Bonnie Ford of espn.com has been covering all the recent pro tennis bad news with her usual thoroughness and flair, and I hope you don't need me to point you in her direction (her archive is here). I read her feature yesterday on Julie Ditty with special interest, because although both Ditty and Isner are four-year collegians (Ditty has her degree), they represent two sides of the coin of that realm. (The November-December issue of Tennis Magazine has a great feature on Isner by Cindy Shmerler).
Isner's rapid rise--he's gone from a 755 ranking to 117 since July--is unusual (although Benjamin Becker went from 421 to 76 in the first eight months of last year). Most players who go out on the tour after college find it much slower going and many never escape the grind of the Futures events, which is where I saw Ditty earlier this year. Ford describes Ditty's persistence and it's always fascinating when a player hires a new coach and more and better wins soon follow. For a more detailed look at Ditty's results on the Pro Circuit, see Sally Milano's story for usta.com.
The Orange Bowl acceptances are now out, and a couple of things caught my eye. Bernard Tomic and Giacomo Miccini are playing the 16s, not the 18s, and Junior Wimbledon Champion and Junior U.S. Open finalist Urszula Radwanska has entered, as has Anastasia Pivovarova, the Russian who beat Radwanska at last year's Orange Bowl. Pivovarova is ranked 237 by the WTA, Radwanska 288. (Madison Brengle, also entered, is 240). For complete lists, click here.
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