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Brian Swartz · 11-25-2016, 08:38 PM

I'm a little behind here, partly due to not feeling great and partly due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Some interesting things have happened though.

2049 Australian Open

Shyam Senepathy got himself soundly beat in the first round by 23rd-seed Jake Jolland. He's now 5-12 lifetime in Slams, and it's really a case where he needs a decent draw to advance; beating a seeded player is just not going to happen for him. The last seed, Thiago Herrera, lost in five to Guatemalan Tomas Arango, quite an interesting match with the first four sets decided by tiebreaks before Arango ran away with it. There were some other close ones, but in quite a surprise Mugur Kinczllers, seeded ninth, lost to Philip Carter(USA) in straight sets. Carter is a solid player and a dangerous floater, but that's quite a ways to fall for Kinczllers.

Davide Poilblan was pushed to four in his first match, then had to rally from a set down to win a tough five-setter in the second round. He moves on, but definitely isn't looking very sharp. There were only two additional seed casualties in the second round, both involving the young Italian players mentioned at the start of the year. 30th coming in, Gabriele Guareschi fell apart after dominating the second and third sets to lose to Jonathan Ardant of France who seems to make an annual appearance somewhere. Meanwhile, Gillo Fangio easily beat McCuskey in four to reach the third round for the first time.

The round of 32 went according to form for the most part, but there were still some entertaining matches. Juan de los Santos lost a pair of tiebreaks, then rallied to defeat Jolland 6-4 in each of the final three sets and avoid a mild upset. Fangio found life tougher against Iglar, who beat him in three though it was competitive. Andronikov was stopped short against Johnny Browne, leaving frustrated after a 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 7-6(6) scoreline. The American was the better player, but it certainly could well have gone on longer. Both of the top French players departed in straight sets, further evidence that their time of relevance appears to be definitively over. Carter kept moving with a mild upset over Nkomo of South Africa, a four-set match and an opportunity missed for the latter. The biggest surprise was Elias Trulsen knocking off 10th-ranked Zakirov, 7-6(3), 7-6(2), 6-7(7), 6-3. Apparently the 29-year-old Swede isn't ready to fade away just yet, though he came in ranked just 31st.

On to the fourth round, where Mooljee kept right on cruising, allowing just five games to de los Santos. Gustavo Caratti departed a bit early against Srbulovic, and Browne kept on moving with a win over Agustin Herrera. Unquestionably the match of this round featured Shreya Ujjaval and Luc Janin. The time will come, and probably quite soon, where it's a round or two further when these two meet. It's just their second encounter, and the last one was more than two years ago. Ujjaval got off to a fast start, going up two sets, but the Canadian rallied to force a 5th. Eventually the rally came up short, 7-5 in the final stanza. Janin ultimately won more points(159-157) but while both players had five breaks, he needed more than twice as many opportunities(17 to 8) to achieve them. Definitely a bitter pill to swallow as Luc almost pulled off a bigtime comeback ... and probably should have. It's still his best AO result as he's gone one round further each year, but this is one he'll definitely look back on with some regret.

Six of the top eight made it through to the quarterfinals, along with a pair of US players looking to make a breakthrough. Prakash Mooljee met his first opposition against one of them, Srbulovic, but pushed on after four sets. Iglar finished off Browne in three, and that was the end of that. Girish Girsh and Anil Mehul had their 26th career meeting and 5th in Slams, a match which demonstrated Mehul's determination. Twice he rallied from a set down, but ultimately he couldn't get over the top in a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win for Girsh in and up-and-down affair. Ujjaval upset Tomas Niklas in straights to complete the last four.

Three Sri Lanka players in the semifinals. A strong showing to be sure. First up, Mooljee needed to continue his dominance of Antonin Iglar -- 8 straight wins coming in against just one loss in their first meeting. The Czech legend had other ideas. While Mooljee had the most consistent pressure when on return, Iglar was better when it mattered most and produced a stunning 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4 upset to reach the final! In the second match, Girsh looked to extend his perfect record agains Ujjaval, and dominated the first set only to lose in four. Quite a pair of shocking results, with both Mooljee and Girsh losing matches they were strong favorites in. One must give credit to the opponents as well; the bottom line is that Iglar was suddenly favored to be champion here. He had a hiccup in the third set, but otherwhise it was reasonably smooth sailing to a four-set win over Shreya Ujjaval, who moves up to 5th with his second Slam final in the last three events(Wimbledon last year). I never thought he'd be quite that good. Meanwhile, Iglar has smashed the record for oldest Slam titlist at 32 years 9 weeks; Gorritepe did it at exactly 31 years of age, more than a year younger. It also breaks his string of nine straight Slam finals lost, and puts him at a total of 14 trophies, as well as moving him, albeit briefly, back up to #2. Very impressive.

