Week 21: Nice; Düsseldorf; Cremona

[Magrat Garlick]

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.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open de Nice Côte d'Azur II
PTA 250 - Quarter Finals - Nice, France - Clay (Red)

• Jefferson Drake has charged through the third set of his quarter final against Javier Villaneuva to advance to the semi finals as outright favourite in Nice. After a whole swathe of other results went his way, Drake found himself in a bitter struggle against the highly rated young Spaniard who made it clear he'd come to play. Despite failing to convert either match point in the second set, Drake was not distracted from his goal of completing a perfect Roland Garros warm up event as he had too much in the tank for the failing eighth seed; blasting him off the court with some heavy hitting and great athleticism in a well-deserved 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1 win. He now meets Dutch qualifier Maarten Berg on Friday after he ousted fourth seeded Italian Carlo Amato 6-1, 6-4.

• But the biggest surprises came in the bottom half as two big favourites were beaten. First, sixth seed Pierre L'Estrange, having dropped just four games all week, was trounced by wildcard entrant Christopher Durand love and three. Then later, second seed and World No. 18 Miroslav Brdar collapsed in a heap against Brett Read. In a bizzare contest, the World No. 141 announced he was back as he came from a break down twice in a tense third set to send the match to a deciding tiebreaker. Indicative of his play all match, Read only made one winner in the tiebreaker as he sought to grind the lanky Croat down with good returning. The tactic worked; Brdar made key unforced errors when he looked to have the point won as he struggled to pass the dogged Read. For the second time this week, the West CWLander played gutsy tennis when up against it to secure a shock 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) win.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Carlo Amato;
  
  Miroslav Brdar;
  
  Pierre L'Estrange;
  
  Javier Villaneuva.

 

[morgieb]

Haha finally a non-QF choke!

All CW-final ftw.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

ARAG World Team Cup II
PTA 250 - Friday (Day 6) - Düsseldorf, Germany - Clay (Red)

• West CWLand are through to tomorrow's final in Düsseldorf with a tremendous come-from-behind win over Spain. No. 2 Heath Davis had his back against the wall knowing a loss would mean the West's demise, but he put a good ol' fashioned hurtin' on Ion Andueza in a destructive 6-2, 6-1 win. The World No. 29 produced his finest tennis this week as he hit Andueza off the court to win in just over an hour. With it all on the line, makeshift pairing Jojo Mustard and Sven Oxenstierna needed a good performance to secure a 2-1 win. Against highly rated duo Andueza and Sanchez Emelio, the pair got off to a slow start but stormed away from 4-4 in the first to claim eight games on the trot to seal an impressive victory 6-4, 6-0. It is a much-needed confidence boost for Mustard after a poor week ahead of today's Roland Garros draw.

• East CWLand bow out with an 0-9 record after Matt Bre and Roy Daniels copped a hiding from Manfried Manz and Walter Schiller. In a fitting end to a horrific week for the poverty-stricken nation, Bre and Daniels fell 1-6, 0-6 to give the East a record of 4-18 in sets for the week. It wasn't enough for the Germans as the USA secured a 3-0 win over Italy to advance to tomorrow's final against West CWLand.

FRIDAY
West CWLand def. Spain 2-1
Hungary def. Serbia 3-0
Germany def. East CWLand 3-0
United States def. Italy 3-0
​

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Wahey. Back on court, and tearing up some poor sod. Now to lose to someone ranked outside the top 300 next time I take to the court.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

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

• Scotland Rivers' French Open preparation will finish tomorrow after the top seed routined seventh seed Akihiko Veno in his most impressive performance of the week. Finally putting a complete match together after a fortnight of dodgy performances, Rivers cruised past the Japanese No. 2 in a hefty 6-2, 6-1 win. The forehand was on and his movement was lively as Veno lacked the firepower to match Rivers' aggressive game in a devastating defeat.

• Unfortunately for Rivers' compatriot Rob Bowenburg, his promising week came to an end against tough Latvian slugger Ivars Emsis. Bowenburg started well and managed two breaks of the big Latvian's serve in the first set, but struggled to create chances from there with just two break points in the next two sets. He couldn't save either of them as the third seed snuck a couple of breaks of his own in a dull 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Rob Bowenburg;
  
  Akihiko Veno.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Open de Nice Côte d'Azur II
PTA 250 - Semi Finals - Nice, France - Clay (Red)

• In a last ditch attempt to be ready for the French Open, Jefferson Drake has bounded into the final in Nice with a crushing 6-1, 6-0 win over an abysmal Maarten Berg. In one of his strongest weeks since coming back from injury, Berg hadn't dropped a set all week and boasted wins over Sergio Joaquin and Carlo Amato. But Drake, who survived a three-set quarter final against Javier Villaneuva in the quarter finals (sometime in March...), was irresistible as he destroyed Berg inside of an hour with dominant tennis. While Berg was distinctly off his game, it was clear that Drake is primed for a Grand Slam assault as he trounced the Dutchman.

• His opponent will be Brett Read who won in straight sets to make his second PTA Tour final. Looking to end the brave run over local wildcard Christopher Durand, Read did what Patrick Pascaul and Pierre L'Estrange couldn't - he played error-free tennis. Durand was game for the most part, but Read had the polish and the cool mind as he put away both his set point opportunities with clinical forehand winners. After hardfought three-set wins in the second round and the quarters, Read's 6-4, 6-3 win provided welcome relief as he set up a trans-forum final against Drake.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[ripper868]

Does...does this mean maxum can still win the french?

 

[morgieb]

Ooh....bring it Drake (Smitteh).

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Does...does this mean maxum can still win the french?

Unless he's spent the last month and a bit training...

ftr I can't update the first posts with the draws right now because I've lost my mod powers to the subforum.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

ftr I can't update the first posts with the draws right now because I've lost my mod powers to the subforum.

That's probably my fault for telling James that I was receiving VM reports. He's clearly fixed that, but removed out mod powers for this sub-forum.

The irony is that Cribb still has mod powers despite having never simmed a CW Forumer World Cup game.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

That's cool. Must have been pretty recent? I think I got one of those emails the other day.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

That's cool. Must have been pretty recent? I think I got one of those emails the other day.

Was 3 or 4 days ago I think.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

It's on like DK.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Good to make it into a final, feel a bit cheap and dirty though bullying some spuds. Just had to get off that clay though!

 

[Mister Wright]

Good to finally get a win.