Three of the four singles semi-finalists were from Japan. Soeda v Ito was the matchup of the highest ranked players. For stretches it was a clinic on how to rally at a high level while keeping the ball just barely over the net. But there would also be some ugly stretches as I'm sure these guys were wearing each other out with the relentless game. Very few clean winners.
In the second semi-final Robby Ginepri ran into a flawless performance from Yuichi Sugita. Sugita could not miss in the first set. Robby had to weather the storm and come back in the final two sets to deliver us the ideal final between the former #15 in the world against Go Soeda, the top seed and current #99. I think set one is a coin flip, but I like Ginepri as the match goes deeper. He's got the bigger game.
Doubles final should also be really fun to see. Jack Sock and his partner going up against Amer Delic and his partner. Delic is the former NCAA champion for Illinois and Sock is too young and good to even bother with college tennis.
I asked Sock why he chose to come play this Challenger. He said that he has been playing well lately and wanted to keep the streak going. Wanted to get some more matches. I think he got what he wanted, because he played well and only went down to Go #99 Soeda in 3 sets. He'll be playing in Dallas next...
I've got a cool sequence of Delic serving with a butterfly. That plus more photos from the event here. All the guys Ito, Soeda, Delic, Sugita, Ginepri...
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