With Luke Bambridge withdrawing late to concentrate on a training block Joshua Ward-Hibbert is our only seeded entrant in the penultimate Grade A. If seedings prevail he will meet world number 1 Jiri Vesely in round 3. Presumably the Czech has come here to secure the end of season number 1 ranking ahead of Oli - it's a surprise to see him here even so.
Three of our group play local players, which could be tricky, as they have a habit of defying their ranking here.
R1 (L64)
Nicholas Horton (AUS) v (16) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (GBR)
A good first day sees 3 winners out of 4 and a first top 100 scalp for Tom, other than by retirement, gaining revenge for a defeat by the Greek in the summer
R1 (L64)
Nicholas Horton (AUS) v (16) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (GBR) Cem Ilkel (TUR) v Evan Hoyt (GBR) Tom Hill (GBR) d. (11) Markos Kalovelonis (GRE) 7-6(2) 6-1 Sam Hutt (GBR) d. Yuki Muramatsu (JPN) 1-6 7-6(2) 7-6(2) Jonathan Cornish (GBR) d. Takashi Saito (JPN) 7-5 6-2 (WC) Masaki Osafune (JPN) d. Joshua Page (GBR) 6-7(11) 7-6(2) 6-0
-- Edited by DavidC on Monday 17th of October 2011 05:43:00 PM
Straightforward wins for Josh and Evan today, taking advantage of good draws. Evan didn't fare as well in doubles, teaming up with French ace Enzo Couacaud the 7th seeds lost easily in round 1. Much tougher for Evan in singles tomorrow against a Wimbledon semifinalist
R1 (L64)
(16) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (GBR) d. Nicholas Horton (AUS) 6-0 6-2 Evan Hoyt (GBR) d. Cem Ilkel (TUR) 6-1 6-4
R2
(Q) Hiroki Horikiri (JPN) v (16) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (GBR) (4) Kaichi Uchida (JPN) v Evan Hoyt (GBR) Tom Hill (GBR) v Jumpei Yamasaki (JPN) Sam Hutt (GBR) v Gregoire Barrere (FRA) (14) Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v Jonathan Cornish (GBR)
Close to a wipeout, as Josh had to save matchpoints against one of these tricky locals. Good fighting spirit taking him to the verge of the top 100. A bit disappointing that neither Tom nor Jonathan could take advantage of reasonable draws for a Grade A second round. Evan and Sam weren't likely to progress, but I hoped for closer contests.
Despite today's losses his efforts will take him to the cusp of the top 100 with nothing to defend this year, and with 50 1993's inside that's more or less where the cut will fall for the Australian Open.
Jiri comfortably won both titles to virtually guarantee the end of year number 1 spot. Luke Saville lost in the quarters, so lost the opportunity to overtake Oli for the number 2 spot this week
