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Brian Swartz · 10-10-2016, 02:04 PM

Miami Masters

Senepathy lost his first time out here, a tight one to US wild-card James Barter, 7-5 in a third-set tiebreak. A big part of that is him being overplayed coming in, it's gotten him a bit higher in the rankings but hurt him here. Blast-from-the-past Perry Mockler upset Elias Trulsen in the second round, Federer lost to Juan de los Santos, and Sava Cirakovic was lucky to survive.

Another early exit for Benda in the third round, this time to Khasan Zakirov who keeps plugging away, making gradual progress. A couple of my players had unpleasant encounters with American hopefuls at this stage. Anil Mehul narrowly escaped Browne in three sets, with Prakash Mooljee not so fortunate against 19th-seeded Garreth McCuskey. The final there was 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4), a return to his struggles from the first half of last year in that Mooljee was clearly the better player, but just 3 of 11 on break chances. He lost the first and third sets at the end, just not able to finish in this one. A rather unceremonious initial defeat on the year, but it's still been a fantastic start to the season.

In the round of 16, Zakirov kept moving by knocking out Bourdet, and Shreya Ujjaval had his first notable upset of the year, eliminating Mugur Kinczllers. Kinczllers is looking more and more vulnerable the last year or two, and was deservedly beaten here 7-6(4), 7-5. Juan de los Santos made a return to his giant-killing ways, upending Poilblan, and Anil Mehul fell victim to the home crowd as well against Srbulovic, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3. Gaskell even made another run at it, taking a set before Antonin Iglar shut him down.

The top three all advanced to the quarterfinals, but everyone else here is 12th or worse. Once again, a lot of 'upsets', at least according to the rankings which will be long adjusting to the new reality. Girish Girsh was nearly victimized again, escaping Zakirov 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(2). Ujjaval kept moving, knocking out Caratti by a nearly-identical close straight-sets score to his match in the last round. Iglar lost just four games in eliminating the unseeded de los Santos, and in a matchup of the remaining US players it was Tiosav Srbulovic who moved on.

Each semifinal had a top player and another looking for the upset. Youth was not to be served on this day. The first match was an all-Sri Lanka affair with Girsh rallying against Shreya Ujjaval, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3. In the second, Iglar was ruthless, permitting Srbulovic just three games. The Czech legend comes into the final with a full head of steam, but Girsh stopped him short for his seventh straight victory in their head-to-head, 6-4, 7-6(5). After needing to go the distance the previous two rounds, this is a relieving title for him, a 13th Masters Shield. He more survived it than won it, but it all counts the same and for now he's stopped the bleeding.

10-10-2016, 02:04 PM	#524
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Miami Masters Senepathy lost his first time out here, a tight one to US wild-card James Barter, 7-5 in a third-set tiebreak. A big part of that is him being overplayed coming in, it's gotten him a bit higher in the rankings but hurt him here. Blast-from-the-past Perry Mockler upset Elias Trulsen in the second round, Federer lost to Juan de los Santos, and Sava Cirakovic was lucky to survive. Another early exit for Benda in the third round, this time to Khasan Zakirov who keeps plugging away, making gradual progress. A couple of my players had unpleasant encounters with American hopefuls at this stage. Anil Mehul narrowly escaped Browne in three sets, with Prakash Mooljee not so fortunate against 19th-seeded Garreth McCuskey. The final there was 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4), a return to his struggles from the first half of last year in that Mooljee was clearly the better player, but just 3 of 11 on break chances. He lost the first and third sets at the end, just not able to finish in this one. A rather unceremonious initial defeat on the year, but it's still been a fantastic start to the season. In the round of 16, Zakirov kept moving by knocking out Bourdet, and Shreya Ujjaval had his first notable upset of the year, eliminating Mugur Kinczllers. Kinczllers is looking more and more vulnerable the last year or two, and was deservedly beaten here 7-6(4), 7-5. Juan de los Santos made a return to his giant-killing ways, upending Poilblan, and Anil Mehul fell victim to the home crowd as well against Srbulovic, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3. Gaskell even made another run at it, taking a set before Antonin Iglar shut him down. The top three all advanced to the quarterfinals, but everyone else here is 12th or worse. Once again, a lot of 'upsets', at least according to the rankings which will be long adjusting to the new reality. Girish Girsh was nearly victimized again, escaping Zakirov 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(2). Ujjaval kept moving, knocking out Caratti by a nearly-identical close straight-sets score to his match in the last round. Iglar lost just four games in eliminating the unseeded de los Santos, and in a matchup of the remaining US players it was Tiosav Srbulovic who moved on. Each semifinal had a top player and another looking for the upset. Youth was not to be served on this day. The first match was an all-Sri Lanka affair with Girsh rallying against Shreya Ujjaval, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3. In the second, Iglar was ruthless, permitting Srbulovic just three games. The Czech legend comes into the final with a full head of steam, but Girsh stopped him short for his seventh straight victory in their head-to-head, 6-4, 7-6(5). After needing to go the distance the previous two rounds, this is a relieving title for him, a 13th Masters Shield. He more survived it than won it, but it all counts the same and for now he's stopped the bleeding.