James Marsalek recovered from a first round defeat to register back-to-back semi-final finishes to enhance his standing on the Aegon Pro-Series Futures Tour.
The 21-year-old recorded consecutive finishes in the last four at the F22 event at Tipton, UK, and the F23 event at Edgbaston, UK, after having fallen at the first hurdle at the F21 event at Loughborough.
At Tipton, Marsalek needed three sets to get past seventh seed and fellow Brit Tom Farquharson in the first round and three more to successfully navigate past qualifier Joshua Paris, also of GB. Marsalek, from Taunton, then beat another Brit, George Morgan, in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals. But his run ended in the last four after he was beaten 7-6[4], 6-2 by Belgian and eventual runner-up, Joris De Loore.
The following event, Edgbaston, saw Marsalek reproduce his form to reach a second consecutive semi-final. Wins over British qualifier Evan Hoyt, Poland’s Adam Chadaj and Slovakia fourth seed Pavel Cervenak saw the world 639 reach the last four. But his tournament run would end at the same stage again after going down 6-3, 7-5 to eventual champion Laurynas Grigelis, Lithuania, who by winning the event completed a hat-trick of titles after victories at Loughborough and Tipton.
The only blot on Marsalek’s record in his recent appearances was a first round exit at Loughborough. He was beaten by New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell in three sets 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. Daniell, who is a former doubles partner of Marsalek’s fellow Somerset player Richard Gabb, was beaten in the next round by second seed Brit David Rice.
Earlier in 2013, Marsalek achieved his highest ever career singles ranking of 537 after a run of impressive results. His current ranking of 639 is an improvement from 664 and after his recent form, he could well be breaking the top 600 again soon.
Click Here for more information on James Marsalek’s ITF Tennis Profile