Playing at the Right Level--A Conversation with Chris Woodruff

I had the opportunity to talk with former Top 30 ATP professional and current University of Tennessee associate head coach Chris Woodruff about his transition between college and professional tennis and the resulting question-and-answer session is available today on The Tennis Recruiting Network.

Playing at the right level may seem obvious in retrospect, but playing at the wrong one is a mistake I see being made again and again. Woodruff candidly discusses the perils of too much too soon, with his own recent career as a case in point. As he told me in Chicago:

Not playing at the right level after I won the NCAAs single-handedly set my career back two, three years, to the point where it almost drove me out of the game.
That's not an outcome any of us who love the sport would want. Please take a few minutes to read what someone who's "been there and done that" has to offer on the subject.

A couple of features on college players on the opposite ends of the experience spectrum were published today. University of Kentucky's senior Bruno Agostinelli, currently ranked No. 2 in the country, leads off this story about the Wildcats by the Kentucky Kernel (gotta love that name). Mississippi's Devin Britton, who is the second highest-ranked freshman in the country at 32 (Florida's Carlos Cueto is 19th), is the subject of this article from the Daily Mississippian.

Tomorrow is a travel day as we leave temperatures stuck in the teens here in Michigan for the balmy early spring (I hope) of Alabama. This is my fifth year covering the USTA Spring Nationals, and I have always had a great time there while watching outstanding tennis. I am hoping to use my new Twitter account to post match updates from my iPhone throughout the tournament. The "tweets" will appear in the Twitter Updates section on this site, in the sidebar, or at twitter.com/zootennis. For those not familiar with Twitter, it is basically a free-text-message-over-the-internet service that confines posts to 140 characters or less. It also can be accessed via most mobile phones. You can follow individuals, organizations, businesses, friends, family, celebrities, the president, anyone who has a Twitter account, by simply finding them via a keyword and clicking follow. (For a funny story about one of Twitter's most famous users, click here.) Right now most of the updates are just feeds of my blog posts, but I expect that to change starting tomorrow.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Chris Woodruff, University of Tennessee, The Tennis Recruiting Network, Bruno Agostinelli, Devin Britton, Twitter, Colette Lewis

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Wild Cards Announced for Indian Wells; Davis Cup Ballrunners

I spent a soggy, gloomy Saturday afternoon playing with some new software I heard about, Shape Collage (try it, it's free!), and the result was the above photo. When I heard that the Indian Wells (formerly known as Pacific Life, now BNP Paribas) wild cards were out, I challenged myself to find a photo of as many of the players mentioned in the release as I could. I did pretty well--only Lester Cook, who is a finalist in the McAllen, Texas Futures this week, Jelena Dokic, Sania Mirza and Michaella Krajicek eluded me.

The women's main draw wild cards went to:

Dokic, Alexa Glatch, Vania King, Krajicek, Mirza, Melanie Oudin, Urszula Radwanska and Alja Tomljanovic; qualifying wild cards were given to Petra Martic, Coco Vandeweghe, Julia Boserup, Asia Muhammad and Angela Haynes, with another to be decided in a pre-qualifier this weekend.

The men's main draw wild card recipients are:

Kevin Anderson, Taylor Dent, John Isner, Wayne Odesnik and Ryan Sweeting.

Only Cook and Alex Domijan have been announced as qualifying wild cards; I believe there are two more remaining, not including the pre-qualifier winner.

So match the name to the face in the collage if you can!

The Bryan brothers won the doubles point today in Birmingham, becoming the all-time leaders in Davis Cup doubles wins, and giving the U.S. a 2-1 lead over Switzerland with Andy Roddick in line to clinch the tie in Sunday's first singles match with Stanislas Wawrinka. The Birmingham News has been covering all aspects of the Davis Cup, and didn't ignore the contributions of the local juniors, who have served as ballrunners during the weekend. Click here for the full story.


Tags: junior tennis, BNP Paribas Indian Wells, Shape Collage, Davis Cup, Colette Lewis

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Rhyne Williams Profile; Vickery, Duval and DiGiulio Into Quarterfinals at Les Petits As

When we were at the Boca Raton Futures earlier this month, I had an opportunity to sit down with Rhyne Williams to discuss his plans for college, and I've written about the conversation in today's article on The Tennis Recruiting Network. Today in Plantation, Williams and partner Ryan Lipman advanced to the doubles semifinals of the Pro Circuit Futures there. For complete results, visit usta.com.

