Octoberfest by Przysiężny.
This month we are featuring the Polish Davis Cup player Michal Przysiezny. During October, the 25-year old competed in four tournaments on the
ITF Pro Circuit in three countries, claiming three singles titles.
The month began with a trip to
Germany where he was a Wild Card entrant into the qualifying event at a Futures tournament in Leimen. Przysiezny was named the top seed for this indoor hard court event and following a first round Bye, he defeated two German players to qualify for the main draw. In the first round he found himself drawn against the No. 5 seed,
Germany’s Kevin Deden and remarkably only dropped two games, both in the first set, as he crushed his opponent in straight sets 62 60. Another German, Stefan Seifert, was then seen off in the second round in a more closely fought contest with Przysiezny winning 63 64 to reach the quarterfinal. Slovakia’s unseeded player, Michal Pazicky, was also unable to halt Przysiezny’s progression through the draw as he succumbed to a 61 61 defeat. As the No. 2 seed Nils Langer from
Germany was expected to provide a much sterner test, but like his fellow players before him, he too was defeated in straight sets. Przysiezny’s 62 63 semi final win meant that he would be contesting his first singles final on the
ITF Pro Circuit since his appearance in the final of Iran F5 back in October 2006. A runner-up in that final, he would go one better here and claim his first
ITF Pro Circuit singles title for five years. Following his four consecutive straight sets victories it came as something of a shock when he dropped the opening set of this final against Finland’s Henri Kontinen but he soon composed himself and levelled the match losing just two games in the second set. The deciding set was closely fought but in the end it was Przysiezny who emerged victorious, winning 36 62 75.
Looking to build on his success in
Germany, Przysiezny moved onto Belarus for two indoor tournaments at the Republic Olympic Tennis Center in Minsk. Located on the southeastern slope of the Minsk Hills, the first tournament in Belarus’ capital city saw Przysiezny named the No. 4 seed in the singles event. Przysiezny opened with a 64 64 win over a Wild Card entrant, Pavel Filin of Belarus. Another close match came in the second round against Russian Andrei Levine; won narrowly by Przysiezny 64 76(1) to set up a quarterfinal with sixth seeded Dzmitry Zhyrmont. The player from Belarus took the first set 62, however, Przysiezny upped his game to reverse this score line in the second set before wrapping up the win with the loss of just one game in the deciding third set. Standing in his way of a second successive final appearance was Lithuanian qualifier Dovydas Sakinas, who like Przysiezny the previous week, had come through the qualifying event. Despite having defeated the No. 2 seed in the three tough sets in the first round, Sakinas was stopped in the semi final by Przysiezny 61 64 who was now on course for his second title of the month. The final saw Przysiezny up against a player from Belarus for the third time this week. Siarhei Betau, making his second career singles final appearance on the
ITF Pro Circuit, found Przysiezny too strong an opponent and with a 62 63 triumph, Przysiezny became a two-time singles champion this month. The day prior to his singles final, Przysiezny featured in the doubles final where, with partner Dawid Olejniczak, he was facing his singles final opponent Siarhei Betau and his partner Nikolai Fidirko. Both pairs were unseeded and a thrilling final was won by the pair from Belarus 76(3) 76(3).
Staying at this venue for another Futures tournament, Przysiezny was this time named as the No. 3 seed. In the opening two rounds he defeated Wild Card entrant Ivan Kobzar and Qualifier Ervand Gasparyan, from Belarus and Russia respectively, both in straight sets. This set up a quarterfinal encounter against the No. 8 seed, Dawid Olejniczak, his doubles partner from the previous week and also his partner at this tournament. As was too be expected from a match between doubles partners, this was a close match with Przysiezny emerging the victor 63 64. German second seed, Patrick Taubert, who had reached the semi final with three consecutive tough three set matches was then defeated 62 75 as Przysiezny made it to his third consecutive final, the first time in his
ITF Pro Circuit career he had achieved such a feat. In the final he took on Nikolai Fidirko and was soon celebrating a hat-trick of singles titles following a 63 62 victory. This title win also meant that in his two singles finals in Belarus he had now defeated both halves of the Betau/Fidirko doubles team. Przysiezny again entered the doubles event with Olejniczak but like the previous week they were defeated by Betau & Fidirko, the eventual champions, this time in the semi final 62 61.
To end the month, Przysiezny took part in a Futures tournament in Great Britain. Held on indoor courts in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff, Przysiezny was not to enjoy the same success experienced over the previous weeks and following wins over Britain’s Daniel Cox and Maniel Bains, a qualifier who had already seen off the challenge of the No. 1 seed in the first round, he was stopped in the quarterfinal by Henri Kontinen 63 63. This was his second meeting of the month with Kontinen following his triumph in the final in
Germany.
A month of indoor tournaments saw Przysiezny reach the singles final at three of the four tournaments. These three finals, all in successive weeks, produced his first singles titles on the
ITF Pro Circuit since 2004 and the points earned will go some way to elevating him up the
ATP rankings list having started the month ranked 606.
http://www.itftennis.com/mens/players/spotlighton/2009/october2009.asp