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Old 03-16-2016, 04:10 AM   #289
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
Miami Masters

The draw set up with the potential for some payback this week; Mehul was slated to meet Smitala in the quarterfinals, one round later than Indian Wells, while Girsh and Benda were seeded to meet once again. Unfortunately, another dark horse, this one even more unlikely, stepped forward. Czech no. 3 Milan Farkas upended Girish Girsh 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4. Girsh played well enough to win but not well enough to be certain of it, completing a decidedly disappointing performance at the year's first pair of Masters events with his second loss in six meetings with Farkas. He had won his last four.

At the same juncture, Mehul advanced easily to the second week over Kinczllers, then allowed Smitala few chances and snuffed out all three break chances he faced in a straight-sets win to ease the pain of the Indian Wells defeat a bit. Rather shockingly, he would next need to deal with Farkas in the semifinals; the upstart staged a comeback win over Benda to reach the last four. Anil Mehul started the match well, a quick bagel demolition in the first set established dominance ... but it didn't last. Farkas converted all three break chances he saw in the last two sets, rallying for a tough and nearly incomprensible 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 win, his third straight upset. He would win only two games against Iglar in the final.

To put this in perspective, Milan Farkas had never reached the quarterfinals or better at any major event. Getting to the final here was improbable in the extreme, and the theme of last month here is definitely unpredictability. Mehul's only chance at getting back to #1 in the forseeable future waves good-bye in the process.

Elsewhere, Prakash Mooljee's first challenger event was quite the smashing success. Undeterred by placing just out of the seedings, he began by annihilating German 7th-seed Djurdje Moicevic with a near-perfect double-bagel in the first round. A series of increasingly competitive straight-sets wins followed until he ran into Vladimir Octrouhov(RUS, 180th) in the final. Octrouhov, objectively a slightly better player, is very similar in technical acumen, stronger but slower with a strong determination on the court. He took the first easily, but as he has so many times Mooljee rallied against the odds for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 win. Looks like he's made the move up for good.
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