Week 8: Marseille (Špidlá), Memphis (Mustard), Buenos Aires (Smeltz), Belgrade (Berg)

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Belgrade Challenger II
Second Round - Belgrade, Serbia
Singles

Another decent day for CWLander fans in Belgrade...

• Phoenix Wleft took a well fought victory over 14th seed Gunnar Valsson to set up a 3rd round clash with number 1 seed Maarten Berg. Valsson looked in ominous form early on, stealing Wleft's first service game to love. However, Wleft showed great depth of character to push back and break Valsson at the 2nd opportunity. With the match poised at 4 - 4, Wleft under pressure hit a deep lob over Valsson. The Icelander left the ball, which incredibly dropped in. Valsson was unable to return on the bounce and dropped the game and the set. The 2nd set saw greater aggression from Valsson. However, this appeared to just increase his error rate and it was Wleft who was able to capitalise to progress in straight sets. 6 - 4, 6 - 4.
• Rick Langley again looked in ominous form as he demolished the game Swede Zlatko Petterson in two easy straight sets in just over 50 minutes. Langley will be even happier to see that a tricky encounter with 6th seed Takis Georgilas has been avoided as qualifier Zlatko Bolivar triumped over the Cypriot in a straight sets shock.
• After a tricky first round win, Koal Kao had an impressive win over Cypriot Vasos Lazos. Lazos had ousted the 15th seed in the first round, and looked good for that win early on; pressurising Kao's first service game but being unable to take any of the three break point opportunities earned. Kao fought back well and turned the momentum, eventually taking a Lazos game with ease and serving out the first set. Lazos disintigrated after losing the 1st; capitulating 6 - 4, 6 - 1.
• Jake Loughman made a good effort, but came up short against 7th seeded German Dieter Bonhof. In the end, the experience of Bonhof helped him ease to victory in the 3rd set after Loughman pushed him all the way in the first two. Loughman will be rueing lost break point opportunities in the 1st set whilst relinquishing his own serve at the first chance gained by the German. Loughman fought back to take the 2nd, but with his tournament position on the line, Bonhof managed to dig deep and played some impressive tennis in the 3rd to progress 6 - 3, 4 - 6, 6 - 2.
• After ousting Pom Scott Whitehouse in the doubles yesterday, Jason Lawley had high hopes against the 10th seed in the singles draw. However, Lawley's performance amazed most onlookers as he produced by far his most complete performance on the singles circuit as he bossed Whitehouse from start to finish. The shellshocked seed could do nothing to halt the ruthless Lawley as he lost his serve twice in each set and was unable to even gain a break point on the Lawley serve in the match. Lawley will hope to take this form through to the next round where he faces Dieter Bonhof, who already has a good taste of West CWLander scalp in Belgrade.

• Seeded players out: Mario Timko (SVK, 3), Takis Georgilas (CYP, 6), Scott Whitehouse (GBR, 10), Piotr Bak (POL, 13), Gunnar Valsson (ICE, 14)

Doubles

• An exciting All CWLand game hit the outer courts at Belgrade today as Rick Langley & Jason Lawley clawed their way to a tough victory over Koal Kao & Phoenix Wleft. The first set was a cagey affair, won by Kao & Wleft in a narrow tie-break. However, the skill of Rick Langley in particular started to shine through in the 2nd set as he ruthlessly attacked the Wleft serve to devastating effect. Having taken the 2nd set 6 - 1, Langley & Lawley took the momentum into the match breaker and overwhelmed their opponents 6 - 7 (10 - 8), 6 - 1, [10 - 4]. They will face local number one seeded combo Dusko Milosevic & Savo Petkovia in the next round.

• Seeded players out: Cain & Golic (3, AUS)

 

[Luffers]

Argghh! Gutted to be out so early!!

 

[Simon]

Good win for Smeltz, at least I didn't drop a set this time.

 

[Mister Wright]

Great day for Mustard. It's going to be hard in the next doubles round, but still confident. Also very hopeful in the singles, but have often stumbled in similar situations.

