Saba and Capra Claim Spring National Titles

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile, AL--

The week didn't start well for top seed Beatrice Capra, but it ended with a National Championship Saturday, in weather so beautiful the dreary first few days of the event were nearly forgotten. Capra defeated unseeded Chichi Scholl 6-2, 6-2 in the girls final, and in the boys championship, No. 11 seed Frederick Saba secured his first gold ball with a 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 4 seed Jack Sock.

Capra, who was traveling alone, had suffered flight delays, and when she finally arrived in Mobile, at 1 a.m., her luggage didn't. But the rain delays gave her time to settle in, and she was determined not to start the year like she had in 2008.

"Last year I got off to a bad start and didn't win a match until Carson," Capra said, referring to the early April ITF event in California. "That was kind of in my head again--I didn't want to go without winning a match again--but I have, because I went to Australia and didn't win a match, and then I played two pro tournaments and I didn't win a match. I was really nervous coming into this tournament, but I was able to push through it."

After dropping a set to Lauren Davis in the third round, a match Capra believes was the turning point in her tournament, she didn't lose another set, and in fact only dropped 12 games in her next four victories.

Against Scholl, Capra came out really "pumped," breaking Scholl at love to open the match and again in Scholl's next service game. Capra made virtually no unforced errors in that stretch, while Scholl was so erratic that she began to berate herself loudly in German, her parents' native language. Despite being broken in her next service game, Capra was confident that all she needed to do was to stick to her game plan.

"She started to play better and she started to keep a lot more balls in play," Capra said. "I think I got really anxious, really wanted to win, but I wasn't worried because I knew what I had to do to win."

Scholl moves very well and can take control of a match from the baseline, but Capra's defensive genius can frustrate even the most patient player. Scholl admits that quality eluded her Saturday morning.

"I know her game, I play doubles with her," said Scholl, when asked about regularly seeing a sure winner come back as a deep lob from Capra. "I wanted to finish the points too fast, and that was a problem."

Scholl took her first lead by winning the opening game of the second set, but that was also her last lead. Capra broke her the next three times she served to eliminate any thought of a dramatic comeback from Scholl.

"I needed to push her around, push her deep and mix it up a little; get it out of her strike zone," said Capra, who turns 17 next month. "I knew if I always kept getting one more ball back, she was eventually going to get frustrated."

Despite reaching the final unseeded, Scholl wasn't entirely happy with her tournament.

"A lot of my matches were close, and I didn't feel I played well," said Scholl, who turns 17 in July. "I won the matches, I won the deciding points and that was good for me. I fought well but I don't think I played well throughout the tournament."

Saba, who like Capra, trains at Nick Saviano's academy in Sunrise, Fla., is one player who will admit to playing well throughout the tournament. In his first National Level 1 final, Saba showed no nerves and no weaknesses in upending the much more experienced Sock. Down 4-2 in the first set, Saba held and broke, and it was Sock who blinked serving at 5-6. A double fault put Sock behind 0-40, and although he saved the first set point with a nifty drop shot, on the next one, his forehand went into the bottom of the net.

At the start of the second set, Saba held his first service game while Sock, who wasn't staying in the points long enough to get any rhythm, was broken. In the next game Saba had a 40-0 lead, then lost four straight points, but won the next three to take a 3-0 lead.

Sock had one other glimpse at breaking back, with Saba serving at 4-2 0-30, but an ace, a serve and volley winner, a Sock error and forehand winner gave him the 5-2 lead. Even then, Saba refused to let his impending win disrupt his focus.

"What I try to do, which is probably the hardest thing to do in tennis, is one point at a time, one ball at a time, live in the moment," Saba said when asked about those chances to surrender his early break. "I pushed a few volleys wide, but I said no big deal, just keep coming forward and playing your game."

Sock, who was not familiar with Saba's game, admitted he was caught off guard by the Floridian's style.

"He played phenomenal today," Sock said. "He surprised me with some of the things he did, being aggressive. I didn't know he came to the net as much as he did today. His forehand was on today, he put it wherever he wanted to."

Saba's forehand is undoubtedly his strongest shot, but that willingness to move into the court to hit it was the difference in the match. Sock was not passing well, but part of that was Saba's unerring sense of when to approach the service line to finish.

"I thought I played extremely well," said Saba, who did not drop a set in his seven victories. "I was moving well, making a lot of balls, and whenever a short ball came up around the court, I tried to get up to it as quick as possible and take control of the point."

