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Old 09-10-2022, 10:03 PM   #1280
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
Shanghai Masters

(15) Boris Hollinger (SUI) was the early victim in the last big hard-court event of the year, courtesy of veteran Czech Jonas Stanya, 7-6(8), 6-4 in the first round. A round later, it was Ignacia Saravia yet again playing spoiler, this time to 11th-seeded Albanos in a three-set tussle. Meanwhile Eddy Copperfield was knocked out by Pet Sampras. I'm going to be annoyed writing his name, but Sampras is ranked 24th so it looks like I'll have to, at least for a few years. The biggest third-round news was [b]Oleg Urazov[b] breaking through, coming back after eating a first-set breadstick to edge past Xanthos 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. He's been knocking on the door, but beating the world's #3-ranked player is definitely a new threshold for the Canadian.

The first quarterfinal was the headliner, with the almost ... but not quite routine for Ben Faille continuing. He was oh so close to beating Polychroniadis, yet still lost 3-6, 7-6(16), 6-1. That number in the second-set tiebreaker is not a misprint. Faille blasted 21 aces and undoubtedly missed on numerous match points -- and clearly didn't recover mentally for the decider. Urazov pushed Toni Bardales to two tiebreaks but lost both of them, Cananis got past Weigle in straight sets, and the latest sign that Alexander Reimann is increasingly past his best tennis was seen as he couldn't keep up with Papadias, 6-3, 6-4.

In the semifinals the pretenders were revealed, as the top two players breezed past and dismissed Bardales and Solitris Papadias in two-set encounters. And so the final once again was between #1 and #2; Leon Polychroniadis and Renke Cananis. Unlike 12 of the previous 13 meetings, this one went the way of German challenger, 6-4, 6-4. It shouldn't have; he was 0-4 on break chances, Cananis converting both of his, and objectively the wrong player won this match. But that of course is Renke's strength; if he can keep it close, he has the mental fortitude to carry the day in the big points.

As a result, Cananis is just a scant 245 points away from reclaiming the top spot.

Elsewhere ...

Manoj Datar is bouncing back and forth between high-level challengers and low-level futures, with decided mixed results. He has however saved up his trainer allotment, and is now working on improving his skills again. Datar is also, amusingly enough, inched up to the #1 singles ranking among Sri Lankans (around 400th).

Sushant Srivastava dropped down to the mid-900s in singles when his win from last year dropped off, and bounced right back up with his first futures title under my management. His last three events are semifinalist, finalist, and winner. That's a nice trend. The sooner he can string together a few wins, the sooner he'll move up into territory where he can participate in the WTC - and with our top doubles player, Ritwik Intodia, seemingly having been abandoned due to manager inactivity that can't happen soon enough.

Aparna Chandrasekharan appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough, but that was perhaps a premature conclusion. 1st-round singles and 2nd-round doubles losses in his last amateur event earned him no points, and demonstrated he still has work to do. Girish Raychaudhari reached one JG5 semifinal, then lost in the first round both singles and double just this week. So he's very up-and-down also.

Last edited by Brian Swartz : 09-10-2022 at 10:03 PM.
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