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Brian Swartz · 07-07-2017, 10:51 PM

2053 Roland Garros

The top four doubles pairs all made it to the semis, and once again all the matches were highly competitive. After two straight 3rd-round exits here, Mehul/Kroese took down all comers to claim their first RG crown, and Mehul's third doubles Slam! It was more than that, as they ascended, at least momentarily, to the #1 spot in the rankings!! Quite a week to remember. 37 years old and the top doubles player in the world. All of this high-level action is doing more than giving Mehul a second career: it's also helping him work more towards becoming a better trainer, and making me rethink some plans.

On the other side, Shyam Senepathy was matched up against (13)Milos Schmucker, an unfavorable first round. Quick straight-sets loss, and we were down to the two premium players. None of the seeds even came close to losing in their opening matches. Three fell in the second, including Guardado once again with an early exit. Luc Janin was almost a fourth, rallying for an entertaining if not particulary high-quality 2-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(0), 7-5 over an unknown Italian opponent.

Janin would lose in four to Benno Duhr in the next round; good win for Duhr, who is finally getting himself in playing shape. Ruben Piazzola had a very disappointing loss to Besson, leading by two sets before giving in. Big missed opportunity, and his serve just totally fell apart. A couple of other long matches saw the higher-seeded players narrowly survive; Teng over Rosenberg, and Borja over Dorso, both going the distance. Aside from Duhr though, only one low seed actually won. That was Ritwik Dudwadkar, who stopped Niklas 6-2, 6-4, 7-5. When the draw came out, it was clear that this was the potential match that would make or break his tournament. Getting into the final 16 for the second Slam in a row was a good accomplishment, and of course another Top-10 win. A couple more five-setters were on top for the fourth round, with opposing results. Ariel Borja was in full control early, then collapsed to allow (28)Tristan Benitez the comeback win. The other was a knock-out, drag-out battle between good clay players in which Sigmund Kronecker said out with the old, in with the new; Juan de los Santos goes down 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. And then there was the real stunner, courtesy of Dudwadkar once again. Going up against #6 Martin Zarco, a superior athlete and clay expert, I didn't give him much of a chance. In a chaotic match featuring 17 breaks of serve, Ritwik battled through to a tough four-set win, establishing himself as a serious clay threat. This might be the best win of his career to date, a significant upset.

Six of the Top 8 into the quarterfinals, with Dudwadkar and Benitez. Both of them left here: Johnny Browne took care of the upstart Argentine, and Prakash Mooljee counted himself fortunate to escape with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Dudwadkar. Unlike their other meetings in recent weeks, this one was decided only by experience. The still young-ish Ritwik converted only 5 of 21 break chances, compared to 7 of 15, and that was the match. Fangio had a long, tough win over Kronecker in an expected result ... and then came one that would stun the tennis world. Mateo Kaspar's cruise through the draw came to a halt at the hands of Guus Dircx, 7-5, 7-6(6), 7-5. Straight sets, no less. First win in 12 meetings for the meteoric dutch star, and Kaspar's first loss of the year. He'd won reasonably easily in Rome just a few weeks back, and looked a serious threat to run the table. The last time he lost anywhere was in Vienna to Mooljee near the end of last year, seven months ago.

Dircx wasn't done either. He beat Gillo Fangio downright routinely, while Mooljee dominated Johnny Browne in the other semifinal. 6-2, 6-0, 6-2. Egads. Only 11 points lost on his serve, no break points faced. You just don't see that kind of scoreline at this point in a Slam, esp. here where the serve is muted. Clearly both players were playing well heading into the final, and a chance for Prakash to add to his legacy. Guus Dircx would have none of it though, claiming his first Slam title 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It's a frankly astonishing run for him, beating the top three players in the world back-to-back-to-back, and losing just one set in the process. Other than Browne's USO run a couple years ago, I can't think of another champion that's been even close to being more surprising or unexpectedly impressive. He narrowly moves above the American to #4 overall. And I do mean narrowly ... by 10 points out of more than 6k each.

It was definitely a tournament to remember, and there are a lot of things to resolve for the top players as they look across the channel to the grass-court season.

