Week 20: Madrid Masters [Blanco]; Busan [Langley]; Sarasota [E.Henson]

[SirBloody Idiot]

Originally Posted by NUFAN

Bowenburg didn't even make himself available this week. No way did I want to battle it out on the sluggish outside courts just to make it to the first round.

No wonder I lost.

Hmm... that explains why you had more of a beard that I remember. And were black.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Good news (well, not for Mr. Cohen) with Tal Cohen withdrawing due to a torn hamstring that will keep him out beyond Roland Garros, Rob Bowenburg slots into the draw as a lucky loser.

FIRST ROUND
(LL) Rob BOWENBURG vs. Sergio JOAQUÍN

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Hmm. Got a pretty tough draw here. Unlikely to be going beyond the 1st round methinks.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open II
PTA Masters 1000 - Monday (1st Round) - Madrid, Spain - Clay (Red)

• Despite dropping out in qualifying, lucky loser Rob Bowenburg has picked up a dominant win over local World No. 35 Sergio Joaquín to advance to the second round in Madrid. Joaquín was a big favourite to beat the West CWLander, but Bowenburg seemed to benefit from match practice on the traditionally fast clay of Madrid as he seemed to be a step ahead of the Spaniard in the first set. Taking two breaks of serve, Bowenburg took an unlikely set-to-love lead as Joaquín looked to pick up the pieces in his return from an ankle injury suffered last month. He seemed to have found his rhythm as a break gave him a 3-1 lead in the second, but Bowenburg broke back immediately in a run of five games as his power proved too much for the rusty Spaniard who could not adjust to the unique pace that Bowenburg brings on clay; The Lob through 6-2, 6-3. This looks to be a clay surface that suits him to the bone, but he faces a brutal second round clash with either Heath Davis or Diego Hurtado.

• Seeded players out: None.

• Where last week they got pumped in the first round, Spas Delev and Henry Charles claimed a tight win over little known Australian pair Dean Cain and Lucas Golec to advance to the second round in the doubles draw. The Aussies played admirably, but were outdone in the tiebreakers as the inexperienced doubles unit of Delev and Charles combined well at the right times. They dropped just four points in the two tiebreakers combined, and converted their second match point as Charles put away an overhead smash for the 7-6(1), 7-6(3) win. You can see who they play next here.

• Seeded players out: None.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Busan Open Challenger Tennis II
PTA Challenger Tour - 1st Round - Busan, Korea Republic - Hard

• Top seed Scotland Rivers should have easily passed wildcard entrant Hyun Jang-Eun, but the World No. 458 was very competitive in a straight sets loss. Despite being able to claim a main draw spot in Madrid on the alternates sheet, Rivers has seemingly given up on his clay season by entering Busan and it nearly backfired as he fell down a break early. Hyun's tactic was to get pretty much everything back and it nearly worked as a lazy Rivers eeked out a 7-5, 6-4 win. He was arguably the worse player against the Korean, but had that extra class as he stumbled into a second round clash against Turkey's Erdi Azgin.

• Brett Read has pulled off a heroic victory as he saved five match points against Japanese fourth seed Ninteh Doh to come from a set down in his first round clash. Down 4-6, 3-5 and 15-40, Read was in all sorts of trouble and staring down the barrel of a first round exit. But out of no where, the resurgent veteran saved two match points against Doh and then broke back to level the set at 5-5. Again in the tiebreaker, Doh had three more match points but the dogged Read saved them all to take a marathon tiebreaker 15-13. In the decider it was tight early, but the World No. 100 was first to relent as Read broke serve. He was too good from there, advancing 4-6, 7-6(13), 6-3 to meet Samoa's Murphy S'ua in the second round.

