Futures: Week 32

Here are the week’s highlights:

*BRAZIL F26: In only his third futures event of the year, Brazilian Caio Zampieri obtained his first title, defeating the up and coming Guilherme Clezar (‘92/BRA) 76 76 in the final. Zampieri has spent most of the year playing at the challenger level (with some ATP sprinkled here and there), which explains his 16-13 record for the year. However, after falling short in the QFs last week, this time he put his talent and experience to work en route to winning the title without dropping a set. He defeated last week’s runner up Marcelo Demoliner in the QFs, and then took out the surprise of the tournament, Bruno Sant’Anna (‘93/BRA) in the semis. Sant’Anna, currently ranked 21 in ITF, has had some interesting results in the pro ranks, and he’s a name to keep an eye on for the upcoming season. Clezar, the runner-up, had a very good too, taking out 2^nd seed Christian Lindell (‘91/SWE) in the QFs and the experienced Tiago Lopes in the semis. The disappointing performance of the week came at the hands of top seed Gastao Elias (‘90/POR). The Portuguese is having a career year but was shocked by Fabricio Neis (‘90/BRA) in R2.

*COLOMBIA F3: Local Eduardo Struvay (‘90/COL) won his second title of the season, defeating Chilean Guillermo Rivera-Aranguiz in the final. The young Colombian improved to 25-13 with the win and will use the points to jump back inside the top 400 players in the world, in what is turning out to be his career year. Struvay survived a R1 upset attempt in the hands of Felipe Soares (‘92/BRA), and after pulling up a 3-set victory went on to win the title without dropping another set. He defeated New Zealander (Russian born) Artem Sitak to reach the final. His final victim, Rivera-Aranguiz is also having a career year, finally seeming to put together a streak that was expected a few years back due to his successful run in the juniors (ranked 13^th in ITF in 2007). Rivera is 21-8 now and will jump to a new career high inside the top 250. There weren’t many surprises in the tournament as all 8 seeds made it to the QFs. Among the next-wavers, Brazilian Guilherme Hadlich (‘94/BRA) earned a WC into the main draw after winning an ITF event the week before, and turned it into his first ever ATP point after defeating fellow unranked Felipe Rojas (‘94/COL).

*ITALY F23: There are few adjectives left to describe James Duckworth’s run through the futures circuit in 2011, his first full season as a pro. Duckworth (’92/AUS) defeating local Daniele Giorgini in straight sets in the final to take his 4^th title of the season. He improved to 38-10 and will be inside the top 300 next week. On top of that, he avenged a loss to Giorgini in an Italian future a few months back. Duckworth, the second seed, defeating fellow promising Australian Jason Kubler (’93) in the QFs, and lost his only set of the week in the semis against the very talented Argentinean Renzo Olivo (’92). Duckworth is one of those names to watch next season because if he continues this meteoric rise (was ranked 775 at the end of 2010) he could possibly break into the top 100 before the end of 2012. Giorgini on the other hand, defeated Jose Statham of New Zealand to reach the final. The upset of the tournament came at the hands of fast-rising Matt Reid (‘90/AUS), who took out last week’s champ Andres Molteni of Argentina in straight sets in R2.

*ROMANIA F7: If there was an award for comeback player of the year at the futures level it would already be in Gabriel Moraru’s hands. The 29-year old Romanian retired from the pros for a few years, and came back to the game in late April. Now he’s on a 10-match winning streak after defeating Petru-Alexandru Luncanu (‘89/ROM) in the final and taking his second consecutive title. Moraru is now 19-5 for the year. He survived against fellow veteran Romanian Razvan Sabau in the QFs (14-12 in the deciding tie-break) and then took out top seed Alexandre Folie (‘90/BEL) in the semis. Luncanu reached the final after defeating current ITF No.1 Jiri Vesely (’93/CZE) in the semis. A trio of next-wavers achieved R1 wins, among them Vasile-Alexandru Ghilea (‘93/ROM), Dragos Constantin Ignat (‘93/COL) and Maxim Dubarenco (‘93/MDA). It was the first ever ATP point for the Moldavian.

*RUSSIA F6: 24-year old local Evgeny Kirilov won his first futures title of the year after defeating fellow Russian Ivan Nedelko in the final of this 15K + H event. He improved to 18-13 in 2011, a year in which he’s mixed in futures and challenger events. Kirilov finally got past Stanislav Vovk (‘91/RUS) in the QFs after Vovk had eliminated early the last 2 weeks. He then took out the promising Andrey Kuznetsov (‘91/RUS), a former ITF No.3 and junior Wimbledon champ, in the semis. The 25-year old Nedelko reached the final after taking out Valery Rudnev in the semis. Nedelko is 38-23 for the year, the best in his career so far. Among the next-wavers, Maxim Lunkin (‘94/RUS) obtained his second ATP point with a R1 win over Sergei Krotiouk. He was then eliminated by the eventual champion.

*SPAIN F29: 25-year old Frenchman Mathieu Rodrigues won his second title of the season after defeating Carlos Calderon-Rodrigues 64 63 in the final. Rodrigues, who lost to Dino Marcan in the final of Serbia F6 last week, will use both performances to rise to a new career high at or around the 300^th spot in the ranking. With the win he is now 30-17 in 2011. He had to navigate a draw full of potential-laden players, taking out Marc Giner (’91/ESP), Hiroyasu Ehara (‘91/JPN) and Roberto Carballes-Baena (‘93/ESP) just to reach the final. This last one was the only one to take a set out of him all week. Calderon-Rodrigues had to fight past Andres Artunedo Martinavarr (‘93/ESP) to reach the final. It was a great week for the next-wavers, especially for those born in 1993. Besides Carballes and Artunedo, Taro Daniel (JPN) and Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN) also reached the QFs. 16-year old Brazilian WC Yuri Andrade (‘95/BRA) earned his first ATP point with a R1. The major disappointment of the tournament was David Souto (‘92/VEN)’s early elimination. He lost in R2 to Artunedo Martinavarr.

