©Colette Lewis 2008--
N. Miami Beach FL--
It's back to the pros, technically, although today's action at the Michael-Ann Russell Tennis Center featured quite a few juniors, some of whom are professionals, some of whom are not.
There was one of each in the contest between American qualifier Jarmere Jenkins (amateur) and Vlad Ignatic (professional) of Belarus, the fourth meeting between the two 17-year-olds since last March. Jenkins had won the last two, at the Kentucky ITF Grade 1 Junior event in September, and at a Pro Circuit tournament in October, but this time Ignatic prevailed with a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1 win.
Jenkins was up a break in the first when I arrived and served for the set twice, at 5-4 and at 6-5, but couldn't hold either time. In the ensuing tiebreaker, Ignatic double faulted on set point, but rather than get angry, he got better, and was up 5-0 before Jenkins won a game in the second.
Ignatic demonstrated some impressive touch around the net, with several deft reflex and angle volley winners, and showed no hesitation in finishing inside the service line when he had the opportunity. He also drastically reduced his unforced errors in the final two sets, and finished the match with a flourish by cracking an ace.
A match that could be a practice session at the IMG/Bollettieri Academy saw 17-year-old ITF World Junior Champion Ricardas Berankis defeat 15-year-old Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-0, 4-6, 7-5. Berankis, a qualifier, could do no wrong in the first set, but the tenor of the match changed very quickly after Berankis was broken in a four-deuce game to go down 2-1 and was broken again serving at 2-4 to give Krajinovic a two-break lead. The Serbian, also a qualifier, couldn't serve it out in the next game, but he evened the match by holding on to his second break. In the third set, Berankis took a 3-1 advantage, but lost it immediately and there were no other breaks until the final game, when Krajinovic went down 15-40, saved two match points with service winners, but couldn't do a third time, and Berankis escaped with the victory.
"After I won the first set I dropped my level a little bit at 1-1 (in the second set)," Berankis said. "He had the momentum, and it went to three sets, pretty tight ones."
The combined ages of Krajinovic and Berankis (32) was less than that of wild card Alex Domijan's opponent, 36-year-old qualifier Ricardo Mena of Paraguay. Domijan, 16, was down 5-3 in the first set, but Mena, stocky and at least nine inches shorter than the 6-foot-6 Domijan, was broken at love serving for the set at 5-3. Domijan fought off four set points in the next game then in the tiebreaker took advantage of his only set point opportunity, when Mena hit a forehand long.
In the second set, they traded breaks in the first two games, but both players held until Domijan broke with Mena serving at 3-4. The Eddie Herr finalist then earned his first ATP point by holding in the next game. Domijan used his serve to get him out of the tight spots he encountered throughout the match, and although he was passed on occasion, he continued to move forward to finish points from inside the court.
The afternoon's doubles quarterfinals were all decided by match tiebreakers in lieu of the third set. Unseeded Gastao Elias of Portugal and Devin Britton of the U.S. (combined age 33) defeated wild cards Borys Czarnecki of Poland and Maurice Ruah of Venezuela (combined age 65) 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 to reach the semifinals. They will face Chris Lam and Chris Wettengel, who defeated Adam El Mihdawy and Ignatic 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. The only seeded team remaining is Andrey Kumantsov of Russia and Daniel Yoo of Korea, the No. 3 seeds, who downed the French team of Vincent Millot and Clement Morel 6-1, 4-6, 11-9. And I finally got my first look at the Battistone brothers, of the weird two-handed racquets and the volleyball service motion (Brian only). The second seeds, the Battistones were up 8-3 in the match tiebreaker against Amit Inbar of Israel and Rupesh Roy of India, but lost the final seven points of the match to fall 4-6, 7-5, 10-8.
For complete results, see the Pro Circuit page at usta.com
It's my first try at uploading video, but here's Brian Battistone serving. Note the racquet switch from one hand to the other during the toss.
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