Week 21: Nice; Düsseldorf; Cremona

[SirBloody Idiot]

Trofeo Paolo Corazzi II
PTA Challenger Tour - 1st Round - Cremona, Italy - Hard

• Top seed Scotland Rivers has made the ideal start to his week in Italy with a 6-2, 6-4 win over James O'Raherty. The West CWLander was handed a surprisingly tough match at times against the energetic Irish red head, but proved far too good in the end in a comfortable straight sets victory. Rivers now plays qualifier Alejandro Martínez of Uruguay who edged a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(0) first round win.

• Rob Bowenburg was forced to come from a double break down to avoid being taken to three sets in an awkward first round performance against Stefan Vicini. The second seed made the bizzare choice to play Cremona, but blitzed his local opponent six love in a dominant first set. But in a disastrous start to the second, Vicini shot ahead 5-1 with some smash and grab tennis and forced Bowenburg to the brink. However the West CWLander fought back strongly and saved five set points to secure a 6-0, 7-5 win. He meets Nick De Koning of the Netherlands next.

• Seeded players out: Sebastian Moss.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Oh boy.

ARAG World Team Cup II
PTA 250 - Monday (Day 2) - Düsseldorf, Germany - Clay (Red)

• Darcy Cowan gave the USA an unassailable 2-0 lead in Düsseldorf as he made his first clay appearance of the season a successful one with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Spas Delev. It was a scratchy start for the Wimbledon champion, but he did just enough to get over Delev in the first set with his serve looking as solid as ever despite a bit of a ring rust over the rest of his game. After dropping the first set, Delev disappointingly wilted and robbed the crowd of a fine contest in a straight sets defeat.

• Jojo Mustard rose to a career high No. 15 in the world last week, but was beaten in three sets by Hungary's János Varga. Levelling the tie at 1-1, the World No. 42 played consistent tennis and showed why rate him as a player with more potential than his older brother Zoltán. In a tough contest, both players looked solid without being spectacular but it was the Hungarian who pushed through in clutch situations to secure a narrow 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory.

• No joy for Spas Delev and Roy Daniels in the doubles as they were pasted 0-6, 1-6 by Hugh James and Ralph Robinson to compete the American clean sweep...

• In the biggest shock of the day, the winning streak of Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard was snapped in straight sets by János & Zoltán Varga. With their opponents having gone eight matches without dropping a set, the Hungarians put their best doubles team together in the hope of snatching a win against the West. They got it. It was a half-hearted performance from the Rome champions who struggled right throughout the match en route to a 3-6, 4-6 loss.

Blue Group
Germany def. Italy 2-1
Hungary def. West CWLand 2-1

Red Group
Spain def. Serbia 2-1
United States def. East CWLand 3-0

[Johnners]

Haha so bad

[Mister Wright]

I guess the constant playing and not having a rest is having an effect on Mustard. Should have won the singles, and disappointing after reaching world #1 in doubles that Mustard would lose his first match.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Wot? Does not compute.

[SirBloody Idiot]

ARAG World Team Cup II
PTA World Tour 250 - Tuesday (Day Three) - Düsseldorf, Germany - Clay (Red)

• DR CWLand's slim chances of making this weekend's final were snuffed out in dramatic style as Italy took an unassailable 2-0 lead in Düsseldorf. In the first rubber, Spas Delev's sorry form continued against top thirty player Antonio Bachunelli as the Italian stormed to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over the World No. 47. Delev's form has plummeted over the past few weeks and this was his worst loss of the lot as his Roland Garros preparation took a massive hit. Meanwhile, compatriot Roy Daniels claimed East CWLand's first set of the week but was beaten in three sets by an impressive Michael De Kinsele. De Kinsele dropped his first match on Monday to Gunther Heug, but hit back well against the enigmatic Daniels to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

• Heath Davis has handed West CWLand a 1-0 lead as he took a hard fought straight sets win over Serbia's Srđan Ivić. Ivic has now taken both his opponents to the brink so far this week as Davis struggled to shake the impressive Serbian revelation. Both sets went to a tiebreaker and Davis was forced to save two first set points at 4-6. He did well to claim the breaker 9-7, and made far lighter work of it in the second as he won 7-6(7), 7-6(2). West CWLand need to win at least one point tomorrow and then their tie against Spain to have any chance of making the final.

