(4), 7-5, but it's rare to see the champion pushed like this on a hardcourt these days. In reality, it wasn't really that close at all; Kaspar was just 2 of 10 in break opportunities and there was a wide disparity in the match stats on the whole. Teng did just enough to make him work more than he should have.
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