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Nah, I probably would have happily kept spelling it wrong for years. Glad you still like the tale here.
Year 102 US Open
Our first notable result comes in the third round with (10) Goya Banqueria bowing out to (19) Matthew Hughes of Ireland, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Hughes is the same age - 26 - as Daniel Long who we mentioned recently, and is similarly approaching his prime. As for Banqueria, this will pretty much confirm that he's stalling this year just outside the Top 10. (12) Raul Ramirez lost as well, but he's 28 and on the decline so we take more passing notice of that.
Another Spaniard lost in five sets in the next round; this time it was 4th-ranked Ene Caballero against Joss Fraikes. Makes sense the American would try to make a statement at his home Slam, and here he succeeded. Hughes lost to Polychroniadis in straight-sets, and the rest of the matches pretty much went as expected. A good one though between Urazov and de Laurentiis, with the Canadian winning in three although the first two sets were very close.
Jochen Weigle had the misfortune of meeting Faille in the quarterfinals, and suffered the usual result. Oleg Urazov had his chance against Cananis, but couldn't get through in a 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-3 result. Urazov needs to consistently win these to take the next step, but it didn't happen for him this time. Johann Przalowik lost by a similar count to Polychroniadis, and Fraikes had another five-setter, rallying from down 2-1 against Toni Bardales to advance once again.
The semifinals had the first real challenge of the tournament for Ben Faille; straight-sets over Renke Cananis but he had to work for it. Fraikes finally ended his run of upsets against Leon Polychroniadis, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. That set up a final that was once again #1 vs. #2. It ended in the minimum sets as Faille did not lose one this tournament, but again he was pushed some. 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) was the result.
Joss Fraikes is the feel-good story of the event, reaching his first Slam semifinal. It's a long-shot, but he has aims of winning here someday. For now, this should vault him into the Top 10, joining the other rising stars competing to kick Xanthos out.
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