European Challengers 2020

[PKBasu]

Sadly, absolute slaughter after the first set

[arjun2761]

Mostly a mismatch in all three sets. Wawrinka lost the first set by over-hitting relatively simple balls (perhaps adjusting to the soft pace of Nagal).

A poor cricket analogy would be Sourav with his gentle pace getting a couple of wickets with catches at the boundary but thereafter getting hit out of the ballpark.

[sameerph]

All 3 of our doubles teams ( with Divij, Balaji and Sumit ) lost their QF's. So, overall a bad day.

I think Sumit and Divij will now travel to NY for US open and Balaji will continue in Europe for challengers.

[suresh]

It was fun to follow tennis again even though all our teams did not make it past the QF stage.

[jayakris]

A poor cricket analogy would be Sourav with his gentle pace getting a couple of wickets with catches at the boundary but thereafter getting hit out of the ballpark.

Actually I like that analogy! Makes good sense.

[PKBasu]

Please give me an example of when Sourav got hit out of the ballpark. He wasn't that easy to hit, Bedi's dismissal of him as a bowler notwithstanding. He was actually quite a bit quicker than Solkar and Mohinder Amarnath, both former India opening bowlers. In swing-friendly conditions, he was a handful -- as were Madanlal, Binny, Mohinder, Balwinder Sandhu. He often got the better of Jacques Kallis, one of South Africa's greats -- and he didn't do so with catches at the boundary, but bowling him between bat and pad through swing.

[PKBasu]

I would just call it the "Night of the Indian Massacre in Prague". Everybody lost

But, yes, Stan seemed to have got the measure of Sumit after the first set, and completely crushed him thereafter. Let's hope Sumit gets an easier draw in the first round of the US Open this year.

[jayakris]

Please give me an example of when Sourav got hit out of the ballpark.

When I said it was a good analogy, I wasn't thinking of Ganguly. Was only seeing the example of some slow bowler getting a couple of wickets and then getting hit out of the park. Something similar can happen in tennis, when the hard-hitter gets adjusted to the pace of the opponent and misses the lines or gets surprised with some unexpected style of play for a few games or a set, before getting into a flow... Specifically on Ganguly, my feeling was that he was a pretty effective bowler but I don't follow cricket closely to say more about his bowling.

[Omkara]

Please give me an example of when Sourav got hit out of the ballpark. He wasn't that easy to hit, Bedi's dismissal of him as a bowler notwithstanding. He was actually quite a bit quicker than Solkar and Mohinder Amarnath, both former India opening bowlers. In swing-friendly conditions, he was a handful -- as were Madanlal, Binny, Mohinder, Balwinder Sandhu. He often got the better of Jacques Kallis, one of South Africa's greats -- and he didn't do so with catches at the boundary, but bowling him between bat and pad through swing.

People keep forgetting Toronto. India Vs Pakistan

[PKBasu]

Balaji is the only one who has stayed on in Prague for this week's Challenger, in which he is partnering Lukas Rosol (who was in the doubles final last week). Wawrinka is top seed in singles again this week. I wonder why Sumit didn't stay on to play another week.

[vparam]

Balaji is the only one who has stayed on in Prague for this week's Challenger, in which he is partnering Lukas Rosol (who was in the doubles final last week). Wawrinka is top seed in singles again this week. I wonder why Sumit didn't stay on to play another week.

Because the US Open starts on the 31st and he likely wants to get there in time to enter the "bubble" and get some hard court practice in. Had he stayed in Europe to play this week on clay and advanced deep into the draw, I don't think he would have been allowed to the Open. Anyway, glad to see Sumit already landed in New York to begin his preparations to play in a Grand Slam!

[sameerph]

Our top 3 singles players are playing in an Italian challenger this week.

At $80K Biella Challenger, Italy (clay)

[R1] (3) Sumit Nagal (IND,127) vs. Blaz Kavcic (SLO,295)

[R1] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,142) vs. Maxime Cressy (USA,158)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,199) vs. (2) Christopher O'Connell (AUS,112)

Sumit and Prajnesh's first round matches first up simleteously at 12 noon today local time.

[Rajiv]

Bala too is playing Dbls where he is the 3rd seed with Luca Margaroli while Ram is the 4th seed partnering Segio Gomes.
Good chance for Ram to redeem himself as his opponent even though he is seeded 2nd but is playing his first match of the year on Clay and his last competitive match was at the USO where he reached R2 , bit surprised he missed the FO with his 112 ranking and playing a Challenger instead.

[PKBasu]

Both Sumit and Prajnesh have lost the first set in their matches -- both in tiebreakers (5-7 for Prajnesh, 4-7 for Sumit).

[PKBasu]

Both Sumit and Prajnesh lost their R1 matches 67 46