|
Indian Wells Masters
All of the seeds get a bye here and at Miami, and as the 20th among them this is the first time Mehul will benefit from that. Last year's result here was the third round.
R2 -- South Africa's Alex Beamer is one of the better unseeded players, and steamrolled a qualifier in the first round. One previous meeting was a tight three-set win in a challenger at the end of '37. He's a complete hardcourt specialist, but doesn't quite have the all-around game. Mehul jumped on him early with a bagel before seeing the match out in straight sets.
R3 -- Having equaled last year's performance, everything from here on would add to his points total. American Pierce Gaskell is a potential generational rival, with Mehul leading the head-to-head 2-0, both in straight sets. The first was way back in 2034 in a mid-level juniors match, the second last year in the first round of the Olympics. Gaskell has plummeted to 63rd in the rankings, but that's temporary due to some big challenger wins from last year dropping off. It was a much tougher win than the 6-3, 6-2 scoreline indicated. The normally clutch Gaskell may be suffering from confidence issues, as he dropped 11 of 13 break chances. Anil is returning fantastically well so far here, winning more than half of the points on his opponents' serve in both matches so far.
R4 -- Here he was again, a fifth appearance in the round of 16 at a big event in the last few months. Once again the odds were against him, with no. 3 Bjorn Benda waiting. This is of course a reprise of the AO beatdown a couple months ago, and at the same stage. The match started off similarly but Mehul rallied to make a match of it before losing, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Benda was best in the important moments(4 of 8 break points versus 1 of 8) but it was more competitive this time around.
As with the Australian, only Hammerstein and Iglar made it to the fourth round among generational rivals, with the Austrian already having upset Topolski in a tight three-set match. Iglar was knocked out in a close match against Alastra(7-5 in the third), while Hammerstein faced the other top Russian, Goncharenko. He was absolutely crushed, taking only three games. So once again, the Iglar/Mehul/Hammerstein trio are bounced at the same stage, none gaining an advantadge.
Elder defeated Prieto in a tight third-set tiebreak to defend his title from last year in the final.
Miami Masters
Mehul is only defending a second-round result this time around, and had an easy match there to at least exceed it.
R3 -- Tough draw for this stage with no. 1 Alastra here. The win against him a few weeks ago indoors was one thing, beating him on the hardcourt was a different matter. Surprisingly, Anil pulled it off again 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7)! The really surprising part of the match was how well he was able to return against one of the best servers in the sport. This set up a great opportunity ...
R4 -- Back in the round of 16 again with Argentina veteran Gael Graff(31, 16th) awaiting. Graff is a former world no. 2, one of the best to never reach the top spot but he was unfortunate enough to flourish in the latter part of Gorritepe's reign. Still, at his age Mehul was a modest favorite This time out though, Mehul was a little off and didn't return nearly as well, losing 6-4, 6-4. If they played 10 times he's probably win 6 or 7 of them; this is the only real upset he's endured this year and it cost a good opportunity. Incredibly, that's six trips to this stage in large events now without a single win, all in about seven months going back to the Olympics.
Hammerstein had an even more crushing result. He faced off against Hogue in the third round and after dropping the first set led 5-2 in the second, only to lose meekly in a tiebreak after failing to convert eight ... that's right, eight match points! It's pretty much the stuff nightmares are made of. One game from winning a big upset and he couldn't serve it out. The Stars of Tomorrow had more success elsewhere though. Iglar upset Prieto and Almagro in back-to-back matches before losing in the semifinals, while unseeded no. 63 Pierce Gaskell knocked out three seeded players, including no. 10 Alvarez and no. 8 Kucerovic on route to the quarterfinals. Gaskell could well become relevant again now as he moves into the Top 50 again.
Sri Lanka Roundup
With no smaller event available in the needed window, during the second week of Miami Girish Girsh entered his first Tier-1 Challenger in Guadeloupe. He was unseeded again but made it to the quarters before getting flattened by top seed Jens Petersen(Denmark, 56th). He was part of the champion doubles team, getting a total of nine matches in over a few days so he'll have several weeks off now. Mooljee continues to muddle through with his third junior event, getting one singles win and a pair in doubles.
|