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Old 03-23-2016, 08:22 PM   #295
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
Madrid Masters

Things went from suck to blow here, and in a right big hurry. Girsh's first match was against a qualifier. It wasn't any qualifier; long-time followers will recognize the name of Austrian Julian Hammerstein, who rarely plays singles anymore, but is still a force when he chooses to. Girsh still should have won, but didn't, getting dumped out unceremoniously in straight sets.

In the next(third) round, Mehul had his turn at Caratti. He didn't fare all that much better than his compatriot. He did fight hard for a second set that he probably should have won, but still fell 6-2, 7-5. And so the quarterfinals came with both players already gone from the tournament. It more or less went according to form after that, Benda taking a close final over Iglar who survived a few upset attempts on the way there.


Rome Masters

Anil Mehul drew Caratti again in the third round, but this time it was a lot better off. Caratti had played too much at this point, and took just two games, a rather remarkable reversal from the match last week. Girsh had a pretty easy ride to the quarterfinals as well. Unfortunately the wheels came off there again. The flavor of the month this week was Mugur Kinczllers, who beat Girsh in three to reach the semifinals. Even more surprisingly, he had already upset Benda in the previous round.

As for Mehul, he ran into 10th-ranked Marcelo Herrera. They hadn't played since Roland Garros last year, when Herrera won a long, tight match, his first win in 10 encounters. This was more of the same, a three-set affair but Mehul lost again.

Iglar looked a little sharper this week, and beat Herrera for his 21st Masters. Overall he's probably the favorite to get his crown back at Roland Garros, but Benda is always a major threat, and lots of players have stepped forward recently. Smitala, both Herreras, Kinczllers, Caratti have all had their moments. It's quite a wide-open field of potential contenders all things considered.

In the interim, both players needed more matches so they played in a 250 event, meeting in the final for their first real match in two and a half years. Mehul has still never lost to Girsh after a 7-5, 6-1 win. More importantly, they are set up pretty well for RG. Mooljee's next challenger will be that week also.
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