 

[Johnners]

Dire

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Copa Telmex
Quarter Finals - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• A spirited second set display from Ecuador's Néstor Moreno which saw him save two match points could not make up for a match bookended by Randy Smeltz dominating as he fell in three sets in their quarter final matchup. The second seed from East CWLand made all the play in the first set as he won all six games in a dominant display from the back of the court. Moreno, though, who had once this week come back from an 0-6 deficit, saw that staying at the baseline was not his ticket to victory and sought to attack the net more often. The change in tactics worked as the set meandered out to a tiebreaker with a break of serve each, but Smeltz looked to have it won as Moreno sliced a backhand into the net to hand him two match points at 4-6. But Smeltz failed to convert, and it started a mini-renaissance for the South American who claimed four points in a row to send the match to a deciding third and final set. But unlike the first two rounds, there was no miraculous win for the World No. 113 who won just the single game in the third as Smeltz marched into another semi final 6-0, 6-7(6), 6-1. He also dodged a showdown with local Paolo Mandonna after the Argentine No. 2 failed to back up his impressive second round win over Sanchez Emelio against Dênis Rodrígues. The Brazilian dropped a set and a break behind, but stormed back into the contest and outlasted the local favourite 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

• In the top half, Juan Moreno still looks the player to beat as he tamed fifth seed Antonio Bachunelli in straight sets. Bachunelli has yet to really settle down on clay this season, and was unable to trouble the heavy-hitting local who won 6-3, 6-2. He now faces former World No. 26 Carlos Machado who, after being forced to qualify, was too good for promising Belgian Yves Parmentier in a 6-4, 6-1 upset.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Antonio Bachunelli.

• In the big doubles upset, top seeds Ion Andueza & Sanchez Emelio compounded a horror singles week to crash out 1-6, 1-6 in their doubles quarter final. Local pairing Julio Rodriguez & Diego Rodriquez, better known for their Challenger level exploits, played out of their skins against a comparatively out-of-sorts Spanish pair and marched into the semi finals.

• Elsewhere, Marc Carretero & Sergio Joaquín were too good for Mario Acosta & Gonzalo Castro; robbing us of a rematch of the Brasil Open final.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Ion Andueza &
  
  Sanchez Emelio;
  
  Manfried Manz &
  
  Walter Schiller.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open 13
Quarter Finals - Marseille (France)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• It was a frustrating quarter final day for Heath Davis as he gave up a big first set lead to fall in straight sets against fourth seed Carlo Amato. Davis had survived some tough matches earlier in the week, and looked primed to pick up a big scalp in the form of the World No. 20. With a big break of service in the first, Davis looked unflappable as he raced to a 4-1 lead. But Amato scraped back; breaking Davis twice with some aggressive returns to second serves and it proved enough for him to push ahead to take the first set 6-4. It was a blow for Davis, but he kept on plugging away early in the second and had an opportunity for a 2-0 lead as Amato gave him three break points. But the expansive Italian did brilliantly to save all three, and then in the next game struck the biggest blow yet as he took a 2-1 lead of his own and then consolodated for 3-1. Davis could not recover from this missed opportunity, and despite not being broken again did not muster a break point as Amato surged into the round of four 6-4, 6-4. He will play Radek Špidlá in the semi finals after the top seed produced a strong 6-3, 6-1 win over Russian teenage prodigy Boris Denisov.

• Also on the scrapheap from this round was Rob Bowenburg who could not win through to a maiden PTA semi final as he was beaten in three sets by American Rick Henson. Known as one of the best returners in the game, Henson could not break serve in a first set that went to a tiebreaker. Bowenburg took advantage of that position, and somehow brought up three unexpected set points. He needed just one, though, and took the breaker 7-3 and looked primed for a big upset. But Henson, who dropped out of the top 15 after failing to defend his Dubai crown last week, was not going to lay down to the World No. 77 and started to get hold of his serves and never really looked troubled from there as a distinctly nervous Bowenburg bowed out 7-6(3), 1-6, 2-6. He plays third seed Miroslav Brdar who survived a tough match against Mikel Fosdike to ensure the top four seeds made the semi finals.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Heath Davis.

