Week 29: Stuttgart; Båstad; Manta CH

[SirBloody Idiot]

Season II Manta Open
PTA CHALLENGER TOUR - Quarterfinals - Manta, Ecuador - Hard

• Top seed Ishan Narang has fallen to a disappointing loss in the quarterfinals of the Manta Open; bowing out in straight sets to seventh seed David Lebègue. The Frenchman played all over Narang who never got going in a disappointing performance. After two good wins this week, Narang's serve fell apart at the seams as he was broken five times during the match. Summing up his day, Narang dumped a surefire winner into the net when down two match points to hand Lebègue a 6-2, 6-2 win.

• Seeded players out: Ishan Narang [1]; Ninteh Doh [3]; Mark Harmel [5].

[SirBloody Idiot]

Season II MercedesCup
PTA 250 - Quarterfinals - Stuttgart, Germany - Clay

• In the day's best match, American Hugh James booked a surprise appearance in tomorrow's semifinals after a come-from-behind win over Marc Carretero. The highly touted Spanish youngster took the first set 6-2, but the doubles star showed tremendous versatility to work him over from there to complete a big 2-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(2) win. He now meets second seed Zoltán Varga after the Hungarian ousted Maarten Berg 6-2, 7-6(4).

• Seeded players out: Pierre L'Estrange [8].

[SirBloody Idiot]

Season II Swedish Open
PTA 250 - Quarterfinals - Båstad, Sweden - Clay

• Season I runner-up Carlo Amato has survived a spirited display from Heath Davis to oust the Wimbledon finalist in three tight sets in their quarterfinal meeting. In a tense affair, both players showed real power on the baseline as they went serve-for-serve in a close first set. Amato got the decisive lead, though, as he played a gutsy tiebreaker to slam home five winners to take it 7-2. Down a set, Davis showed great resilience against a solid clay court hand to take the second set 6-3. With the tide turning against the Italian, a change of racquets was forced as he made an impression in the clay after going down a break early in the third. That seemed to spur him on as he played a very aggressive game against the Davis serve to break back. In the tenth game he got what he came for; two match points as Davis let fly with an errant backhand. The Italian needed just one; booking a semifinal showdown with fourth seed Miroslav Brdar 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4.

• In the top half, Jojo Mustard was also forced to play three sets in a close match with Sergio Joaquín. It wasn't quite as exciting as the Amato-Davis showdown with both players content to sit back and play out long rallies. That played into the hands of Joaquín for the most part whose great staying power allowed him to take the second set 6-4. Mustard, though, kept his composure during the third and created a swathe of opportunities against the Spaniard's serve. After failing to convert his first seven break points of the set, his eighth gave him match point. This time he cooly deposited a forehand volley into the left-hand corner of the court to secure his place in the semi finals 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. He now meets World No. 84 Miguel Bertolotto after the Argentine player upset local hope Björn Donaldson 6-4, 6-4.

• Seeded players out: Heath Davis [2]; Oneil Stewart [5]; Sergio Joaquín [7].

[HeathDavisSpeed]

You Utter Bastad!

C'mon Jojo, take it out!

[morgieb]

Mustard/Amato final IMO.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Season II Manta Open
PTA CHALLENGER TOUR - Semifinals - Manta, Ecuador - Hard

• Sunday's final will pit unseeded Australian Patrick Hewitt against seventh seed David Lebègue of France.

• Seeded players out: Rod Bosnar [6].

Season II MercedesCup
PTA 250 - Semifinals - Stuttgart, Germany - Clay

• Tomorrow's final sees an all-Hungarian clash between top seed József Boros and second seed Zoltán Varga. Boros proved too good for Patrick Pascaul in a 6-1, 7-5 win, while Varga eased past Hugh James 6-4, 6-0.

• Seeded players out: Patrick Pascaul [5].

[SirBloody Idiot]

Season II Swedish Open
PTA 250 - Semifinals - Båstad, Sweden - Clay

• Third seed Jojo Mustard was shooting for his third PTA final of the season as he played World No. 84 Miguel Bertolotto of Argentina. Both players had had very successful weeks and had dropped just a set each en route to the semi finals. Bertolotto got the best start as he held to love and held three break points on the Mustard serve. Having dropped the first seven points of the match, Mustard kicked into gear and took the next five to be level at 1-1. In a cagey first set, Mustard again played into his opponent's hands with pushing tennis off the baseline. Still, his class shone through as he made the most of his early chances and took the first set 6-4 despite having five less break points. That seemed to hurt Bertolotto who played rash tennis more consistently after. It worked at some points, but it cost him dearly at 3-3 in the second as he was broken to love. Another service break finished him off; Mustard into the Båstad final 6-4, 6-3.

