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Brian Swartz · 09-08-2019, 06:08 PM

2068 US Open

The final Slam event of the year, as always giving us a clearer picture of the top players and beginning to provide closure on the season. But there were some surprises here to be sure.

Chiba/Guha easily reached the third round, and were just as easily dispatched by (6) Hughes/Hart, 6-2, 6-1. Beat the 12th-seeded team of Aas/Plushenko in the second round, so I figure our true performance level lies somewhere around 10th (ranked 20th or so) based on how their tournaments together have gone. Pretty good, but nowhere near contenders and I didn't expect them to be. Both players still can add quite a bit more to their games - this tandem will get at least a good bit better. The Irish went on to reach the semis, where they were beaten by the 7th-seeded Swiss tandem of Schleipfenbauer/Lippert. But it was Godinic/Kaspar winning their third straight Slam crown in the end. Ex-Prince Karl should be close to the #1 doubles spot when the new rankings come out. Guha once again tried to qualify in singles, this time making the final round before failing.

One of the more interesting things about the first round is who wasn't there. Mark Smith elected for a substandard practice week instead of being one of the last seeds - maybe he thought he'd drop below that line but it's not the decision I'd have made. Seamus Hughes cruised through his first match despite being well below it, and there was a rather evil matchup between Tommy Fitzpatrick and (27) Helmut Edlund. Fitz left no doubt who's the better with a straight-sets win, including a bagel in the opener. (31) Willy Weigl was also unlucky, facing off against the nearly as dangerous Ivan Hudobin of Russia and losing in four. Those might well have been the two most dangerous unseeded players. If not, they are both certainly in the conversation. Tough luck for Edlund and Wiegl there. It wasn't easy by any stretch for some but they were the only two seeds to lose immediately.

Hughes over Hudobin in a pretty close three was probably the most interesting second-round match. Also, Shakti Vemireddy keeps soldiering on, taking the first set from Hakanson before losing in four. In the third round it was time for my brave soliders to depart. Sushant Chiba was swatted aside by Mpakati, while Amrik Kasaravalli met up with Gonzoles, who he should have a slight edge on. Just like their match at the same stage of Wimbledon, it didn't pan out in a 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4 defeat. The summer has to be classified as slightly disappointing now for Amrik, who departs a round 'early'. Gonzoles has now beaten him in all four matches - he seems to underachieve most of the time, but not against my guy. *shrug*

Algot Hakanson managed to get a set off of Aviles before losing, same for Seamus Hughes against Velilla and Tommy Fitzpatrick against Dogic. Fitzpatrick won at least one match in every Slam this year, and this matches his furthest advancement at the AO. (11) Clavet Moniotte lost three tiebreaks to Acke Kjaerstad in yet another tough setback. And it was time for the Americans to start putting their two cents in as well. (24) John Hart was knocked out by Molyneaux in four, completing the elimination of the Irish contingent. Ross Vicars went four sets with Jung but couldn't pull off the upset, ditto for Malicote against Narciso who moves on.

The fourth round saw Constantino Gonzoles put in a very credible effort against the #1, taking a first-set tiebreak before losing a trio of 6-4 frames. (30) Joao Narciso's easily-best Slam effort to date finally ended as he took one set but ate a trio of breadsticks against Jung. Molyneaux, last of the US players, went out with a whimper against Wentz and the American contingent ends up doing not all that much here. Upset watch was served with (4) Calisto Aviles going down in straight sets no less to 16th-seeded Odimos Csollang. And we had a couple of epics as well, de Jong over Haas in a 5th-set breaker, and L. Perez getting by Kjaerstad in five. Nearly a huge win for the Swede who, after losing in the third round of eight consecutive Slams, has made it to the fourth of two in a row but still never reached the second week.

The quarterfinals had 7 of the top players by ranking plus Csollang, so mostly a predictable group with one Cinderella. Chisulo Mpakati fared better this time than last, but got his usual straight-sets dismissal by Perez. Tim de Jong was the latest victim of rising Romanian, again in three. Same for Il-Sung Jung against Wentz - you never know what's going to happen when those two play. And in an all-Argentina matchup, Tobias Velilla had one good set and three disappointments, losing in four due to a trio of tiebreaks going the way of L. Perez.

Two semifinal matchups, each had a Perez. Nicolas was made to work a bit for his win over Csollang in four - Odimos made the 4th round last year and at Wimbledon so this was a big, big step up for him. Lucas Perez made Wentz work some, a close third-set breaker but that one was over in straights. So it figured to be time once again for Nicolas Perez to re-establish his dominance on hardcourt Slams, having won four in a row of those before the loss at the Australian. Instead, Harald Wentz finally breaks through with a shockingly easy 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) win. After a relatively down year for the Austrian, I don't know where this came from, but he sure put it all together this week. His first Slam title and did it without losing a single set though he had some close ones, and all of a sudden his spot as the #2 looks a lot more secure.

Elsewhere ...

Nasir Chittoor had hoped for a bigger event, but the competition was tough enough that he settled for CH3 Astana. After winning there, he replaced his points from Bangkok last year. It was still better than any alternative this week.