• All doubles seeds are out before the semi finals after Germans David Kestenholz & Daniel Zwygart upset top seeds Gai Kai & Lu Xun on Friday. In a tense showdown, the Chinese pair failed to covert one of their two match points as the unseeded duo won 6-3, 6-7(4), [13-11]. They'll plays Ivars Emsis & Gunther Heug who took a 7-6(2), 7-5 win over Mikel Fosdike & Christian Mary.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Mikel Fosdike &
  
  Christian Mary;
  
  Gai Kai &
  
  Lu Xun.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Faarkila. So frustrating. Think I'll go and beat up some Amato fans.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
Quarter Finals - PTA 500 - Memphis, TN (United States)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• Eighth seed Jojo Mustard is through to his first PTA semi final since Indianapolis as he snapped a streak of five quarter final losses with a straight sets win over Israel's Tal Cohen. Cohen, who beat San Jose champ Dwayne Murdoch in the second round, stuck close to Mustard right throughout the match but could not get over Mustard who looked particularly solid for one of the first times this season. The World No. 28 was distinctly unimpressive in his second round victory, but returned to form as he saved his best tennis for the tiebreakers in a 7-6(0), 7-6(5) win. Also promising for Mustard was his serving; he was broken just once and it was consistent when he most needed it deep into both sets.

• He will face unseeded local Wayne Boyd after the American stunned second seed Jefferson Drake. The East CWLander had yet to really turn it on this week, and struggled to find his rhythm early against the World No. 49. Boyd dropped eight places last week after failing to defend his San Jose title, and looked to limit that bleeding as three first set breaks saw him take it 6-2. Drake shook off the early disaster to take the second set 6-3, but quickly collapsed against the pressure of the local who continued to press; taking a shock 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win.

• In the top half, top seed Darcy Cowan joined Drake on the losers' list as he was ground down by sixth seed Oneil Stewart. Stewart, a Grand Slam finalist, was in awesome form as he continued to run down seemingly unreturnable balls to secure a superb 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. He'll no doubt be a crowd favourite against Brit Henry Charles who had to come from a set down to beat wildcard Waylon Jones 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Darcy Cowan;
  
  Jefferson Drake.

• Later in the day, it was a reversal of fortunes for the CWLanders as Jefferson Drake & Martti Korpinen proved too good for Jojo Mustard & Spas Delev; snapping a ten-match PTA winning streak for Mustard in the doubles game. In a one-sided first set, the Easterners claimed the set 6-0 and looked ready to march into the semis on the back of a double bagel as they stormed to a 3-0 lead. But the Trans-CWLanders fought back well to take it to a tiebreaker, but never could catchup completely to the Easterners who finally converted their fourth match point to advance 6-0, 7-6(7). They'll play Jean-Alain Depuis & Becker Haas next.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Lee Inmin &
  
  Qingdong Tsai.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Solid but uninspiring, feel like Ox over here.

Drake knows where it's at.

 

[David]

Quietly confident.

 

[Number 11]

Wow, through to round two doubles and singles.

 

[NUFAN]

I Marseille taking Hanson to 3 sets is an okay showing.

 

[Agent TBY]

Oh **** #1 seed. Hopefully I put up a good showing.

 

[Mister Wright]

A strange feeling for Mustard to be going further in the singles than the doubles. Unfortunate not to continue the winning streak in doubles, but that will be more than made up for if I can make my first singles final.

 

[Simon]

Very good start to the year for me, hopefully can add another two wins here and get the title.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Belgrade Challenger II
Third Round - Belgrade, Serbia
Singles

Another decent day for CWLander fans in Belgrade...