With his first ball of any kind, Saba also earned a wild card into the upcoming Futures event at the Mobile Tennis Center, but will discuss the opportunity with his family and his coach before deciding whether he will accept it.

For Sock, it was the first silver ball of his junior career, but he collected gold ball No. 15 in the doubles, as he and partner Ian Chadwell, the top seeds, defeated No. 2 seeds Chris Cha and Lawrence Formentera 6-3, 6-4.


Chadwell and Sock, playing together for the first time, used the prevailing teenage method of orchestrating a partnership, using Facebook and cell phone to connect only two days before the tournament began.

"His 150-mph serve is pretty good and helps me at the net," Sock said when asked how they meshed so quickly. "It's usually a guaranteed hold for him. His power and aggressiveness is good with my touch and feel around the net."

"I think our games are somewhat opposite, so we both complement each other," Chadwell said. "What I don't have, he has, and what he doesn't have, I have. I think that's what was the big difference between everyone else and us."

In the other matches played on Saturday, fifth place in girls singles went to Lauren Davis, a No. 17 seed, who defeated seventh-seeded Stephanie Hoffpauir 6-1, 6-1. Christopher Mengel won the boys back draw when fellow 17 seed Spencer Wolf was unable to play the consolation final. Wolf and partner Connor Smith, the fourth seeds, took the bronze balls in boys doubles, defeating No. 3 seed Christopher Schultz and Joshua Tchan 6-4, 6-3. No. 2 seeds Ester Goldfeld and Ellen Tsay took third in the girls doubles, leading 6-2 over No. 5 seeds Capra and Scholl when Capra retired with a foot injury.

Unseeded Monica Turewicz won the bronze ball in girls singles with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mary Clayton, who was also unseeded. No. 13 seed Sekou Bangoura Jr. finished third in the boys singles when No. 2 seed Smith was unable to compete.

The USTA sportsmanship awards were won by Wolf and Clayton.

For complete results, see the TennisLink site.

Tomorrow, my coverage shifts two hours north to Montgomery, where Alabama and Tennessee are playing the final of the Blue Gray Classic. See that tournament's website for the results of previous matches.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, USTA Spring Nationals, Blue Gray Classic, Frederick Saba, Beatrice Capra, Jack Sock, Ian Chadwell, Colette Lewis

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Sock and Saba Meet for Boys Title, Capra and Scholl to Decide Girls USTA Spring National Championship

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile, AL--

Jack Sock has been there many times before; for Frederick Saba, it's a new experience. And when they take the court on Saturday morning with a gold ball on the line at the USTA Spring National Championships, they will be meeting for the first time.

In contrast, the girls finalists, top seed Beatrice Capra and unseeded Chichi Scholl, are doubles partners who frequently train together in Florida and have known each other since the 12s. But whether strangers or friends, all four are looking forward to capturing a national title.

The fourth-seeded Sock, who is the reigning 16s Winter champion, has won 14 gold balls in his illustrious junior career, earning his chance for another with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 13 seed Sekou Bangoura Jr. Sock fell behind 2-0 in the opening set, but broke back immediately and then again at 2-2, and held for the first set.

"I used my forehand really well to move him around as much as possible," said Sock, 16, of Lincoln, Neb. "I played pretty well and it didn't seem like he had his day. I moved well and attacked when I could. He's one of those guys who you have to attack on the right shot or he'll pass you, so I waited for my time."

Bangoura, generally very quiet on the court, became increasingly frustrated as the unforced errors mounted, and he expressed his disappointment in his level of play both verbally and with his body language. But he couldn't dent Sock's confidence as he finished off the second set with great efficiency.

Saba, a 17-year-old from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., will be playing in his first National Championship final after downing No. 2 seed Connor Smith 7-5, 2-1, ret. inj. in Friday's other boys semifinal.

Serving at 5-4 in the first set, Smith had six set points, but couldn't convert any of them, and after ten deuces, Saba finally pulled even when Smith's forehand went long. A deflated Smith was broken again at 5-6, and at the set break called the trainer due to problems with his feet, his left foot in particular. He managed to hold serve once, but when Saba held for a 2-1 lead, Smith retired.

"I had heard that his foot was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad," said Saba, the 11th seed. "What I usually like to do with my opponents is move them around and make them play a lot of balls, and that actually translated into helping me win the match."

During that crucial game, Saba blamed his return for giving Smith so many set points.