*ARGENTINA F11: It was a very strange week in Argentina, as the veterans took over in a place where the kids rule. 26-year old Leandro Migani came back to the tour after in April after a 10 month absence and a few months later obtained his first title of the season, all while coming from the qualy. He defeated fellow veteran of the futures circuit Alejandro Fabbri in the final. Migani reached the final after defeating unranked Italian Francesco Garzelli (’91), the young surprise of the tournament, in the semis. Fabbri got through yet another Argentinean veteran, Juan Manuel Valverde, to reach the final. It clearly wasn’t a good week for the next-wavers, with the exception of Mauricio Perez Mota (‘93/ARG) and Mateo Cressa (’93) who advanced to R2. For Cressa, it was his first ATP point.

*AUSTRIA F6: 21-year old Czech Michal Konecny won his first title of the season after defeating experienced Spaniard Oscar Sabate in a 3-set final. The former ITF No.2 improved to 29-18 and will jump to a new career high inside the top 500 in the world. To reach the final, he defeated local Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (‘91/AUT) in the semis. Sabate got through Italian Antonio Comporto to reach the final. Comporto had eliminated top seed Romain Vogeli in the QFs. The only other youngster to make any significant noise throughout the week was Philip Lang (‘90/AUT), who reached the QFs before losing to Konecny.

*BELGIUM F8: 22-year old local Germain Gigougnon was yet another player this week to win his first title of the season, defeating Frenchman Tak Khunn Wang (’91) in the final. The Belgian has been having an irregular year (improved to 16-12 in 2011), which started in mid-April after a 6 month layoff. Regardless, Gigougnon has been steadily showing improvement which led to his coronation. With the win he hopes to surpass his previous career high of 602 within the next few weeks. He only dropped one set during the week and it came in the semis against the very promising Arthur De Greef (‘92/BEL). The 19-year old Wang has played a lot of tennis in 2011 (29-21) and although he will likely end the year ranked higher than at the end of 2010, it can be said that more was expected out of him. Wang defeated Marco Dierckx in the semis. The surprise of the week came at the hands of relatively unknown Dutchman Alban Meuffels (’92), who reached the QFs after taking out 2^nd seed Guillermo Hormazabal of Chile.

*CROATIA F6: Top seed Toni Androic (’91/CRO) won his third title of the season after defeating fellow rising Croatian Dino Marcan (‘91/CRO) in the final, avenging a loss in the final of Armenia F1. Androic is now 37-11 and will be inside the top 400 next week, along with sitting at a new career high. The champion did not drop a set all week and along with Marcan, he is a player to keep a close eye on for the upcoming season. He easily dismantled 3^rd seed Tomislav Brkic (‘90/BIH) in the semis, only losing 3 games. Marcan, the second seed, defeated Blaz Rola (‘90/SLO) in the other semi-final. Among the next-wavers, 16-year old Filip Veger (‘94/CRO) obtained his first ATP point with a R1 win over Franko Miocic (‘95/CRO).

*FINLAND F2: Patrick Rosenholm is definitely one of the best newcomers of the year, in the sense that he came virtually out of nowhere to establish himself as one of the better players in the futures circuit. The 23-year old Swede won his third title of the year (his previous 2 were in India) after defeating fellow unheralded Vladimir Ivanov of Estonia in the final. Rosenholm, who finished 2010 ranked 1739, is now 29-9 and will crack the top 500 for the first time in his career next week. He defeated Jordi Samper-Montana (‘90/ESP) in the semis. Samper-Montana had taken out top seed Timo Nieminen one round earlier. For the 24-year old Ivanov it has also been a career year. He entered the ranking for the first time in 2006 but had failed to crack the top 1000 up until this year. He is now 12-3 over his last 3 tournaments, losing in the final all 3 times. He defeated the more talented and hyped Jan-Frederik Brunken (‘90/GER) in the semis. The only other next-waver of significance was Sam Barry (‘92/IRL), who reached the QFs before losing to the eventual champ.

*GERMANY F11: 25-year old German Steven Moneke is literally on fire. He won his second title of the year after defeating Nils Langer (‘90/GER) in the final, and has now won 14 of his last 15 matches during the last 3 weeks. The winner is obviously in the best stretch of his career, moving to 24-11 for the year. The win will deposit him at the doorstep of the top 500. He also didn’t drop a set all week. In the semis, he defeated the surprise of the tournament, Kevin Kaczynski (‘94/GER). The 17-year old German, who isn’t even in the ITF top 100 at the moment, took a WC into the main draw and took full advantage of playing guys with rankings outside the top 1000. Langer reached the final after defeating the unseeded Michel Dornbusch (‘90/GER) in the semis. It should be said that Moneke was the only player in the QFs who was born before 1990, making it a great week for the next-wavers. Langer had also taken out 2^nd seed Kevin Krawietz (’92/GER), the top prospect in the country. Fellow Germans Marko Lenz (’91), Ralf Steinbach (’92) and David Thurner (’90) were the other players to reach the QFs.

*MEXICO F8: Uruguayan veteran Marcel Felder won his 5^th title of the season after defeating Adam El Mihdawy of the United States in the final. It was the third title in Mexican territory for Felder, who has been on a tear this year (39-12). However, his success has come against week competition and his age suggests that this might be close to his ceiling. His performance the last 2 weeks will catapult him to the doorstep of the top 300, getting him in challenger range with very few points to defend until the end of the year. It is my guess that it’s now or never for Felder to make a mark in a sport in which he was supposed to be much better, at least based on his performance at the junior level. Felder, who did not drop a set all week, defeated top seed Daniel Garza in the semis. El Mihdawy reached the final after defeating 37-year old Cuban Lazaro Navarro-Battles, who had been unranked since 2009. It was also a very positive week for a pair of next-wavers, as Luis Patino (‘93/MEX) and Roberto Cid (‘93/USA) reached the QFs. Patino entered the ranking for the first time.

