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October
The two-week gap between Shanghai and Paris always has a bit of action. Girsh took both weeks off, while Anil Mehul headed to the Swiss Indoors(500). He blasted his way through all opposition easily until the final, when 3rd-seed Roger Federer became the second player to stun him in three weeks. Mehul was by far the better player on the day(110-99 total points) but still lost 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-5. Another chance to pick up points in the rankings was denied here. He's not playing bad by any stretch, but not playing like a #1 player either.
Previously, Prakash Mooljee had been out for another Tier-2 futures and this time his winning streak finally came to an end at 42 matches on the year(and more at the end of last year). Japan's Shogo Ko, just barely ranked low enough to play in futures and formerly ranked 30th in the world before age(32 years old) caught up with him, was really playing down here and thumped Mooljee in the final, 6-2, 6-0. Ko is more properly a decent challenger-level player, and Mooljee is better than he showed in this match but at the same time it's a bit of a reality check after the unvarnished string of successes. It definitely seems sensible to keep playing a few more futures events until he can't anymore, and continue improving ahead of making the jump to the next level.
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