Here’s a quick recap:
*GREAT BRITAIN F12: 25-year old local Jamie Baker took the title after gutting out a 3-setter versus fellow Brit Edward Currie. Baker, who is 27-15 in 2011, had to also come back from a set down in his semi-final clash against Joshua Goodall. This was the first title of the season for Baker, who’s been spending a good amount of the year playing at the challenger level. Corrie reached his first final of the year after entering the draw as a wild card. James Marsalek (‘92/GBR) reached the QFs after taking out No.2 seed Charles-Antoine Brezac in R1. He was the only famed next-waver to make a significant run in this tournament.
*KAZAKHSTAN F4: Top seed Malek Jaziri of Tunisia was on fire all week and defeated Ukranian Denys Molchanov to win his third futures title of the season. The champion only dropped 16 games all week and improved his 2011 to 32-12. He defeated 3 Indians en route to the final, including 4th seed Karan Rastogi in the semis. Molchanov defeated Roman Jebavy (‘89/CZE) in the QFs and Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan in the semis. Among the next-wavers, ’93-born Denis Yevseyev (KAZ) and Sidharth Rawat (IND), along with Serizhan Yessenbekov (KAZ) made it to R2 before being eliminated.
*RUSSIA F4: Russian of Armenian descent Ervand Gasparyan won his first title of the season after defeating the up and coming Alexander Rumyantsev (‘92/RUS) in the final. Gasparyan was having the best year of his career but had failed to win a title in multiple attempts. This time, he went on a killing spree of Russian next-wavers to clinch the win and gather enough points to enter the top 400 next week (career high for him). Beyond Rumyantsev, Gasparyan took out Mikhail Biryukov (’92), Mikhail Fufygin (’90), Richard Muzaev (’92), and Nikoloz Basilashvili (’92), this last one in the semis. Rumyantsev took out No.2 seed Evgeni Kirilov in the QFs and Stanislav Vovk (‘91/RUS) in the semis.
*BELGIUM F6: German Peter Torebko took the title after defeating Alexander Sidorenko of France 64 60 in the final. The winner was fresh off a finals appearance the week before (lost to Nicolas Devilder), but took revenge this time en route to clinching his first win of the year. The 23-year old is now 35-15 and will jump inside the top 400 a week from now (new career high). Along the way, he took out the up and coming German Sami Reinwein (’92) and pesky veteran Antal Van der Duim of the Netherlands. The 23-year old Sidorenko was a very hot prospect headed for the big leagues in 2009, but could never get past the 145th spot in the rankings. Now at 431 he’s fighting his way back, as demonstrated by his tough wins against Arthur de Greef (‘92/BEL) and top seed Alexandre Folie (’90).
*ECUADOR F4: Young Argentinean Guido Andreozzi (’91) is having the best season of his short career and this week wasn’t the exception. He took the title, his second of the year, with a convincing straight sets win over local Julio Cesar Campozano. Andreozzi only lost 1 set throughout the week, and that came in the semis against Mexican veteran Miguel Gallardo-Valles. En route to the final, he defeated 15-year old compatriot Lautaro Pane (‘96/ARG) in R1. Pane, playing his first ever pro tournament, won all 3 of his qualifying matches to make it to the main draw. Andreozzi is now 30-14 and will sit at a new career high in the low 400s next week. There were a few still junior-aged players who earned points this week, including Galo Barrezueta (‘94/ECU), Felipe Mantilla (‘93/COL), Diego Hidalgo (‘93/ECU) and Gonzalo Lama (’93/CHI). All 4 made it to R2 before being eliminated.
*GERMANY F9: 25-year old German Steve Moneke won his first title of the season (in his first try) with a 3-set victory over top seed Alexander Flock. Moneke had reached the final without dropping a set, and managed to close it out after dropping the first set in the final. Moneke took out Italian veteran Federico Torresi in the semis. To reach the final, Flock defeated German starlet Kevin Krawietz (’92). The surprise of the week was ’93-born Constantin Christ (GER), who won his first 2 pro matches to reach the QFs. He defeated Matthias Wunner (’93/GER) in R2.
*ITALY F21: Riccardo Sinicropi (‘90/ITA) won his second title of the season after No.2 seed and heavy favorite Walter Trusendi retired during the 3rd set in their final clash. Sinicropi, who earned his first ATP point a little over a year ago, is one of the fastest risers in the tour. He will be inside the top 500 when these points are entered into the ranking. He is now 24-15 in 2011. To reach the final he defeated Romanian veteran Razvan Sabau in the semis. On the other side, Trusendi had to give his all to reach the final after being taken to 3 sets by Argentinean Kevin Konfederak (’91).