07-07-2017, 10:51 PM	#640
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	2053 Roland Garros The top four doubles pairs all made it to the semis, and once again all the matches were highly competitive. After two straight 3rd-round exits here, Mehul/Kroese took down all comers to claim their first RG crown, and Mehul's third doubles Slam! It was more than that, as they ascended, at least momentarily, to the #1 spot in the rankings!! Quite a week to remember. 37 years old and the top doubles player in the world. All of this high-level action is doing more than giving Mehul a second career: it's also helping him work more towards becoming a better trainer, and making me rethink some plans. On the other side, Shyam Senepathy was matched up against (13)Milos Schmucker, an unfavorable first round. Quick straight-sets loss, and we were down to the two premium players. None of the seeds even came close to losing in their opening matches. Three fell in the second, including Guardado once again with an early exit. Luc Janin was almost a fourth, rallying for an entertaining if not particulary high-quality 2-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(0), 7-5 over an unknown Italian opponent. Janin would lose in four to Benno Duhr in the next round; good win for Duhr, who is finally getting himself in playing shape. Ruben Piazzola had a very disappointing loss to Besson, leading by two sets before giving in. Big missed opportunity, and his serve just totally fell apart. A couple of other long matches saw the higher-seeded players narrowly survive; Teng over Rosenberg, and Borja over Dorso, both going the distance. Aside from Duhr though, only one low seed actually won. That was Ritwik Dudwadkar, who stopped Niklas 6-2, 6-4, 7-5. When the draw came out, it was clear that this was the potential match that would make or break his tournament. Getting into the final 16 for the second Slam in a row was a good accomplishment, and of course another Top-10 win. A couple more five-setters were on top for the fourth round, with opposing results. Ariel Borja was in full control early, then collapsed to allow (28)Tristan Benitez the comeback win. The other was a knock-out, drag-out battle between good clay players in which Sigmund Kronecker said out with the old, in with the new; Juan de los Santos goes down 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. And then there was the real stunner, courtesy of Dudwadkar once again. Going up against #6 Martin Zarco, a superior athlete and clay expert, I didn't give him much of a chance. In a chaotic match featuring 17 breaks of serve, Ritwik battled through to a tough four-set win, establishing himself as a serious clay threat. This might be the best win of his career to date, a significant upset. Six of the Top 8 into the quarterfinals, with Dudwadkar and Benitez. Both of them left here: Johnny Browne took care of the upstart Argentine, and Prakash Mooljee counted himself fortunate to escape with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Dudwadkar. Unlike their other meetings in recent weeks, this one was decided only by experience. The still young-ish Ritwik converted only 5 of 21 break chances, compared to 7 of 15, and that was the match. Fangio had a long, tough win over Kronecker in an expected result ... and then came one that would stun the tennis world. Mateo Kaspar's cruise through the draw came to a halt at the hands of Guus Dircx, 7-5, 7-6(6), 7-5. Straight sets, no less. First win in 12 meetings for the meteoric dutch star, and Kaspar's first loss of the year. He'd won reasonably easily in Rome just a few weeks back, and looked a serious threat to run the table. The last time he lost anywhere was in Vienna to Mooljee near the end of last year, seven months ago. Dircx wasn't done either. He beat Gillo Fangio downright routinely, while Mooljee dominated Johnny Browne in the other semifinal. 6-2, 6-0, 6-2. Egads. Only 11 points lost on his serve, no break points faced. You just don't see that kind of scoreline at this point in a Slam, esp. here where the serve is muted. Clearly both players were playing well heading into the final, and a chance for Prakash to add to his legacy. Guus Dircx would have none of it though, claiming his first Slam title 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It's a frankly astonishing run for him, beating the top three players in the world back-to-back-to-back, and losing just one set in the process. Other than Browne's USO run a couple years ago, I can't think of another champion that's been even close to being more surprising or unexpectedly impressive. He narrowly moves above the American to #4 overall. And I do mean narrowly ... by 10 points out of more than 6k each. It was definitely a tournament to remember, and there are a lot of things to resolve for the top players as they look across the channel to the grass-court season.