Week 18: Rome Masters [Blanco]

[Samuel_Vimes]

Bravo, bravo. Clearly we're all setting up for the big R1 exit at Roland Garros

[HeathDavisSpeed]

**** a duck. Clay court hack comes good. Still, Murdoch'll straight-sets me - he's in decent form, I believe, so he's gonna be a tougher proposition to take down.

Looking forward to taking the court with El Mustardo shortly.

[Mister Wright]

Knew Mustard was a big chance of making the 3rd round, if he can get past the 3rd round he's a big chance.

Also looking for big things in the doubles.

[NUFAN]

Originally Posted by ripper868

Nice Lob, surely can beat Henson.

Maxum thank you for never doubting me! Huge win against Henson. Pretty insane win really considering I didn't break serve once! Hard luck against Varga bro.

Good to see we've won doubles too.

Very nice wins by Davis and Mustard against seeded opponents.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Internazionali BNL d'Italia II
PTA Masters 1000 - Thursday (3rd Round) - Rome Italy - Clay (Red)

• West CWLand's fun-loving giant Heath Davis has secured a second consecutive win over top ten opponents on clay with a three-set win over ninth seeded American Dwayne Murdoch. The World No. 31 ensured he would debut inside the world's top thirty regardless of his result in the quarter finals as he ousted the Monte Carlo finalist with yet another morale boosting win. Davis' serve has helped him throughout this week, but even more than that he's held his own with his groundstrokes against some talented baseliners. The aggressive American looked to have him beat in the second set as he managed two breaks of serve to take the set 6-2, but Davis would not relent as he looked for ways to finish points with that powerful forehand. Murdoch too often got suckered into playing cross court away from the backhand slice of Davis as the patient West CWLander avoided playing any really aggressive shots on his weaker wing. It was a tactical masterpiece by Davis and his camp as he secured a 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3 win and a quarter final spot in a clay court Masters Series event.

• He will not play doubles partner Jojo Mustard in the quarter finals, though, as the World No. 20 was delivered a wake up call by second seed Daniel Páez Blanco. Mustard's form on clay this season has been wonderful (save for a semi final pizzling in Monte Carlo), but against the world's best clay courter he was unable to advance. The 3-6, 3-6 scoreline perhaps flattered Mustard as Blanco really had the match won at 4-0 in the second set. A late break gave the World No. 2 a brief fright, but it seems the Spanish veteran has ironed out the injury bugs from his game as he set up a showdown with Davis in straight sets. Davis' victory robs the draw of a Murdoch-Blanco quarterfinal rematch, but the West CWLander will take in the confidence that he managed a win over the only player to beat Blanco on clay in the Open Era. In reality, though, Blanco is stylistically a poor matchup for Davis with Radivoj Daneu and Murdoch far inferior returners to the Spanish legend and more prone to unforced errors.

• Fourth seed Sven Oxenstierna continues to scythe his way through the bottom half with a impressive 6-3, 6-0 routing of Dmitry Orlov. The inconsistent Russian player hadn't dropped a set this week in a return to some much-needed form, but he faced the second best clay courter on the planet playing near his best tennis. Oxenstierna continues to bully opponents from the baseline with his long limbs enabling him to return almost anything. Gone are those serving woes, too, that plagued him last season as he wasn't broken by the Russian en route to a straight sets win.

• He plays CW Open finalist and twelfth seed Oneil Stewart who prevailed in a bizzare clash with seventh seed Jefferson Drake. In what was billed as one of the most exciting clashes between two of the best shotmakers in the draw, Stewart and Drake fought out a surprisingly low quality scrap littered with unforced errors. With eleven service breaks between them, neither player topped sixty per cent of first serves for the match in what one premier tennis forum dubbed a "mug fest". After dropping the first set with a late break of serve, Stewart came back from 2-4 down in the second to send the match to a deciding third set as Drake hit two successive double faults to drop the set 5-7. This time it was tit-for-tat with breaks before the Jamaican finally held late to force Drake to serve to stay in the tournament. He couldn't as he crashed out 7-5, 5-7, 5-7 in yet another disappointing end to a high profile tournament.

• Finally, qualifier Rob Bowenburg was a distinct underdog in his third round clash against World No. 23 Patrick Pascaul but played anything like it as he secured a stunning straight sets victory. While people in the past have written Bowenburg off as a hard courter, perhaps the West CWLander's game is more suited to the clay as his aggressive style and athleticism makes him a nice alternative to many of the European scrappers. There is little doubt that Pascaul has underachieved in the Open Era and would have hoped this was his chance to breakthrough. It wasn't. In a similar vein to his second round win, Bowenburg broke just once but conceeded no service breaks himself in his 7-6(2), 6-3 win. His serve isn't massive, but he places it well and uses the kick to great effect. He now faces his biggest test yet against fifth seed and Season I finalist József Boros of Hungary.

