©Colette Lewis 2009--
Boca Raton, FL--
Juniors and qualifiers made their presence felt on Wednesday, with the completion of the first round of play at the $25,000 women's and $10,000 men's Champion Porsche Pro Circuit events at the Racquet and Swim Club of Boca Raton.
Chief among them was Ajla Tomljanovic, the 15-year-old Croatian qualifier, who took out top seed Angela Haynes of the U.S., the WTA's 140th ranked player, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1. I watched the end of the first set, when Tomljanovic twice had an opportunity to serve for it, but couldn't convert either time, and ended up needing a tiebreaker. Even there, she was unable to make it easy on herself, letting two set points slip away at 6-4, but Haynes, who seemed uncomfortable on the clay, contributed enough unforced errors, including a set-ending backhand wide, to give Tomljanovic the first set. I didn't watch the second set, but at the start of the third, Tomljanovic took control and fashioned a quick 4-0 lead to rob the final set of any drama.
The Racquet and Swim Club is a public facility, although it has the feel of an exclusive private club, with the the well-groomed landscaping, the comfortable lawn chairs for seating and excellent courts for viewing and playing (no lets from other courts, as each court is separately fenced). To begin the day, which was a bit chilly to start, but soon was warm and sunny, with negligible wind, I stood between the two courts featuring Tim Smyczek of the U.S. on one, and Alex Domijan, another Saddlebrook resident, on the other. Smyczek was forced to qualify due to a late entry, but he won his four matches and his ranking of 348 gave him the No. 4 seed in the main draw. He looked sharp and match tough in taking out Roman Vogeli of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2. Domijan actually had secured his first set against fellow wild card Robert Verzaal even more quickly than Smyczek did his, but then things got much tougher for the 6-foot-6 17-year-old. He lost a 10-deuce game early in the second set, but eventually Domijan's power and his ability to attack Verzaal's second serve led him to a 6-1, 6-3 victory and a spot opposite Smyczek in the next round.
Chase Buchanan took Smyczek's place on court 5, and after five close games with fellow qualifier Goran Tosic of Montenegro, the future Ohio State Buckeye got a break, and held for the first set, 6-3. In the second set, Buchanan, who won a Futures event on Florida clay last May, got a break in the third game, and eased to a 6-2 second set win.
One of the day's best matches saw 2008 Wimbledon and U.S. Open Junior Champion Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria go up against Stefano Ianni, with the 27-year-old Italian taking a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5) win. Despite the closeness of the match, there was little of the pressure-cooker atmosphere that often accompanies a Futures contest, and both players seemed to be enjoying themselves on the court. Ianni conceded a point to Dimitrov when the chair umpire had made an out call when Ianni half volleyed on the baseline, and racquet claps were regular occurences. Ianni saved his best for 5-3 in the tiebreaker, when he made a dive stab volley at the net, giving him Har-Tru-stained shorts and three match points. He needed them all, as Dimitrov got an exceedingly fortunate net cord to make it 6-4, and Ianni double faulted for 6-5. But Dimitrov missed a forehand just long in the final rally, and Ianni had earned his chance at top seed Gabriel Moraru of Romania.
For complete draws, visit the Pro Circuit results page at usta.com.
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