2016 Dallas and Launceston Challenger Recaps Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
Dallas
The week started in great fashion for the American crowd, with 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe ousting top seed and world #77 Sam Groth like it was no big deal at all: 6-3 6-3. Sixth seed Tatsuma Ito was too much in the quarterfinal, however, although he too won’t easily forget Tiafoe’s name after a long three-set battle: 3-6 7-5 6-4. In the next section Daniel Evans overcame perhaps the toughest draw in the tournament to join Ito in the semi-final. After victories over Andrey Rublev and eighth seed Bjorn Fratangelo, he comfortably beat third seed Benjamin Becker 6-1 6-4. In the semi-final he continued his impressive run by beating Ito as well, 6-2 4-6 6-1.
In the bottom half the two top seeds held up better. Second seed Kyle Edmund didn’t lose a set on his way tot he semi-final, where he faced fourth seed Tim Smyczek. Smyczek knew more troubles, needing three sets in both his second round match against Ryan Harrison as in his quarterfinal against Marinko Matosevic. Edmund continued his dominant run against Smyczek, beating him 7-5 6-3 for a place in the final. The first all British Challenger final since 2005. There Edmund once again managed to win in straight sets, beating Evans 6-3 6-2 to win his fourth Challenger title. The victory saw him climb eighteen ranking spots to a career high #84, while Evans jumped sixteen spots to #158.
Top seed James Duckworth withdrew citing an elbow injury, leaving ninth seed Stephane Robert to take his spot. However, from this section it would be 19-year-old wildcard Blake Mott who would be the story of the week. Mott, ranked 721st, beat Robert 6-3 7-6(6) in the quarterfinal, after which he was even more dominant against third seed Saketh Myneni in the semi-final, 6-1 6-4. In the bottom half two more home players did well, with Matthew Barton beating second seed Jordan Thompson in the first round, while Alex Bolt beat fourth seed Alexander Sarkissian in the second round. However, both of them fell to another seed in the quarterfinal. Bolt to seventh seed Luke Saville and Barton to eighth seed Andrey Golubev.
Golubev beat Saville 6-3 7-6(2) for a place in the final against the big surprise Mott. Mott continued to surprise, as he beat Golubev 6-7(4) 6-1 6-2 to take down the title. It meant Mott would almost cut his ranking in half, rising an enormous 356 spots to #365. Golubev rose forty spots to #181.
2015 Irving Challenger Preview and Predictions Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic
It’s almost an insult to call this tournament a Challenger, as it rivals some 250 events quality wise. The highest and lowest seed are ranked #34 and #63, so look forward to a very interesting week of tennis.
ATP Challenger Tour
Irving, USA
17-22 March 2015
Prize Money: $125,000
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Jeremy Chardy (34)
2: Gilles Muller (36)
3: Benjamin Becker (40)
4: Dominic Thiem (46)
5: Sergiy takhovsky (50)
6: Jerzy Janowicz (51)
7: Marcos Baghdatis (61)
8: Diego Schwartzman (63)
The last direct acceptance is Rajeev Ram, ranked 141st.
First round match-ups to watch
(4) Dominic Thiem – Dudi Sela
Thiem desperately needs the extra match play here, as he didn’t start the year in good fashion. Only in Marseille he won back to back matches, thanks to David Goffin retiring during their second round encounter. At Indian Wells he painfully lost to James Duckworth in the first round, getting breadsticked in the second set. Perhaps things will improve for the better now that he doesn’t have to share his coach Gunther Bresnik any longer, as Ernests Gulbis split with him. A loss to Sela is sure to be a big blow to his already crumbling confidence.
(7) Marcos Baghdatis – Dustin Brown
This is a mouth-watering match-up that a lot of people would prefer to watch over some of the third and fourth round matches at Indian Wells, I’m sure. Brown has had a tough deal in deciding sets this year, going 0-4 in them so far, including his first round loss against Andrey Golubev at Indian Wells. Baghdatis on the other hand has had a fantastic start to the year, reaching the third round of the Australian Open and a semi-final in Zagreb. At Indian Wells he had a tough draw, facing Novak Djokovic in the second round.