"It was quite funny, because on the deuce points I would miss the return, and on each set point, I was playing amazing points," said Saba, who has not lost a set in his six victories. "I just tried to execute one ball at a time and it helped me come back and win the set."

Saba isn't too concerned about his lack of experience in National Championships, saying it's not a "huge deal, it's just a game after all," while according to Sock, the familiarity with the big match is "a little bit" of an advantage.

"I've never seen him play before this tournament, never even heard of him before this tournament," Sock admitted. "But he's a good player, and I'll have to play well to beat him."

In the girls final, Capra and Scholl are also approaching the championship match from different directions.

Capra, the 16-year-old from Maryland who now trains in Florida, has been in the final of the Clay Courts, Grass Courts and Pan American ITF Grade 1 in the past eight months and is ranked 32 in the ITF World Junior rankings. Scholl, from Pompano Beach, has been playing Open and Pro Circuit events in Florida and wasn't surprised that she was unseeded in Mobile.

"I've been playing well lately, and have had pretty good junior results, but I just haven't been playing that many big national tournaments," said Scholl, who battled past unseeded Monica Turewicz 6-3, 6-2 to earn her berth in the finals.

Capra, who took out unseeded Mary Clayton 6-1, 6-1 in a match that took quite a bit more effort than that score might indicate, said the top seeding wasn't any burden for her.

"I came to play this tournament to get some matches in and to work on my game," Capra said. "I'm really actually surprised how well I've done so far, keeping to my game plan, so there's not really any pressure."

According to Capra, she and Scholl used to play doubles in the 12s all the time, but until a recent pairing in a Pro Circuit event in Florida, they hadn't teamed up. But Capra is well aware of Scholl's strengths.

"Chichi's a grind," Capra said. "She gets a lot of balls back and she's going to fight until the end, so I think I'm going to have to be really aggressive and take control of the match, and not let her push me around."



In the girls doubles semifinals played late Friday afternoon, Capra and Scholl lost to the eventual champions, Emina Bektas and Lilly Kimbell 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. After a brief dinner break, the girls final was played under the lights, with attendance increased by a charity tennis tournament being played on adjacent courts.

Bektas and Kimbell, the No. 4 seeds, defeated Julie Sabacinski and Brittany Sanders, a No. 9 seeded team, 6-3, 6-1.

Bektas and Kimbell, who train together at the John Newcombe Academy, had won a National Open in their only previous tournament as a team.

"I had a good feeling about this tournament," said Kimbell, who was stranded overnight in the Dallas airport last Saturday and close to missing her first match time. "But you never know who you're going to run into."

Bektas and Kimbell ran into the defending champions, Lauren Herring and Grace Min, in the third round, and got over that hurdle 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

As for the keys to their success as a team, Kimbell and Bektas had ready answers.

"Emina's really powerful and she comes into the net a lot too," Kimbell said. "I just help put away the volleys."

"Lilly's poaching off my serve often helps," Bektas said.

In the boys doubles semifinals, played at the same time as the girls, the top two seeded teams advanced to the finals, but it was anything but easy.

No. 2 seeds Chris Cha and Lawrence Formentera overcame No. 4 seeds Smith and Spencer Wolf 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4 in a match that lasted more than two and-a-half hours, while top seeds Ian Chadwell and Sock took a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 decision from No. 3 seeds Christopher Schultz and Joshua Tchan. With Sock's involvement in both championship matches, the boys doubles will be played Saturday afternoon.

For complete results, see the TennisLink site.

Tags: junior tennis, USTA Spring Nationals, Frederick Saba, Lilly Kimbell, Emina Bektas, Colette Lewis

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Smith Heads Florida Trio in Spring National Semifinals; Three Unseeded Girls Reach Final Four

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile, AL--

USTA Winter Championship 18s finalist Connor Smith is one win away from duplicating that feat in the next seasonal USTA championship, but girls Winter champion Hanna Mar isn't going back-to-back, as the No. 2 seed fell to unseeded Monica Turewicz in Thursday's quarterfinal play.

Smith, the No. 2 seed, hasn't lost a set this week in Mobile, and today, in his 6-3, 6-2 victory over Christopher Mengel, a No. 17 seed, I was fortunate to see the turning point in the match. (Again, all matches were played simultaneously, so I was watching eight at once). With Mengel serving at 3-4 in the first, Smith went up 15-40, but after missing two second serve returns, it looked as if he might have let Mengel off the hook. As the deuces and ads piled up, the significance of the game grew, until Smith finally got the break.