• Elsewhere, a Darcy Cowan-less United States drew level with Germany thanks to Hugh James's three set win while János Varga made up for his brother's second straight sets loss to level Hungary's tie with Spain at 1-1. This is good news for West CWLand.

[Mister Wright]

Go Davis!

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open de Nice Côte d'Azur II
PTA 250 - 2nd Round - Nice, France - Clay (Red)

• Top seed Jefferson Drake was untroubled by local wildcard David Lebègue as he won through to the quarter finals in Nice 6-3, 6-1. The World No. 144 had already taken a very convincing first round victory and would have given himself a chance to stay close to the sometimes erratic Drake. But the World No. 8 showed all of his parts are in good working order as he steamrolled Lebègue after an even start; dropping just four games. Drake, who will be seeded at No. 8 at next week's French Open, will no doubt have his eye on this Friday's draw, but he must stay focussed ahead of tomorrow's quarterfinal with eighth seed Javier Villaneuva. Villaneuva beat rival Marc Carretero 7-6(2), 1-6, 6-3.

• Meanwhile, qualifier Brett Read came from a set down to beat Germany's Alex Peters to move to the quarter finals. Read made a shaky start against the World No. 66 as he dropped the first set 3-6, but managed to steal the second set in a tiebreaker with some fantastic defensive tennis as Peters upped the pace. The deciding set was all Read as he broke twice to secure a 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 win and a quarter final showdown with second seed Miroslav Brdar. Though Read claims hard courts are his preference, his style is actually quite suited to the clay and his results show that.

• Madrid quarter finalist Patrick Pascaul suffered a humiliating set back to his French Open campaign as 96th ranked compatriot Christopher Durand beat him 3-6, 7-5, 6-7(3).

More...

• Seeded players out: Patrick Pascaul.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Trofeo Paolo Corazzi II
PTA Challenger Tour - 2nd Round - Cremona, Italy - Hard

• Second seed Rob Bowenburg made the unusual move to play on the hard courts of Cremona a week out from a clay Grand Slam tournament, but he looked good again as he won his round of 16 match against Nick De Koning 6-0, 6-3. The 283rd ranked Dutchman had taken a close first round win on Monday, but was no match for the red hot Bowenburg who benefitted from the faster courts by putting a hurtin' on his Dutch opponent. De Koning looked good at times, but was mostly out of his depth as Bowenburg set up a quarter final clash with Andy Russell of Great Britain after he destroyed Samoan favourite Murphy S'ua two and one.

• Top seed Scotland Rivers picked up another Challenger win with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Uruguayan qualifier Alejandro Martínez. It was a tight first set as Rivers again failed to kickstart his aggressive game immediately, but he managed to come back from a break down to take it 7-5. From there it was academic as the brave start from Martínez failed to catch on in the second set with Rivers coasting to an inevitable win in straight sets. He meets fifth seed Jeremy Natale after the Aussie beat qualifier Pedro Barbosa 7-6(0), 7-6(3).

More...

• Seeded players out: Murphy S'ua.

[SirBloody Idiot]

ARAG World Team Cup II
PTA 250 - Wednesday (Day 4) - Düsseldorf, Germany - Clay (Red)

• DR CWLand are yet to win a match this week as Matt Bre and Spas Delev fell in a three-set defeat to Antonio Bachunelli and Sandro Bachunelli. The Bachunelli brothers only team in team events like this and the Davis Cup and it showed as they dropped the first set to a determined East CWLand side. In a tight second set, Bre and Delev looked like giving the East their first win at 5-3 before dropping four games on the trot to go into the decider minus any momentum. There the Italian duo coasted to a 6-7(0), 7-5, [10-3] win to give Italy the tie 3-0.

