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Brian Swartz · 07-27-2015, 09:34 PM

Shanghai Masters

Mehul was the 11th-seed here and had a surprisingly tough first pair of matches. In the second round, he barely escaped 40th-ranked Olav Birkeland of Sweden, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(4). Birkeland actually outpointed him 117-112 and he would have had little to complain about had he lost. That set up a match against Viktor Goncharenko, which was close as their last meeting had been but Goncharenko won it 7-5 in the fifth for his third win in as many encounters between the two. Again it could have gone either way.

Normally this would be mildly disappointing, but Mehul has played a lot of matches the last couple of weeks; he qualified in doubles which was unexpected and is a bit overplayed at this point. At his best, maybe he wins that encounter. Regardless, he got enough in that he'll be able to take a week off before the last two tournaments of the season for him, and a third-round finish equals his performance here last year so at least there's nothing lost. There's a two-week gap, then the Paris Masters will end the year for most of the top players.

07-27-2015, 09:34 PM	#73
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Shanghai Masters Mehul was the 11th-seed here and had a surprisingly tough first pair of matches. In the second round, he barely escaped 40th-ranked Olav Birkeland of Sweden, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(4). Birkeland actually outpointed him 117-112 and he would have had little to complain about had he lost. That set up a match against Viktor Goncharenko, which was close as their last meeting had been but Goncharenko won it 7-5 in the fifth for his third win in as many encounters between the two. Again it could have gone either way. Normally this would be mildly disappointing, but Mehul has played a lot of matches the last couple of weeks; he qualified in doubles which was unexpected and is a bit overplayed at this point. At his best, maybe he wins that encounter. Regardless, he got enough in that he'll be able to take a week off before the last two tournaments of the season for him, and a third-round finish equals his performance here last year so at least there's nothing lost. There's a two-week gap, then the Paris Masters will end the year for most of the top players. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 07-27-2015 at 09:34 PM.