|
Amateurs
First up, a word about these events. They are a lot different than anything else a player sees in their ascent through the game. The amateur tournament class is a bridge of sorts between juniors and the semi-pro levels(futures and challengers). Most of the players here stink and will never amount to anything. Those who are even decent don't play here very long at all: the Top 1000 are barred from participating. Rankings and seedings don't really matter much or tell you anything.
Girish Girish had his first amateur event last week and ran through it quickly. He did not come close to losing a set, dropping no more than six games in any match. 6 points is his reward for this, moving him up from unranked to #1838. He'll need to play at least three more of these, spending several weeks training in between them.
2038 World Team Cup: Third Level Round Robin Stage, Second Tie
Sri Lanka faced Nigeria with the winner all but assured a place in the quarterfinals. This was the most dangerous matchup for us.
Monday: A. Mehul d. Y. Bozza, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
** The easiest singles match for us, so it wasn't really a surprise.
Tuesday: G. Vittoz d. A. Chittoor, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
** This was the most epic match any of my players have been involved in, the first one to go five sets for sure and a back-and-forth struggle. Vittoz was better(156-135 total points in the match) but also more inconsistent and Chittoor pushed him to five before suffering the first WTC singles loss Sri Lanka has endured in my tenure. This was a moment of concern because it was feasible though unlikely either player could lose their second singles rubber, and if we lost the doubles like we always do we would drop the tie if they didn't both win.
Wednesday: A. Mehul/P. Nilima d. T. Labbe/B. Dia, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1
** Or they could just annihilate the Nigerian doubles representatives. That works too. This made it all but certain Sri Lanka would prevail. It was shocking though -- I still have a hard time believing they pulled this off.
Thursday: A. Mehul d. G. Vittoz, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-2
** A nice straight-sets win after the first-set escape, and we clinch the tie!
Friday: A. Chittoor d. Y. Bozza, 6-1, 6-0, 6-0
** Bozza obviously wasn't motivated in the dead rubber here.
Group 1 Results
Just as surprising as the ease of our win over Nigeria was the fact that China blanked Ukraine 5-0 without the loss of a set! This leaves Sri Lanka with a 100% clinched spot in the quarterfinals and first place in Group 1! Nigeria will face China in the final round robin round, and the winner will be tied with us but Sri Lanka will hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. The loser will have only one win while we have two, even if we lose to winless Ukraine which seems highly unlikely.
The next round is a couple of months away after the hard-court masters in Indian Wells and Miami. Mehul and Chittoor will participate in those events, maybe a challenger for each if needed before then. and Girsh will played another amateur event as well.
|