In Tarbes, France, No. 2 seed Sachia Vickery and No. 5 seed Vicky Duval, finalists at last week's Teen Tennis tournament in England, have reached the quarterfinals at Les Petits As, as has No. 5 seed Joe DiGiulio. Vickery and Duval are also still in the doubles; with a tense 11-9 match tiebreaker win today, the No. 1 seeds have reached the semifinals. See the tournament website for complete results.

In Melbourne, the semifinals of the junior singles and doubles are not scheduled to begin until five hours later than they have been, and the indoor Hisense arena is not being used, so I don't know if that means the heat wave is over, or that there will be changes. There was a BBC story that Heather Watson's father was not happy that she was playing in that heat. It does bother me that juniors are expected to play sometimes five sets of tennis in those conditions day after day, when the much more physically mature players get a day of rest between matches, and most don't play singles and doubles.

You may notice some changes in format and advertising on the site in the near future. I hope it's not too disruptive, but I have signed up with a company that targets advertising to sports blogs, and I'm working out some of the kinks in formatting and placement of the advertisements.


Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Rhyne Williams, Australian Open, Heather Watson, Les Petits As, Colette Lewis

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Recent Comment Problems; Australian Wild Card Scores

Thanks to those of you who have pointed out that the recent comments aren't recent. Apparently there is some problem with the comment feed on Blogger's end, as there have been several other users reporting the same malfunction. I know it's not as convenient, but you can click on the comments in the individual posts--they are there.

One such comment asked for the scores for the USTA women's Australian Open wild card, and they are, by day, as follows:
Monday:
King def. Vandeweghe 7-6(3), 6-1
Brodsky def. Albanese 6-3, 6-3
Brengle def. Muhammad 6-0, 6-3
McHale def. Cecil 6-0, 6-1

Tuesday:
Brodsky def. Brengle 6-3, 6-4
Albanese def. Muhammad 7-5, 6-7 (10), 6-3
King def. Cecil 6-1, 6-0
McHale def. Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2

Wednesday:
Albanese def. Bregle 6-4, 6-0
McHale def. King 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Muhammad def. Brodsky 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
Vandeweghe def. Cecil 6-3, 6-2

Thursday's final:
McHale def. Brodsky 6-1, 6-0.

In today's men's wild card tournament, Levine beat Odesnik in straights and Isner beat Young in a third set tiebreak. Sorry I don't have complete scores.

Tags: junior tennis, Australian Open wild card playoff, Colette Lewis

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Technical Problems with Feedburner

No email notifications have gone out the past two days. I am trying to get help, but the company I'm using was recently acquired by Google and tech support is now gone. Thank you for your patience while I attempt to solve the problem. I will be posting every day as usual, so bookmark zootennis.com and visit often for NCAA reports from Tulsa.

Tags: Feedburner, Google, Colette Lewis

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The End of Anonymous Comments; First Grade A of 2008 in the Books

Only a tiny percentage of visitors to this site comment, so my decision to quit accepting anonymous posts in 2008 will affect only a few of you. For nearly three years now I've resisted the registration of commenters, and I have decided not to require that, but I will no longer approve any comments that do not include at least a nickname. Blogger recently changed the comment page to add the "nickname" box and it is easy to use. Simply adopt a unique name for your posts (the url box is optional) and leave a comment; it will not be tracked or identified, it will merely make the ensuing discussion easier to follow. I hope this doesn't deter anyone from speaking his or her mind, but I believe that it is appropriate to ask for at least this simple form of identification for those who would like to contribute. Those of you who have left anonymous comments the past weeks and have not seen them posted should try again with a nickname. As I've said many times before, the chances that your comment will be published are much greater if you adopt a nickname, although the younger the player discussed, the less likely I am to publish critical comments about them.

I will continue to publish reminders of this new policy in the next few weeks.

The ball hasn't dropped in Time Square, but the first major ITF tournament of 2008 is already over. Cesar Ramirez of Mexico and Tanya Raykova of Bulgaria are the singles champions of the Grade A Casablanca Cup near Mexico City.