• Seeded players out: Jefferson Drake; Dwayne Murdoch; Rasmus Olesen.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Internazionali BNL d'Italia II
PTA Masters 1000 - Thursday (2nd Round) - Rome Italy - Clay (Red)

• Two-time Grand Slam champions Heath Davis & Jojo Mustard looked to sound a warning in preparation for their attempt to win a first major off hard courts as they eased past Asian Continental Allocation Ritwik Bhutia & Shyam Sequiera. With both players forced to fit in the doubles match following singles third round clashes earlier, they could be forgiven for starting slowly. To their credit, though, they didn't as they played good enough tennis to defeat the spirited Indian pairing 6-3, 6-2. Without playing their best tennis, they set up a quarter final showdown with Mark Harmel & Yves Parmentier of Belgium who managed a three-set win over the Henson brothers of the USA.

• Rob Bowenburg & Jarkko Maxum were unable to replicate their great form from the first round as they were trounced two and love by Artem Krohmal & Merab Shvelidze. The East European team commanded control over the match as Bowenburg and Maxum looked quite flat in their match on the Pietrangelli. The Trans-CWLand unit effectively gave up at 0-4 in the second set and did not win another point as Krohmal and Shvelidze advanced 6-2, 6-0.

• There was some consolation for Jefferson Drake as he and Martti Korpinen beat dangerous Uraguayan pairing Mario Acosta & Gonzalo Castro. The fourth seeds were too good for the Costa do Sauípe finalists as they took the match 6-3, 6-4 but needed five match points to do it. They plays Rasmus Olesen & Dmitry Orlov.

• Seeded players out: None.

[SirBloody Idiot]

What the **** is going on?

Man, East CWLand looks so much worse now that Smeltz and Hancianu have gone.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Bloody Norah. Just what is going on out there? This is a strangely unfamiliar turn of events, though judging by how Blanco dealt with Jojo, a double bagel could be in the offing.

And a solid doubles performance with El Mustardo. Good to see!

[SirBloody Idiot]

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

Bloody Norah. Just what is going on out there? This is a strangely unfamiliar turn of events, though judging by how Blanco dealt with Jojo, a double bagel could be in the offing.

It's bizzare. From an out-of-character standpoint, for Davis and Bowenburg to snare the wins they have has been mathmatically so improbable.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by SirBloody Idiot

It's bizzare. From an out-of-character standpoint, for Davis and Bowenburg to snare the wins they have has been mathmatically so improbable.

Three stunning wins in a row for me, and the Lob surely couldn't be happier with his performance. How much will getting to the Quarters here improve my ranking? A seeding for the French Open, potentially?

[NUFAN]

Yep you're right I can't be happier with my singles performance (soz Maxum in the doubles).

Davis should definitely be seeded at the French, the report said you've guaranteed a top 30 position regardless at what happens for the rest of the tournament.

Where is Bowenburg likely to move up to with this result?

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by NUFAN

Davis should definitely be seeded at the French, the report said you've guaranteed a top 30 position regardless at what happens for the rest of the tournament.

Right you are. I thought I was still ranked around 40th!

[SirBloody Idiot]

You were going to be seeded anyway, but I did some calculations and I'm pretty sure a QF here will see Davis move to No. 28, a SF to No. 26, a final to No. 25 and a win to No. 22 (obviously a couple of them are unlikely).

The seedings are done after the Madrid Masters and I suspect you'll jump Emelio who is defending semi final points there and end up at around 26-27.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Cheers, mate. Clearly, I'll not be beating the Clay Master on Clay. I've done bloody well to make it as far as I have and I'll go out on court to have a blast rather than with high expectations.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Originally Posted by NUFAN

Yep you're right I can't be happier with my singles performance (soz Maxum in the doubles).

Davis should definitely be seeded at the French, the report said you've guaranteed a top 30 position regardless at what happens for the rest of the tournament.

Where is Bowenburg likely to move up to with this result?

Tough to say exactly because I don't know who above you is likely to drop points until I actually enter the results into the spreadsheet, but you'll end this week with 837 points with a quarterfinal exit (add 180 for a SF, etc.). That alone on this week's rankings would have had you at No. 62 but as I say there might be players above who have points to lose.