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Old 02-01-2016, 03:30 AM   #248
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
Madrid Masters

After both of Sri Lanka's top players got through a bye and their first matches easily, Girish Girsh had a spot of trouble in dropping a set to French qualifier Hugo Dealavallade before coming through. His reward was a topsy-turvy quaterfinal in which he took a set from Iglar for the first time but still lost badly, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. But still, a quarterfinal on clay -- not bad, and he moves up to 6th ahead of the fading Alvarez.

Anil Mehul had a smoother journey than in Monte Carlo, and was surprised to see Perry Mockler in his quarterfinal matchup. Even more surprising, despite returning quite well on the day, he nearly lost before prevailing 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Cestmir Marcek was up next, looking strong this year and winner of both of their previous clay encounters ... though both were at least three years ago. This one went the distance and it was Mehul's serve that bailed him up, quite uncharacteristically. He hit 11 aces, saved all but one of a dozen break points, and got through to the final 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

Then it was time to face the music against Benda, who would certainly assert himself here. The success was in getting here. Mehul played well enough to keep it close, still outplayed but kept himself in it ... and after dropping the first set managed a most improbable upset, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5), claiming his first Masters Shield in over a year, breaking the German's four-year stranglehold on the Madrid tournament, and his first win in just the third clay meeting between the two. It also firmly established him as the world #2 again, a spot he nearly lost a few months ago. Not quite a deserved win but he did enough to give himself a chance, and then seized the opportunity. A stunning upset to be sure.


Rome Masters

Mehul was made to work in his first match by Dealavallade, who validated his good performance the previous week with a good fight before departing 7-5, 6-4. In the third round, Italian 13th-seed Mugur Kinczllers delighted the hometown partisans with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Girsh, his first in three meeting on the senior tour. Kinczllers, a dominant junior player, had dismantled him four straight times during their younger days. At this point he's probably the top generational rival with Bahana having gone the way of all flesh. He's at home, and a player on the rise, but it's still a somewhat disappointing loss.

The crowd was not enough to get him past Sri Lanka's alpha representative though. In the quarters Mehul sent him packing with the loss of just five games. Marcek again in the semis, and this one wasn't close; 2 & 2 was all the Czech no. 2 could muster. Very impressive back-to-back performances, which led up to Benda's Revenge.

The German had outlasted Iglar for the second straight time in the other semi, and was defending three straight titles here. He came out firing on all cylinders, but partly due to fatigue and partly due to perhaps a hangover from the previous week, and partly due perhaps to karma, Mehul rallied again for an inconceivable 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 win. This was even slightly more one-sided than his loss to Benda back in Indian Wells. 105-92 in total points, Benda won nearly half of his return points overall, but he had seven double faults, many of them at bad times.

I'm not sure I believe what has just happened. Anil Mehul has just won both of the mandatory clay Masters in back to back weeks over the presumptive favorite, doubling his Masters total to four Shields, reversing the narrative on his season from disappointing to even better than last year at this point, reaching a new ranking high at over 12k points, and -- incomprehensibly -- anointing himself as the clay player of the 2053 season to date. In the third set at Rome, he went down an early break but didn't allow Benda to consolidate, fought off three match points at 4-5, then broke again to take the title. He had every opportunity to lose, and his opponent every opportunity to win -- yet somehow it didn't happen.

Looking Ahead

This leaves things wide-open heading into the French Open. Who's the favorite? Bjorn Benda is still clearly the best claycourter in the world on paper, but he's now lost three straight big events on the surface, all in the final. Antonin Iglar is the defending champion. And Anil Mehul must be taken seriously as a contender after the last couple of weeks. Meanwhile last year's darling, Thiago Herrera, has bowed out quickly the last couple times out and dropped out of the Top 10.

Don't look now, but the gap between Iglar and Mehul is now just over 3000 points. That's still a lot, but if Iglar doesn't defend at the French and Mehul does at Wimbledon(two enormous ifs, but it's a scenario that's quite possible), the legend's spot at the top may become far less comfortable than presumed, and far less comfortable than it's been in years.

In a final leadup event, Girsh headed off to Nice. The French city, not the English adjective of the same name. A 250 event, and he lost in the semis to German Harald Oncken, who he'd beaten twice previously on clay. It was a close three-setter, and disappointing -- but it did set him up perfectly in terms of focus and number of matches needed. Rising French star Davide Poilblan took his first title, proceeding to bagel Oncken in the first set.

Fatigue is one thing, but the question right now is whether Girsh will bring his game to Roland Garros. And in the second week, there will another event of minor interest, as Prakash Mooljee enters his first futures event nearby ...
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