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Brian Swartz · 06-30-2015, 01:16 PM

RANKINGS UPDATE

Top Ten

1. Gabriel Alastra(ARG, 29) -- 11,045

Losing to Mehul in the Miami third round took a big chunk out of the cushion he'd built up. Alastra is at his best on the clay though -- how well he does the next couple of months will be a huge factor in whether he stays at the top for a fourth year.

2. Mick Elder(USA, 27) -- 9,825

After closing in on Alastra with back-to-back Masters crowns in Indian Wells and Miami, giving him five for his career, Elder appears to be back in form.

3. Bjorn Benda(DEU, 24) -- 7,880

This is a big stretch upcoming for Benda. His coming-out party was at Roland Garros last year, but overall he was not as successful as Alastra or Elder in the clay season as a whole. If he wants to put his name at the top of the list, the first thing he needs to do is establish himself as the preeminent clay-court player in the world.

4. Perry Hogue(USA, 25) -- 7,500

Hogue is definitely on the rise, but he's not nearly as good on the clay. On the other hand, he doesn't have much in the way of points to defend their either. A fine spring has him in the thick of the second tier behind Alastra and Elder.

5. David Almagro(ESP, 28) -- 7,360

6. David Prieto(ESP, 28) -- 7,200

7. Evgeni Topolski(RUS, 25) -- 5,465

Topolski continues to improve his standing slowly, but is clearly a step behind the top six players still. Since his semifinal run at the Australian Open, he's been fairly unimpressive.

8. Spasoje Kucerovic(SRB, 28) -- 4,120

9. Eric Gorritepe(ESP, 33) -- 3,935

10. David Alvarez(ESP, 26) -- 3,830

Alvarez has been inconsistent since breaking into the Top 10 after Australia, and was knocked out in his first match at Miami. He's an extreme clay-court specialist who will move up significantly if he can avoid such lapses in the coming months.

There will be a ton of competition for the premier clay-court events, with a lot of specialists among the top players and nearly all of them at least seeing this part of the season as a secondary priority. If Benda does well, there could easily be a dogfight for the top spot by the time Wimbledon arrives.

Anil Mehul -- 36th to 20th singles, 291st to 295th doubles. Overall it was a fantastic spring, 18-5 which is almost halfway to last year's 37 wins, some of those coming on the Challenger circuit. The final WTC group play tie against Italy is up next, and then the clay season which will be his first in the bigger events there. Between now and the French Open Mehul only has three events to worry about defending -- and two of them he lost in the first round, getting no points from them. His results won't be as good on the dirt, but he still should be able to add a modest amount to his total and continue to move up a bit. The big question right now is Monte Carlo, the first of the clay masters and the only one which is not mandatory. After wavering back and forth on whether to enter there, he has decided to play only if he is going to be seeded which is still an open question: as of right now he'd be the last seed. If he doesn't play there, it will most likely be Barcelona, a 500 the following week, that serves as a 'bridge' event to stay in match shape before Madrid/Rome leading into the summer slams.

Girish Girsh -- 357th to 207th singles, 1557th to 490th doubles. The story of the spring for Girsh was establishing himself as a challenger player and trying to get his ranking high enough so that practice events stay competitive enough to be useful. He's aiming to qualify at the US Open for his first Slam event in the fall, but until then it'll probably be a steady diet of challengers with the better players at this level still more than a match for him. His development has become even more important with Amrik Chittoor having been picked up by another manager. Unfortunately they are overplaying him, and while he will probably be ok for the upcoming WTC tie he's already a little fatigued, a problem that could well get a lot worse. Sri Lanka's WTC fortunes could suffer for a bit untill Girsh manages to surpass him in the rankings and take his place on the national team. As of now, Chittoor is around his career high at 75th, so it will be some time before that happens. I'm hoping by the end of the year so that 2040 can be entered with a full head of steam.

Anil Manohar -- 442nd to 491st singles, 1417th to 1312th doubles. Results have started to 'even out' for him between singles and doubles a little bit, and that should continue for a while.

Prakash Mooljee -- unranked to 1028th juniors. So far he's winning against the bottom of the barrell competition just a little more often than he's losing, 6-4 in both singles and doubles after three tournaments. Work on the basic fundamentals of baseline play continues, and serve training will follow shortly. At this stage of course training is more important than anything else, tournaments serve mostly to give him a chance to put into practice what he's learning every once in a while so that he's fresh and motivated to continue improving.

Manager Ranking -- As hoped I've seen a small increase in my status, 29th to 25th and 10k to 10.8k in the points.

