Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

Brian Swartz · 07-26-2016, 08:23 AM

Shanghai Masters

Three of Sri Lanka's four entrants were all drawn in the same quarter unfortunately, and all of them in the same half. It made for a quick exit for Shreya Ujjaval, who beat a wild card in the first round and then lost to Mehul in the second, 7-5, 6-2. Prakash Mooljee had a tough first-round draw, another one of those matches that could go either way against (11)Davide Poilblan(FRA). Poilblan isn't a particularly good hardcourt player and Mooljee's a better athlete, but the Frenchman does have a significant advantage on serve. I was surprised to see Mooljee come up with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 win here! He then knocked out Caminha with only slightly more difficulty, but Anil Mehul dropped him in the third round, 6-2, 7-6(4). Really as good a tournament as could be expected for those two, neither is near Mehul's level quite yet.

Bjorn Benda's latest indignity was the story of the early rounds, losing to Andre Herrera in his first match, the second round. Aside from that there were no great surprises. Bourdet notably continued his good recent play, upending Gaskell in three to reach the quarterfinals, and Benda's spot was filled by Marcek. Girish Girsh had his first test there, against Mugur Kinczllers. This is the fifth straight time they've met at this stage, a strange result that has a less than 0.1% chance of occuring(1 in 4 for each time). Sometimes they've been fairly comfortable wins for Girsh, but this one took everything he could muster to escape 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6). Mehul ended Bourdet's run, Iglar continued to cruise through, and Gustavo Caratti had a bit of a battle but beat Thiago Herrera in three.

Once again the Big 4 made it through to the semis. The 16th meeting between Girsh and Mehul was strangely the first since the AO final at the beginning of this season. Girsh took it 7-6(4), 6-4. He didn't serve well on the day but age has caught up with Mehul enough that even a 12-6 edge in the ace count wasn't enough to save him. Antonin Iglar had a surprisingly tough time with Caratti, dropping a first-set tiebreak, but got through in three. The final was very close. You could even argue that Girsh was slightly the better player this time, but Iglar came up with the big shots when he needed to to edge him 7-5, 7-5.

This week confirms Iglar in the #2 spot in the rankings, pushing Mehul closer to falling to 4th than he is to regaining that position. Girsh still has a solid lead at #1 though ... for now.

07-26-2016, 08:23 AM	#440
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Shanghai Masters Three of Sri Lanka's four entrants were all drawn in the same quarter unfortunately, and all of them in the same half. It made for a quick exit for Shreya Ujjaval, who beat a wild card in the first round and then lost to Mehul in the second, 7-5, 6-2. Prakash Mooljee had a tough first-round draw, another one of those matches that could go either way against (11)Davide Poilblan(FRA). Poilblan isn't a particularly good hardcourt player and Mooljee's a better athlete, but the Frenchman does have a significant advantage on serve. I was surprised to see Mooljee come up with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 win here! He then knocked out Caminha with only slightly more difficulty, but Anil Mehul dropped him in the third round, 6-2, 7-6(4). Really as good a tournament as could be expected for those two, neither is near Mehul's level quite yet. Bjorn Benda's latest indignity was the story of the early rounds, losing to Andre Herrera in his first match, the second round. Aside from that there were no great surprises. Bourdet notably continued his good recent play, upending Gaskell in three to reach the quarterfinals, and Benda's spot was filled by Marcek. Girish Girsh had his first test there, against Mugur Kinczllers. This is the fifth straight time they've met at this stage, a strange result that has a less than 0.1% chance of occuring(1 in 4 for each time). Sometimes they've been fairly comfortable wins for Girsh, but this one took everything he could muster to escape 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6). Mehul ended Bourdet's run, Iglar continued to cruise through, and Gustavo Caratti had a bit of a battle but beat Thiago Herrera in three. Once again the Big 4 made it through to the semis. The 16th meeting between Girsh and Mehul was strangely the first since the AO final at the beginning of this season. Girsh took it 7-6(4), 6-4. He didn't serve well on the day but age has caught up with Mehul enough that even a 12-6 edge in the ace count wasn't enough to save him. Antonin Iglar had a surprisingly tough time with Caratti, dropping a first-set tiebreak, but got through in three. The final was very close. You could even argue that Girsh was slightly the better player this time, but Iglar came up with the big shots when he needed to to edge him 7-5, 7-5. This week confirms Iglar in the #2 spot in the rankings, pushing Mehul closer to falling to 4th than he is to regaining that position. Girsh still has a solid lead at #1 though ... for now.