11-25-2016, 08:38 PM	#565
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	I'm a little behind here, partly due to not feeling great and partly due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Some interesting things have happened though. 2049 Australian Open Shyam Senepathy got himself soundly beat in the first round by 23rd-seed Jake Jolland. He's now 5-12 lifetime in Slams, and it's really a case where he needs a decent draw to advance; beating a seeded player is just not going to happen for him. The last seed, Thiago Herrera, lost in five to Guatemalan Tomas Arango, quite an interesting match with the first four sets decided by tiebreaks before Arango ran away with it. There were some other close ones, but in quite a surprise Mugur Kinczllers, seeded ninth, lost to Philip Carter(USA) in straight sets. Carter is a solid player and a dangerous floater, but that's quite a ways to fall for Kinczllers. Davide Poilblan was pushed to four in his first match, then had to rally from a set down to win a tough five-setter in the second round. He moves on, but definitely isn't looking very sharp. There were only two additional seed casualties in the second round, both involving the young Italian players mentioned at the start of the year. 30th coming in, Gabriele Guareschi fell apart after dominating the second and third sets to lose to Jonathan Ardant of France who seems to make an annual appearance somewhere. Meanwhile, Gillo Fangio easily beat McCuskey in four to reach the third round for the first time. The round of 32 went according to form for the most part, but there were still some entertaining matches. Juan de los Santos lost a pair of tiebreaks, then rallied to defeat Jolland 6-4 in each of the final three sets and avoid a mild upset. Fangio found life tougher against Iglar, who beat him in three though it was competitive. Andronikov was stopped short against Johnny Browne, leaving frustrated after a 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 7-6(6) scoreline. The American was the better player, but it certainly could well have gone on longer. Both of the top French players departed in straight sets, further evidence that their time of relevance appears to be definitively over. Carter kept moving with a mild upset over Nkomo of South Africa, a four-set match and an opportunity missed for the latter. The biggest surprise was Elias Trulsen knocking off 10th-ranked Zakirov, 7-6(3), 7-6(2), 6-7(7), 6-3. Apparently the 29-year-old Swede isn't ready to fade away just yet, though he came in ranked just 31st. On to the fourth round, where Mooljee kept right on cruising, allowing just five games to de los Santos. Gustavo Caratti departed a bit early against Srbulovic, and Browne kept on moving with a win over Agustin Herrera. Unquestionably the match of this round featured Shreya Ujjaval and Luc Janin. The time will come, and probably quite soon, where it's a round or two further when these two meet. It's just their second encounter, and the last one was more than two years ago. Ujjaval got off to a fast start, going up two sets, but the Canadian rallied to force a 5th. Eventually the rally came up short, 7-5 in the final stanza. Janin ultimately won more points(159-157) but while both players had five breaks, he needed more than twice as many opportunities(17 to 8) to achieve them. Definitely a bitter pill to swallow as Luc almost pulled off a bigtime comeback ... and probably should have. It's still his best AO result as he's gone one round further each year, but this is one he'll definitely look back on with some regret. Six of the top eight made it through to the quarterfinals, along with a pair of US players looking to make a breakthrough. Prakash Mooljee met his first opposition against one of them, Srbulovic, but pushed on after four sets. Iglar finished off Browne in three, and that was the end of that. Girish Girsh and Anil Mehul had their 26th career meeting and 5th in Slams, a match which demonstrated Mehul's determination. Twice he rallied from a set down, but ultimately he couldn't get over the top in a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win for Girsh in and up-and-down affair. Ujjaval upset Tomas Niklas in straights to complete the last four. Three Sri Lanka players in the semifinals. A strong showing to be sure. First up, Mooljee needed to continue his dominance of Antonin Iglar -- 8 straight wins coming in against just one loss in their first meeting. The Czech legend had other ideas. While Mooljee had the most consistent pressure when on return, Iglar was better when it mattered most and produced a stunning 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4 upset to reach the final! In the second match, Girsh looked to extend his perfect record agains Ujjaval, and dominated the first set only to lose in four. Quite a pair of shocking results, with both Mooljee and Girsh losing matches they were strong favorites in. One must give credit to the opponents as well; the bottom line is that Iglar was suddenly favored to be champion here. He had a hiccup in the third set, but otherwhise it was reasonably smooth sailing to a four-set win over Shreya Ujjaval, who moves up to 5th with his second Slam final in the last three events(Wimbledon last year). I never thought he'd be quite that good. Meanwhile, Iglar has smashed the record for oldest Slam titlist at 32 years 9 weeks; Gorritepe did it at exactly 31 years of age, more than a year younger. It also breaks his string of nine straight Slam finals lost, and puts him at a total of 14 trophies, as well as moving him, albeit briefly, back up to #2. Very impressive.