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MarkBGregory · 04-18-2016, 11:30 AM

I thought I'd add to law's update with a little more information about my players' progress since the beginning of the GW year.

Juan Jose Elezgueta

It's been a year of rise and fall so far for Elezgueta, but generally progress is being made in the right direction.

Elezgueta finished last year just outside the top 80, and had a tricky few opening weeks of the season. As a clay court specialist with grass secondary, Elezgueta avoided the Australian Open having been knocked out in the first round last year, but did very little by way of compensation. A hard court CH2 was played in Week 2 just to keep form up, but the Argentinian was unseeded and fell to 5th seed Dominik Bigos 6-2 6-4 in the second round. In Week 5, he entered a clay court CH2 in Colombia with higher expectations, but a tough first round draw against 5th seed Pierre-Yves Poidebard led to a disappointing 6-1 3-6 6-4 defeat. Despite the difficult performance, Elezgueta rose to just within the top 80.

Then things started to pick up. A CH2 title was clinched in Week 9 in Morocco, with 5th seed Elezgueta gaining revenge against top seed Poidebard with a 6-3 6-4 victory in the final. Elezgueta stayed in Morocco for another CH2 in Week 13, reaching the final again before losing to unseeded American Evan Farthing. In Week 16, just before the Monte Carlo Masters, Elezgueta headed to Brazil for another CH2, in which he reached the semi-finals as the second seed before losing to 4th seed Tiago Yoshida, a big junior rival of his, 3-6 6-3 7-5. By the end of Week 16, Elezgueta has risen to a career high ranking of 60th.

A first round victory at the Monte Carlo MST event the following week was enough for some more points, and a defeat to third seed Gaspare Caprara in round two was hardly surprising. Then, the highlight of the year: Elezgueta's first foray into ATP 250 territory landed him a semi-final berth as the 7th seed at the Estoril Open, having beaten top seed Teo Rask along the way. A semi-final defeat to #5 Antonio Campelo of Portugal followed, as did a new career high: 53rd.

Elezgueta only reached the 1st round of the Roland Garros GSL and dropped points thanks to his second round appearance in the previous year. Another foray into ATP 250 territory at the Queen's Club afforded a quarter-final appearance as the 10th seed, before a narrow 7-5 7-6(1) defeat to 4th seed Valenti Agia ended his hopes. Then a second consecutive third round appearance at Wimbledon held his ranking steady, the highlight being a victory over 18th seed Ene Colon, 3-6 6-4 6-1 7-6(5). Post-Wimbledon, thanks to a big points drop before RG, he was at 74th in the world.

But the position has been somewhat recovered in more recent weeks. A meagre second round finish at the Olympics was more of a novelty than a highlight, but two consecutive clay court CH1 events have paid dividends, with a title in Sam Marino in Week 34 as the third seed, beating top seed Joaquim Arbizu in the final, and a semi-final appearance the following week in Italy, losing 6-1 6-1 to Italian Fabio Fagnini, who was enjoying the home advantage. Elezgueta currently sits in 65th in the world.

According to the 10-point scale, his rating is 9.49.

Igor Borowski

It's been a great year so far for 21-year-old Borowski, who started the year ranked roughly 130th but is now 89th.

The year started poorly though, with only WTC performances standing out amongst poor singles results across the board. 1 win in Week 1 at the WTC was followed by a second round exit at a hard-court CH2 in Brazil - entered as a wildcard, Borowski lost 2-6 7-6(7) 6-2 to eighth seed John Elliot in the second round. A straight-sets first round defeat to #17 Burt Tinker in the Australian Open GSL in Week 4 was followed by two more WTC victories in Week 6 and another CH2 second round defeat in Week 7, losing unseeded to second seed Gregorio Yapo 6-2 6-3. By the end of Week 7, Borowski had slumped to outside the top 150, and before he was back in competitive action again, he fell as low as 171st.

But three consecutive weeks boosted his ranking phenomenally. A CH2 in Mexico was won from an unseeded position after defeating the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 7th seeds en route to the title, and the following week he did it again, this time as the top seed, defeating third seed Charlie Armour 6-7(3) 6-2 6-1 in the final. After that, another two wins in the final round robin of the WTC not only gave him 50 more points but also secured Belarus' place in the knockout stage. In three weeks, Borowski had risen from outside the top 170 to inside the top 120, and it wouldn't stop there.

Week 20 saw a CH1 in Korea, and Borowski fulfilled his 7th seeding before losing to top seed Dominik Bigos 6-3 7-6(4). The following week he was at a CH2 in Uzbekistan, and reached the semi-finals from an unseeded position after defeating second seed Dominik Fetsko in the second round before losing to third seed Jan Dieter Eckener 7-6(3) 6-4. After several weeks of practice, Week 27 saw a disappointing first round exit at Wimbledon GSL before an even more disappointing first round exit at a US CH3 to fourth seed William Holden. At this point, Borowski was hovering just outside the top 100.

