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Brian Swartz · 08-17-2015, 04:38 AM

Yeah, I think my stay in rr2 will be short. I've got a trainer candidate who is closing in on 4.9 and I want to see him through, but I might not stick with it after that. It's easy enough to make mistakes as it is. Case in point, work can get crazy for me sometimes and I basically back to full time now(good), but I forgot to sign up three of my players for practice tournaments -- I was sure I had, but obviously wrong and it cost somewhere around 200 or so xp points each. With a fast world, mistakes like that multiply.

Anyway ...

February/March

Girish Girsh had a solid run at the Bergamo challenger(tier 2) in late February. After flattening his first three foes, he lost to eventually champion Nils Mednick(SWE, 55th) 3 & 2, but was on the winning doubles team. That was more than enough matches for him to get through this period.

Anil Mehul played Rotterdam last year but this year skipped it and waited until Dubai. Both are 500-level events. He was not looking good at all in practice during the interim, so I was hoping for a better performance. He was set to meet Prieto in the semifinals but the Spaniard was shockingly beaten in three tough sets by another Swede, Olev Birkeland. Birkeland had nearly beaten Mehul at the end of last year at Shanghai -- it went to a third-set tiebreak, another case of a match being closer than it should. Birkeland managed just two games this time, setting up a final against Topolski who was looking for revenge after his only loss to Mehul, in the Australian quarters.

The Russian had the better of the match most of the way, but time and time again Anil denied him on break chances: 13 of 14 saved for the match. The Dubai title came down to a final-set tiebreak, a more crucial result than one would expect for a 500 event between these two. The way the rankings are looking, Mehul will probably have to surpass Topolski to reach the World Tour Finals, his #1 goal for the year. Another win would help greatly, the winner gets 500 points here and the loser 300, a 400-point swing. Topolski got an early minibreak, but Mehul rang off four straight points to lead 5-2. A little later, a match point on his own serve ... but he blew it and lost the match in a heartbreaker 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). Topolski was the better player on the day, more consistent, and he deserved to win -- but when you blow a match point and lose six of the last seven points, that's a tough pill to swallow. It was the only quality opponent he had all week, so it's tough to say for sure where Mehul's at right now.

At least decent form though heading into Indian Wells and Miami. He's defending 4th-round placings at each last year. He would definitely expect to at least equal those, and will need to push to at least one quarterfinal appearance in order to make this swing a success. Girsh will be there as well for his first Masters action, and during the same time period Mooljee will be getting back out there for another juniors event.

In terms of the Chittoor/Girsh watch, Amrik is down to 81st but Girish is sliding as well, currently at 109th.

08-17-2015, 04:38 AM	#103
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Yeah, I think my stay in rr2 will be short. I've got a trainer candidate who is closing in on 4.9 and I want to see him through, but I might not stick with it after that. It's easy enough to make mistakes as it is. Case in point, work can get crazy for me sometimes and I basically back to full time now(good), but I forgot to sign up three of my players for practice tournaments -- I was sure I had, but obviously wrong and it cost somewhere around 200 or so xp points each. With a fast world, mistakes like that multiply. Anyway ... February/March Girish Girsh had a solid run at the Bergamo challenger(tier 2) in late February. After flattening his first three foes, he lost to eventually champion Nils Mednick(SWE, 55th) 3 & 2, but was on the winning doubles team. That was more than enough matches for him to get through this period. Anil Mehul played Rotterdam last year but this year skipped it and waited until Dubai. Both are 500-level events. He was not looking good at all in practice during the interim, so I was hoping for a better performance. He was set to meet Prieto in the semifinals but the Spaniard was shockingly beaten in three tough sets by another Swede, Olev Birkeland. Birkeland had nearly beaten Mehul at the end of last year at Shanghai -- it went to a third-set tiebreak, another case of a match being closer than it should. Birkeland managed just two games this time, setting up a final against Topolski who was looking for revenge after his only loss to Mehul, in the Australian quarters. The Russian had the better of the match most of the way, but time and time again Anil denied him on break chances: 13 of 14 saved for the match. The Dubai title came down to a final-set tiebreak, a more crucial result than one would expect for a 500 event between these two. The way the rankings are looking, Mehul will probably have to surpass Topolski to reach the World Tour Finals, his #1 goal for the year. Another win would help greatly, the winner gets 500 points here and the loser 300, a 400-point swing. Topolski got an early minibreak, but Mehul rang off four straight points to lead 5-2. A little later, a match point on his own serve ... but he blew it and lost the match in a heartbreaker 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). Topolski was the better player on the day, more consistent, and he deserved to win -- but when you blow a match point and lose six of the last seven points, that's a tough pill to swallow. It was the only quality opponent he had all week, so it's tough to say for sure where Mehul's at right now. At least decent form though heading into Indian Wells and Miami. He's defending 4th-round placings at each last year. He would definitely expect to at least equal those, and will need to push to at least one quarterfinal appearance in order to make this swing a success. Girsh will be there as well for his first Masters action, and during the same time period Mooljee will be getting back out there for another juniors event. In terms of the Chittoor/Girsh watch, Amrik is down to 81st but Girish is sliding as well, currently at 109th. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 08-17-2015 at 04:39 AM.