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Brian Swartz · 04-07-2016, 07:48 PM

One little side note; at Winston-Salem, the large 250 event the week before the USO, there was a rather shocking turn of events when flame-out Gareth McCuskey, the 13th seed, won the title. He's been on his way down for over a year, peaking at 24th in the rankings and was nearly out of the Top 50 before this moved him up into the mid-30s. At just 24 years old, I'm not sure what his issue is but he definitely doesn't look like the 'next big thing' he once had the potential to be. This is the first time in over two years(Hammerstein in the '42 Olympics was the last) that a double-digit seed won any professional event. Most of them don't even have more than eight seeds, of course. Helped that it was a 'home' event, but that was still a rather shocking turn of events.

2044 US Open

Opening Rounds

And now of course to the main event, the final Slam of the year. Shreya Ujjaval had himself quite a tournament, knocking off the fading 15-seed John Condon(PHI) in the first round in four sets, then getting to his second third-round result of the year. There, he stole the first set before falling in four to France's Theodore Bourdet, a loss that looked even better after Bourdet made it all the way to the semifinals, a huge result for him, and upset Bjorn Benda in the process. It was the first time in almost two years that Benda failed to reach the second week of a Slam.

Anil Mehul and Girish Girsh were both drawn on the same half, setting things up for a potential semifinal clash if they both took care of business. There was only one mild surprise for them in the first week; a surprisingly strong showing by 23rd-seed Andres Blanco of Spain. That's a name I haven't mentioned for a while, and with good reason; the former world no. 11 is 31 years old and had lost in the third round of the last seven Slam events he entered. He found a fountain of youth here, and not only went a round further but took a close tiebreak from Girsh to open the match before eventually going down in four sets.

In Other News ...

Como, Italy was the site of the latest Tier-2 challenger for Prakash Mooljee. Another first-round qualifying loss in doubles surprised nobody. As the #2 seed here, he smashed his way through all opposition, with only 7-seed Francis Ferzetti, aided by a partisan crowd, offering any real resistance in the semifinals. After Ferzetti failed to score a single point in the first-set tiebreak, even that was broken.

Second Week

The match of the quarterfinal round was the upstart Bourdet getting his second straight upset, this one over Thiago Herrera. Bourdet came from a set down to outlast the Peruvian 7-5 in the 5th. Elsewhere it was straight sets as it always is lately for Iglar over Marcek, while our two heroes each went four to advance. Mehul had little trouble overall aside from a third-set tiebreak against the always-dangerous but lately unimpressive Radek Smitala, while Girsh dropped a first-set breaker for the second straight match before righting the ship against Pierce Gaskell. And so it was that both remaining US players flamed out against my Sri Lankans, to the disgust of the crowds at Flushing Meadows.

Iglar flattened Bourdet in the first semi, to the surprise of nobody. In the second match, it was a real test of whether Girsh has finally matched Mehul on the court, or whether his victory a few weeks ago was simply a fluke. On this day, the younger player was a little more solid all the way around, not as many double faults, much better on break chances(3/4 compared to 1/8), and overall able to take a few more of his opportunities. Girsh has only won twice in this matchup, but both have been key victories over the course of the last month -- and this one advances him to his first Slam final, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(3).

That meant facing Iglar for the 22nd time. Nobody has really pushed the no. 1 this year, and Girsh didn't either, but he played him a little tougher than the rest, forcing the Czech champion to a tiebreak which is more than anybody else managed. In the end, it wasn't close to enough in a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(6) final, a remarkable 6th consecutive US Open title and this one without the loss of a set.

04-07-2016, 07:48 PM	#303
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	One little side note; at Winston-Salem, the large 250 event the week before the USO, there was a rather shocking turn of events when flame-out Gareth McCuskey, the 13th seed, won the title. He's been on his way down for over a year, peaking at 24th in the rankings and was nearly out of the Top 50 before this moved him up into the mid-30s. At just 24 years old, I'm not sure what his issue is but he definitely doesn't look like the 'next big thing' he once had the potential to be. This is the first time in over two years(Hammerstein in the '42 Olympics was the last) that a double-digit seed won any professional event. Most of them don't even have more than eight seeds, of course. Helped that it was a 'home' event, but that was still a rather shocking turn of events. 2044 US Open Opening Rounds And now of course to the main event, the final Slam of the year. Shreya Ujjaval had himself quite a tournament, knocking off the fading 15-seed John Condon(PHI) in the first round in four sets, then getting to his second third-round result of the year. There, he stole the first set before falling in four to France's Theodore Bourdet, a loss that looked even better after Bourdet made it all the way to the semifinals, a huge result for him, and upset Bjorn Benda in the process. It was the first time in almost two years that Benda failed to reach the second week of a Slam. Anil Mehul and Girish Girsh were both drawn on the same half, setting things up for a potential semifinal clash if they both took care of business. There was only one mild surprise for them in the first week; a surprisingly strong showing by 23rd-seed Andres Blanco of Spain. That's a name I haven't mentioned for a while, and with good reason; the former world no. 11 is 31 years old and had lost in the third round of the last seven Slam events he entered. He found a fountain of youth here, and not only went a round further but took a close tiebreak from Girsh to open the match before eventually going down in four sets. In Other News ... Como, Italy was the site of the latest Tier-2 challenger for Prakash Mooljee. Another first-round qualifying loss in doubles surprised nobody. As the #2 seed here, he smashed his way through all opposition, with only 7-seed Francis Ferzetti, aided by a partisan crowd, offering any real resistance in the semifinals. After Ferzetti failed to score a single point in the first-set tiebreak, even that was broken. Second Week The match of the quarterfinal round was the upstart Bourdet getting his second straight upset, this one over Thiago Herrera. Bourdet came from a set down to outlast the Peruvian 7-5 in the 5th. Elsewhere it was straight sets as it always is lately for Iglar over Marcek, while our two heroes each went four to advance. Mehul had little trouble overall aside from a third-set tiebreak against the always-dangerous but lately unimpressive Radek Smitala, while Girsh dropped a first-set breaker for the second straight match before righting the ship against Pierce Gaskell. And so it was that both remaining US players flamed out against my Sri Lankans, to the disgust of the crowds at Flushing Meadows. Iglar flattened Bourdet in the first semi, to the surprise of nobody. In the second match, it was a real test of whether Girsh has finally matched Mehul on the court, or whether his victory a few weeks ago was simply a fluke. On this day, the younger player was a little more solid all the way around, not as many double faults, much better on break chances(3/4 compared to 1/8), and overall able to take a few more of his opportunities. Girsh has only won twice in this matchup, but both have been key victories over the course of the last month -- and this one advances him to his first Slam final, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(3). That meant facing Iglar for the 22nd time. Nobody has really pushed the no. 1 this year, and Girsh didn't either, but he played him a little tougher than the rest, forcing the Czech champion to a tiebreak which is more than anybody else managed. In the end, it wasn't close to enough in a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(6) final, a remarkable 6th consecutive US Open title and this one without the loss of a set.