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Brian Swartz · 09-23-2015, 07:42 PM

World Tour Finals

Anil Mehul was pulled in as expected. Apparently the finals work differently from the other tournaments: the tournament chooses the players, so to speak, instead of the other way around. Top 8 singles and doubles are pulled in whether they want to play or not. At least I know how it works now.

A bit more detail on how the tournament works as well. The eight players are divided into two groups. Half are seeded: #1 and #4 go into one group, #2 and #3 into the second group, and the bottom four get dispersed randomly. In this case, one group had Benda, Almagro, Hogue, and Alvarez, ; the other had Iglar, Elder, Topolski, and Mehul. The round-robin matches are worth 200 apiece, 400 for a semifinal win, and 500 for a finals win, for a total of 1500 possible for an undefeated run such as Benda achieved last year.

Round One

Mick Elder was Mehul's first opponent. The first set was tough, but he played well in the tiebreaker, and Elder basically keeled over in the second set, a shocking bagel. 7-6(2), 6-0. A great start.

Round Two

Iglar had beaten Topolski on Monday, and Elder before today's match started. The upshot of all of that was that Mehul could qualify for the semifinal round by beating Evgeni Topolski today, while the Russian needed to win to keep his chances alive. Fitting for that circumstance, the match was a war from the word go. It took a long, tense tiebreak for Topolski to prevail in the first, while Mehul stole an early break and held onto it in the second. The decisive third set had plenty of chances for both players, with the key moment coming in the 11th game. Tied 5-5 and seemingly heading for another breaker, Anil finally dented the Russian's serve again, then held on to convert his second match point for a 6-7(8), 6-3, 7-5 win!

Surprisingly, the other two semifinalists were booked as well, with Benda and Hogue both winning their first pair of matches. I don't think I've ever seen a Finals where there was nothing to play for other than matchups on the third day.

Round Three

Last up was Antonin Iglar, the reward mostly being a favorable matchup against the second-place finisher in the other group to the winner. Mehul started well, taking a close first set, but the Czech got better as the match went along and won again as expected, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Semifinals

Benda and Iglar, to the surprise of nobody, made it through round-robin play unscathed. That left Bjorn Benda as Mehul's foe here. It was a virtual repeat of his last match: he took the first set fairly easily, but couldn't hold the lead. The German moved on to the finals with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 score. Perhaps if he was fresher he might have done better, but making the semis is still a notable accomplishment. Mehul will move up a notch to 7th in the rankings now, a new best for him.

Finals

By making it this far, Antonin Iglar assured himself of the year-end #1. For the fourth time in his five matches this week, he dropped a set but still came through the victor over Benda, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to extend his streak to an astounding 36 consecutive wins.

Elsewhere, Girish Girsh finished off his season in grand style, winning the + Challenger at Sao Paolo, and then the Tier-2 in Toyota, Japan for his seventh and eighth challenger titles. He's now threatening to break into the Top 50 by the beginning of next year.

After a week off, the WTC Level 2 Finals and then the playoffs to reach Level 1 will commence, with the playoffs especially of obvious vital importance to my goals.

09-23-2015, 07:42 PM	#146
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	World Tour Finals Anil Mehul was pulled in as expected. Apparently the finals work differently from the other tournaments: the tournament chooses the players, so to speak, instead of the other way around. Top 8 singles and doubles are pulled in whether they want to play or not. At least I know how it works now. A bit more detail on how the tournament works as well. The eight players are divided into two groups. Half are seeded: #1 and #4 go into one group, #2 and #3 into the second group, and the bottom four get dispersed randomly. In this case, one group had Benda, Almagro, Hogue, and Alvarez, ; the other had Iglar, Elder, Topolski, and Mehul. The round-robin matches are worth 200 apiece, 400 for a semifinal win, and 500 for a finals win, for a total of 1500 possible for an undefeated run such as Benda achieved last year. Round One Mick Elder was Mehul's first opponent. The first set was tough, but he played well in the tiebreaker, and Elder basically keeled over in the second set, a shocking bagel. 7-6(2), 6-0. A great start. Round Two Iglar had beaten Topolski on Monday, and Elder before today's match started. The upshot of all of that was that Mehul could qualify for the semifinal round by beating Evgeni Topolski today, while the Russian needed to win to keep his chances alive. Fitting for that circumstance, the match was a war from the word go. It took a long, tense tiebreak for Topolski to prevail in the first, while Mehul stole an early break and held onto it in the second. The decisive third set had plenty of chances for both players, with the key moment coming in the 11th game. Tied 5-5 and seemingly heading for another breaker, Anil finally dented the Russian's serve again, then held on to convert his second match point for a 6-7(8), 6-3, 7-5 win! Surprisingly, the other two semifinalists were booked as well, with Benda and Hogue both winning their first pair of matches. I don't think I've ever seen a Finals where there was nothing to play for other than matchups on the third day. Round Three Last up was Antonin Iglar, the reward mostly being a favorable matchup against the second-place finisher in the other group to the winner. Mehul started well, taking a close first set, but the Czech got better as the match went along and won again as expected, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Semifinals Benda and Iglar, to the surprise of nobody, made it through round-robin play unscathed. That left Bjorn Benda as Mehul's foe here. It was a virtual repeat of his last match: he took the first set fairly easily, but couldn't hold the lead. The German moved on to the finals with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 score. Perhaps if he was fresher he might have done better, but making the semis is still a notable accomplishment. Mehul will move up a notch to 7th in the rankings now, a new best for him. Finals By making it this far, Antonin Iglar assured himself of the year-end #1. For the fourth time in his five matches this week, he dropped a set but still came through the victor over Benda, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to extend his streak to an astounding 36 consecutive wins. Elsewhere, Girish Girsh finished off his season in grand style, winning the + Challenger at Sao Paolo, and then the Tier-2 in Toyota, Japan for his seventh and eighth challenger titles. He's now threatening to break into the Top 50 by the beginning of next year. After a week off, the WTC Level 2 Finals and then the playoffs to reach Level 1 will commence, with the playoffs especially of obvious vital importance to my goals.