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Rome
Anil Mehul played, qualifying in doubles -- and winning just two games against unseeded Spaniards in the first-round match. Ahh well. Another qualifying loss for Shyam Senepathy highlights the fact that the 31-year-old is soon to depart our consideration(once he falls out of the Top 100).
After a first round with no surprises, Gilberto Chinaglia(Italy, aged 23) made his presence felt with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 upset of 5th-ranked Hsuang-tsung Teng, who has been good so far this year. 37th last year, Chinaglia is clearly one to watch now and one of the year's surprises. Several others would fall also. Gillo Fangio lost an epic to Karl Kaspar, 6-7(1), 7-5, 6-4; Blake lost to Zaferia, Panter to Cone, and Schmucker to Maliagros. Draw opened up quite a bit early here.
Two of them played each other, but the rest all went their ways meekly in the third round. Match of the day was Dudwadkar barely surviving (15)Benno Duhr, going to a third-set tiebreak. The quarterfinals had six expected players, but also #16Gregory Mackenzie and Argentine Angel Zaferia, unseeded. Mackenzie was a quick Kaspar victim, while Ruben Piazzola was crushed by Dudwadkar who looked much sharper this round. 7th straight in what was once a prospective close rivalry, but most have been much more competitive. Zaferia was drummed out easily by Zarco, and Prakash Mooljee was pretty easily dismissed by Dircx.
Top four into the semis, where Ritwik Dudwadkar lost to Kaspar 6-4, 6-3. Martin Zarco was surprised by Guus Dircx in a straight-set match in the second one, and Dircx won the first set of the final. He couldn't hold it though, and Mateo Kaspar bounced back from last week with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 title that serves notice he is still a man to be reckoned with even on the clay.
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