©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.
Tags: junior tennis, Kalamazoo, Matt Kandath, Colette Lewis
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