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Brian Swartz · 03-04-2017, 12:00 AM

I've decided to resume, at least for now, doing more updates during the year. Roughly 'monthly' in game terms as I did before. The rise of Kaspar/Fangio/Janin et al. is quite interesting to me, and in a couple of years when Dudwadkar starts trying to smash his head against that collective wall there could be some cool fireworks also. So, without further ado ...

January

World Team Cup

Our first group match was against none other than the United States, on hardcourt. A close tie was expected, and that's exactly what we got. The Americans easily won in doubles, so we needed at least one win from Girsh. Tiosav Srbulovic didn't play in a surprise, but they're plenty deep enough and unfortunately both Johnny Browne and Jake Jolland beat our no. 2 in four sets each. Prakash Mooljee took both of his matches, including an epic Thursday five-setter over Browne that was the match of the week, ending 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Unfortunately that wasn't enough, and as defending champs we fall 3-2.

Sri Lanka is still #1 but only by 47 points now in the world rankings. We need to beat the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic just to get out of group play, which we should be able to do but that's been a complete afterthought for years. Not anymore with this insane draw; there's no margin for error here. It's very likely we'll face the USA again somewhere down the line this season if we take care of our end.

Noumea Challenger

Ritwik Dudwadkar entered here the next week, one of a pair of Tier-1 challengers that are in essence mandatory; almost all of the top challenger-level players are here with the need for matches at the start of the year after the break to end the previous season, and so the competition is fierce. He beat two seeded and ill-prepared opponents before losing to young Czech star Milos Schmucker 6-3, 6-4 in the semis. That's quite a respectable score and he did better than I expected. Schmucker is a Top-20 player in terms of his current abilities, if not Top-15, and this is probably the last challenger he'll play. No shame at all in losing to a guy like that who he really isn't quite good enough to have a chance against.

That moved Dudwadkar up to 105th, equalling his career high so far. Doubles didn't go as well with a second-round loss in qualifying.

Chennai 250

In India, Mooljee beat all opposition with competitive straight-set wins against Besson in the semifinals and Niklas in the title match. The #2 had barely escaped Santos in a long semi on the other side, 7-5 in the third. Good start to the year for Prakash, a perfect 6-0 so far.

Unsurprisingly, Fangio and Kaspar won the other two tournaments. They aren't going anywhere either ...

Brisbane 250

Anil Mehul entered here, exiting immediately in singles against a player not heard from for a while, Garreth McCuskey. A third-set tiebreak in that upset which was disappointing. He not only qualified in doubles though but made the final, where top seeds Gaskell/Trulsen, the #2 team in the world, beat Mehul and his partner Lars Kroese fairly convincingly 7-5, 6-3. A good showing there that moves him up a few more spots to 66th.

Australian Open Preview

All three senior players will be in action here. It's a big, big tournament for Mooljee as time is against him. If he can re-assert himself here he'll buy himself additional weeks, even months at the top. If not, he'll be deposed all the more quickly. Mehul will look to keep rising in doubles and maintain a seeded position in singles -- he was out in the third round last year so that's not a high bar to maintain. Dudwadkar will play his second straight Slam in his debut here, as there are no challengers this week and all of his preferred practice competition will pretty much be here. The draw is the most important part for him; could be a good week if he gets a winnable first-round match. Also could be a very short one.

Sushant Chiba will have the week completely off, being fatigued from the last three weeks of practice. Then he'll enter his first juniors tournament, bottom level tier-5 of course, after that. I did some preliminary tracking on the double-fault issue. At his current crappy(effective 0.2) serving level he double-faults almost a quarter of his serving points. It's around 3% for an high-quality(4.0) server. I'll probably end the initial serving push when I can get that rate roughly down to 10% or lower for him, depending on how quickly it improves.

03-04-2017, 12:00 AM	#585
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	I've decided to resume, at least for now, doing more updates during the year. Roughly 'monthly' in game terms as I did before. The rise of Kaspar/Fangio/Janin et al. is quite interesting to me, and in a couple of years when Dudwadkar starts trying to smash his head against that collective wall there could be some cool fireworks also. So, without further ado ... January World Team Cup Our first group match was against none other than the United States, on hardcourt. A close tie was expected, and that's exactly what we got. The Americans easily won in doubles, so we needed at least one win from Girsh. Tiosav Srbulovic didn't play in a surprise, but they're plenty deep enough and unfortunately both Johnny Browne and Jake Jolland beat our no. 2 in four sets each. Prakash Mooljee took both of his matches, including an epic Thursday five-setter over Browne that was the match of the week, ending 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Unfortunately that wasn't enough, and as defending champs we fall 3-2. Sri Lanka is still #1 but only by 47 points now in the world rankings. We need to beat the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic just to get out of group play, which we should be able to do but that's been a complete afterthought for years. Not anymore with this insane draw; there's no margin for error here. It's very likely we'll face the USA again somewhere down the line this season if we take care of our end. Noumea Challenger Ritwik Dudwadkar entered here the next week, one of a pair of Tier-1 challengers that are in essence mandatory; almost all of the top challenger-level players are here with the need for matches at the start of the year after the break to end the previous season, and so the competition is fierce. He beat two seeded and ill-prepared opponents before losing to young Czech star Milos Schmucker 6-3, 6-4 in the semis. That's quite a respectable score and he did better than I expected. Schmucker is a Top-20 player in terms of his current abilities, if not Top-15, and this is probably the last challenger he'll play. No shame at all in losing to a guy like that who he really isn't quite good enough to have a chance against. That moved Dudwadkar up to 105th, equalling his career high so far. Doubles didn't go as well with a second-round loss in qualifying. Chennai 250 In India, Mooljee beat all opposition with competitive straight-set wins against Besson in the semifinals and Niklas in the title match. The #2 had barely escaped Santos in a long semi on the other side, 7-5 in the third. Good start to the year for Prakash, a perfect 6-0 so far. Unsurprisingly, Fangio and Kaspar won the other two tournaments. They aren't going anywhere either ... Brisbane 250 Anil Mehul entered here, exiting immediately in singles against a player not heard from for a while, Garreth McCuskey. A third-set tiebreak in that upset which was disappointing. He not only qualified in doubles though but made the final, where top seeds Gaskell/Trulsen, the #2 team in the world, beat Mehul and his partner Lars Kroese fairly convincingly 7-5, 6-3. A good showing there that moves him up a few more spots to 66th. Australian Open Preview All three senior players will be in action here. It's a big, big tournament for Mooljee as time is against him. If he can re-assert himself here he'll buy himself additional weeks, even months at the top. If not, he'll be deposed all the more quickly. Mehul will look to keep rising in doubles and maintain a seeded position in singles -- he was out in the third round last year so that's not a high bar to maintain. Dudwadkar will play his second straight Slam in his debut here, as there are no challengers this week and all of his preferred practice competition will pretty much be here. The draw is the most important part for him; could be a good week if he gets a winnable first-round match. Also could be a very short one. Sushant Chiba will have the week completely off, being fatigued from the last three weeks of practice. Then he'll enter his first juniors tournament, bottom level tier-5 of course, after that. I did some preliminary tracking on the double-fault issue. At his current crappy(effective 0.2) serving level he double-faults almost a quarter of his serving points. It's around 3% for an high-quality(4.0) server. I'll probably end the initial serving push when I can get that rate roughly down to 10% or lower for him, depending on how quickly it improves. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 03-04-2017 at 12:02 AM.