|
World Tour Finals
Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction. This year's finale was kind of like that. It definitely didn't follow the script. To begin with, Marcek was indeed given the last spot he really didn't earn, despite the protests of the Austrians on behalf of Hammerstein. As for Anil Mehul, he was unfavorably drawn in Iglar's group, but the other two were the last pair in the field, Marcek and Iglar. The other side had Benda and most of the middling players.
After easily dousing Marcek in his opener, he faced the Czech legend with Benda having won his first two on the other side and looking a cinch to take that group as expected. At the end of a tight first set, Mehul was down 5-2 in the tiebreaker and it looked like the usual result -- a competitive effort but not good enough. He rallied though, even surviving a set point on Iglar's serve to stunningly take the breaker. After losing the second set, he broke him for the first time in eighth game of the final set, cruising home at that point for the upset, 7-6(8), 3-6, 6-3! The match broke a string of five straight defeats dating back almost a year and a half, with his last win in the matchup coming at the 2040 French Open. The overall head-to-head count is still 10-4 against him, but this win essentially guaranteed he would advance.
After dusting off Almagro who, as feared, might as well not have been here -- he scored only four games combined in his three matches here -- Mehul figured to go up against whoever won the Hogue/Alvarez match on the last day of the group stage. He figured wrong. Benda was upset by previously winless Goncharenko, in a third-set tiebreak no less, leaving him and Perry Hogue both tied atop the other group; and Hogue lost fewer sets, giving him the tiebreaker.
It seemed Mehul was destined then to meet Benda in the semis, a shot at revenge for the Paris defeat and a rematch of last year's encounter here as well. This time he made very sure of his victory, dominating the German 6-2, 6-4, and it could have been worse; he was only 3 of 14 on break chances, but didn't surrender a single one. There was no question on this day.
That meant a rematch with Iglar in the final. This time Mehul was not so fortunate. He was competitive and it was close, but while he actually put a little more pressure on the Czech's serve overall, his own serve was less consistent and that cost him especially after going up a break in the second set. In the end it was a close straight-sets loss, 6-4, 6-4; he'd won the first meeting but the championship here goes to Antonin Iglar for the second straight year. Only four players have won it three or more times, but Mehul will hopefully have a lot to say about this event in the future as well.
Still it was a fine run, undefeated until that close loss in the final, and closing the gap a bit more on Benda in the #2 spot. A good finish to the year.
Coming Up
A month off until the start of the year, with the WTC wrapping up. Spain faces the Czech Republic for the second straight year to determine the champion, and then the playoffs the week following that. For my players, it's time to make preparations and train for the year that is to come. It's been another successful season, but many goals remain unreached as of yet ...
|