Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

Brian Swartz · 06-03-2015, 05:26 PM

That's a great compliment, and more than I expected. Thanks!

The story continues, with some pretty high drama ...

In St. Petersburg, Mehul did a little better than expected. He was seeded 8th, and blasted through the first two rounds, meeting 4-seed Falk Gries(DEU) in the quarters. Gries had overplayed badly coming in and while he pushed the second set to a tiebreak, he fell pretty meekly as well. The semis brought a rematch with Viktor Goncharenko, the top seed and world no. 12. He had beaten Anil in straight sets to end his Wimbledon bid in the second round. This time he was not quite as sharp, and the surface was more to Mehul's liking. It didn't really seem to matter though. The gap in athleticism led to a similar result ... or it least it appeared to be. Down 6-3, 4-1, Mehul just kept fighting and fighting. He made his way to a tiebreak, then trailed 3-0 and 5-2 there before rattling off the last five points to take the set and force a decisive third!

He had to fight harder than his higher-ranked opponent to hold, but he held his nerve and the decider remained on serve until the ninth game. Anil raced out to a 0-40 lead, missed the first two break chances but snagged the third to serve for the match. And that's when the wheels came off. He just couldn't finish, dropping the last three games for a heartbreaking 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 defeat. He was literally at the finish line and couldn't just serve it out. Still a very good result, good enough to nearly replace one of those challenger titles he'll be losing the points from, but that close to beating an athlete like Goncharenko, it's a tough loss to swallow and he won't soon forget it. He'd have had great chances to take his first pro title had he been able to finish off that last game. Sucks.

2038 WTC -- Level 3 Semifinals

There was no time to cry over the loss. One thing it did do was ensure he'd be match-fresh for what looked to be Sri Lanka's toughest WTC test. 21st-ranked Austria had won the luck of the draw when it came to surfaces, as this tie would be played on clay. Led by world No. 37 Julian Hammerstein, one of the physically strongest players in the world and very mentally tough, they also had a solid #2 singles in 89th-ranked Hannes Frankl. Both are far more adept on the dirt than Mehul & Chittoor, and objectively Sri Lanka are probably slight underdogs here. Since our re-entry into the WTC nearly two years ago, the national streak stands at a fantastic 11 straight victories, with no more than a single match lost in any of them. But none of those tests have been as stern as this one. This is the sixth straight year for Austria at Level 3, having been bounced down from Level 2 in 2032. Like us, they are getting better all the time and in a perfect world, both would promote up as we're clearly the class of Level 3 this year. That's to be determined in the playoffs down the road, but the winner here will improve their matchup and ranking when it comes time for that.

Monday: A. Mehul d. H. Frankl, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2

The pressure was on Mehul here as it was really a must-win match. He brought it home as expected, winning as many points on Frankl's serve as the Austrian did.

Tuesday: J. Hammerstein d. A. Chittoor, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1

This was also expected. I hoped it would be closer, but it was never a contest. Both of the reverse singles matchups could go either way, so tied at 1-all Sri Lanka went into the doubles match knowing it could well decide the outcome.

Wednesday: P. Nilima/A. Mehul d. T. Weidman/H. Frankl, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1

I have no idea why Mehul was moved back into the doubles team in place of Chittoor this time, but they got the job done with a vital win to move us one rubber away from advancing.

Thursday: J. Hammerstein d. A. Mehul, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4

The marquee clash of the week offered Mehul a chance to clinch the tie, but it didn't get off to a good start. Hammerstein's power was too much to deal with in the first set, but he quickly bounced back in the second by taking the first three games. He couldn't hold the lead, including blowing triple break point with a chance to get even again as the Austrian was trying to serve it out. That was pretty much the match. Hammerstein just bludgeoned him around the court, handing Mehul his first WTC singles defeat after 25 straight victories these past two years.

So for the first time, Sri Lanka has lost two matches in the same WTC tie and they are forced into a decisive fifth rubber. Going into it, Nigeria had already eliminated New Zealand in the other semifinal with a stunning upset by Vittoz over Anutofermo providing a 3-1 edge on Thursday. Frankl is the stronger player and much more proficient on clay, so he was holding most of the cards here. Chittoor has a slight advantadge in his baseline game and is also a little better mentally, so the one hope was that if Frankl had an off day and Amrik could prevail in the big moments of the match, he could pull off the upset and we would advance. The smart money though was on Hannes Frankl and team Austria.

Friday: H. Frankl d. A. Chittoor, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1

Yeah that was pretty disappointing. After putting up a good fight in the first set it was pretty obvious that Chittoor just plain gave up. Austria wins 3-2, moving on the finals while we can only wait for the playoffs. Sri Lanka drops a single spot to 51st in the rankings. Taking a look at the nations we might face then, I think we're basically a shoo-in for promotion, though if we've learned one thing this week it's never count your chickens before ,... you know.

The playoff tie won't arrive until the last week of the year, over two months from now. We've got an off week coming up next, to be followed by the Shanghai Masters and then the Paris Masters three weeks after that. During Shanghai Girsh will be in action in his next futures event, while Chittoor will be hitting the challenger circuit for the rest of the year. Both now have some points to make up, especially since they won't be participating in the WTC Finals.