(6) Jerzy Janowicz – Edouard Roger-Vasselin
Janowicz suffered a painful defeat against Diego Schwartzman in the first round of Indian Wells, but he can redeem himself here against an opponent he leads the head to head 4-0 against. However, three of those were very tight three set matches, with two ending 8-6 in the third set tiebreak. On top of that, Roger-Vasselin comes off a good showing at Indian Wells, reaching the second round as a qualifier and barely losing to Feliciano Lopez there, so things could get tricky for the Pole.
Top Half
Top seed Jeremy Chardy starts off his campaign against a qualifier, after which he would face James Ward or Steve Darcis. Darcis’ craftiness could be useful against Chardy, but the Belgian comes off a very bad loss in Davis Cup, where he lost to world #344 Henri Laaksonen in five sets. Under normal circumstances Chardy should be able to survive this section and reach the semi-final, as #8 seed Diego Schwartzman is a considerable underdog against him as well. In the bottom section a showdown between Dominic Thiem and Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinal is most likely, with Baghdatis getting the slight edge because of his recent form. Unfortunately for Baghdatis, Chardy historically does well against him and leads their head to head 3-1, so should it come down to that match-up, Chardy is the favorite.
Bottom Half
#5 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky has the best shot to reach the semi-final in the top section. Since hiring Fabrice Santoro as his coach it has been evident that his consistency has grown significantly, which is supported by his results. He is 8-4 in his last four tournaments, beating Sam Querrey in the first round of Indian Wells before falling to Tomas Berdych. The other semi-finalist is likely to be either second seed Gilles Muller or sixth seed Jerzy Janowicz. Janowicz should be the favorite if he can reach his top level, but the problem is that doesn’t happen a lot. The Pole is highly erratic and putting your money on the more solid Muller is probably the best bet here. In a match-up against Stakhovsky I would put both down as the underdog.
After the match fixing scandal featuring Denys Molchanov, which I already elaborated on in my preview, karma unfortunately didn’t strike down upon him. At the side of Andrey Rublev he managed to take down the doubles title. In the singles draw top seed Mikhail Kukushkin was out after the first round, getting ousted by Alex Kuznetsov, 6-2 4-6 6-3. Kuznetsov won another long match against Chase Buchanan in the second round, 6-4 3-6 7-6(0), before falling in his next match to the surprising semi-finalist Marco Trungelliti in yet another three set match, 1-6 6-3 6-4. Tim Smyczek gave the crowd plenty of entertainment as well, beating James McGee 3-6 6-4 7-5 in the first round after saving three match points, after which he went on to beat Ryan Harrison 6-2 3-6 6-1 in the second.
#5 seed Denis Kudla got easily beaten by John-Patrick Smith in the second round, falling 6-1 6-4. Smyczek in his turn beat both Smith and Trungelliti in straight sets to secure himself a place in the final. In the bottom half it became painfully clear that Ryan Sweeting isn’t ready for this level yet, falling 6-0 6-2 to Guido Andreozzi in the first round. The world number one in juniors, Andrey Rublev, made a great impression as he beat #3 seed Blaz Rola in the first round and played arguably the highest quality match of the tournament against Rajeev Ram, falling 3-6 6-2 7-5 in the quarterfinal. Ram beat #2 seed Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-7 6-4 6-3 to set up a place in the final against Smyczek, but that turned out to be a very anticlimactic one. Ram was forced to retire at 6-2 4-1 down due to illness, handing the title to Smyczek. It was nevertheless a big occasion for Smyczek, as he re-entered the top 100 at #80, nearing his career high ranking of #73. Ram jumped fourteen spots to #125.
Burnie
This tournament turned out to be an absolutely brutal one for the seeded players, with only two of them making it out of the first round, of which one advanced further than that. The lucky one was #8 seed Hyeon Chung, who didn’t drop a set on his way to the semi-final. Benjamin Mitchell, who took out top seed James Duckworth 6-4 3-6 7-5 in the second round, reached the semi-final, where Alex Bolt took him out in a marathon match, 3-6 6-1 7-6(3). Chung faced all kinds of difficulties as well in his semi-final, as lucky loser Matthew Barton pushed him to the brink. Eventually Chung managed to prevail 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 to set up a place in the final against Bolt. Here Chung’s convincing scorelines continued, as he beat Bolt 6-2 7-5 to take down his second Challenger title. Quite the feat for an eighteen year old! Naturally this result gave Chung a career high ranking, rising twenty-two spots to #129. Bolt also scooped up a career high ranking, jumping twenty-three spots to #168.
