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World Team Cup, Group Two, Second Round
Sri Lanka(1st) vs. France(5th), Indoors
Monday: G. Girsh d. D. Poilblan, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Tuesday: T. Bourdet d. A. Mehul, 2-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 6-4
Wednesday: R. Iraugui/T. Rey d. S. Ujjaval/P. Mooljee, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(6)
Thursday: G. Girsh d. T. Bourdet, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2)
Friday: A. Mehul d. D. Poilblan, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Sri Lanka defeats France, 3-2!!
It was sure a heck of a lot tougher than last year's world championship tie. Mehul folded like a cheap tent on Tuesday, leaving all of his best tennis behind in the first set and then getting himself in good positions only to consistently choke the rest of the way. Bourdet's a quality player but I was not impressed with his showing there. A double loss put us one rubber from defeat, but Girsh took care of business both times and Mehul got the victory in Friday's decider. Wasn't pretty, but it got the job done and we're assured of a spot in the quarterfinals. France, meanwhile, is already down to 5th and now they've been knocked out of contention. A bitter pill for them, to be sure.
Italy beat Peru 4-1, so we'll face the Italians, also indoors, with the top spot in the group on the line. We've actually lost just a bit of ground to the United States in the rankings this year, though we're still #1. Any loss could bump us back down so we can't get cocky.
Coming Up ...
The usual routine for Girsh, still unbeaten this season, in the year's first big break; he's off until Indian Wells in a month. I'm toying with having Mehul play the week before and that could go either way. Dudwadkar will have an other tournament soon, and Mooljee will probably have a couple in the interim so there will still be a fair bit of action even with no major events on the schedule.
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