• Tomorrow he will play fourth seed Miroslav Brdar who made light work of an unimpressive Carlo Amato. The World No. 15, despite a lower seeding, is actually ranked higher than Mustard and was vastly impressive in his 6-0, 6-4 win. Since dropping his first set of the week, Brdar has dropped just sixteen games in eight sets and goes into tomorrow's final a real chance of winning the Båstad title.

• Seeded players out: Carlo Amato [6].

[Mister Wright]

Oh...excellent fight back from Mustard after a very disappointing Wimbledon. Although I don't think Mustard has a great record in finals.

[SirBloody Idiot]

BÅSTAD SUNDAY PREVIEW
Båstad, Sweden
The Swedish Open is a CWLand-Croatian match-up between the third and fourth seeds as Jojo Mustard takes on Miroslav Brdar. Last year, Mustard's then compatriot Jefferson Drake beat Carlo Amato in the final.

Mustard is 2-1 lifetime in finals with victories in Memphis and Houston. Brdar, meanwhile, has gone 1-3 this season in finals and looks to register his first title outside of Croatia. So far he has two in Zagreb and one in Umag. Both players have dropped just one set this week.

WHAT'S AT STAKE -
Singles winner: €72,600 and 250 PTA Season II Ranking points
Runner-up: €38,200 and 150 PTA Season II Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY -
Mustard: Appearing in his 4th ATP World Tour final……….He is 2-1 in finals (third in 2010)
Brdar: Appearing in his 8th ATP World Tour final……….He is 3-4 in finals (fourth in 2010)

SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP HEAD-TO-HEADS -
(3) Jojo Mustard (FRC) vs (4) Miroslav Brdar (CRO) 0-0

Mustard FastFacts:
Season II Highlights:
W: Memphis (b Charles); Houston (b R. Henson); SF: Monte-Carlo (l Murdoch); Belgrade (l Daneu); Queens Club (l Hall).
YTD W-L: 38-13 (17-6 on hard)
Career W-L: 81-40 (38-21 on hard)
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: 25 July, 1985
Season II PTA Ranking: 16

Brdar FastFacts:
Season II Highlights:
W: Zagreb (b T. Vollan); F: Marseille (l Spidla); Dubai (l Drake); SF: Doha (l Spidla); Barcelona (l Blanco); Halle (l Amato)
YTD W-L: 34-14 (22-6 on hard)
Career W-L: 80-34 (48-19 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: 8 February, 1989
Season II PTA Ranking: 15

[SirBloody Idiot]

Season II Manta Open
PTA CHALLENGER TOUR - Final - Manta, Ecuador - Hard

• French seventh seed David Lebègue had no troubles in the final of the Manta Open; romping to the title 6-1, 6-1 against Patrick Hewitt.

• Seeded players out: None.

Season II MercedesCup
PTA 250 - Final - Stuttgart, Germany - Clay

• In an all-Hungarian final, top seed József Boros picked up his first title of the season in a water-tight final against second seed Zoltán Varga. Despite having a set point in the second set, Varga could not avoid a straight sets defeat as Boros edged a 7-6(7), 7-6(6) victory.

• Seeded players out: Zoltán Varga [2].

[SirBloody Idiot]

Season II Swedish Open
PTA 250 - Final - Båstad, Sweden - Clay

• Croatia's Miroslav Brdar has claimed his first title off Croatian soil as he staged a fantastic late fightback to beat World No. 16 Jojo Mustard in Båstad. The two best performed players in the draw engaged in an entertaining contest early as they traded breaks before Brdar got his act together to take the set 6-4. The second set, though, was entirely unexpected; Mustard played out of his skin to cause Brdar all kinds of troubles with a dominant display of clean hitting on the Swedish clay. Taking the set 6-1, Mustard looked set to take his third career title and his chances were bolstered as Brdar took an injury timeout after going down 0-2 in the third set. The Croat continued, but was forced to serve to stay in the match at 3-5. He managed that easily enough, but then produced a great display to fight from 30-0 down to break Mustard with an awesome cross-court forehand. In a stirring performance, Brdar took four games in a row to secure his fourth career title 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.

• Seeded players out: Jojo Mustard [3].

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Jojo

[Mister Wright]

That's poo! Mustard showing poor signs in very important matches. Won't break the top 10 with displays like that.