*PERU F2: Argentinean starlet Agustin Velotti (’92) won his second title of the season, defeating top seed Cristobal Saavedra-Corvalan (‘90/CHI) in the final. Velotti, a former junior Roland Garros champion, did not drop a set all week. He is now 26-9 in 2011 and will be inside the top 400 next week, a new career high for him. Velotti didn’t face much competition until the final, easily dismantling local Sergio Galdos (‘90/PER) in the semis. Saavedra-Corvalan had a much rockier road, having to fight 3-set battles against Guido Pella (‘90/ARG) in the QFs and Martin Cuevas (‘92/URU) in the semis. Saavedra is now 35-15 and will rise to a new career high very close to the top 300. Among the next-wavers, Bolivian Boris Arias (’93) obtained his second ATP point while Peruvian wonder-kid Jorge Brian Panta-Herreros (’95) won another won another R1 match to add one more point to his collection. The upset of the week was Andrea Collarini’s R1 loss to Joaquin Monteferrario, not because of the opponent, but because he showed great form the previous week, taking the title in Argentina F10.

*POLAND F6: 23-year old top seed Gregorz Panfil won his first title of the season after defeating fellow Pole Mateusz Szmigiel 62 62 in the final. Panfil is now 26-15 in 2011, a subpar year for him since the title will only get him back to the ranking he had at the beginning of the season, and some 200 spots lower than his career high. He defeated Andriej Kapas in the semis, while Szmigiel took out Dawid Celt to round up an all-Polish SF. Among the next-wavers, Libor Salaba (‘92/CZE) reached the QFs while Mark Richards (‘93/AUS) and Arkadiusz Kocyla (‘93/POL) made it to R2. It was the first ATP point for Kocyla.

*SERBIA F7: 21-year old Austrian Michael Linzer won is 4^th title of the season, defeating Denes Lukacs of Hungary in the final. The champion, who won’t be flying under the radar for much longer, is now on a 15-match winning streak after winning back to back futures events in Turkey in July. He is now 35-11 for the year, and will rise to a new career high ranking of 350 next week. Despite not having an illustrious junior career, Linzer has been steadily improving his ranking year after year and is definitely a name to follow for next season. To reach the final he easily dismantled top seed Miljan Zekic of Serbia, who is having a career year too. Lukacs, the 24-year old runner-up, defeated Nicola Cacic (‘90/SRB) in the other semi-final. For the next-wavers, it was a very good week, as ’94-born Serbian pair Pedja Krstin and Miki Jankovic both advanced to the QFs. Jankovic achieved an impressive straight sets victory over Bosnian starlet Damir Dzumhur (’92), who was back on tour after almost 2 months.  

*SLOVAK REPUBLIC F3: 24-year old Czech Marek Michalicka won his first title of the season after defeating Daniel Lustig in the final. Michalicka is now on the tour full time after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, where he played for 4 years. After starting the season in late June, he has amassed a 14-6 record with a title and a final appearance. He will rise to a career high ranking right outside the top 600. It was definitely another frustrating week for Slovakians, as the 2 heavy favorites (and top seeds) were upset in the semis. Norbert Gombos (‘90/SVK) lost to Michalicka while Jozef Kovalik (‘92/SVK) fell to Lustig. Among the other next-wavers to leave their mark, Filip Vittek (‘93/SVK) and Henri Laaksonen (‘92/SUI) both reached the QFs.

Futures: Week 31

Here are the highlights:

*ITALY F22: In what seemed like an All-Star draw of next-wavers, Argentinean Andres Molteni won his second futures title of the year after defeating up and coming local Alessandro Giannessi (’90) 75 64 in the final. Molteni, who won a challenger in Ecuador early this year, proved that his talent exceeds the level of competition at the futures circuit. He’s now 28-15 for the year, but the majority of his matches came at the challenger level. This week, he crushed 15-year old future star Gianluigi Quinzi (ITA) in R1 and then easily dismissed former ITF No.1 Jonathan Eysseric (‘89/FRA) in the QFs. To set up the match with Giannessi, he had to tough out a 3-setter against the tournament’s surprise, qualifier Antonio Comorto (‘89/ITA). On the other side of the draw, Giannessi defeated Sami Reinwein (’92/GER), Toni Androic (‘91/CRO) and James Ducksworth (’92/AUS) en route to the final. One other surprise during the week was Cesar Ramirez’s trip to the QFs. The ever promising 21-year old Mexican (once ITF No.3) defeated Gianluca Naso (ranked about 300 spots higher) in 3 sets in R2.

*KAZAKHSTAN F5: Indian Karan Rastogi claimed his second futures title of the year after defeating Mohamed Safwat (‘90/EGY) in the final. Rastogi, once ranked 4^th in ITF, is 21-9 for the year as he tried to get back into the top 300 in the world. To reach the final, Rastogi took out Roman Jebavy (‘89/CZE) in straights in the semis. Safwat was vying for his first title of the season and despite falling short, improved to 25-12. He defeated Arata Onozawa of Japan to the reach the final. There weren’t many surprised this week as all 8 seeds advanced to the QFs. However, locals Daniiar Duldaev (’92) and Kairat Kosherov (’91) obtained their first ATP points.

*POLAND F5: Top seed Dusan Lojda (CZE) cruised through the field en route to his second futures title of the year, after defeating local Piotr Gadomski (’91) in the final. Like Molteni in Italy, Lojda left the challenger tour for a week to play against inferior competition in a points-rich 15k tournament. It showed as he didn’t lose a set all week. The 23-year old former Jr. US Open champ improved to 23-15 and will jump back into the top 200 thanks to this victory. To reach the final he defeated 5^th seed Marcin Gawron, a former rival at the junior level. The unseeded Gadomski pulled a few upsets en route to the final, including a 3-setter against 2^nd seed Jan Mertl.

