Week 5: Brisbane International (CSWT 500, H) & Copa Claro (CSWT 250, C)

Brisbane - Finals

Alex O'Driscoll took his second singles title today, beating Heath Davis in a match that was very close for most of it, requiring tiebreakers for the first two sets. Positive starts from both players meant that neither was able to gain much of a foothold, and two big servers on the court meant that games never really lasted that long due to some shortcomings in the returns. The first break of the match came in the tiebreaker, and it went to the Australian. Davis was still playing well in the second, but his opponent was more than equal to it with the home crowd behind him. Davis took the tiebreaker to force a third set which was probably deserved, although that would probably have been recinded had he been playing like he had in the third. O'Driscoll was noticably the better player out there in the endgame. The doubles was a much shorter and easier affair, with perrenial losers Reagan Wheelson & Os du Toit taking their first doubles victory. The pair should be quite relieved, but they did face a pair whose form is rather similar, not having won much recently either (iirc) in Bosh Burger & Samuel Yates. Such dominance from the winning pair was of much surprise to the audience, but even from the off it looked like there would be only one winner, with Wheelson providing much of the attacking flair and du Toit playing second fiddle very well. Certainly good team play in this pair.

Results
Alex O'Driscoll def Heath Davis 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3
B. Burger & S. Yates def by R. Wheelson & O. du Toit 2-6, 2-6

 

Copa Claro - Finals

Luka Popovic has taken what are surprisingly his first titles, storming to victory in both the singles and doubles here on the clay courts of Argentina. First order of the day for the Serb was Ginger Furball. The match started off well for the first couple of games, and was starting to look like a really good match until someone decided to bring back some of his past serving problems, and it wasn't Popovic. And with that, he effectively signed his own death warrant. Although off serve when the rallies got going, Furball did show glimpses of promise, but he couldn't string enough together to make it work. Popovic's second win of the day came against Clayton Evans & Alistair Son, who just couldn't put up with the strange pairing of Popovic & Ritwick Chowdhuri. The winning duo's partnership came as a surprise to many, but it was good enough to deal with the two rookies they came up against.

Results
Luka Popovic def Ginger Furball 6-2, 6-4
R. Chowdhuri & L. Popovic def C. Evans & A. Son 7-6 (7-4), 6-3