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Brian Swartz · 12-11-2017, 08:09 PM

Australian Open

Anil Mehul did enter in doubles again, losing badly in the first round. Sushant Chiba made his Slam debut here, qualifying routinely. Then he faced #31 Zimmolo in the main draw, and won six games(6-2, 6-4, 6-0). So really pretty much what I'd expect. First taste of the big time, but unless he got really lucky with the draw he wasn't going to make it any further than that. Shyam Senepathy faced off against Ireland's Badu Isangegidhe, who I'd never heard of either but he is a Top-50 guy so not a pushover. Quality 6-4, 7-6(9), 6-3 win for Senepathy, then a straight-sets loss to #25 Maliagros. Last year he hadn't won a single Slam match though, so it's still not bad. Overall a decent show of it for our 'also-ran' quality guys.

American Gregory Mackenzie had himself a real bad day, with the world #14 losing in the first round to another US player in Hugo Cordova, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. Cordova, just shy of his 22nd birthday, was ranked 45th at the end of last year. Looks like he'll be one to watch. The only other seed to fall was (30)Damian Cortecedo, a five-set loser in one of those not-really-an-upset matches to Spaniard Benjamin Cordovez. Cordovez is one of the top doubles players in the world; we'd know more about him if he'd gone the singles route. In the second round, the decline of #15 Jake Jolland continued with a 7-5 5th-set defeat against Jakob Heinen(DEU). Zaferia, 28th-seed from Argentina, lost as well but that was about it.

The third round heated up things and once again young Cordova was right in the middle of it. He took one of the first good epics of the event, 7-6(5), 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 from 20th-ranked Andres Varas, the top Argentine player. Not a great tournament for that nation, but Hugo has definitely proven himself here. Elsewhere Nikitin rallied from two sets down to beat Panter, and after another long day between two Americans it was #21 Pargeter getting the better of #16 Blake. Vinnie Cone pushed #5 Fangio to the brink but couldn't take him down, while Sigmund Kronecker was felled in five by the veteran Besson. Mooljee lost the first set to Zimmolo, but then rallied to take care of business in his first test. In the fourth, Ruben Piazzoa finally silenced Cordova, but it's rather apparent he'll be back. Dudwadkar(over Nikitin) and Mooljee(against Rosenberg) both faced quality competition and won testy four-set matchups. Most of the other matches were routine, though #2 Zarco was pushed to a tough four as well, with Stuart Pargeter providing the opposition. Slowly but surely, Pargeter is making his way. He looks more dangerous all the time.

Some good tennis the last couple of rounds, but at the end of the day is was a Top 8-only party in the QF. Kaspar flushed Piazzola 6-2, 6-1, 6-1. Ouch. Next up was an Sri Lanka section, with Dudwadkar doing what is expected over Prakash Mooljee, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3. That's about right for this point in their careers, and it makes four wins in the last five encounters. Zarco got by Gillo Fangio, and providing the lone upset was #6 Teng, who dropped the first set but then rallied against the somewhat underachieving Guus Dircx.

Ritwik Dudwadkar gave King Kaspar one good set in the semifinals, but wasn't close. Martin Zarco became the latest victim, in four, of Hsuang-tsung Teng. It's his first Slam final, and unless I'm mistaken the first for any player from New Zealand. And he actually won a set when he got there, which is pretty impressive. The result was well known ahead of time though: Mateo Kaspar takes his 11th consecutive Slam title, 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. That's another all-time mark: Gorritepe won 10 and 9 in a row, the only one close.

12-11-2017, 08:09 PM	#726
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Australian Open Anil Mehul did enter in doubles again, losing badly in the first round. Sushant Chiba made his Slam debut here, qualifying routinely. Then he faced #31 Zimmolo in the main draw, and won six games(6-2, 6-4, 6-0). So really pretty much what I'd expect. First taste of the big time, but unless he got really lucky with the draw he wasn't going to make it any further than that. Shyam Senepathy faced off against Ireland's Badu Isangegidhe, who I'd never heard of either but he is a Top-50 guy so not a pushover. Quality 6-4, 7-6(9), 6-3 win for Senepathy, then a straight-sets loss to #25 Maliagros. Last year he hadn't won a single Slam match though, so it's still not bad. Overall a decent show of it for our 'also-ran' quality guys. American Gregory Mackenzie had himself a real bad day, with the world #14 losing in the first round to another US player in Hugo Cordova, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. Cordova, just shy of his 22nd birthday, was ranked 45th at the end of last year. Looks like he'll be one to watch. The only other seed to fall was (30)Damian Cortecedo, a five-set loser in one of those not-really-an-upset matches to Spaniard Benjamin Cordovez. Cordovez is one of the top doubles players in the world; we'd know more about him if he'd gone the singles route. In the second round, the decline of #15 Jake Jolland continued with a 7-5 5th-set defeat against Jakob Heinen(DEU). Zaferia, 28th-seed from Argentina, lost as well but that was about it. The third round heated up things and once again young Cordova was right in the middle of it. He took one of the first good epics of the event, 7-6(5), 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 from 20th-ranked Andres Varas, the top Argentine player. Not a great tournament for that nation, but Hugo has definitely proven himself here. Elsewhere Nikitin rallied from two sets down to beat Panter, and after another long day between two Americans it was #21 Pargeter getting the better of #16 Blake. Vinnie Cone pushed #5 Fangio to the brink but couldn't take him down, while Sigmund Kronecker was felled in five by the veteran Besson. Mooljee lost the first set to Zimmolo, but then rallied to take care of business in his first test. In the fourth, Ruben Piazzoa finally silenced Cordova, but it's rather apparent he'll be back. Dudwadkar(over Nikitin) and Mooljee(against Rosenberg) both faced quality competition and won testy four-set matchups. Most of the other matches were routine, though #2 Zarco was pushed to a tough four as well, with Stuart Pargeter providing the opposition. Slowly but surely, Pargeter is making his way. He looks more dangerous all the time. Some good tennis the last couple of rounds, but at the end of the day is was a Top 8-only party in the QF. Kaspar flushed Piazzola 6-2, 6-1, 6-1. Ouch. Next up was an Sri Lanka section, with Dudwadkar doing what is expected over Prakash Mooljee, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3. That's about right for this point in their careers, and it makes four wins in the last five encounters. Zarco got by Gillo Fangio, and providing the lone upset was #6 Teng, who dropped the first set but then rallied against the somewhat underachieving Guus Dircx. Ritwik Dudwadkar gave King Kaspar one good set in the semifinals, but wasn't close. Martin Zarco became the latest victim, in four, of Hsuang-tsung Teng. It's his first Slam final, and unless I'm mistaken the first for any player from New Zealand. And he actually won a set when he got there, which is pretty impressive. The result was well known ahead of time though: Mateo Kaspar takes his 11th consecutive Slam title, 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. That's another all-time mark: Gorritepe won 10 and 9 in a row, the only one close.