• Also victorious was eighth seed Rick Langley who made short work of local wildcard Choi Se-Hwan. Langley wasn't at his best after arriving in Korea on the Saturday, but was clearly a class above his opponent who, at No. 373 in the world, lacked the firepower or the class to really trouble Langley. There was a brief hiccup as he gave up a double break lead in the second, but he created too many chances on the Choi serve - eleven in fact - as he managed six service breaks in a 6-2, 6-4 win. The West CWLander meets Aussie David Jones who was also victorious in straight sets.

• Finally there was a win from Roy Daniels who apparently turned up in the second set to beat Iceland's Gunnar Valsson. The inconsistent Easterner dropped the first set to love, before powering back to take the second in 6-4. After being broken three times in the opener, Daniels didn't give Valsson another break point as he stormed into a second round clash with Dieter Bonhof 0-6, 6-4, 7-5.

• Seeds tumbled on Monday and Tuesday; Bonhof was too good for Gunther Heug, while Fok Zhenyu, Adem... [more]

• Seeded players out: Ninteh Doh; Fok Zhenyu; Gunther Heug; Adem Tadić.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sarasota Open II
PTA Challenger Tour - 1st Round - Sarasota, FL - Clay (Green)

• Marcuss Deane has made made a successful green clay debut with an easy straight sets win over Niko Ulemek in Sarasota. The in form teen has shown great fitness in recent weeks to play as much tennis as he has, and continues to improve as he ousted the Croat 6-4, 6-4. Ulemek struggled to get a read on Deane's serve as he made the most of the faster clay surface with some accurate serving and well-timed volleying. While the Har-Tru surface is unpopular with many, Deane clearly enjoyed it as he avoided overly taxing rallies against Ulemek in his win. He received a double bonus as Italian sixth seed Michael De Kinsele was beaten 2-6, 5-7 by World No. 137 Jiří Gross.

• Ishan Narang also secured victory, but did it harder against local Anothy Ficher. The World No. 125 was favourite to beat the World No. 152 Narang, but the East CWLander showed his quality in a fine third set where he dominated the American youngster. Narang's serve packs some real punch and he has an economical set of ground strokes that give him great value against a baseline counterpuncher like Ficher. He conserved energy well and took advantage of a tiring Ficher following some lengthy rallies in the second set to secure a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win. He now meets fourth seed Anvar Juraev who was an easy winner on Monday.

• Elsewhere, local second seed Julian Day was beaten in straight sets by Australian qualifer Steve Cole in a... [more]

• Seeded players out: Julian Day; Michael De Kinsele.

[SirBloody Idiot]

By the way, Jojo Mustard could become the World No. 1 doubles player with a good result this week. He's just 100 points behind James and Robinson, so if he and Davis can get a bit further than the top seeds Mustard leaps in No. 1.

What that means for Roland Garros seeding... I have no ****ing idea.

[ripper868]

Well in Lob!

[Marcuss]

Good performance and the draw's been kind for the next round. Hopefully can get a few more wins under my belt

[SirBloody Idiot]

Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open II
PTA Masters 1000 - Tuesday (1st Round/2nd Round) - Madrid, Spain - Clay (Red)

• In the battle of East CWLanders it was Spas Delev who secured a surprising win as he thumped in-form compatriot Jarkko Maxum in straight sets. Maxum has played a lot of tennis in the past three weeks, but much more was expected for him against a man who hasn't really got going this clay season. Nevertheless, East CWLand's No. 3 played some delightful tennis as he overpowered Maxum with his spectacular forehand in a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win. His win over the helpless Maxum sees him face the dangerous Dwayne Murdoch in the second round who made the final in Monte Carlo less than one month ago.

• Twelfth seed Jojo Mustard has survived a tough opening encounter to book a second round clash with Ion Andueza following a straight sets win against World No. 69 Nilikar Midid. The Belgrade semi finalist showed he wasn't too disheartened by his flogging at the hands of eventual champ Radivoj Daneu as he worked tirelessly to counter the penetrating groundstrokes of the Croat. In a match where both players struggled on serve, Mustard kept at it and managed to get the better of Midid at the most important times. Needing three match points to get it done, Mustard hammered down just his fourth ace of the match to secure a 6-4, 7-5 win to begin his Madrid campaign strongly.

