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Sri Lanka Rankings Update
Anil Mehul -- 12th to 10th singles, 104th to 103rd doubles. After starting the year 18-5 last season, Mehul was 21-4 to begin this year. He did not lose a match against anyone outside the Top 10(15-0), and was 6-4 against that elite group, with three wins coming against the Top 5. Overall a brilliant start to the year, and one that has him looking like he'll be challenging for a Top 5 spot himself by the time the World Tour Finals roll around.
The clay season is an opportunity. Not necessarily a big one, but he has only one match win to defend before Roland Garros after a rough go of it last year. Improved seeding well help, and he could pick a couple hundred points or more by just making it to the Round of 16 consistently; one deep run could be a major boon. The more he can accomplish in the next few months, the less pressure will be on him to maintain consistent excellence during the summer and fall.
Girish Girsh -- 98th to 99th singles, 424th to 306th doubles. Girsh is having more and more success against the key 51st-100th rankings bracket, and my sense is he will begin moving up again soon. He had favorable matchups in both of the recent Masters but took advantage and lost in the second round both times credibly. The clay season may delay him a bit, but definitely by the summer I expect Girsh to resume a steady rise.
Prakash Mooljee -- 168th to 150th juniors. He continues to smash opposition in the Tier-4 events and lose badly in most of his practice matches -- too badly right now, actually. Hopefully he'll soon improve enough to find a happy medium, but he's getting plenty of training in which is all I can ask of a youngish junior.
Manager Ranking -- 20th to 18th, 13.5k to 14.2k points. Mehul's consistent excellence is fueling a steady rise.
Chittoor/Girsh Status -- Chittoor is only about 10 spots up in the rankings and less than 100 points. The reversal is almost here.
Coming Up ...
The final WTC group match is now under way, with Chittoor so out of shape by now that a defeat in all three of his matches is very likely, with one win needed for a victory. Thankfully winning doesn't matter all that much in this tie.
Mehul has played a lot of matches and will welcome getting three weeks out of four off after that, the exception being his debut at the Monte Carlo Masters in a couple of weeks. After that, the clay season picks up steam with Madrid, Rome, and then the Summer Slams.
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