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Brian Swartz · 08-09-2016, 06:34 PM

2047 Australian Open

Opening Rounds

There were some big surprises right away, unusual for a Slam event. Hrant Amasian(111th) became the first Armenian player that I can recall winning a Slam match. I took a look through their history and they had a guy reach 17th in the world about 35 years ago. Nobody from that nation has ever won a big event. Amasian is 24 years old, and could be relevant in a couple of years possibly. Bjorn Benda earned the ignominy of becoming the first player I can recall seeded this high(7th) to lose in the first round. Recent upset specialist Juan de los Santos of Spain did the honors in a close four-set match. Marcelo Herrera(16th) was also knocked out and can thank his lack of preparation mostly for a defeat to recently-mentioned Cansai of Singapore.

All five Sri Lankans entered here advanced in straight sets; it was also a first in that we had four seeded players. Djurdje Moicevic of Germany was knocked out in the second round but he had a very eventful 10 sets in two days. The first round he won 9-7 in the 5th; in the second he went out 6-4 in the final stanza to Japan's Akihiro Sugiyama. Gustavo Caratti was pushed to five but made it through against American hard-court specialist Tiosav Srbulovic. Not the most American of names, but the 41st-ranked 21-year-old could be a future titan for US tennis and will bear watching. Sava Cirakovic(23rd, CRO) and Phillip Carter(25th, USA) also were extended the distance, but all of the seeds progressed through. Shyam Senepathy was the first Sri Lankan to fall, getting just three games from Girsh. Mehul had the priviledge of dispatching Canadian prodigy Luc Janin in straight sets.

Four more straight-set wins for Sri Lanka in the third round. Prakash Mooljee's path was made easier by Herrera's early exit, as they had been drawn to play at this stage. There were a number of matches going the distance here though. Federer beat Sugiyama and Bourdet beat Condon in five-setters, but the one that really got the headlines was a matchup of US players, Pierce Gaskell(5th) and Fabricio Gilardino(26th). Gaskell rallied from two sets down for a truly epic 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(6), 15-13!! win. It was the longest match I've yet seen in this game, requiring 457 points to decide. Ultimately Gilardino's relatively unreliable serve(13 double faults) was the decider, but he was very close to knocking his country's top player out of this tournament early.

Mooljee had a big opportunity next up in the fourth round. He'd already matched his best Slam finish, which came here last year, but a potential path to the semis was there for him. To get there, he needed to take out Gustavo Caratti. On hardcourt, I had Mooljee as a modest favorite ... but he has not looked sharp so far this year. The Argentine was able to be much more consistent in the rallies and sent him to a deserved but disappointing 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat. It was another of the kind of opportunity that Prakash needs to rise up and seize if he's going to do more than slowly ascend. Elsewhere, Shreya Ujjaval had made good use of the absence of Benda to reach this stage also, where he met with 13th-ranked Agustin Herrera. Impressively, he continued his string of straight-sets wins, 6-4, 7-6(6), 7-6(1). Coming into this event, he had missed on several chances to get past the third round of a Slam, and here he was making his first Slam quarterfinal! Results elsewhere were more-or-less as anticiapted; it was not surprising to see Gaskell fall to T. Herrera, tired as he was from the epic a couple days ago.

Second Week

Three players for us in the quarterfinals, and it could have been four. The first matchup Sri Lanka was not involved in though, with Antonin Iglar getting his toughest test so far but still remaining perfect in a close straight-set win against Bourdet. Anil Mehul dropped T. Herrera routinely, Girish Girsh stopped the storybook tale of Ujjaval but had to earn it a bit, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. The match of the round was probably Caratti against Mugur Kinczllers. The Italian isn't what he used to be, and went out here in four sets.

Semifinals, and the big four were here again. Surprise, surprise ... all the theatrics happened early, and it was more of the same at the end. By this point, Caratti was guaranteed of taking the #3 spot back no matter what happened, but #1 was still up in the air. Mehul came up short badly against Iglar in the first match when it mattered most; 0-4 on break chances, dropped 2 of 3 on his own serve. He played well enough not to win necessarily but to have a chance at stealing the match, but went out in straight sets. In the second one, it looked for a long time like Caratti would pull off the upset. Girsh won a tiebreak, then was badly outplayed in the second and third stanzas. He rallied for a 7-6(3), 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win, but it's clear that the strong Argentine standard-bearer is still pushing upwards, hoping to catch the power pair at the top.

And so, a fitting final. Girish Girsh and Antonin Iglar meet, tied for the #1 spot and both unbeaten in the year's first month. The tie would be broken no matter what; the winner would have the next month or a little more to be pretty secure in having seized the moment. From the start, the match had a tense, strange feel to it. Usually the competitive battles are the one Girsh fades in, but he got an early break in each of the first three sets. Despite multiple chances to do so, he didn't give it back until it was 2-0 in sets, 3-1 in the third, a few holds away from victory ... Iglar got back even, then won a tiebreak and went to the lead in the fourth. Down 2-1 in that set, Girsh pushed back and won the next four games, ultimately claiming his first hardcourt Slam 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3! It was the kind of match he's lost all his career, and his second Slam(last year's Wimbledon was his first). As for Iglar, he's now lost his last six Slam finals. Shades of Lendl there. He played well enough to win this one, but was just 2 of 17 on break points.

Girsh is #1 undisputed now again. He has a lot of work to do to stay there -- he'll probably need to win both Indian Wells and Miami, as he did last year, to hold off the Czech legend. Until then though, the spot's his.

Coming Up ...

France is our opponent in the second round of WTC group play. A win would clinch a spot in the knockout rounds again, but they'll be desperate, having lost to Italy already ...