*RUSSIA F5: Qualifier Nick Van der Meer stunned everyone as he won his first title of the season, defeating Russian Andrey Kumantsov in the final. The Dutchman, who’s barely played the last 2 years, won big in his third futures event of the year. En route to winning this points-heavy 15K + H tourney, the 26-year old upset 2^nd seed Ilya Belyaev (‘90/RUS) in R1 and then Alexander Rumyantsev (’92) in the semis. Kumantsov had an upset of his own too, taking out top seed Denis Matsukevitch in the QFs. He later defeated Mikhail Fufygin (‘90/RUS) in the semis. Among the next-wavers, 16-year old Maxim Lunkin (‘94/RUS) obtained his maiden ATP point with a R1 win over Artem Ilyushin (‘91/RUS).

*SPAIN 28: Rising star Pablo Carreno-Busta (’91/ESP) won his 3^rd futures title of the season, defeating Argentinean veteran Martin Alund in a much contested 3-set final. The young Spaniard took a wild card into the tournament to be the top seed and heavy favorite, considering he won his first challenger event earlier this year. His supremacy and talent were easily seen, as he dismissed very good futures-level players like Antal Van der Duim in the QFs and Roberto Carballes-Baena (‘93/ESP) in the semis, both in straight sets. It wasn’t until he met the 26-year old Alund that he found some resistance. Carreno-Busta improved to 39-11 and will reach a new career high thanks to this title. He is having yet another career year and is a very good candidate to crack the top 100 by year’s end. Alund had a less smooth week, winning 3 of his matches in 3 sets and losing his 4^th one in the final. He was vying for his 6^th title of the season, one in which he’s 35-6. Among the young guns, Ricardo Ojeda Lara and Oriol Roca Batalla, both ’93-born Spaniards, obtained 1 point each after R1 wins.

*ARGENTINA F10: It was the return of the prodigal son as Andrea Collarini (‘92/USA) won his first ever pro title with a straight sets win over local Patricio Heras (’89). Collarini, born in the United States but raised in Argentina since he was a child, took a USTA scholarship to train in Florida and play under the American flag. However, since making the switch, the former Jr. French Open finalist had seen his growth stopped. Compared to fellow ’92-borns like Facundo Arguello and Diego Schwartzman (both of whom are already competing at the challenger level), Collarini entered the week ranked 761. His talent can’t be denied obviously, as he cruised through the week without dropping a set. En route to the final, he dismissed top seed Sebastian Decoud, a player ranked 500 spots higher in the ranking and who was once in the top 150. Heras, the 4^th seed, reached the final after upsetting Schwartzman (‘92/ARG) in a 3-set semi-final. Among the younger players, Tomas Lipovsek Puches (‘93/ARG) obtained his first ever ATP point with a R1 win.

*AUSTRIA F5: Italian Riccardo Bellotti (’91) obtained his first futures title after upsetting top seed Alexander Flock in the final. Bellotti had cruised to the final without dropping a set and managed to take care of the German veteran in the third set. The Italian is now 20-12 and will reach a new career high inside the top 700. It was a very impressive week, as he also took out the 4^th (Oscar Sabate) and 2^nd (Michal Konecky) seeds just to get to the final. Flock defeated Italian qualifier Marco Bella to reach the final. The surprise of the week was Frenchman Yanais Laurent (’92), an unranked qualifier who made a run to the QFs which including an upset win over 8^th seed Bastian Trinker (‘90/AUT). Also, the ’93-born trio of Mate Pavic (CRO), Robin Kern (GER) and Michael Eibl (AUT) made R2 appearances after first rounds wins.

*BELGIUM F7: The 4^th one was the charm for young Belgian Yannick Reuter (’91), who won his first title of the season after losing his previous 3 finals. He defeated top seed Alexandre Folie (‘90/BEL) in the final. He improved to 28-16 in 2011 and will be very close to cracking the top 500 in the next few weeks. In an all-Belgium semi-finals, Reuter defeated Gaetan De Lovinfosse (’90) while Folie took out Germain Gigougnon (’89). Despite losing in the final, Folie will rise to a new career high inside the top 400 next week. Among the next-wavers, a pair of young Frenchman earned valuable points, as both Armel Rancezot (’94) and Tristan Lamasine (’93) logged R1 wins.

*BRAZIL F25: Local Ricardo Hocevar continued this week’s streak of top seed triumphs, taking the title over unseeded Marcelo Demoliner (’89) in the final. The 26-year old former 149 in the world had a rocky road to the title, barely squeezing by teenager Thiago Moura Monteiro (‘94/BRA) in 3 sets in R1 and surviving another 3-set thriller in the QFs vs. Tiago Lopes. Hocevar then went on to defeat the surprise of the tournament, Joao Pedro Sorgi (‘93/BRA), who rode a wild card all the way to the semis, upsetting Eladio Ribeiro Neto and Caio Zampieri along the way. Demoliner had a great week too, upsetting Tiago Fernandes (‘93/BRA), Christian Lindell (‘91/SWE) and Rafael Camilo (‘90/BRA) to reach the final. Among the younger players, Raul Francisquiny (‘93/BRA) reached the second round after qualifying into the main draw, therefore obtaining his 3^rd ATP point.

