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Rome Masters
More first-round pain for us. Senepathy qualified again by lost to another one. Mehul dropped a close 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to Americian qualifier Gregory Mackenzie. After losing in the second round of doubles as well last week, he and Kroese would make a tough run here to the semis where they narrowly lost a super TB 12-10 to the 4th seeds. So at least there was that to hang his hat on.
Another early exit by Zopp here, and also by Browne who really looks like he's fallen off a cliff this year although he was never much of a clay player. The third round was rough for both remaining Sri Lanka players. Mooljee just escaped Martin Zarco(14), with Shreya Ujjaval giving Janin a tough match before fading. Juan de los Santos is another guy appearing to fall off the pace this year, dropping a three-set match to Phillippe Besson after having dominated the first set. Besson and surprise German of the week Joseph Boller were the crashers to the quarterfinal round.
Mooljee and Luc Janin met again here, and it was closer this time; but the same result, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Boller kept moving with an upset of Tomas Niklas; he appears to be a fairly serious customers. Kaspar and Fangio set up another clash by winning their encounters. This time, Mateo Kaspar came out narrowly ahead, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5). Boller stunned Janin in straight-sets on the other side, and comes through to the final unseeded in what has to be the most surprising run this year. Previously, he'd made it to quarterfinals once in Monte Carlo, and never at any other big event.
Kaspar ended his bid in a 6-4, 6-4 final to claim his 4th Masters.
Coming Up ...
Things are getting tight at the top now. If Prakash Mooljee doesn't at least reach the final in the upcoming slam at RG, Kaspar could wrench the #1 spot away from him there. Dudwadkar continues to move up very slowly, and continues to struggle against players of his own ability in the Top 50. Sushant Chiba had a few weeks off here, while Mehul will be seeded at RG in doubles for the first time.
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