Then came the breakthrough, with four successful point-securing weeks in Weeks 30, 33, 36 and 38. Seeded second at a Canadian CH2 in Week 30, he reached the final before losing again to Eckener 6-2 6-3, before a semi-final appearance at a Chinese CH1 ended in defeat to unseeded Elroy Huffaker (one of my former players) 7-6(3) 2-6 7-6(4) despite Borowski winning 111 points to 112. A CH3 victory in Thailand completed an excellent spell, before two more WTC wins gave Belarus a spot in the Level 3 semi-finals and 50 more ranking points for Borowski.

According to the 10-point scale, his rating is 9.37. He's the highest-ranked 21-year-old in the current rankings, which is a very good sign.

Christian Kulle

Kulle has absolutely dominated the Futures circuit this year, and has deservedly broken into the top 200 at the tender age of 20.

Apart from one semi-final appearance in Week 1, Kulle's record at Futures events reads thus: Week 6 FT1, WIN; Week 10 FT2, WIN; Week 13 FT1, WIN; Week 17 FT1, WIN; Week 22 FT1, WIN; Week 31 FT1, WIN. Not bad at all, and the reason why eventually it became necessary to play some Challengers.

In Week 25, Kulle rather ambitiously took part in a CH1 on Grass (his least favourite surface) and unsurprisingly lost in the first round. However, his efforts since have been better: a second round and a quarter-final appearance at two hard court CH3s in the States, and even a victory at a Kazakh CH3 a couple of weeks ago, winning unseeded and beating the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th seed en route to victory.

Kulle now sits 169th and will probably not play any Futures level tennis for a good long while - unfortunately. The transition has been relatively smooth but must continue apace, as the Swede has a very high aging factor which may let him down in the long run.

According to the 10-point scale, his rating is 9.18.

Harald Babbel

Babbel is only 15, but is progressing well. He's ranked 133rd in the junior rankings, which makes him the highest ranked 15-year-old, although he's due to turn 16 in two weeks. He made a couple of JG3 finals but has won three JG4 events, and I'm attempting to turn him into a grass court specialist with a clay court secondary.