• Phoenix Wleft was ripped to shreds with World number 149 Maarten Berg. Wleft, ranked over 100 places lower just did not have the weaponry to compete with the superior player and capitulated in just over three quarters of an hour. 6 - 1, 6 - 1.
• Rick Langley will now face Maarten Berg himself after an impressive smashing of Bulgarian qualifier Hristo Bolivar. Bolivar struggled to take the first game of the match, needing 3 deuces to take it; but that was the last success Bolivar would enjoy; losing 12 consecutive games as Langley progressed 6 - 1, 6 - 0.
• Koal Kao had a tougher time against Michail Tsatsos. Tsatsos had ousted the 3rd seed in the previous round and looked in decent touch as he stole an early break to take the first set 6 - 3. However, the tenacious Kao fought back strongly and broke Tsatsos twice with some confident strokeplay to take the 2nd. The momentum shifted again into the 3rd set as Tsatsos took a Kao service game to love to surge to a 3 - 0 lead. However, Tsatsos seemed to lose concentration following the arrest of a streaker with him up 40 - 15 in the next service game. Kao managed to turn the screws and win 6 consecutive games to progress 3 - 6, 6 - 2, 6 - 3. Kao will now face 5th seed Yevgeny Pushkov in the Quarters.
• Jason Lawley reliquished no less than 5 match points as he competed well with 7th seed Dieter Bonhof. Lawley, in form after a straight sets bashing of the 10th seed, eased to a victory in the 1st set 6 - 2, and looked good for a lead in the 2nd. However, Bonhof managed to steal a break under pressure as Lawley double faulted at 4 - 4. The third set went to a tie break were Lawley surged to a 6 - 1 lead. However, with the winning post in sight, the pressure got to Lawley who was unable to land a 1st serve as Bonhof came back to progress 2 - 6, 6 - 4, 7 - 6 (10 - 8)

• Seeded players out: Michele De Kinsele (ITA, 2), Christopher Durand (4, FRA), Jiri Gross (8, CRO)

Doubles

• 1st seeds Dusko Milosevic & Savo Petkovia were a bridge too far for fledgling CWLand partnership Rick Langley and Jason Lawley. Lawley in particular looked exhausted following his marathon match with Dieter Bonhof and only held his serve once in the match. The experienced doubles play of the Serbian pairing on their own turf was more than sufficient to see them progress 6 - 1, 6 - 3.

• Seeded players out: None

 

[Agent TBY]

Fail.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Copa Telmex
Semi Finals - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• Randy Smeltz will yet again vie for his second title of the season tomorrow after trouncing unseeded Brazilian Dênis Rodrígues. Smeltz, who lost to Illya Altman in Brazil last Sunday, ensured the World No. 100 would get no chances of causing another upset as he dominated the first set 6-1. The dogged Brazilian again fell behind to be 0-4, but ensured some respectability would be added to the score as he fought back to 4-5. It could not, however, stop him from bowing out in straight sets as Smeltz was clinical in a 6-1, 6-4 win.

• Players in the top half aren't doing him any favours, though, as local top seed Juan Moreno moved into the final with a 6-1, 6-2 thumping of former World No. 26 Carlos Machado. Moreno dominated proceedings in a straight sets win, and moves into the final on the back of losing just twenty games this week. Smeltz, in contrast, has dropped 37.

• Seeded players out: None.

• In a horrible result for commentators, three variations of the name "Rodriguez" will compete in the doubles final as local players Julio Rodriguez & Diego Rodriquez made their first PTA doubles final with a 4-6, 6-3, [10-7] win over Tiago Matías & Paolo Mandonna. They'll play Carlos Machado & Dênis Rodrígues who, despite dropping out in their semi final matches earlier in the day, gave themselves the chance of back-to-back titles with a 6-3, 6-2 mauling of Marc Carretero & Sergio Joaquín.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open 13
Semi Finals - Marseille (France)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Draw)

• World No. 12 Miroslav Brdar will compete in his second final of the season after coming from a set down to oust second seed Rick Henson of the United States. Brdar, who won a title in Zagreb just a fortnight ago, came in as slight underdog against the experienced American who had been solid in both wins this week. Despite taking the first set, though, Henson could not do enough to advance to the final as he dropped the second set tiebreaker and then the third to allow Brdar through 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. He faces top seed Radek Špidlá who survived a scare against Italy's Carlo Amato. After going down a break in the third, it took the Czech's best to move into the final 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Carlo Amato;
  
  Rick Henson.

• After last week claiming a Challenger title in Bergamo, Roel Hervelle & Jerzy Kosecki are through to their maiden PTA final following a 4-6, 6-0, [10-6] combeback against Benjamin Hartmann & Mischa Pasveer. They will face fellow finals debutants David Kestenholz & Daniel Zwygart who were superb in a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of Ivars Emsis & Gunther Heug.

• Seeded players out: None.