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Brian Swartz · 06-16-2016, 11:27 PM

January

Prakash Mooljee was up first at one of the first pair of challenger, both Tier-1s. He was at Noumea as the second seed, while top-seeded Hugo Jurco was the defending champion. It looked like the two were on a collison course and indeed that's what happened. As shown in the rundown to start the year, Mooljee has surpassed Jurco but he wasn't necessarily favored here. The Czech Republic's best young hope is a hardcourt specialist while Mooljee is still lower than I'd like him to be on this surface(37 and rising). He took the first set, but was regularly under more pressure on his serve and couldn't hold Jurco off in a 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 defeat. A tough one, this ended any realistic hope of being seeded at the Australian Open. Everything for him will now depend on his draw there. He should beat almost anyone who isn't seeded and some of those that will be, but if he gets matched against a Top 15 or so player then it could be an early exit which would unfortunately delay his ascent. It's one of those times where Mooljee could really use some luck here.

The next week, the other three were in action. Anil Mehul was at the Sydney 250, where he got a bit of resistance from Theodore Bourdet in the semis but still came through in straight sets. In the finals though, he was shockingly upset by Pierce Gaskell, 6-4, 7-5! Alarming, it wasn't that close -- Mehul was thoroughly outclassed. It's just the second time in 20 career meetings that he's lost to Gaskell, with the last one six and a half years ago! Combined the Hammerstein match a couple weeks back, he already has had two poor upsets and clearly is not on top of his game, perhaps a hangover from the off-season, relaxing too much after the great season last year, or something. Whatever it is, he needs to step it up if he wants to have any real chance of defending his AO title.

Girish Girsh rammed his way through the Auckland 250, and was never really challenged. Davide Poilblan was the second seed and was routinely dispatched in a 6-3, 6-3 final. Girsh looks reasonably sharp and his hopes from Australia are high. Ritwik Dudwadkar was a 4-seed for his first tier-4 juniors, and it did not go particularly well. He had a very tight first-rounder against a qualifier, then went down to unseeded Russian Marat Astapovich in the next round, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3. Astapovich is a strong hardcourt player which was the main factor here, but it was still a bit unexpected. Mooljee lost in the semifinals as part of the top-seeded doubles team, and he'll definitely be hanging around the tier-4 level for a while by the look of this. A couple weeks off and he'll be back out there again.

Up Next

All three senior players head to the Australian Open. Mehul is struggling, Girsh is sailing, and Mooljee needs a reasonable draw so he can at least match last year's second-round placing. It's time to find out who among the top players used the off-season to prepare for the new year well ...

06-16-2016, 11:27 PM	#399
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	January Prakash Mooljee was up first at one of the first pair of challenger, both Tier-1s. He was at Noumea as the second seed, while top-seeded Hugo Jurco was the defending champion. It looked like the two were on a collison course and indeed that's what happened. As shown in the rundown to start the year, Mooljee has surpassed Jurco but he wasn't necessarily favored here. The Czech Republic's best young hope is a hardcourt specialist while Mooljee is still lower than I'd like him to be on this surface(37 and rising). He took the first set, but was regularly under more pressure on his serve and couldn't hold Jurco off in a 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 defeat. A tough one, this ended any realistic hope of being seeded at the Australian Open. Everything for him will now depend on his draw there. He should beat almost anyone who isn't seeded and some of those that will be, but if he gets matched against a Top 15 or so player then it could be an early exit which would unfortunately delay his ascent. It's one of those times where Mooljee could really use some luck here. The next week, the other three were in action. Anil Mehul was at the Sydney 250, where he got a bit of resistance from Theodore Bourdet in the semis but still came through in straight sets. In the finals though, he was shockingly upset by Pierce Gaskell, 6-4, 7-5! Alarming, it wasn't that close -- Mehul was thoroughly outclassed. It's just the second time in 20 career meetings that he's lost to Gaskell, with the last one six and a half years ago! Combined the Hammerstein match a couple weeks back, he already has had two poor upsets and clearly is not on top of his game, perhaps a hangover from the off-season, relaxing too much after the great season last year, or something. Whatever it is, he needs to step it up if he wants to have any real chance of defending his AO title. Girish Girsh rammed his way through the Auckland 250, and was never really challenged. Davide Poilblan was the second seed and was routinely dispatched in a 6-3, 6-3 final. Girsh looks reasonably sharp and his hopes from Australia are high. Ritwik Dudwadkar was a 4-seed for his first tier-4 juniors, and it did not go particularly well. He had a very tight first-rounder against a qualifier, then went down to unseeded Russian Marat Astapovich in the next round, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3. Astapovich is a strong hardcourt player which was the main factor here, but it was still a bit unexpected. Mooljee lost in the semifinals as part of the top-seeded doubles team, and he'll definitely be hanging around the tier-4 level for a while by the look of this. A couple weeks off and he'll be back out there again. Up Next All three senior players head to the Australian Open. Mehul is struggling, Girsh is sailing, and Mooljee needs a reasonable draw so he can at least match last year's second-round placing. It's time to find out who among the top players used the off-season to prepare for the new year well ...