06-30-2015, 01:16 PM	#52
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	RANKINGS UPDATE Top Ten 1. Gabriel Alastra(ARG, 29) -- 11,045 Losing to Mehul in the Miami third round took a big chunk out of the cushion he'd built up. Alastra is at his best on the clay though -- how well he does the next couple of months will be a huge factor in whether he stays at the top for a fourth year. 2. Mick Elder(USA, 27) -- 9,825 After closing in on Alastra with back-to-back Masters crowns in Indian Wells and Miami, giving him five for his career, Elder appears to be back in form. 3. Bjorn Benda(DEU, 24) -- 7,880 This is a big stretch upcoming for Benda. His coming-out party was at Roland Garros last year, but overall he was not as successful as Alastra or Elder in the clay season as a whole. If he wants to put his name at the top of the list, the first thing he needs to do is establish himself as the preeminent clay-court player in the world. 4. Perry Hogue(USA, 25) -- 7,500 Hogue is definitely on the rise, but he's not nearly as good on the clay. On the other hand, he doesn't have much in the way of points to defend their either. A fine spring has him in the thick of the second tier behind Alastra and Elder. 5. David Almagro(ESP, 28) -- 7,360 6. David Prieto(ESP, 28) -- 7,200 7. Evgeni Topolski(RUS, 25) -- 5,465 Topolski continues to improve his standing slowly, but is clearly a step behind the top six players still. Since his semifinal run at the Australian Open, he's been fairly unimpressive. 8. Spasoje Kucerovic(SRB, 28) -- 4,120 9. Eric Gorritepe(ESP, 33) -- 3,935 10. David Alvarez(ESP, 26) -- 3,830 Alvarez has been inconsistent since breaking into the Top 10 after Australia, and was knocked out in his first match at Miami. He's an extreme clay-court specialist who will move up significantly if he can avoid such lapses in the coming months. There will be a ton of competition for the premier clay-court events, with a lot of specialists among the top players and nearly all of them at least seeing this part of the season as a secondary priority. If Benda does well, there could easily be a dogfight for the top spot by the time Wimbledon arrives. Anil Mehul -- 36th to 20th singles, 291st to 295th doubles. Overall it was a fantastic spring, 18-5 which is almost halfway to last year's 37 wins, some of those coming on the Challenger circuit. The final WTC group play tie against Italy is up next, and then the clay season which will be his first in the bigger events there. Between now and the French Open Mehul only has three events to worry about defending -- and two of them he lost in the first round, getting no points from them. His results won't be as good on the dirt, but he still should be able to add a modest amount to his total and continue to move up a bit. The big question right now is Monte Carlo, the first of the clay masters and the only one which is not mandatory. After wavering back and forth on whether to enter there, he has decided to play only if he is going to be seeded which is still an open question: as of right now he'd be the last seed. If he doesn't play there, it will most likely be Barcelona, a 500 the following week, that serves as a 'bridge' event to stay in match shape before Madrid/Rome leading into the summer slams. Girish Girsh -- 357th to 207th singles, 1557th to 490th doubles. The story of the spring for Girsh was establishing himself as a challenger player and trying to get his ranking high enough so that practice events stay competitive enough to be useful. He's aiming to qualify at the US Open for his first Slam event in the fall, but until then it'll probably be a steady diet of challengers with the better players at this level still more than a match for him. His development has become even more important with Amrik Chittoor having been picked up by another manager. Unfortunately they are overplaying him, and while he will probably be ok for the upcoming WTC tie he's already a little fatigued, a problem that could well get a lot worse. Sri Lanka's WTC fortunes could suffer for a bit untill Girsh manages to surpass him in the rankings and take his place on the national team. As of now, Chittoor is around his career high at 75th, so it will be some time before that happens. I'm hoping by the end of the year so that 2040 can be entered with a full head of steam. Anil Manohar -- 442nd to 491st singles, 1417th to 1312th doubles. Results have started to 'even out' for him between singles and doubles a little bit, and that should continue for a while. Prakash Mooljee -- unranked to 1028th juniors. So far he's winning against the bottom of the barrell competition just a little more often than he's losing, 6-4 in both singles and doubles after three tournaments. Work on the basic fundamentals of baseline play continues, and serve training will follow shortly. At this stage of course training is more important than anything else, tournaments serve mostly to give him a chance to put into practice what he's learning every once in a while so that he's fresh and motivated to continue improving. Manager Ranking -- As hoped I've seen a small increase in my status, 29th to 25th and 10k to 10.8k in the points. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 06-30-2015 at 01:21 PM.