*LITHUANIA F1: Chilean Hans Podlipnik-Castillo is arguably the hottest player on the futures circuit at the time. This week he won his second consecutive futures tournament, and he’s won 22 of his last 26 matches (29-9 for the year). He defeated surprise finalist Vladimir Ivanov of Estonia in 3 sets, the only time all week that he was taken the distance. The 23-year old Chilean defeated No.2 seed Ivan Nedelko in the QFs and rising Ukranian Stanislav Poplavskyy (’91) in the semis. Beyond the surprise finals run by Ivanov, a pair of young Germans made some noise during the week. ’91-born Marcus Lenz took out top seed Timo Nieminen in R2 to reach the QFs, where he lost to fellow German Jonas Luetjen (’90).
*SERBIA F5: Montenegrin veteran Goran Tosic won his second consecutive futures title after defeating Serbian Vladimir Obradovic in the final. The 5th seed didn’t drop a set all week and is now 21-8 in 2011. To reach the final he defeated Ivan Bjelica of Serbia in the semis. Obradovic, on the other hand, had to get past surprise semi-finalist Sasa Stojisavjevic, who made the main draw out of the qualy. Stojisavjevic took out top seed and favorite Miljan Zekic in R1. Among the next wavers, Serbian Pedja Krstin (’94/current ITF No.36) obtained his first ever ATP point after a R1 win over Petar Trendafilov. He lost in R2 to the eventual champion.
*SLOVAK REPUBLIC F1: 21-year old Czech Jan Satral took advantage of an open draw and conquered his first title as a pro. The surprise winner took out 8th seed Oscar Sabate of Spain in R2 and never looked back, defeating 5th seed Michal Pazicky of Slovakia in 3 sets. Satral defeated Slovakian Jan Stancik in the semis. Stancik had taken out top seed Marcin Gawron in R1. Pazicky made it to the final after defeating Lubomir Majsajdr in the semis. The only heralded next waver in the draw was Robert Rumler (‘93/CZE), and he advanced to the QFs where he lost to the eventual champion.
*SPAIN F27: It was a great week for the next-wavers in Spain, with David Souto (‘92/VEN) taking the title over Australian Matt Reid (’90). Souto had a blazing hot beginning of the year but had cooled down significantly over the last few months. This was his 4th title of the season and the first one away from home. He improved to 34-15 for the year and will be very close to reaching a new career high ranking with the points earned. Along the way he defeated Marc Giner (’91) in the QFs. Giner was last week’s champion. He also defeated up and coming Japanese Hiroyasu Ehara (’91) in the semis. Reid, the runner-up, improved his record to 32-15 and will also sit at a new career high ranking next week, this time inside the top 400. The young Aussie defeated another Japanese player, Taro Daniel (’93) in the other semi-final.
*TURKEY F22: Young Frenchman Constantin Belot (’91) came out of seemingly nowhere to grab the title, defeating heavy favorite Patrick Brydolf (‘91/SWE) in 3 sets after dropping the first one. Belot won his first title ever, and had more wins this week, 5, than in his whole career combined (4). It can be said that he took advantage of a draw that seemed to favor him early, but he took out fellow Frenchman (of much more hype) Jerome Inzerillo (’90) in the semis and upset the 2nd seed in the final. Brydolf had a smooth run until the semis, where Francois-Arthur Vibert (‘90/FRA) gave him all he could handle. Among the other young players in the draw, there were 2 Europeans that made improbable runs to the QFs. They were Omar Giacalone (’92/ITA), who upset top seed Brydan Klein in R2 and Thomas Le Boulch (‘92/FRA), who ended up losing to Brydolf.
*USA F21: American Tennys Sandgren (’91) is making the most out of his summer break, taking his second consecutive title after defeating Bassam Beidas of Lebanon 63 61 in the final. Sandgren, who entered the draw through a special exemption (SE), took out 8th seeded Devin Britton (‘91/USA) in R1 and never looked back. He is now 13-2 for the year, and he’s only been playing since late June. It’s worth mentioning that he plays for the University of Tennessee tennis team, which explains why he can only play professionally during the summer recess. Sandgren defeated Kiryl Harbatsiuk of Belarus in the semis, while Beidas went through American Roy Kalmanovich. American Evan King (’92) was the only other next-waver of significance during the week, advancing to the QFs before losing to Kalmanovich. Finally, the surprise of the week was Argentinean veteran Carlos Llanes, a 31-year old retired player who won his 4 qualifying matches, and upon entering the main draw won 2 more to reach the QFs. He was taken out by the eventual champion.
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