08-09-2016, 06:34 PM	#464
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	2047 Australian Open Opening Rounds There were some big surprises right away, unusual for a Slam event. Hrant Amasian(111th) became the first Armenian player that I can recall winning a Slam match. I took a look through their history and they had a guy reach 17th in the world about 35 years ago. Nobody from that nation has ever won a big event. Amasian is 24 years old, and could be relevant in a couple of years possibly. Bjorn Benda earned the ignominy of becoming the first player I can recall seeded this high(7th) to lose in the first round. Recent upset specialist Juan de los Santos of Spain did the honors in a close four-set match. Marcelo Herrera(16th) was also knocked out and can thank his lack of preparation mostly for a defeat to recently-mentioned Cansai of Singapore. All five Sri Lankans entered here advanced in straight sets; it was also a first in that we had four seeded players. Djurdje Moicevic of Germany was knocked out in the second round but he had a very eventful 10 sets in two days. The first round he won 9-7 in the 5th; in the second he went out 6-4 in the final stanza to Japan's Akihiro Sugiyama. Gustavo Caratti was pushed to five but made it through against American hard-court specialist Tiosav Srbulovic. Not the most American of names, but the 41st-ranked 21-year-old could be a future titan for US tennis and will bear watching. Sava Cirakovic(23rd, CRO) and Phillip Carter(25th, USA) also were extended the distance, but all of the seeds progressed through. Shyam Senepathy was the first Sri Lankan to fall, getting just three games from Girsh. Mehul had the priviledge of dispatching Canadian prodigy Luc Janin in straight sets. Four more straight-set wins for Sri Lanka in the third round. Prakash Mooljee's path was made easier by Herrera's early exit, as they had been drawn to play at this stage. There were a number of matches going the distance here though. Federer beat Sugiyama and Bourdet beat Condon in five-setters, but the one that really got the headlines was a matchup of US players, Pierce Gaskell(5th) and Fabricio Gilardino(26th). Gaskell rallied from two sets down for a truly epic 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(6), 15-13!! win. It was the longest match I've yet seen in this game, requiring 457 points to decide. Ultimately Gilardino's relatively unreliable serve(13 double faults) was the decider, but he was very close to knocking his country's top player out of this tournament early. Mooljee had a big opportunity next up in the fourth round. He'd already matched his best Slam finish, which came here last year, but a potential path to the semis was there for him. To get there, he needed to take out Gustavo Caratti. On hardcourt, I had Mooljee as a modest favorite ... but he has not looked sharp so far this year. The Argentine was able to be much more consistent in the rallies and sent him to a deserved but disappointing 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat. It was another of the kind of opportunity that Prakash needs to rise up and seize if he's going to do more than slowly ascend. Elsewhere, Shreya Ujjaval had made good use of the absence of Benda to reach this stage also, where he met with 13th-ranked Agustin Herrera. Impressively, he continued his string of straight-sets wins, 6-4, 7-6(6), 7-6(1). Coming into this event, he had missed on several chances to get past the third round of a Slam, and here he was making his first Slam quarterfinal! Results elsewhere were more-or-less as anticiapted; it was not surprising to see Gaskell fall to T. Herrera, tired as he was from the epic a couple days ago. Second Week Three players for us in the quarterfinals, and it could have been four. The first matchup Sri Lanka was not involved in though, with Antonin Iglar getting his toughest test so far but still remaining perfect in a close straight-set win against Bourdet. Anil Mehul dropped T. Herrera routinely, Girish Girsh stopped the storybook tale of Ujjaval but had to earn it a bit, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. The match of the round was probably Caratti against Mugur Kinczllers. The Italian isn't what he used to be, and went out here in four sets. Semifinals, and the big four were here again. Surprise, surprise ... all the theatrics happened early, and it was more of the same at the end. By this point, Caratti was guaranteed of taking the #3 spot back no matter what happened, but #1 was still up in the air. Mehul came up short badly against Iglar in the first match when it mattered most; 0-4 on break chances, dropped 2 of 3 on his own serve. He played well enough not to win necessarily but to have a chance at stealing the match, but went out in straight sets. In the second one, it looked for a long time like Caratti would pull off the upset. Girsh won a tiebreak, then was badly outplayed in the second and third stanzas. He rallied for a 7-6(3), 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win, but it's clear that the strong Argentine standard-bearer is still pushing upwards, hoping to catch the power pair at the top. And so, a fitting final. Girish Girsh and Antonin Iglar meet, tied for the #1 spot and both unbeaten in the year's first month. The tie would be broken no matter what; the winner would have the next month or a little more to be pretty secure in having seized the moment. From the start, the match had a tense, strange feel to it. Usually the competitive battles are the one Girsh fades in, but he got an early break in each of the first three sets. Despite multiple chances to do so, he didn't give it back until it was 2-0 in sets, 3-1 in the third, a few holds away from victory ... Iglar got back even, then won a tiebreak and went to the lead in the fourth. Down 2-1 in that set, Girsh pushed back and won the next four games, ultimately claiming his first hardcourt Slam 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3! It was the kind of match he's lost all his career, and his second Slam(last year's Wimbledon was his first). As for Iglar, he's now lost his last six Slam finals. Shades of Lendl there. He played well enough to win this one, but was just 2 of 17 on break points. Girsh is #1 undisputed now again. He has a lot of work to do to stay there -- he'll probably need to win both Indian Wells and Miami, as he did last year, to hold off the Czech legend. Until then though, the spot's his. Coming Up ... France is our opponent in the second round of WTC group play. A win would clinch a spot in the knockout rounds again, but they'll be desperate, having lost to Italy already ...