*ECUADOR F5: Uruguayan veteran Marcel Felder won his 4^th title of the season after defeating local player Ivan Endara in the final. The 27-year old former ITF No.4 improved to 34-12 for the year as he tries to make the much awaited jump to the challenger level. To reach the final he benefited from Guido Andreozzi (’91/ARG)’s retirement due to dehydration in the QFs, and then came back from a set down against another Argentinean, 6^th seed Christian Benedetti. Endara took out the 1^st (Alejandro Gonzalez) and 3^rd (Julio Cesar Campozano) seeds to reach the final but couldn’t hold a one set lead over Felder in the final. Among the next-wavers, Juan Ignacio Londero (‘93/ARG) and Bernardo Casares (‘94/ECU) logged R1 wins.

*FINLAND F1: Veteran Finn Timo Nieminen was yet another top seed to finish the week lifting a trophy, thanks to his win over Estonian Vladimir Ivanov in the final. The 29-year old was coming on the heels of underwhelming performances as the favorite in a handful of futures tournaments, but this week he made his talent and experience count towards clinching the win. Nieminen, who reached a career high ranking of 254 over 8 years ago will be very close to that ranking thanks to his win this week. He also improved to 29-14 for the year. En route to the final, Nieminen also defeated Micke Kontinen (‘92/FIN) and Jordi Samper-Montana (‘90/ESP). Ivanov, the runner-up, logged his second consecutive final appearance, after losing to Chilean Hans Podlipnik-Castillo in the final of Lithuania F1 last week. The 24-year old will crack the top 1000 for the first time in his career next week. He proved he can win at the futures level with wins over Jan-Frederik Brunken (‘90/GER) in the QFs and Juho Paukku, the 2^nd seed, in the semis. Italian Alessandro Bega (’91/ITA) was the only other youngster to reach the QFs, losing to Paukku at that stage.

*GERMANY F10: Top seed Denis Bloemke won his first title of the season after defeating last week’s champ Steven Moneke in the final. The 22-year old winner didn’t find much resistance until the final, as Moneke was the only one to take a set from him all week. Bloemke is 15-6 in limited action in 2011. He defeated 3^rd seed Romain Vogeli of the Czech Republic to reach the final, while Moneke took out Richard Waite (‘90/GER) in the other SF. Among the next-wavers, ’93-born Germans Constantin Christ and Matthias Wunner, along with ’94-born Swiss Alexander Ritschard obtained ATP points due to R1 wins.

*LATVIA F1: In the week of the top seeds, Italian Claudio Grassi didn’t want to be less than many of his counterparts around the globe. The 26-year old ambidextrous won his second title of the season, defeating up and coming Frenchman Pierre-Hughes Herbert (’91) in the final. He improved to 30-18 in 2011 and will surpass his career high ranking of 325 next week thanks to this win. To reach the final he defeated 22-year old Dzmitry Zhyrmont of Belarus in 3 sets. Herbert, the runner-up, will also jump to a new career high, right on the doorstep of the top 400. He defeated local Deniss Pavlovs in the semis. Pavlovs had eliminated Chilean Hans Podlipnik-Castillo in the QFs, ending his 12-match winning streak.

*PERU F1: 22-year old Argentinean Maximiliano Estevez won his first title of the year, upsetting local favorite and rising star Duilio Beretta (’92) in 2 tie-breakers in the final. The unseeded and unexpected champion took out top seed Chilean Cristobal Saavedra-Corvalan (’90) in the semis and rode the momentum into the final. He improved to 9-10 for the year, a record that doesn’t reflect his talent level, which took him to the doorstep of the top 600 a little over a year ago. With the win he’ll be close to reaching a new career high ranking. Beretta took out the highly talented Guido Pella (‘90/ARG) in 3 sets in the other semi-final. Without doubts, the surprise of the tournament was wunder-kid Jorge Brian Panta-Herreros. The ’95-born Peruvian, currently ITF No.94, qualified into the main draw and then proceeded to upset 3^rd seed Mauricio Echazu in R1 and Chilean Felipe Fritz (’93) in R2. He was eliminated in the QFs by the eventual champion.

*SERBIA F6: Croatian Dino Marcan (’91) won his second title of the season after defeating Frenchman Mathieu Rodrigues in the final. The 4^th seed improved to 23-16 for the year and will jump to a new career high around 450 next week. To reach the final Marcan took out top seed Adam Kellner of Hungary in a 3-set thriller. Meanwhile, Rodrigues also took out a Hungarian, defeating Denes Lukacs. Among the next-wavers, Karim-Mohamed Mamoun (‘91/EGY) reached the QFs, while Serbians Miki Jankovic (‘94) and Pedja Krstin (’94) advanced to R2.

*SLOVAK REPUBLIC F2: Next-waver extraordinaire Jozef Kovalik (’92/SVK) won the second title of his short career after defeating veteran Daniel Lustig of the Czech Republic. Kovalik had to work overtime throughout the week, playing 13 sets in 5 matches. He advanced to the final after top seed Kamil Capkovic retired during the third set of their semi-final match. Kovalik is 34-15 in 2011, his first full year as a pro, and will be inside the top 500 next week. Slovakians were deprived of a dream final, as 2^nd seed Norbert Gombos (‘90/SVK) lost to Lustig in the other semi-final. The tournament had the presence of most of the top Eastern-European next-wavers, making it very interesting to follow. Current ITF No.1 and Jr. Australian Open winner Jiri Vesely (‘93/CZE) advanced to the QFs before losing to Gombos in straight sets. Moreover, former ITF No.1 and Jr. Wimbledon champ Marton Fucsovics also advanced to the QFs, where he lost to Lustig.

*TURKEY F23: Top seed Riccardo Ghedin won his first tournament of the year after defeating the ever promising Aussie Brydan Klein (’89) in the final. Ghedin, who has spent most of the year playing challengers, improved to 19-12 in 2011. He didn’t lose a set all week and defeated 3^rd seed Rudy Coco in the semis. Klein, on the other hand, is now at 18-20 for the year and has a great amount of points to defend until the end of the year. The young Aussie, a former ITF No.4 and Jr. Australian Open champ, has been very inconsistent this year, having failed to return to the challenger level and struggling mightily at the futures. This week he notched solid victories over Alexander Ward (‘90/GBR) and Patrick Rosenholm (SWE), which should give him confidence for the upcoming tournaments.