Krista Damico and Nadja Gilchrist of the U.S. won the girls doubles title, while Evan King and Ray Sarmiento reached the finals of the boys doubles competition. The ITF junior website has the Casablanca story here, and also has published the first rankings of 2008. In what I'm hoping is an aberration, but suspect is an unannounced format change for 2008, the doubles matches in Mexico that split sets were decided by a match tiebreaker (and I suspect were no-ad, although since I wasn't there, I can't be sure). It seems ironic that the ITF led the charge to a combined ranking for juniors to ensure participation in doubles, but is now devaluing it by dropping the traditional scoring. I've sent an email to the ITF requesting clarification of whether this is optional by tournament or an ITF decision that will affect all events in 2008.

Happy New Year everyone!

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Neither Rain nor Radwanska Can Stop Oudin's Streak

©Colette Lewis 2007--
Key Biscayne, FL--

The first showers to dampen the Crandon Park courts at this week's Orange Bowl didn't rain on Melanie Oudin's parade as the 16-year-old from Marietta, Ga., defeated top seed and ITF world No. 1 Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-0 in Friday's quarterfinals to extend her junior winning streak to 26 matches.

Oudin, seeded eighth, took control of the first set, winning six straight games, and Radwanska was visibly and audibly unhappy with her own play and some of the calls made by the chair umpire. But the Wimbledon Junior Champion, celebrating her 17th birthday, broke Oudin to start the second and held for a 2-0. At that stage, a 10-minute stoppage was no more than a nuisance, but a deluge soon followed, sending the players scurrying to the lounge to wait out a two-hour delay.

"The little one we had, I was down 2-0 in the second, and as soon as we came back I got up 3-2," Oudin said. "So that actually helped me a little bit, it took her momentum away a little bit. After we came back at 3-2, I got up 4-2, but then it was 4-4. But I knew I was playing well enough, and I was doing the right things."

Although Radwanska was still talking to herself loudly in Polish, her play picked up in the final stages of the second set, and she played a exemplary tiebreaker, pushing Oudin to the court's edges and finishing at the net. The momentum seemed to be squarely on her side as the third set began, but Oudin roared to a 4-0 lead.

"In the third I came out trying to forget about the second set," said Oudin, who made only six unforced errors in the final set. "I was so close to finishing. But I didn't do anything different. I think I got a little tight at the end of the second and I wasn't hitting the ball, letting her go for the shots. But in the third I came out hitting the ball and going for my shots and it was working."

Radwanska's drop shot is among the best in junior tennis, and she went to it early and often against Oudin. But she might have been better off saving it for a more crucial stage in the match, as Oudin, who is extremely quick, began to see it coming.

"In the third she only hit a couple, but in first she did hit good drop shots," Oudin said. "In the beginning she was winning the points with them, but then I began reading them a lot better, and I was able to get there and put them away."

After such a milestone win and the strain of so many singles and doubles matches in the past two weeks, Oudin might want to relax, but it probably won't be on Saturday, when she must gear up to face her friend and doubles partner Mallory Cecil. Cecil, the No. 15 seed, overcame a tough challenge from wild card Alison Riske, earning a 6-4, 7-5 decision. Oudin and Cecil still plan to engage in their usual morning warm up, and after their singles semifinal is decided, will team up for the doubles semifinals Saturday afternoon.

The other girls 18s semifinal will find unseeded Aranxta Rus of the Netherlands against No. 9 seed Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal. Larcher de Brito, the only player to finish before the rains came, dismantled No. 2 seed and defending Orange Bowl champion Nikola Hofmanova of Austria 6-3, 6-0, while Rus scored an even more decisive victory over No. 3 seed Ksenia Pervak of Russia Friday afternoon, taking it 6-1, 6-0.



Jarmere Jenkins is the lone American representative remaining on the boys' side, and the No. 14 seed, who escaped a third set tiebreaker in his opening match, has been impressive since, particulary today, when he ousted Eddie Herr champion Gastao Elias 6-4, 6-4.

Playing on Stadium Court, Jenkins and Elias were for a few games the only attraction, as matches on the adjacent courts were being dried, with the whine of blowers filling the air. In the first set, Jenkins was up a break at 4-3 and gave it back for 4-4; in the second set, he came close to that same pattern. But at 4-3, 30-40, Jenkins surprised both Elias and himself with perfect serve and volley execution.

