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February/March
As things ended up, Mehul took the whole four weeks off. Playing another event would have ended with him running the risk of being pretty tired by the end of Miami. For Girish Girsh, this was not as big an issue as he was expected to lose a round or so earlier. He headed off in early March to Memphis(500, Indoor). Seeded second behind Mockler, he was the runaway favorite here. After a bit more resistance than expected against Oncken in the semis, it was indeed Perry Mockler, last year's runner-up here, who met him in the finals. An easy win was expected, but that isn't what he got; just barely did he sneak through for his second title of the young season, 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 7-6(5). It doesn't get much closer than that! Not the most impressive display by Girsh, but it was narrowly enough to get the job done.
His goal now is to break past Mockler and into the Top 8 by the time the clay season rolls around. That's less than 200 points in the rankings away, and doable with strong efforts in the upcoming Masters events.
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