*USA F22: No.2 seed Blake Strode won his second title of the year after defeating unseeded surprise finalist Evan King (’92/USA) in the final. The 24-year old Strode is now 24-14 in 2011. He will jump to a new career high ranking next week, as he inches closer to the top 400. To reach the final, Strode defeated fellow American Jeff Dadamo (’89) in the semis.  On the top part of the draw, King made the most out of his wild card and the early elimination of top seed Clement Reix. King faced no seeds until the final, but took out John-Patrick Smith (‘89/AUS) and unranked qualifier Mousheg Hovhannisyan (’91/USA), the surprise of the tournament. Among the young-guns, Americans Chase Buchanan (’91) and Devin Britton (’92) both reached the QFs.

Futures: Week 30

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 4^th 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 145^th 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 3^rd 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 5^th 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 8^th seed Oscar Sabate of Spain in R2 and never looked back, defeating 5^th 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 4^th 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 2^nd 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 8^th 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.  

Futures: Week 29

Here’s a quick review of last week’s action:

*CANADA F4: Local top seed Vasek Pospisil (’90) took the title after defeating fellow Canadian Eric Chvojka in a straight sets final. Pospisil, who didn’t drop a set all week, defeated Australian Chris Letcher to reach the final. The winner, who improved to 35-13 in 2011, will reach a new career high (inside the top 180 in the world) thanks to this title, his second one of the season. Chvojka, the 25-year old runner-up, defeated Spanish-Canadian Steven Diez (’91) in the semis. He will also reach a new career high and will now be inside the top 300. A pair of next-wavers made their way to the QFs, those being Mark Verryth (’91/AUS) and Renier Moolman (’92/RSA). However, the surprise of the tournament was 16-year old local hope Hugo Di Feo earning his first ever ATP point. He’s one of a select few number of players his age in the rankings.

*GREAT BRITAIN F11: 23-year old local Chris Eaton took the title after handling Australian starlet Benjamin Mitchell (’92) in the final. Eaton won his second tournament of the season and reached his 30^th victory in 2011 (30-13). He survived consecutive scares in the QFs and SFs, with Daniel Evans (‘90/GBR) and Elie Rousset (FRA) taking him the distance. He also dismissed Brit hope Oliver Golding (’93) in R2. Mitchell, has a similarly rocky path to the final, going to 3 sets twice, including a win over top seed Joshua Milton in the semis. He improved to 22-8 in 2011. The only other next-wavers to do anything of significance were Brits Mark Richards (’93) and Lewis Burton (’92), both of whom advanced to R2 before being eliminated.

*ITALY F20: Austrian Philip Oswald shocked local top seed and red hot Alessandro Giannessi (’90) in the final to take the title. It was Oswald’s second title of the season, and a tough one to get, after being taken the distance in 3 of his 5 matches throughout the week. He took out next-wavers Yasutaka Uchiyama (‘92/JPN) and Tak Khunn Wang (‘91/FRA) in the early rounds, and had a dogfight against Walter Trusendi of Italy in the semis. Despite losing the final, Giannessi improved to 36-14 and will take the points to advance to a new career high, as he inches closer to the top 200. The tournament’s disappointment was the early elimination of Irishman James McGee, who came into the week on the heels of winning a futures tournament at home, but was ousted in R2 by Luca Vanni.

*AUSTRIA F4:  The third one was the charm for German starlet Kevin Krawietz (’92), as he finally managed to win his first title of the season. Krawietz had lost his previous 2 finals, but took out top seed Gerald Melzer (’90) in straight sets. The German only lost one set throughout the week and improved to 27-15 in 2011. With the title, he’ll also improve to a new career high ranking, inside the top 500. The surprise of the tournament was local Pascal Brunner (’90), who advanced to the semis before losing to Melzer. On the other hand, the disappointment was No.2 seed Norbert Gombos (‘90/SVK), who surprisingly lost in the QFs after winning a tournament in the same country a few weeks earlier.

*BELGIUM F5: Experience prevailed as 31-year old top seed Nicolas Devilder of France took the title over second-seeded Peter Torebko of Germany. It was the second title in that country for Devilder, who was 60 in the world back in 2008. It wasn’t an easy ride however, as next-wavers Julien Obry (’91/FRA) in the QFs and Arthur de Greef (‘92/BEL) in the semis took him to a third set. Torebko didn’t have it easy either, almost being eliminated in R1 by Gaetan De Lovinfosse (’91) of Belgium.  The only other significant next-waver to take action was local starlet Joris De Loore (’93). He advanced to R2 and took 7^th seed Niels Desein to 3 sets before being eliminated. He is currently ranked 19^th in ITF and has already racked up 3 ATP points.

*ESTONIA F2: Chilean Hans Podlipnik-Castillo avenged his loss in the final of last week’s Estonia F1 tournament by taking the title with a straight sets win over young gun Jozef Kovalik (’92/SVK). The week must have felt like an Ironman-event for the 23-year old South American, as he had to win four 3-setters. He eliminated three players from Belarus before taking on Axel Michon (‘90/FRA) in the semis. Michon has been one of the top 5 players in the futures circuit this year and was the odds on favorite as the top seed, but couldn’t get past a guy who was on a mission. He improved to 24-9 in 2011 as he attempts to get back to the top 400 where he once was. Kovalik, the runner-up, played 9 sets in his last 3 matches but ran out of gas at the worst moment after being up a set in the final. The young Slovakian is having an amazing first full season as a pro, improving his record to 29-15. The points earned here will once again launch him into a new career high ranking. Among the youngest next-wavers, Russian Konstantin Gherlak (’94) earned his first ATP point with a R1 win over Yahor Yatsyk of Belarus.