• He will be joined in the second round by doubles partner Heath Davis whose great run on clay continued with a straight sets win over fourteenth seed Diego Hurtado. The Colombian slumped to a second defeat since returning from injury last week, and finds himself in bad shape to make up for his first round exit in Roland Garros last year. Admittedly, this was the best possible surface for Davis as Madrid provides one of the hardest and fastest clay courts on the European schedule. Hurtado was solid but could not handle Davis' power as the West CWLander broke serve twice and only gave Hurtado one break point all match. His convincing 6-4, 7-6(4) win sets up a second round clash with compatriot Rob Bowenburg. The winner of that clash faces top seed Jason Hall who survived an awful start to beat the man who beat him last week in Estoril 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

• Up a set and coming off a title in Belgrade last week, Radivoj Daneu looked back. Unfortunately for the seventh seed, his run of wins came to an end at the racquet of Pierre L'Estrange as the Frenchman took a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

• Seeded players out: Radivoj Daneu; Diego Hurtado.

• Seeded players out: Andrej Konc & Evgeny Maximov.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Get in! A solid win over a seeded player! Nice. Now to take on the The Lob. Should be a good natured game; assuming neither of us loses our temper. Bring it, Bowenburg!

[Johnners]

Win!

Don't expect to get past Murdoch though.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by Clapo

Win!

Don't expect to get past Murdoch though.

Nah. You can take him, mate.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Busan Open Challenger Tennis II
PTA Challenger Tour - 2nd Round - Busan, Korea Republic - Hard

• Eighth seed Rick Langley has survived a dramatic three-set affair to beat Aussie David Jones in Busan. Langley looked to have blown it after failing to convert a 5-2 second set lead into a victory as Jones saved three match points with some stunning forehands. But after dropping the second set in an amazing fumble, Langley recovered well to regain some of his earlier touch as he broke twice to send the Aussie packing 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.

• He now meets compatriot Brett Read in the quarters after the West CWLander proved far too strong for Samoa's Murphy S'ua. Read came back from the brink in the first round and clearly gained bundles of confidence from it as he crunched S'ua one and three in one of his most impressive performances since returning to the PTA circuit. After falling in the quarters last week in Estoril, Read will hope to go at least a step further in Friday's all-FR CWLand clash.

• Three Westerners took top half victories in the past two days as Scotland Rivers joined Read and Langley in the quarter finals. The top seed again looked shaky as he did just enough to beat Erdi Azgin of Turkey and with his serve continuing to misfire his quarterfinal clash with Kim Roger Olsen looks dangerous. Ultimately he returned well enough and had too much polish for the Turk as he advanced 7-5, 6-4.

• Finally, Roy Daniels failed to convince any one of his good form as he tumbled out to Dieter Bonhof 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.

• Seeded players out: Li Ming-Wang.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sarasota Open II
PTA Challenger Tour - 2nd Round - Sarasota, FL - Clay (Green)

• It was an awful day for the CWLanders on the green clay of Florida as both Marcuss Deane and Ishan Narang were handed bad defeats in second round action on Wednesday. Deane's good run of form came to an abrupt end as Jiří Gross handed him a two and two defeat with some great counterpunching tennis and some quality retrieving. Deane's normally tricky serve was lacklustre and he paid for it as Gross took a 6-2, 6-2 win in a dominant display. Narang started better against Anvar Juraev as he went a break ahead of the fourth seed early. But the fourth seed clawed back and after taking the set to a tiebreaker had it all his way until the conclusion of the match in a 7-6(5), 6-0 win.

• Seeded players out: Randy Bruce; Sam Lazzeri; Waylon Jones; Jefferson Quezada; Ivan Vuka.