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law90026 · 08-19-2019, 01:58 AM

Year 465 Week 4

Another half-year (approximately) has passed and it's Australian Open week!

Elias Losana
Week 37 of Year 464 saw Elias reach the SFs of a Spanish clay CH2. The first 3 rounds were straighforward for the #7 seed as per usual. Just to show how dominant the Spanish contingent was for this tournament, the QFs had 7 Spanish players and just 1 from Mexico. Needless to say the SFs saw an all-Spanish affair, one where Elias lost to #1 seed and world #51 Agustin Asconiza 6/1 2/6 7/5. Second straight loss for Elias to Agustin in recent weeks and this was to be the start of downward trend for Elias over the last few weeks of the season, albeit one that was not unexpected.

A clay CH3 in Madrid in week 40 went somewhat badly as a poor draw saw Elias lose to #2 seed and fellow Spaniard Andre Orellana 6/2 6/3 in the 2nd round.

Off to Equador for a clay CH2 and again a poor draw saw Elias lose in the 2nd round to #7 seed Francesco Brasa 6/3 7/6.

With the end of the season coming and a need to keep form up, Elias took part in 3 more clay Challengers over weeks 45 to 47 but he continued to struggle and lost early in all of them.

The final 4 weeks of the year saw Elias take part in a few Futures doubles tournaments for match form purposes.

At the start of year 465, he went to Brazil for hardcourt CH1 and promptly lost in the first round. Still he had enough form to be ready for the Australian Open.

Seeded #133 in the world, Elias had to qualify for the singles maindraw and he did so easily. The first round was a match against fellow qualifier Stanislav Shkarupa and Elias won 6/3 6/3 3/6 6/2, to set up a 2nd round encounter against #13 seed and fellow Spaniard Simon Cuenca. Elias lost 6/4 3/6 6/1 6/4 but can emerge with head held up after that decent performance. It's also a massive 70 ranking points for Elias so it'll be interesting to see where he ends up after the AO is done.

Elias' objective this year will be to break into the top 100 and stay there. This is one of the hardest periods for younger players because the Challengers are a real crapshoot at times.

Serami Benthami
This year we begin to follow Serami's career in earnest as he enters his final juniors year as the #2 junior player. It'll be a year of (hopefully) good experience as Morocco will be taking part in the Junior World Cup so that will be 3 rounds of best-of-5 matches to play in. I'll also be fielding Serami in the various Junior Grand Slams if I remember to schedule him correctly.

He's taking part in the Junior Australian Open as the #2 seed in singles and the #3 seed in doubles so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. Update in the next update!

08-19-2019, 01:58 AM	#12
law90026 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jan 2006	Year 465 Week 4 Another half-year (approximately) has passed and it's Australian Open week! Elias Losana Week 37 of Year 464 saw Elias reach the SFs of a Spanish clay CH2. The first 3 rounds were straighforward for the #7 seed as per usual. Just to show how dominant the Spanish contingent was for this tournament, the QFs had 7 Spanish players and just 1 from Mexico. Needless to say the SFs saw an all-Spanish affair, one where Elias lost to #1 seed and world #51 Agustin Asconiza 6/1 2/6 7/5. Second straight loss for Elias to Agustin in recent weeks and this was to be the start of downward trend for Elias over the last few weeks of the season, albeit one that was not unexpected. A clay CH3 in Madrid in week 40 went somewhat badly as a poor draw saw Elias lose to #2 seed and fellow Spaniard Andre Orellana 6/2 6/3 in the 2nd round. Off to Equador for a clay CH2 and again a poor draw saw Elias lose in the 2nd round to #7 seed Francesco Brasa 6/3 7/6. With the end of the season coming and a need to keep form up, Elias took part in 3 more clay Challengers over weeks 45 to 47 but he continued to struggle and lost early in all of them. The final 4 weeks of the year saw Elias take part in a few Futures doubles tournaments for match form purposes. At the start of year 465, he went to Brazil for hardcourt CH1 and promptly lost in the first round. Still he had enough form to be ready for the Australian Open. Seeded #133 in the world, Elias had to qualify for the singles maindraw and he did so easily. The first round was a match against fellow qualifier Stanislav Shkarupa and Elias won 6/3 6/3 3/6 6/2, to set up a 2nd round encounter against #13 seed and fellow Spaniard Simon Cuenca. Elias lost 6/4 3/6 6/1 6/4 but can emerge with head held up after that decent performance. It's also a massive 70 ranking points for Elias so it'll be interesting to see where he ends up after the AO is done. Elias' objective this year will be to break into the top 100 and stay there. This is one of the hardest periods for younger players because the Challengers are a real crapshoot at times. Serami Benthami This year we begin to follow Serami's career in earnest as he enters his final juniors year as the #2 junior player. It'll be a year of (hopefully) good experience as Morocco will be taking part in the Junior World Cup so that will be 3 rounds of best-of-5 matches to play in. I'll also be fielding Serami in the various Junior Grand Slams if I remember to schedule him correctly. He's taking part in the Junior Australian Open as the #2 seed in singles and the #3 seed in doubles so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. Update in the next update!