*SERBIA F4: 28-year old veteran Goran Tosic of Montenegro won his first title of the year after defeating France’s Gleb Sakharov. Tosic, the No.2 seed, was having a very subpar season but snapped out of it during this tournament close to home. He dropped no sets throughout the week and Serbian youngster Danilo Petrovic (’92) in straights to reach the final. The opposite of Tosic was top seed Nicola Cacic (‘90/SRB) who was having a very positive 2011 season but was eliminated in the QFs by Arsenije Zlatanovic, also of Serbia. The only other young-gun to make a significant run was Croatian Josip Mesin (’91), who reached the QFs before being eliminated by Sakharov.

*SPAIN F26: It’s safe to say that this week’s champion came out of nowhere. Marc Giner (‘91/ESP) benefitted from the retirement of top seed Ilya Belyaev (’90) in R1 to go on a devilish run that ended with him lifting the trophy. Giner did not drop a set all week, including a 64 61 win over Carlos Calderon Rodriguez in the final. Even with the 5 wins he still has a negative 2011 record (17-18), making his run even more perplexing. He even defeated the red hot Matt Reid (’90) in the semis by a score of 63 61 after only being able to steal 2 games from him exactly a week before. Hyped next-wavers Ricardo Rodriguez (‘93/VEN) and Taro Daniel (‘93/JPN) had very solid weeks, both advancing to the QFs. Also in the QFs were Aussie Maverick Banes (’92) and Spaniard Rafael-Mazon Hernandez (’90). Another ’93-born, Samuel Ribeiro Navarrete (ESP), earned his maiden ATP point this week.

*TURKEY F21: 21-year old Austrian Michael Linzer showed his level of comfort playing in Turkish territory, winning his 10^th consecutive match and earning his second title in two weeks. He defeated French starlet Jerome Inzerillo (’90) in straight sets to clinch his third title of the season and his fourth in Turkey dating back to the end of 2010. The 2^nd seed improved to 30-11 and will see his ranking jump very close to 400 once the points for both of these championships are taken into account. Linzer was only taken the distance once, and that was in his SF clash against Aussie Dane Propoggia (’90). The Turkish futures events are always a preferred destination for next-wavers, and this week wasn’t going to be the exception. Italian Edoardo Eremin (’93), building on an unexpected run to the final the week before, reached the SFs before being ousted by Inzerillo. To reach the semis he took out fellow Italian (of bigger fame) Alessandro Colella (’92) in the QFs. Frenchman Francois-Arthur Vibert (’90) also reached the QFs, where he was eliminated by the eventual champion.

*USA F20: Unseeded wild card Tennys Sandgren (’91/USA) gave himself a belated 20^th birthday gift after unexpectedly taking the title over Rudolf Siwi of the Czech Republic. It was obviously the first professional for Sandgren, who was a No.9 ITF in 2009. The young American, who plays college tennis at the University of Tennessee, defeated Jeff Dadamo in the semis. Dadamo himself had won his first pro title after coming through the college ranks a few weeks back. As it has been the case over the last few months, these tournaments in the US are filled with players who are currently on summer break from their college teams, or guys who have recently graduated and are back full time on the tour. This is also the case with Siwy, who graduated in 2009 from Fresno State University. The same can be said for John Peers, a 23-year old Australian who graduated from Baylor University and won his first title in Venezuela earlier this year. Peers reached the SFs, where he lost to Siwi. Among the younger guys, Americans Dennis Novikov (’93) and Ty Trombetta (’90) reached the QFs, while Raymond Sarmiento (’92/first ATP point), Evan King (’92), Austin Krajicek (’90), Jordan Cox (’92) and Sekou Bangoura (’91) all reached the second round before being eliminated.

Futures: Week 28

*****APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY*****

Local heroes and first-time winners among the themes of the week. Here’s a quick recap:

*CANADA F3: 24-year old Chinese Zhe Li won his first title of the season after defeating Canadian (of Spanish past) Steven Diez (’91) in the final. Li improved to 23-10 for the season after reaching his second final of the year. He was able to take the title easily this time around, with a straight sets routing of Diez. The Chinese only struggled against his compatriot (and top seed) Mao-Xin Gong, but managed to get past him in 3 sets. Diez had a very prosperous first half of 2011 but had been going through a slump as of late. He had to battle through a pair of 3-setters in the early rounds just to get to the weekend, where he defeated Marcelo Arevalo (’91/ESA) to reach the final. The surprises of the tournament were a pair of North American youngsters. Bjorn Fratangelo (’93/USA), the current junior French Open champion and Filip Peliwo (‘94/CAN) advanced to the QFs.

*ESTONIA F1: Local top seed Jurgen Zopp took his first title of the season after defeating Chilean Hans Podlipnik-Castillo in a straight set final. The 23-year old Northern European will use the win in this 15k tournament to jump to a new career high inside the top 190 players in the world. Zopp has been steadily rising through the rankings over the past few seasons, and this one hasn’t been the exception. His 23-10 ranking shows moderate success, but with a good number of the wins coming at the challenger level, they take on a more positive connotation. Zopp had a very smooth week, except for his SF clash against Frenchman Axel Michon (’90). Michon took him to 3 sets before surrendering in a third set tie-breaker. The Chilean runner-up also had not lost any sets and came rested into the final because of Harri Helliovaara’s (‘89/FIN) withdrawal in the semis. Pavel Filin (’92) of Belarus was the surprise of the tournament, advancing to the QFs before losing to Michon. Among other well-known next-wavers, current ITF No.1 Jiri Vesely (‘93/CZE) lost in R2 to the eventual champion.