09-08-2019, 06:08 PM	#1178
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	2068 US Open The final Slam event of the year, as always giving us a clearer picture of the top players and beginning to provide closure on the season. But there were some surprises here to be sure. Chiba/Guha easily reached the third round, and were just as easily dispatched by (6) Hughes/Hart, 6-2, 6-1. Beat the 12th-seeded team of Aas/Plushenko in the second round, so I figure our true performance level lies somewhere around 10th (ranked 20th or so) based on how their tournaments together have gone. Pretty good, but nowhere near contenders and I didn't expect them to be. Both players still can add quite a bit more to their games - this tandem will get at least a good bit better. The Irish went on to reach the semis, where they were beaten by the 7th-seeded Swiss tandem of Schleipfenbauer/Lippert. But it was Godinic/Kaspar winning their third straight Slam crown in the end. Ex-Prince Karl should be close to the #1 doubles spot when the new rankings come out. Guha once again tried to qualify in singles, this time making the final round before failing. One of the more interesting things about the first round is who wasn't there. Mark Smith elected for a substandard practice week instead of being one of the last seeds - maybe he thought he'd drop below that line but it's not the decision I'd have made. Seamus Hughes cruised through his first match despite being well below it, and there was a rather evil matchup between Tommy Fitzpatrick and (27) Helmut Edlund. Fitz left no doubt who's the better with a straight-sets win, including a bagel in the opener. (31) Willy Weigl was also unlucky, facing off against the nearly as dangerous Ivan Hudobin of Russia and losing in four. Those might well have been the two most dangerous unseeded players. If not, they are both certainly in the conversation. Tough luck for Edlund and Wiegl there. It wasn't easy by any stretch for some but they were the only two seeds to lose immediately. Hughes over Hudobin in a pretty close three was probably the most interesting second-round match. Also, Shakti Vemireddy keeps soldiering on, taking the first set from Hakanson before losing in four. In the third round it was time for my brave soliders to depart. Sushant Chiba was swatted aside by Mpakati, while Amrik Kasaravalli met up with Gonzoles, who he should have a slight edge on. Just like their match at the same stage of Wimbledon, it didn't pan out in a 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4 defeat. The summer has to be classified as slightly disappointing now for Amrik, who departs a round 'early'. Gonzoles has now beaten him in all four matches - he seems to underachieve most of the time, but not against my guy. shrug Algot Hakanson managed to get a set off of Aviles before losing, same for Seamus Hughes against Velilla and Tommy Fitzpatrick against Dogic. Fitzpatrick won at least one match in every Slam this year, and this matches his furthest advancement at the AO. (11) Clavet Moniotte lost three tiebreaks to Acke Kjaerstad in yet another tough setback. And it was time for the Americans to start putting their two cents in as well. (24) John Hart was knocked out by Molyneaux in four, completing the elimination of the Irish contingent. Ross Vicars went four sets with Jung but couldn't pull off the upset, ditto for Malicote against Narciso who moves on. The fourth round saw Constantino Gonzoles put in a very credible effort against the #1, taking a first-set tiebreak before losing a trio of 6-4 frames. (30) Joao Narciso's easily-best Slam effort to date finally ended as he took one set but ate a trio of breadsticks against Jung. Molyneaux, last of the US players, went out with a whimper against Wentz and the American contingent ends up doing not all that much here. Upset watch was served with (4) Calisto Aviles going down in straight sets no less to 16th-seeded Odimos Csollang. And we had a couple of epics as well, de Jong over Haas in a 5th-set breaker, and L. Perez getting by Kjaerstad in five. Nearly a huge win for the Swede who, after losing in the third round of eight consecutive Slams, has made it to the fourth of two in a row but still never reached the second week. The quarterfinals had 7 of the top players by ranking plus Csollang, so mostly a predictable group with one Cinderella. Chisulo Mpakati fared better this time than last, but got his usual straight-sets dismissal by Perez. Tim de Jong was the latest victim of rising Romanian, again in three. Same for Il-Sung Jung against Wentz - you never know what's going to happen when those two play. And in an all-Argentina matchup, Tobias Velilla had one good set and three disappointments, losing in four due to a trio of tiebreaks going the way of L. Perez. Two semifinal matchups, each had a Perez. Nicolas was made to work a bit for his win over Csollang in four - Odimos made the 4th round last year and at Wimbledon so this was a big, big step up for him. Lucas Perez made Wentz work some, a close third-set breaker but that one was over in straights. So it figured to be time once again for Nicolas Perez to re-establish his dominance on hardcourt Slams, having won four in a row of those before the loss at the Australian. Instead, Harald Wentz finally breaks through with a shockingly easy 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) win. After a relatively down year for the Austrian, I don't know where this came from, but he sure put it all together this week. His first Slam title and did it without losing a single set though he had some close ones, and all of a sudden his spot as the #2 looks a lot more secure. Elsewhere ... Nasir Chittoor had hoped for a bigger event, but the competition was tough enough that he settled for CH3 Astana. After winning there, he replaced his points from Bangkok last year. It was still better than any alternative this week.