• West CWLand meanwhile have secured their first point in Düsseldorf with a 3-0 win over Serbia. In the most eagerly anticipated match of the day, the enigmatic Danijel Micic could not overcome Sven Oxenstierna in an entertaining straight sets loss. Despite Micic saying he's in the best form of his PTA career, he's not had results he needs to crack to the top ten - mainly because he keeps on running into Daniel Páez Blanco at Masters events (though he took a set off him last week). Here he was against another world class clay courter, but provided plenty of highlights in a valiant 5-7, 3-6 loss. It was another impressive performance against top quality opposition for Oxenstierna who is still looking in terrific shape despite his shock exit early in Madrid last week.

In the doubles, Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard redeemed themselves fully as they spanked Victor Bosich and Dusko Milošević. Davis and Mustard suffered their first defeat in months on Monday, but hit shape in impressive style with a 6-3, 6-1 win. The straight sets flogging could be their last match in preparation for the French Open; Oxenstierna will play doubles in the must-win tie against Spain while Mustard and Davis play singles.

• Elsewhere, the United States escaped with a 2-1 win over Germany while Spain moved to top of the Blue Group with a 2-1 win over Hungary.

Blue Group



Red Group

[Samuel_Vimes]

Nice.

[Mister Wright]

Nice indeed!

[SirBloody Idiot]

ARAG World Team Cup II
PTA 250 - Thursday (Day 5) - Düsseldorf, Germany - Clay (Red)

• West CWLand now have a mountain to climb if they want to compete in this Saturday's final after Jojo Mustard was beaten by Spain's Sanchez Emelio. Promoted to FRC No. 1, Mustard was edged out by the experienced Spanish No. 2 who was typically solid from the back of the court in a great defensive display. There was little doubt that Mustard had more weapons than the World No. 34, but Emelio was resolute from the baseline as he kept the ball in play with a typically gritty display. He broke at just the right times and gave the Spanish a 1-0 lead with a 6-4, 6-3 win. The West need to win both of their matches tomorrow to make the final.

• East CWLand are in danger of bowing out without a win after dropping another tie - this time against Germany. After Gunther Heug accounted for Matt Bre 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, Spas Delev had the chance to upset Germany's top player Becker Haas. Delev led a set and a break before the German mounted his comeback with some fiery groundies to take the second set in a tiebreaker. It broke the will of Delev who lost another match; Haas sealing the tie 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0.

• Elsewhere Hungary did the best thing possible for them to keep their slim finals chances alive in the Blue Group as they took a 2-0 lead against Serbia, while Jason Bradley handed the United States a 1-0 lead over Italy in a match to effectively decide the Red Group finalist.

[Mister Wright]

Ouch! Mustard certainly coming back down to earth after a good run.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sorry about things grinding to a halt, uni heating up a bit. Will see if I can charge through Roland Garros in the coming weeks.

Trofeo Paolo Corazzi II
PTA Challenger Tour - Quarter Finals - Cremona, Italy - Hard

• Two West CWLanders are through to the quarter finals in Cremona as Scotland Rivers and Rob Bowenburg claimed convincing wins. Rivers produced a fine performance to get past Jeremy Natale of Australia as the top seed looked too good with his aggressive baseline play and perhaps his best performance of the week. The fifth seed was unable to trouble him too much in a 4-6, 3-6 defeat. Rivers now meets seventh seed Akihiko Veno tomorrow. Elsewhere, Bowenburg won his third match of the week starting with another bagel in a see-sawing win over Andy Russell. Bowenburg's second set was awful, but he bookended the match with dominant displays to win 6-0, 2-6, 6-1. He meets third seeded Latvian giant Ivars Emsis who won again in straight sets.

• Seeded players out: Jeremy Natale; Tu Haifeng.