06-03-2015, 05:26 PM	#28
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	That's a great compliment, and more than I expected. Thanks! The story continues, with some pretty high drama ... In St. Petersburg, Mehul did a little better than expected. He was seeded 8th, and blasted through the first two rounds, meeting 4-seed Falk Gries(DEU) in the quarters. Gries had overplayed badly coming in and while he pushed the second set to a tiebreak, he fell pretty meekly as well. The semis brought a rematch with Viktor Goncharenko, the top seed and world no. 12. He had beaten Anil in straight sets to end his Wimbledon bid in the second round. This time he was not quite as sharp, and the surface was more to Mehul's liking. It didn't really seem to matter though. The gap in athleticism led to a similar result ... or it least it appeared to be. Down 6-3, 4-1, Mehul just kept fighting and fighting. He made his way to a tiebreak, then trailed 3-0 and 5-2 there before rattling off the last five points to take the set and force a decisive third! He had to fight harder than his higher-ranked opponent to hold, but he held his nerve and the decider remained on serve until the ninth game. Anil raced out to a 0-40 lead, missed the first two break chances but snagged the third to serve for the match. And that's when the wheels came off. He just couldn't finish, dropping the last three games for a heartbreaking 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 defeat. He was literally at the finish line and couldn't just serve it out. Still a very good result, good enough to nearly replace one of those challenger titles he'll be losing the points from, but that close to beating an athlete like Goncharenko, it's a tough loss to swallow and he won't soon forget it. He'd have had great chances to take his first pro title had he been able to finish off that last game. Sucks. 2038 WTC -- Level 3 Semifinals There was no time to cry over the loss. One thing it did do was ensure he'd be match-fresh for what looked to be Sri Lanka's toughest WTC test. 21st-ranked Austria had won the luck of the draw when it came to surfaces, as this tie would be played on clay. Led by world No. 37 Julian Hammerstein, one of the physically strongest players in the world and very mentally tough, they also had a solid #2 singles in 89th-ranked Hannes Frankl. Both are far more adept on the dirt than Mehul & Chittoor, and objectively Sri Lanka are probably slight underdogs here. Since our re-entry into the WTC nearly two years ago, the national streak stands at a fantastic 11 straight victories, with no more than a single match lost in any of them. But none of those tests have been as stern as this one. This is the sixth straight year for Austria at Level 3, having been bounced down from Level 2 in 2032. Like us, they are getting better all the time and in a perfect world, both would promote up as we're clearly the class of Level 3 this year. That's to be determined in the playoffs down the road, but the winner here will improve their matchup and ranking when it comes time for that. Monday: A. Mehul d. H. Frankl, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 The pressure was on Mehul here as it was really a must-win match. He brought it home as expected, winning as many points on Frankl's serve as the Austrian did. Tuesday: J. Hammerstein d. A. Chittoor, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 This was also expected. I hoped it would be closer, but it was never a contest. Both of the reverse singles matchups could go either way, so tied at 1-all Sri Lanka went into the doubles match knowing it could well decide the outcome. Wednesday: P. Nilima/A. Mehul d. T. Weidman/H. Frankl, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 I have no idea why Mehul was moved back into the doubles team in place of Chittoor this time, but they got the job done with a vital win to move us one rubber away from advancing. Thursday: J. Hammerstein d. A. Mehul, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 The marquee clash of the week offered Mehul a chance to clinch the tie, but it didn't get off to a good start. Hammerstein's power was too much to deal with in the first set, but he quickly bounced back in the second by taking the first three games. He couldn't hold the lead, including blowing triple break point with a chance to get even again as the Austrian was trying to serve it out. That was pretty much the match. Hammerstein just bludgeoned him around the court, handing Mehul his first WTC singles defeat after 25 straight victories these past two years. So for the first time, Sri Lanka has lost two matches in the same WTC tie and they are forced into a decisive fifth rubber. Going into it, Nigeria had already eliminated New Zealand in the other semifinal with a stunning upset by Vittoz over Anutofermo providing a 3-1 edge on Thursday. Frankl is the stronger player and much more proficient on clay, so he was holding most of the cards here. Chittoor has a slight advantadge in his baseline game and is also a little better mentally, so the one hope was that if Frankl had an off day and Amrik could prevail in the big moments of the match, he could pull off the upset and we would advance. The smart money though was on Hannes Frankl and team Austria. Friday: H. Frankl d. A. Chittoor, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 Yeah that was pretty disappointing. After putting up a good fight in the first set it was pretty obvious that Chittoor just plain gave up. Austria wins 3-2, moving on the finals while we can only wait for the playoffs. Sri Lanka drops a single spot to 51st in the rankings. Taking a look at the nations we might face then, I think we're basically a shoo-in for promotion, though if we've learned one thing this week it's never count your chickens before ,... you know. The playoff tie won't arrive until the last week of the year, over two months from now. We've got an off week coming up next, to be followed by the Shanghai Masters and then the Paris Masters three weeks after that. During Shanghai Girsh will be in action in his next futures event, while Chittoor will be hitting the challenger circuit for the rest of the year. Both now have some points to make up, especially since they won't be participating in the WTC Finals. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 06-03-2015 at 05:27 PM.