Week 19: Belgrade, Estoril, Munich, Ramat HaSharon

[NUFAN]

Well played Maxum, my shout at the Hofbrauhaus, hopefully you win the title bro.

[Cevno]

Out in the quarters again. :sad:

[SirBloody Idiot]

Israel Open II
PTA Challenger Tour - Semifinals - Ramat HaSharon, Israel - Hard

• Teen prodigy Marcuss Deane won through to his second Challenger final, but was made to work for it as he was taken the distance by Samuel Thorpe. The Australian Open boys' singles champ dropped the first set 5-7, but came back strongly with some assertive play in the second as he forced the American onto the back foot with some fine net play. In the deciding set, Deane for the second time this week dominated proceedings as he showed tremendous class and polish for his age as he won through to the Ramat HaSharon final 5-7, 7-5, 6-3. His biggest test will come tomorrow, though, with American Randy Bruce his opponent. Bruce has already claimed two Challenger titles this season and did it easier against compatriot Sam Lazzeri in a 6-1, 6-0 win.

• Seeded players out: Sam Lazzeri.

[Marcuss]

inb4SFchoke

Good chance of QFchoke tbh.

Hoping we're both wrong.
Massive win that against a good player. Need to maintain that level for the rest of the tournament really.

[Marcuss]

Ah, should've probably read further on in the thread
Overjoyed with that, only my second final and hoping it goes a lot better than my first
Feeling pretty happy, seem to have developed a knack of coming back from a set down so I shouldn't cave in whatever happens but I've also shown I can win big sets against good players.
Huge challenge.

[morgieb]

Out in the quarters again. :sad:

You only made the 2nd round.

[Mister Wright]

Sad that Davis is out, but good to see Mustard continuing on...

[SirBloody Idiot]

Serbia Open II
PTA Tour 250 - Semifinals - Belgrade, Serbia - Clay (Red)

• Second seed Radivoj Daneu might just be back after handing out a tennis lesson to 18th seed Jojo Mustard. It seems Mustard won't be allowed to get ahead of himself as for the second time this clay season a good week has been brought to a crashing halt at the semi final stage. This time it was the defending champion Daneu who dealt out a mammoth thumping as Mustard phoned in an awful display of nervous serving and classic pusher tennis to allow Daneu to have his way with trademark groundstrokes that have deserted him this season. The World No. 10 was clinical in a 6-0, 6-1 win as an embarrassed Mustard crashed out in devastating style. Daneu looks to defend his title tomorrow against fourth seed Morgan Carter who beat top seed Radek Špidlá in three sets.

• Seeded players out: Jojo Mustard; Radek Špidlá.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Estoril Open II
PTA Tour 250 - Semifinals - Estoril, Portugal - Clay (Red)

• Sven Oxenstierna is through to his fourth (I think...) final of the year after a straight sets win over Finland's Lari Färkkilä in the semifinals of the Estoril Open in Portugal. It wasn't all smooth sailing for the second seed as the rapidly improving Fin put up a real fight and in a drawn out opening set stayed with him throughout a number of long rallies. Oxenstierna was the cleaner player with an extra yard of power which proved the difference in a 76-minute opening set as the West CWLander took it seven games to five. The second set started in a similar fashion as the resolute Fin took it to the World No. 4 and even had three break points at 2-2. However Oxenstierna managed to save all three, and then take just his second break of the match to lead 4-2. Färkkilä gave himself few chances beyond that, but managed to force Oxenstierna to serve it out. He did so easily en route to a 7-5, 6-3 win and a finals berth.

• He must quickly adjust from the war of attrition he met against Färkkilä to a ball-basher in Kim Vollan. The fourth seeded Norwegian who was ridiculed by Oxenstierna in a media interview earlier in the week moved to his first final of the season with a surprise 6-1, 7-6(4) win over local favourite Tiago Matías. The fifth seed was fresh off a win over the World No. 1, but produced a disappointing display in front of the Portuguese crowd.

• Seeded players out: Tiago Matías.

[SirBloody Idiot]

BMW Open II
PTA Tour 250 - Semifinals - Munich, Germany - Clay (Red)

• Ninth seed Jarkko Maxum is through to his second final in three weeks following a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of Austria's Martin Reiter. Reiter hadn't faced a seed yet and hadn't dropped a set either, but was given a wake up call by Maxum as the clay court favourite tore through him in just over an hour. Where Maxum struggled against one of Reiter's compatriots on Thursday, he had no trouble on the Saturday in his dominant straight sets win as he dominated the rallies and bossed play from the baseline. His positive style has served him well this week with four straight sets wins, but he goes into the final as a "heel" of sorts against fifth seeded German Becker Haas. Haas, taken to three sets by both Oscar Highsmith and Gunther Heug earlier in the week, as hit top form at just the right time with a straight sets win over Johan Ortiz. The World No. 31 will no doubt have the local crowd right behind him after an impressive 6-1, 7-6(1) win over the in-form Colombian.

• Seeded players out: None.

[Samuel_Vimes]

Scandinavian night in Estoril.

Must be something like 25-3 over the last six tournaments? Fairly decent record.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Scandinavian night in Estoril.

Must be something like 25-3 over the last six tournaments? Fairly decent record.

Something like that. You've also managed to avoid Blanco's half in Madrid, too, so it could end up being something immense like 30-odd and 3/4.

[ripper868]

Awesome, can't wait for the match against Maxum! He leads the career record 1 - 0 but that was in qualifiers.

Loser's shout at the Hofbrauhaus -what do you say?

Well played Maxum, my shout at the Hofbrauhaus, hopefully you win the title bro.

Cheers mate, that feed was just what i needed

Hopefully pull through in the final

Still on to meet those birds at the Holschringer after the final?

[SirBloody Idiot]

Israel Open II
PTA Challenger Tour - Final - Ramat HaSharon, Israel - Hard

• American Randy Bruce has surged to his third title of the season with a regulation 6-4, 6-2 win over talented West CWLand youngster Marcuss Deane. The third seed hadn't dropped more than four games in a set this week, but at 4-4 he looked like he would with Deane serving well. But a touch of the jitters from the teenager cost him as Bruce capitalised on three break points to edge ahead 5-4 before serving out the set to strike the first real blow. Deane, in his second Challenger final, needed a good start to the second to boost his confidence but unfortunately for him he could not muster it. Bruce broke early and continued to push the pace as he had too much power for the West CWLander en route to claiming the title in straight sets. Deane's loss will no doubt disappoint him, but the sixty points he earns will see him move to the 120's on this week's world rankings.

• Seeded players out: None.

[Marcuss]

Does anybody know CPR? As I just choked