Glasgow
This was another tournament where the seeds struggled. Only top seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov and #3 seed Ruben Bemelmans managed to get through to the semi-finals. Especially the exit of #8 seed Matteo Viola was most brutal, losing 6-2 6-2 to qualifier Marcus Willis in the first round. In the same section #2 seed Michal Przysiezny fell in the first round as well, losing 5-7 6-4 6-2 to David Guez. Guez managed to reach the semi-final, where he lost 6-3 7-5 to Bemelmans. Niels Desein turned out to be the surprise of the tournament. Having already ousted #7 seed Tim Puetz 6-3 6-2 in the first round, he absolutely humiliated Nedovyesov in the semi-final, leaving him no chance in a 6-1 6-1 obliteration.
This set us up for an all Belgian encounter between Desein and Bemelmans, which seemed to go in Bemelmans’ direction when he was serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set. However, he failed to find a first serve, and Desein played some absolutely brilliant points to punish that. Bemelmans dropped serve and eventually capitulated in the tiebreak, with the match ending in a 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(4) victory for Desein. It meant his first Challenger title, coming at the ripe age of 27. It also resulted in a new career high ranking of #155, improving forty spots. Bemelmans landed at #141, an improvement of twenty-three.
For more in depth reports of this tournament, check out the recaps of our onsite reporter Niall Clarke, which were posted throughout last week. He also did an excellent interview with runner-up Bemelmans, which is definitely worth reading!
2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas (Challenger) Day 4 Recap: Ram tops flustered Rublev, Trungelliti surges back against Kuznetsov Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic
Day 4 @ the 2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas
On an unnaturally freezing cold day in Dallas, Texas the action at the RBC Tennis Championships, the Dallas Challenger was heating up and I was there to witness the action.
The quarterfinals of the singles draw began at the conclusion of the first doubles match, around roughly 12:45 local time. The first singles match on pitted Alex Kuznetsov vs Marco Trungelliti. Both players were making a surprise quarterfinal appearance, the former knocking off the #1 seed Mikhail Kukushkin in round 1 and the latter fighting through qualifying all the way through to the quarters.
The match began with the American Kuznetsov on fire, sticking to an effective one-two punch formula of a big serve setting up a put away shot from the ground. Kuzentsov’s coach and girlfriend who were sitting close by enjoyed the first set. They were pleased with their guy’s strong play and how well he was able to enforce his will upon the match, for the time being the atmosphere relaxed among the Kuznetsov team. But in the 2nd set Trungelliti began to slowly turn the tide. It was evident from the first ball of set #2 that the Argentinian was going to give it his all in his attempt to get the semifinals. Suddenly Kuznetsov was not holding serve as easily as Trungelliti began to get deep into the service games of the American. But despite the pressure being applied in each service game, the break did not come immediately and I began to wonder if the missed opportunities for Trungelliti would come back to haunt him as he made a few poor shot selection choices on deuce and break points early in the set. However the break eventually came thanks to the consistent pressure and cracked Kuznetsov’s previously rigid game plan. Up 5-3 in the 2nd set, the 25-year-old Argentinian successfully served out the set without drama setting up a 3rd set showdown.
In the 3rd set, some frustrations began to boil over for Kuznetsov. He got agitated at some pretty straightforward calls, disputing the length of time that it took the chair to overrule clear errors from the lines people. The 3rd set quickly fell in step with the same pattern as the 2nd set, Treungelliti getting deep into the Kuznetosv service games, not allowing Kuznetsov to relax at any moment. Inevitably Trungelliti got a break and finished off the match 1-6 6-3 6-4, much to the dismay of Kuznetsov who chucked his racquet just two points from losing the match.
Marco Trungelliti
The key to the match turnaround from Marco Trungelliti was was his ability to use an all court game to disrupt the straightforward approach from Kuznetsov. He hit a few killer lobs, some deft slices and even mixed in net approaches, which Kuznetsov was not able to nor was he ready to handle. I was impressed with Trungelliti’s ability to find angles off the forehand wing and mix his play in just enough ways to get the big win.
