©Colette Lewis 2008--
Kalamazoo MI--
I spent most of the warm and sunny morning at the Western Michigan University courts, my destination determined by the scheduling of the Max Stevens - Matt Kandath match. Once I found a spot in the bleachers in the shade, just a few feet from court 8, (the number of college coaches watching Stevens and Kandath exceeded the spectator count at some National Championships matches I've covered), I was in perfect position for a long, tough contest.
It didn't turn out to be that--Kandath won 6-2, 6-4--but after a rough start, Stevens picked up his game, and Kandath had to raise his to earn the win. Stevens served poorly in the first set, but in the second, the left-hander from Dallas came back from a 2-0 deficit by eliminating the double faults and putting more pressure on Kandath to return a first serve. Kandath, who hits double-handed from both sides, was broken serving at 2-1 and Stevens held his next two games, but serving at 4-4 in the second, Stevens missed two overheads wide on consecutive points, the last after Kandath had managed to retrieve a previous one that appeared to be a certain winner. Stevens slammed a ball against the back fence and was given a code violation, so Kandath needed only three more points to win, serving for the match.
That code violation point came in handy when Kandath fell behind 15-30, but a blistering forehand winner and two service winners later, the 16-year-old from Gansevoort, New York had advanced to a meeting with Peter Kobelt in the second round.
Another competitive match played on the same bank of courts at Western Michigan saw Drew Daniel, a redshirt at the University of Michigan, down Chris Camillone of Austin, Texas 7-5, 6-3. Daniel was down in the first set, but came back, holding serve at 5-5 to put the pressure on Camillone, couldn't get into the tiebreaker.
I also caught a few games of the Jadon Phillips - Luke Mojica match, which went the distance before Mojica prevailed 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
The doubles are underway, with the exhibition to follow, so the next update will be very late this evening. Keep checking ustaboys.com for scores, which are posted throughout the day.
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