©Colette Lewis 2008--
Kalamazoo MI--
Just as it was for the 18s on Saturday, the weather was perfect for the 16s second round on Sunday and the performances nearly as good for the seeded players, with all 16 of the top seeds getting through. Number three seed Jack Sock survived a three-hour shoot-out with Jeremy Efferding, escaping with a 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 win, while No. 4 seed Sekou Bangoura Jr. and No. 8 seed Junior Ore also needed three sets to advance to the third round.
Sock and Efferding provided the Sunday morning spectators with compelling drama and contrasting game styles on Court One at Stowe Stadium. Efferding looks to come to the net at every opportunity, with Sock more comfortable assessing openings for his forehand from the baseline.
"In warmups and practice I worked on getting my returns low, getting them in, making him play," said Sock, who turns 16 next month. "I knew he'd serve and volley and step forward, so I worked on getting them low if I could."
Sock jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set, but it was Efferding that dominated the remainder of the games. Sock credited Efferding for playing well, but admitted that he played more defensively. "He started attacking me more, which I didn't want him to do--I wanted to be the aggressor--but it didn't work out most of the time."
In the third, Sock got the set's first break to go up 4-2, but the Lincoln, Neb. native was unable to protect it, and was broken serving for the match at 5-4, failing to get to a match point. Efferding and Sock both held in close games to make it 6-5, with Efferding serving to get to a tiebreaker. Although the big right-hander from Lake Worth, Fla. had held up remarkably well under the pressure of his first center court match in Kalamazoo, two untimely double faults, one at deuce and one with the advantage after saving a match point with an overhead, proved costly. Sock constructed a solid point to earn his second match point, pulling Efferding from side to side and ultimately placing the ball out of his reach, and with opportunity number two, Sock made no mistake on his putaway at the net.
Bangoura was a bit too anxious early in his encounter with Dennis Mkrtchian of Reseda, Calif., and was very quickly down 6-3, but his rhythm and his patience returned, and the final two sets were far more impressive, as the 6-1, 6-1 scores indicate.
Ore was unable to close out his advantage over Bjorn Fratangelo in the second set of his 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win, dropping his last service game to extend the match, despite having taken a 3-1 lead early on. After the ten-minute break between sets, Fratangelo, of Pittsburgh, Pa., didn't let up, but Ore didn't make the same mistake in the third set as in the second, and he served out the match when he had the chance.
The four seeds that lost in the 16s were Gonzales Austin (27), Dennis Novikov (29), Augie Bloom (30) and Wyatt McCoy (31).
In the 18s doubles third round, ninth seeds Brennan Boyajian and Zach Hunter were defeated by Breon Badger and Jadon Phillips. The No. 16 seeded team of Max Stevens and Spencer Wolf were taken out by Jordan Bridge and Spencer Smith.
For complete results, see ustaboys.com.
For additional coverage of the Kalamazoo Nationals, visit collegeandjuniortennis.com.
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