The 2nd match of the day that I attended was the highly anticipated matchup between old and new. 30 year old Rajeev Ram vs 17 year old Andrey Rublev. Immediately I could tell that all the hype that has been surrounding Rublev is definitely justified. The young Russian has a very live arm on the forehand side and can crank the ball with a flashy whip of the arm. He also has good variety for his age on that wing, able to flatten out his weapon as well as use good topspin to find the angles. There were several flashy forehands that flew off the Rublev racquet throughout the match, each of which prompted oohs and ahs from the crowd. Rublev blasted his way to an impressive 6-3 first set win, leaving the veteran American on his heels.
But the former University of Illinois Fightin’ Illini legend is never to be counted out and he showed his experience as the match wore on. Rublev showed his immaturity a few times by showing clear dissatisfaction on his face and in his body language after a poor shot even if he was leading in a game. In the 2nd set Rublev dropped his racquet on two straight points in frustration and finally slammed the racquet into oblivion on the third point in the sequence, sealing Ram’s seizure of momentum and flipping the pressure to the young Russian. Ram would win the 2nd set 6-2 following a crucial 2nd break, which allowed him to serve first in the 3rd set.
The 3rd set was a battle in every sense of the word. Rublev shed the negativity he showed in the 2nd set and put on a new competitive coat ready to go to battle. Ram on the other side, buckled down and got ready to give the youngster his best shot. Each player made some great shots, Rublev blasting forehands and Ram coming up with some truly incredible volleys. Ram bossed the Russian on his service games, often finding the corners again and again much to the dismay of Rublev, who was outwardly incredulous. At the business end of the set neither player showed any nerves. But all it takes is a couple points to decide a match. At 30-30 5-6 on Rublev’s service game, the young Russian got a bit too bold and went for an untimely down the line change of direction backhand winner, which instead of finding the open court found the tape instead, putting him down match point. A double fault ended the great 3rd set battle, giving Rajeev Ram the 3-6 6-2 7-5 victory. Fan applause rained down as Andrey Rublev quickly shuffled off the court, to the locker rooms, a hoodie over his head, clearly disappointed in the loss despite the overall positive week. Meanwhile Ram enjoyed the win and signed several things for fans as he will march on to face Teimuraz Gabashvilli in the semifinals.
Rajeev Ram
The semifinals are now set in Dallas. Friday will see warmer temperatures and even higher stakes at the Dallas Challenger. Teymuraz Gabashvilli vs Rajeev Ram and Tim Smyczek vs Marco Trungelliti.
The last direct acceptance is Daniel Nguyen, ranked 302nd. Mardy Fish is also back in action, playing his first tournament since August 2013, in the doubles draw together with Mark Knowles. They will play top seeds James Cerretani and James Cluskey in the first round.
By the time I am writing this, a highly controversial first round encounter between Denys Molchanov and Agustin Velotti has already taken place. There is no doubt that Molchanov fixed the match. Velotti started out as the underdog, but as he LOST the first set 7-5, his odd had dropped to 1.16. Unexpectedly, Velotti went on to win the next two sets, with $900,000 getting matched on Betfair and Molchanov putting on an awful acting performance as he acted disappointed after missing some ridiculously easy shots. You can watch the entire match here and see the spectacle for yourself: http://new.livestream.com/ATP/dallas2015court1/videos/75819670
Unfortunately, I have been following match-fixing in tennis since 2007 and the offenders get away with it in pretty much every instance. All we can do is spread the word after every case and hope things will finally change, urging the ITF and their Tennis Integrity Unit to do their jobs.
Well, well, well, what a lovely little fix we have here between Velotti and Molchanov. pic.twitter.com/qP0Kk11gGO
This will be an interesting encounter between two bad boys, hotheads, whatever you want to call it. Fact is they are often their own worst enemy, losing their cool on the court and losing matches because of it. Both had a good start to the season, but immediately regressed after that. Harrison won the Happy Valley Challenger, after which he lost first rounds to Wayne Odesnik and Dennis Novikov, while Williams got through the qualifying draw of Brisbane, but lost to world #877 Sandro Ehrat in the second round of the Maui Challenger last week.
The second section here is a really exciting one, with loads of interesting players having a shot to advance to the semi-final. Tim Smyczek, James McGee, Rhyne Williams, Ryan Harrison and Denis Kudla all fit that profile. Smyczek undoubtedly will be full of confidence after his showing against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, which also got him praise for a supreme moment of sportsmanship. There is a very good chance this will be the tournament that launches him back into the top 100 again.
