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January
There was a bit of rather shocking news during the expected relative quiet of the run-up to the Australian Open. World #5 Mick Elder was dumped by his manager! This kind of thing just doesn't happen; usually when a player is 'fired' they are at least out of the Top 20, declining veterans no longer needed, that sort of thing.
I looked into it and believe it or not, it's not as completely insane as it seems. marsel is the manager in question, currently third in the standings, points record-holder until oprice broke it last year, and a long-running success. He currently has the following players:
** Eric Gorritepe(35 years old)
** David Prieto(30)
** Marcel Bahana(22)
** Rodrigo Rivera(16)
The slide of Gorritepe and Prieto down the rankings has been facilitated by the fact that marsel has been working on doubles for both of them, probably a precursor to replacing his trainers. He has two max trainers, but at age 55 and 53 they would only be around a few more years. Bahana is the next big thing over the horizon, and when Rivera became available he jumped at the chance. All four are Spaniards, as is marsel himself -- which is probably why he dumped Elder, an American, instead of Prieto. Picking up Rivera, giving himself a promising new youngster with nobody coming up for him, makes a lot of sense.
Mick Elder is the kind of player who I would expect someone to pick up soon, as he'd make a great trainer candidate or points-winning vet for somebody, but he's still out there as of the start of the AO.
Prakash Mooljee had his first tier-3 the week before the Slam, and it went smoothly until the semifinals until he ran into marsel's new youngster. Rivera edged him in two tiebreaks, and I think we'll see more of him; there's a gap of just three months between them in terms of age and both look likely to have long, successful careers.
Mooljee will back in action at a Tier-2 in Lima next week while the best players are all in Australia, while Girsh and Mehul descend on the first Slam for the pro tour.
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