"I have no idea," Jenkins responded to a question asking what brought him to the net there. "I said 'don't do anything stupid'. I don't really come to the net a lot, but that was the right time."

When one of Elias's many unforced errors gave him a 5-3, lead Jenkins could breathe a little easier, and despite not getting a first serve in on either of his match points serving at 5-4, he held on for the win.

Elias, who has had only one day off in the past eleven days, looked less energetic in the hot and humid conditions than Jenkins, who did not play the Eddie Herr.

"I train with Wayne Odesnik now," Jenkins said. "He's crazy on fitness, so I'm not getting tired."

The semifinal could have been a more significant version of the practice matches Jenkins has been playing at the USTA National Training Center in Boca Raton against Chase Buchanan, but Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania would have none of that, flattening Buchanan 6-0, 6-1 to avenge his loss at the Eddie Herr last week.

The other boys' semifinal will pit No. 16 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria against No. 9 seed Jerzy Janowicz of Poland. Dimitrov, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, defeated No. 8 seed Radu Albot of Moldova 6-2, 6-3; Janowicz, the U.S. Open Junior finalist, overcame 15-year-old Ryan Harrison's challenge 6-7(5) 6-4, 6-3.

Lily Kimbell, a wild card entry, continued to make her mark in the 16s, taking a 6-3, 6-4 decision from unseeded Stephanie Cornish of Great Britain, to earn a spot in Saturday's final. Kimbell, who will also play in the doubles final with partner Zoe DeBruycker, faces Canadian Katarena Palivets, who defeated U.S. wild card Elizabeth Begley 6-3, 6-3.

Top seed Bernard Tomic of Australia will seek his third Orange Bowl title, this one in the 16s division against unseeded Brazilian Jose Pereira (who played the Eddie Herr under the name of Jose Silva). Silva downed Eddie Herr 16s champion Pablo Carreno of Spain 6-4, 6-4; Tomic advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.

TECHNICAL ADVISORY:
I have had no internet access at my hotel since Friday, and likely will have to find alternatives for today's story.

TAGS: tennis, Colette Lewis, junior tennis, Melanie OUdin, Jarmere Jenkins

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Cornet, Ignatic Win French Open Junior Titles; Important Announcement for Email Subscribers

France didn't have much success in this year's Open, but they did come away with a junior champion when Alize Cornet, the No. 2 seed, defeated unseeded Mariana Duque-Marino of Columbia 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 today in the girls' final. Vlad Ignatic of Belarus, the No. 12 seed, topped No. 5 seed Greg Jones of Australia 6-3, 6-4, to give that country its third French Open champion this year. (Ksenia Milevskaya and Andrei Karatchenia were part of the winning doubles teams). As Eleanor Preston mentions in her story at iftjuniors.com, Ignatic will now take over the top spot in the ITF junior rankings. It's the second straight Junior Slam that has had a host country winner, with Brydan Klein's victory at the Australian. I would say that Naomi Cavaday is the best bet to continue that streak at Wimbledon.

Mark Winters spoke with Kellen Damico at the French and filed this article for the Denver Post. Another mention of Damico playing at Wimbledon with Eysseric, so the evidence is building, although Wimbledon still has nothing to suggest Damico will be in singles posted on their website. Eysseric's final blog entry gives his opinion of the "no-ad," using an adjective I heartily endorse. Interestingly, Eysseric selects a different point than Damico when analyzing what went wrong in the doubles final at 4-4 in the first set.

NOTICE TO FEEDBLITZ SUBSCRIBERS:
I am changing from Feedblitz to Feedburner to send out my daily emails. I have been testing Feedburner for a month now, and all new subscribers since mid-May have been getting emails from the new service without any problems or interruptions. You should receive both Feedblitz and Feedburner emails for this post, but on Monday, I will discontinue the Feedblitz service and you will receive only the Feedburner email on Tuesday. (If you subscribed anonymously to Feedblitz, you will no longer receive updates, as Feedburner does not have that option.) If you have any problems or questions regarding the subscription service, please email me at clewis[at]zootennis.com. I appreciate your patience during this transition.

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