Bottom Half
It’s hard to look past second seed Teymuraz Gabashvili here. He landed in a section with a couple of low ranked players and is projected to face #6 seed Victor Hanescu in the quarterfinal, who has been on the way back for quite some time now. In the top section Rajeev Ram and Blaz Rola are likely to battle it out for a place in the semi-final, which should be a close encounter.
The last direct acceptance is Maverick Banes, ranked 353rd.
Second round match-up to watch
(8) Hyeon Chung – Radu Albot
18 year old Chung is a big prospect, who will undoubtedly crack the top 100 within a couple of years. He reached the semi-final of the Hong Kong Challenger last week, where he lost to Tatsuma Ito. With a lot of seeds going out early here in Burnie this week, he has an excellent chance to go far and crack the top 150 for the first time in his career.
Top seed James Duckworth should be able to go deep in this tournament and at the very least reach the final. That could create a very big result for him, as a tournament victory would give him a top 100 position for the first time in his career. He had a great start of the year, reaching the quarterfinal of Brisbane after beating Gilles Simon and Jarkko Nieminen, plus reaching the second round at the Australian Open. In the bottom section home player Alex Bolt has an excellent opportunity to come through and face Duckworth in the semi-final.
As mentioned, Hyeon Chung has a great shot at reaching the final. For that to happen he will likely have to go through the winner of last week’s Hong Kong Challenger, Kyle Edmund, in the quarterfinal and Matthew Ebden in the semi-final.
Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow – The Scottish Championships
ATP Challenger Tour
Glasgow, United Kingdom
2-7 February 2015
Prize Money: $42,500
Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (128)
2: Michal Przysiezny (170)
3: Ruben Bemelmans (173)
4: Andrej Martin (175)
5: Andrea Arnaboldi (178)
6: Julian Reister (181)
7: Tim Puetz (183)
8: Matteo Viola (190)
The last direct acceptance is Yann Marti, ranked 267th.
First Round Match-Up To Watch
(3) Ruben Bemelmans – Adam Pavlasek
Pavlasek got an opportunity to play the Hopman Cup last month, giving him some excellent practice against high ranked players like John Isner, Fabio Fognini and Vasek Pospisil. He even managed to beat Fognini, although that unfortunately isn’t really a feat these days. Bemelmans is erratic as ever, but he did well to qualify for the Australian Open, before losing in straight sets to Ivo Karlovic in the first round.
Top Half
Top seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov is a bit of a headcase, but if he can keep his composure this time around, it’s an excellent opportunity to reach the semi-final. The other seed in his section is Andrea Arnaboldi, who is a lot more comfortable on clay courts. In the other section, Tim Puetz should be marked a favorite to reach the semi-final. The German reached a new career high ranking of #163 after reaching the first round of the Australian Open, falling in four sets to Donald Young, and could well break the top 150 in this event. If he faces Nedovyesov that could prove to be a cracker, given they already played each other this year at the Happy Valley Challenger, with Nedovyesov winning in a third set tiebreak.
Second seed Michal Przysiezny leads the pack here and should be able to reach the semi-final without getting himself into a lot of trouble. Although that of course is easier said than done, given his form in recent times, which saw him slip from inside of the top 60 to outside of the top 180 within a year. In the top section I would give Julian Reister, Adam Pavlasek and Ruben Bemelmans all a fair shot to reach the semi-final, but given the quick conditions Bemelmans has to be favored.
The conditions here are faster than during their Happy Valley marathon match, so this time around I would give Puetz the slight edge, who is better on faster surfaces. Bemelmans – Przysiezny is a coin toss between two of the most erratic players on tour, which at the same time makes it a highly interesting encounter to hope for.
Tennis Atlantic’s hosts Steen Kirby and Courtney Massey, along with The Grandstand’s Ricky Dimon, were joined by Tennis Atlantic life on tour player Jean-Yves Aubone, Joey Hanf of The Tennis Nerds, and Valerie David of Tennis Inside Out to discuss the men’s and women’s Australian Open finales for 2015, and everything that went down in week 2 of the tournament, including Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Rafael Nadal, Madison Keys, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and more! In addition, the issue of match fixing in tennis was discussed.
Thanks for watching, and we will be back close to Indian Wells with new guests, and a discussion of everything prior to that tournament, along with a lookahead to the first Masters 1000 event of the year.
Tennis Atlantic 