04-18-2016, 11:30 AM	#132
MarkBGregory n00b Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Cyprus	I thought I'd add to law's update with a little more information about my players' progress since the beginning of the GW year. Juan Jose Elezgueta It's been a year of rise and fall so far for Elezgueta, but generally progress is being made in the right direction. Elezgueta finished last year just outside the top 80, and had a tricky few opening weeks of the season. As a clay court specialist with grass secondary, Elezgueta avoided the Australian Open having been knocked out in the first round last year, but did very little by way of compensation. A hard court CH2 was played in Week 2 just to keep form up, but the Argentinian was unseeded and fell to 5th seed Dominik Bigos 6-2 6-4 in the second round. In Week 5, he entered a clay court CH2 in Colombia with higher expectations, but a tough first round draw against 5th seed Pierre-Yves Poidebard led to a disappointing 6-1 3-6 6-4 defeat. Despite the difficult performance, Elezgueta rose to just within the top 80. Then things started to pick up. A CH2 title was clinched in Week 9 in Morocco, with 5th seed Elezgueta gaining revenge against top seed Poidebard with a 6-3 6-4 victory in the final. Elezgueta stayed in Morocco for another CH2 in Week 13, reaching the final again before losing to unseeded American Evan Farthing. In Week 16, just before the Monte Carlo Masters, Elezgueta headed to Brazil for another CH2, in which he reached the semi-finals as the second seed before losing to 4th seed Tiago Yoshida, a big junior rival of his, 3-6 6-3 7-5. By the end of Week 16, Elezgueta has risen to a career high ranking of 60th. A first round victory at the Monte Carlo MST event the following week was enough for some more points, and a defeat to third seed Gaspare Caprara in round two was hardly surprising. Then, the highlight of the year: Elezgueta's first foray into ATP 250 territory landed him a semi-final berth as the 7th seed at the Estoril Open, having beaten top seed Teo Rask along the way. A semi-final defeat to #5 Antonio Campelo of Portugal followed, as did a new career high: 53rd. Elezgueta only reached the 1st round of the Roland Garros GSL and dropped points thanks to his second round appearance in the previous year. Another foray into ATP 250 territory at the Queen's Club afforded a quarter-final appearance as the 10th seed, before a narrow 7-5 7-6(1) defeat to 4th seed Valenti Agia ended his hopes. Then a second consecutive third round appearance at Wimbledon held his ranking steady, the highlight being a victory over 18th seed Ene Colon, 3-6 6-4 6-1 7-6(5). Post-Wimbledon, thanks to a big points drop before RG, he was at 74th in the world. But the position has been somewhat recovered in more recent weeks. A meagre second round finish at the Olympics was more of a novelty than a highlight, but two consecutive clay court CH1 events have paid dividends, with a title in Sam Marino in Week 34 as the third seed, beating top seed Joaquim Arbizu in the final, and a semi-final appearance the following week in Italy, losing 6-1 6-1 to Italian Fabio Fagnini, who was enjoying the home advantage. Elezgueta currently sits in 65th in the world. According to the 10-point scale, his rating is 9.49. Igor Borowski It's been a great year so far for 21-year-old Borowski, who started the year ranked roughly 130th but is now 89th. The year started poorly though, with only WTC performances standing out amongst poor singles results across the board. 1 win in Week 1 at the WTC was followed by a second round exit at a hard-court CH2 in Brazil - entered as a wildcard, Borowski lost 2-6 7-6(7) 6-2 to eighth seed John Elliot in the second round. A straight-sets first round defeat to #17 Burt Tinker in the Australian Open GSL in Week 4 was followed by two more WTC victories in Week 6 and another CH2 second round defeat in Week 7, losing unseeded to second seed Gregorio Yapo 6-2 6-3. By the end of Week 7, Borowski had slumped to outside the top 150, and before he was back in competitive action again, he fell as low as 171st. But three consecutive weeks boosted his ranking phenomenally. A CH2 in Mexico was won from an unseeded position after defeating the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 7th seeds en route to the title, and the following week he did it again, this time as the top seed, defeating third seed Charlie Armour 6-7(3) 6-2 6-1 in the final. After that, another two wins in the final round robin of the WTC not only gave him 50 more points but also secured Belarus' place in the knockout stage. In three weeks, Borowski had risen from outside the top 170 to inside the top 120, and it wouldn't stop there. Week 20 saw a CH1 in Korea, and Borowski fulfilled his 7th seeding before losing to top seed Dominik Bigos 6-3 7-6(4). The following week he was at a CH2 in Uzbekistan, and reached the semi-finals from an unseeded position after defeating second seed Dominik Fetsko in the second round before losing to third seed Jan Dieter Eckener 7-6(3) 6-4. After several weeks of practice, Week 27 saw a disappointing first round exit at Wimbledon GSL before an even more disappointing first round exit at a US CH3 to fourth seed William Holden. At this point, Borowski was hovering just outside the top 100. Then came the breakthrough, with four successful point-securing weeks in Weeks 30, 33, 36 and 38. Seeded second at a Canadian CH2 in Week 30, he reached the final before losing again to Eckener 6-2 6-3, before a semi-final appearance at a Chinese CH1 ended in defeat to unseeded Elroy Huffaker (one of my former players) 7-6(3) 2-6 7-6(4) despite Borowski winning 111 points to 112. A CH3 victory in Thailand completed an excellent spell, before two more WTC wins gave Belarus a spot in the Level 3 semi-finals and 50 more ranking points for Borowski. According to the 10-point scale, his rating is 9.37. He's the highest-ranked 21-year-old in the current rankings, which is a very good sign. Christian Kulle Kulle has absolutely dominated the Futures circuit this year, and has deservedly broken into the top 200 at the tender age of 20. Apart from one semi-final appearance in Week 1, Kulle's record at Futures events reads thus: Week 6 FT1, WIN; Week 10 FT2, WIN; Week 13 FT1, WIN; Week 17 FT1, WIN; Week 22 FT1, WIN; Week 31 FT1, WIN. Not bad at all, and the reason why eventually it became necessary to play some Challengers. In Week 25, Kulle rather ambitiously took part in a CH1 on Grass (his least favourite surface) and unsurprisingly lost in the first round. However, his efforts since have been better: a second round and a quarter-final appearance at two hard court CH3s in the States, and even a victory at a Kazakh CH3 a couple of weeks ago, winning unseeded and beating the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th seed en route to victory. Kulle now sits 169th and will probably not play any Futures level tennis for a good long while - unfortunately. The transition has been relatively smooth but must continue apace, as the Swede has a very high aging factor which may let him down in the long run. According to the 10-point scale, his rating is 9.18. Harald Babbel Babbel is only 15, but is progressing well. He's ranked 133rd in the junior rankings, which makes him the highest ranked 15-year-old, although he's due to turn 16 in two weeks. He made a couple of JG3 finals but has won three JG4 events, and I'm attempting to turn him into a grass court specialist with a clay court secondary.