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Brian Swartz · 11-11-2017, 09:19 AM

Roland Garros

Another solid but unspectacular showing from Mehul/Kroese, who lost a close quarterfinal match here. They're hanging around, but slowly fading from view. Shyam Senepathy drew 14th-ranked Jolland in the first round, and took a set but lost fairly meekly.

I was surprised to see Juan de los Santos(ESP, 18th) as the only seed to go out in the first round. After a long match with Cypriot Alberto Sartzekakis, he was defeated 7-5 in the 5th on his best surface. It's safe to say Santos, now nearly 30 years old, is done. He once was ranked 6th in the world. Johnny Browne was the first big name to go out in round two, courtesy of Ivan Coria in four sets. Alenichev joined him while some others had to struggle more than expected. Mooljee was pushed to a couple of tiebreaks before coming through in straight sets.

In the third, #11 Schmucker lost out to Maliagros(25th), while the matchup between unseeded players saw Coria go out to Frenchman Christophe Asqueborg, 6-7(2), 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3), 7-5. Aside from the middle set is was quite a match, and the home crowd definitely played a part of Christophe's comeback. Ranked outside the Top 100 coming in, it's quite a feat for him to win three matches here. Alexey Nikitin was another victim of losing a two-set lead, this against MacKenzie. Big missed opportunity for him, slowing his ascent. Ariel Borja made his first appearance in a long while, outlasting Rosenberg 9-7 in the 5th set of a real epic. Mooljee dropped a set against Beno Duhr but managed to push on, while Dudwadkar has not yet been remotely challenged. Gregory Mackenzie managed a second straight 5-set comeback win in the fourth round, this against 7th-ranked Hsuang-tsung Teng. The American is dashing a lot of hopes this week. It was pretty much as expected elsewhere except for a fine match between Prakash Mooljee and Piazzola. Rallying from two sets down to force a fifth, Mooljee couldn't complete this rally, and loses a tight one in which both players won 173 points apiece. The younger Chilean did apply the more consistent pressure though, and was the deserved winner. After a SF showing last year and four straight finals(two titles) here before that, it's a pretty big fall for Mooljee to not even make the second week.

Top four and five of the top six all made the quarterfinals, so it's top-heavy but Kronecker(10th), Piazzola(13th), and Mackenzie(16th) are all not seeded to show. First two are strong clay players though, so the American is really the only real surprise. Sigmund Kronecker kept up his good play and gave Kaspar a serious run for his money before falling 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4. That's by far the toughest match the #1 has had since his season-opening defeat. Mackenzie was crushed by Fangio, Piazzola pushed Guus Dircx to four sets but had nothing left by the third, and another real toss-up was played in the last match between Zarco and Ritwik Dudwadkar. Back and forth it went, ending at 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, 10-8, the Spaniard narrowly prevailing. Paper-thin margin here; it came down Martin having the better serve(17 to 8 aces) and getting a couple more free points at the end as the grinding wore on both men. He wasn't as consistent as you can see by the first and third sets, but Dudwadkar couldn't quite match his peak level. Very close ... but not quite there.

Gillo Fangio took a pair of tiebreaks to start things off with Kaspar ... but lost the third set 7-5 and would win only three games the rest of the way. Mateo simply would not be denied. This was the chance to knock off the King, but Fangio blinked and before you know it he'd lost a golden opportunity. In the other half, Martin Zarco had to go the distance and rally again, but he did so, stopping Dircx. He presented a third straight quality foe for Mateo Kaspar, but once again it wasn't enough, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-5. Gotta tip your cap to the French legend, this was not an easy tournament for him and he had to fight for it. Earned it though, his third RG title and second in a row. Eight straight Slam titles. That's insane.

11-11-2017, 09:19 AM	#703
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Roland Garros Another solid but unspectacular showing from Mehul/Kroese, who lost a close quarterfinal match here. They're hanging around, but slowly fading from view. Shyam Senepathy drew 14th-ranked Jolland in the first round, and took a set but lost fairly meekly. I was surprised to see Juan de los Santos(ESP, 18th) as the only seed to go out in the first round. After a long match with Cypriot Alberto Sartzekakis, he was defeated 7-5 in the 5th on his best surface. It's safe to say Santos, now nearly 30 years old, is done. He once was ranked 6th in the world. Johnny Browne was the first big name to go out in round two, courtesy of Ivan Coria in four sets. Alenichev joined him while some others had to struggle more than expected. Mooljee was pushed to a couple of tiebreaks before coming through in straight sets. In the third, #11 Schmucker lost out to Maliagros(25th), while the matchup between unseeded players saw Coria go out to Frenchman Christophe Asqueborg, 6-7(2), 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(3), 7-5. Aside from the middle set is was quite a match, and the home crowd definitely played a part of Christophe's comeback. Ranked outside the Top 100 coming in, it's quite a feat for him to win three matches here. Alexey Nikitin was another victim of losing a two-set lead, this against MacKenzie. Big missed opportunity for him, slowing his ascent. Ariel Borja made his first appearance in a long while, outlasting Rosenberg 9-7 in the 5th set of a real epic. Mooljee dropped a set against Beno Duhr but managed to push on, while Dudwadkar has not yet been remotely challenged. Gregory Mackenzie managed a second straight 5-set comeback win in the fourth round, this against 7th-ranked Hsuang-tsung Teng. The American is dashing a lot of hopes this week. It was pretty much as expected elsewhere except for a fine match between Prakash Mooljee and Piazzola. Rallying from two sets down to force a fifth, Mooljee couldn't complete this rally, and loses a tight one in which both players won 173 points apiece. The younger Chilean did apply the more consistent pressure though, and was the deserved winner. After a SF showing last year and four straight finals(two titles) here before that, it's a pretty big fall for Mooljee to not even make the second week. Top four and five of the top six all made the quarterfinals, so it's top-heavy but Kronecker(10th), Piazzola(13th), and Mackenzie(16th) are all not seeded to show. First two are strong clay players though, so the American is really the only real surprise. Sigmund Kronecker kept up his good play and gave Kaspar a serious run for his money before falling 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4. That's by far the toughest match the #1 has had since his season-opening defeat. Mackenzie was crushed by Fangio, Piazzola pushed Guus Dircx to four sets but had nothing left by the third, and another real toss-up was played in the last match between Zarco and Ritwik Dudwadkar. Back and forth it went, ending at 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, 10-8, the Spaniard narrowly prevailing. Paper-thin margin here; it came down Martin having the better serve(17 to 8 aces) and getting a couple more free points at the end as the grinding wore on both men. He wasn't as consistent as you can see by the first and third sets, but Dudwadkar couldn't quite match his peak level. Very close ... but not quite there. Gillo Fangio took a pair of tiebreaks to start things off with Kaspar ... but lost the third set 7-5 and would win only three games the rest of the way. Mateo simply would not be denied. This was the chance to knock off the King, but Fangio blinked and before you know it he'd lost a golden opportunity. In the other half, Martin Zarco had to go the distance and rally again, but he did so, stopping Dircx. He presented a third straight quality foe for Mateo Kaspar, but once again it wasn't enough, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-5. Gotta tip your cap to the French legend, this was not an easy tournament for him and he had to fight for it. Earned it though, his third RG title and second in a row. Eight straight Slam titles. That's insane.