*IRELAND F1: The third one was the charm for local James McGee. The 23-year old Irish took his first title of the season in 3 tries after defeating top seed Charles-Antoine Brezac of France in the final. He actually defeated both of the top seeds, as he topped Miloslav Mecir Jr. in the semis in 3 sets, the only time he was taken the distance all week. Brezac got to the final after defeating Irish Davis Cup hero Barry King in the semis. King had won the crucial 5^th rubber in their clash against Tunisia. Marcus Willis (‘90/GBR) was the only youngster to make any noise, as he advanced to the QFs before being eliminated by the eventual champion.

*ITALY F19: Belgian Yannick Mertens won his third title of the season after defeating surprise finalist Nicolas Pastor (‘91/ARG). The 24-year old champion is having an excellent 2011 campaign (33-14) and the win came as no surprise after top seed Stefano Galvani went out early in the QFs to Manuel Sanchez (’91/MEX). To reach the final he defeated veteran Alberto Brizzi, also in 3 sets. Pastor, the runner-up, eliminated 5^th seed Laurent Rochette, Sanchez and Enrico Burzi to reach the final. He had not lost a set prior to the final. The Argentine is now 20-11 in 2011 and will be back in the top 500 when these points enter the rankings. Other than Sanchez, the other next-wavers to reach the QFs were Stefano Travaglia (’91) and Riccardo Sinicropi (’90). Both were eliminated in that stage.  

*AUSTRIA F3: Experienced Swiss Michael Lammer took advantage of being the clear favorite en route to winning the title over Marek Michalicka of the Czech Republic. It was his first title in 3 finals in 2011 for Lammer, who was once ranked 150 in the world. The 29-year old was taken the distance only in the final, after losing a combined 14 games in his previous 4 matches. Michalicka was a surprise finalist, stringing 4 wins in one week after only getting 2 up until now in 2011. He defeated Italian Ricardo Bellotti (’91) to reach the final. Next-waver Henri Laaksonen (‘92/SUI) reached the QFs before losing to Bellotti.

*BELGIUM F4: German Steffan Siefert won his first title of the season, defeating surprise finalist Sebastien Boltz (’93) of France in the final. The 26-year old champion didn’t drop a set all week and improved to 15-4 for the year. However, the story of the week was Boltz, who stringed 4 wins in a row after having earned his first ATP point early this year. The young Frenchman won his 3 qualifying matches, and then guys like Gleb Sakharov, Alexander Ward (‘90/GBR) and Alexandre Folie (‘90/BEL) en route to the final. Top seed Rudy Coco was the disappointment of the week, as he was ousted in R1 by Kevin Botti of France. On the other hand, Brit James Marsalek (’92) advanced to the QF, before being eliminated by Folie, the No.2 seed.

*BRAZIL F22: 23-year old unseeded Diego Matos took the title after defeating 3^rd seed Tiago Lopes in the final in an all-Brazilian clash. It was the first title of the season for Matos, whose 5 wins brought him to a positive 16-15 record in what has been a subpar 2011 campaign. To reach the final he had to go through Argentinean veteran Juan Pablo Villar and the invigorated Fabiano De Paula, who took him to 3 sets. Matos also benefitted from the fact that Lopes took out top seed Julio Silva in the other semi-final. Overall, it wasn’t a very productive week for the slew of Brazilian next-wavers, as none of them reached the QFs. Italian Emanuele Molina (’91) did reach the quarters before being eliminated by De Paula. Gabriel Vicentini Pereira (’93) did achieve another R1 win, his 4^th in 2011.

*SPAIN F25: 26-year old David Estruch earned his second title of 2011 after defeating streaking Australian Matt Reid (’90) in the final. The third seed improved to 32-14 for the season. To reach the final he had to survive an upset attempt from unranked Dutch youngster Matthew Pierot (’90), and then get past the steadily improving Japanese Taro Daniel (’93) in the semis. On the other hand, Reid was on a roll, winning his 4 matches in straight sets leading to the final. Reid improved to 25-13 in what has been a very productive season for him. The surprise of the week was Denis Yevseyev (’93) of Kazakhstan, who upset No.2 seed Gianni Mina (‘92/FRA) to reach the QFs before falling to Daniel. Venezuelan Ricardo Rodriguez (’93) also reached the QFs.  

*TURKEY F20: Austrian Michael Linzer won his second title of the season after defeating surprise finalist Edoardo Eremin (‘93/ITA) in a straight sets final. He improved to 25-11 and showed that he plays his best tennis in Turkish territory. He defeated 23-year old Patrick Rosenholm (SWE) in 3 sets to reach the final. Eremin, on the other hand, had only won 2 main draw matches the whole year, before going for 4 in a row this week. He reached the final without dropping any sets, and gave fits to the more experienced Linzer. Patrick Brydolf (’91/SWE) and Matteo Civarolo (‘92/ITA) were the only next-wavers of relative hype to speak of in the draw, and they both were eliminated in R2. Top seed Brydan Klein (‘89/AUS) was once again eliminated too early, losing in the QFs to Rosenholm.

*US F19: 22-year old Australian John-Patrick Smith won his first title of the year after defeating American veteran Chris Wettengel in the final. Smith was once ITF No.6 in 2007 but then decided to play college tennis at the University of Tennessee. Upon graduting, he went back on tour full time, to mildly successful results leading to this week. He won his 2 qualifying matches and then destroyed his competition, dropping no sets and only 11 games in 5 matches. Smith defeated top seed Robbye Poole in the QFs and then up and comer Mitchell Frank (‘92/USA in the semis. Wettengel, who got into the draw thanks to a wild card, defeated No.2 seed Dimitar Kutrovsky of Bulgaria to reach the final. In a draw full of lesser known players, the surprise was unranked youngster Kyle McMorrow, who not only qualified into the tournament but advanced to the QFs before losing to Kutrovsky.