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Brian Swartz · 06-01-2016, 03:16 PM

World Team Cup Semifinals
Peru(7th) vs. Sri Lanka(4th), Grass

Monday: G. Girsh d. T. Herrera, 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(11)
Tuesday: A. Mehul d. M. Herrera, 7-5, 7-6(2), 6-3
Wednesday: S. Ujjaval/R. Kuttikad d. J. Torres/E. Echiveri, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-5
Thursday: A. Mehul d. T. Herrera, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Friday: G. Girsh d. M. Herrera, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Sri Lanka defeats Peru, 5-0!!

I definitely expected to win, but getting the rare doubles victory and a clean sweep was a surprise. Thiago Herrera showed why he was able to beat Trulsen last week, clearly playing at the top of his game, opportunistic on break points and serving very well. Ultimately though our players were just too strong, and we brushed them aside to advance to the final. The US-Czech matchup came down to not just the final rubber but in fact the final set. Cestmir Marcek and Perry Mockler went the distance with Mockler delivering the narrow 3-2 victory for the Americans, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2. The two-time defending champions, winners three of the past four years, are out in the semfinals. Iglar is still incredible but both Marcek and their doubles players are a shadow of what they once were.

We stay at 4th but are within striking distance of both Argentina and the Czech Republic. The final against the USA will be on hardcourt, and for the first time we are favored to win it after failing at the last hurdle twice. World no. 3 doubles player Chad Dring basically assures them a point there, but it's hard to see them winning more than one rubber if that in singles. Gaskell might pull it off on a good day, but Mockler should be a pretty easy mark for our top guys. The Americans are a much better matchup for us, so I think we got a stroke of luck here. It should be a foregone conclusion, but nothing's certain until you win the match between the lines.

Elsewhere ...

With the rare chance to play a tournament in front of a home crowd, Ritwik Dudwadkar was the #2 seed at tier-5 Colombo and won both singles and doubles with relative ease. He's now won three out of his last four events, and is close to being ready to jump up in competition. Probably two more at this level and he was still pretty tired at the end of this one. He'll get four weeks now, which is a longer break than he's had since basically ever.

Coming Up ...

A practice week, and then it's on to Shanghai. The top ranking is in play there -- Mehul was the runner-up last year and he'll need to at least make the semifinals to stay on top, in addition to the usual importance of any Masters.

06-01-2016, 03:16 PM	#377
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	World Team Cup Semifinals Peru(7th) vs. Sri Lanka(4th), Grass Monday: G. Girsh d. T. Herrera, 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(11) Tuesday: A. Mehul d. M. Herrera, 7-5, 7-6(2), 6-3 Wednesday: S. Ujjaval/R. Kuttikad d. J. Torres/E. Echiveri, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-5 Thursday: A. Mehul d. T. Herrera, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 Friday: G. Girsh d. M. Herrera, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 Sri Lanka defeats Peru, 5-0!! I definitely expected to win, but getting the rare doubles victory and a clean sweep was a surprise. Thiago Herrera showed why he was able to beat Trulsen last week, clearly playing at the top of his game, opportunistic on break points and serving very well. Ultimately though our players were just too strong, and we brushed them aside to advance to the final. The US-Czech matchup came down to not just the final rubber but in fact the final set. Cestmir Marcek and Perry Mockler went the distance with Mockler delivering the narrow 3-2 victory for the Americans, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2. The two-time defending champions, winners three of the past four years, are out in the semfinals. Iglar is still incredible but both Marcek and their doubles players are a shadow of what they once were. We stay at 4th but are within striking distance of both Argentina and the Czech Republic. The final against the USA will be on hardcourt, and for the first time we are favored to win it after failing at the last hurdle twice. World no. 3 doubles player Chad Dring basically assures them a point there, but it's hard to see them winning more than one rubber if that in singles. Gaskell might pull it off on a good day, but Mockler should be a pretty easy mark for our top guys. The Americans are a much better matchup for us, so I think we got a stroke of luck here. It should be a foregone conclusion, but nothing's certain until you win the match between the lines. Elsewhere ... With the rare chance to play a tournament in front of a home crowd, Ritwik Dudwadkar was the #2 seed at tier-5 Colombo and won both singles and doubles with relative ease. He's now won three out of his last four events, and is close to being ready to jump up in competition. Probably two more at this level and he was still pretty tired at the end of this one. He'll get four weeks now, which is a longer break than he's had since basically ever. Coming Up ... A practice week, and then it's on to Shanghai. The top ranking is in play there -- Mehul was the runner-up last year and he'll need to at least make the semifinals to stay on top, in addition to the usual importance of any Masters.