It took a spectacular shot to do it, however, a reflex stop volley after retrieving a couple of sure volley winners from Mengel.

"I didn't even know," said Smith, who had been turned in every direction fending off Mengel's attempts to pass him. "I just felt something hit my racquet. I might as well have been blindfolded."

With a 5-3 lead, the 18-year-old Smith served out the set, and agreed that taking that game was a psychological advantage.

"That was a game to distance myself, definitely and I think it might have gotten into his head a little bit too."

In the semifinal, Tampa's Smith will face a frequent sectional foe, 17-year-old Frederick Saba of Ft. Lauderdale, the No. 11 seed, who defeated unseeded Dennis Novikov 6-4, 7-5. The third Floridian, No. 13 seed Sekou Bangoura Jr. of Bradenton, also advanced in straight sets, beating No. 17 seed Spencer Wolf 6-3, 6-3.

"It's the opposite of Winters, which seemed like was all SoCal," said Smith, who lost to JT Sundling of Thousand Oaks, Calif. in the final. "It's good to see the Florida guys doing well in Alabama."

The fourth semifinalist is No. 4 seed Jack Sock, of Lincoln, Neb., who won the Winter Nationals in the 16s division. Sock put an end to the run of Max Ando Hirsh of Texas 6-4, 6-4 in a hard-fought, and at times contentious, match.

In contrast to the boys semifinalists, of the girls remaining, only one is a seed, No. 1 Beatrice Capra. Capra played a very clean match against No. 10 seed Alexandra Anghelescu, who made too many errors to challenge the 16-year-old from Maryland, and fell 6-1, 6-2. Capra's opponent in the semifinals is unseeded Mary Clayton, who defeated Alina Jerjomina, a No. 17 seed, 6-4, 4-2 ret. Jerjomina had been having problems with her feet throughout the tournament and her long three setter with Kristin Norton and a three set doubles match on Wednesday probably contributed to her retirement today.

Unseeded Chichi Scholl continued her strong play, eliminating Chanelle Van Nguyen 6-1, 6-3. Scholl was dictating from the baseline throughout the match, moving Van Nguyen from side to side and forcing her to play defensively. An unseeded finalist is assured from the bottom half, with Turewicz's win over Mar.

Turewicz and Mar were the last match to finish, and when I arrived it was 4-4 in the second set, Turewicz having won the first 6-4. Turewicz held for 5-4 and Mar was under pressure to extend the match. After three unforced errors, leaving the score at 15-30, Mar pounded a forehand into the corner that produced an error from Turewicz. At 30-30, Mar tried to force the action, but when she got into the net, she couldn't volley the high ball Turewicz gave her and it was match point. Mar saved one with another forehand that forced an error after a lengthy rally, but her next forehand caught the tape for match point number two. Mar never got her teeth into that point, and her backhand moonball went well long to give Turewicz the win.

The doubles are still underway, but the semifinalists will be decided by the end of the evening. For complete results, including the doubles and consolation draws, see the TennisLink site.

Tags: junior tennis, Connor Smith, Spring National Championships, Colette Lewis

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Van Nguyen Among Four Unseeded Girls in 18s Spring Nationals Quarterfinals

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile, AL--

Top seed Beatrice Capra and No. 2 seed Hanna Mar reached the quarterfinals as expected, posting straight set wins on a warm and sunny Wednesday, but there were plenty of surprises too, with four unseeded players advancing along with them.

Fifteen-year-old Chanelle Van Nguyen led the way, with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 4 seed Courtney Dolehide, who had lost only five games in her first three matches. Although with 16 matches being played at once, I couldn't watch more than a few games of any one, in the two or three games I saw, Van Nguyen was playing at a very high level, comparable to how she played in winning the Orange Bowl 16s title last December. When Dolehide gave her an opening, Van Nguyen found it, and finished the point at the first opportunity. Next up for the Miami native is 16-year-old Chichi Scholl of Pompano Beach, another unseeded player, who took out No. 8 seed Ester Goldfeld 6-3, 6-4.

A third unseeded Floridian cruising through the draw is Mary Clayton, who had little difficulty with No. 12 seed Caryssa Peretz, especially in the first set, recording a 6-0, 6-4 victory. The fourth unseeded quarterfinalist is Monica Turewicz, 16, who eliminated 14-year-old Grace Min, the ninth seed, 6-3, 7-5. Again, I saw only a few games, but Min wasn't able to capitalize on her opportunities late in the second set. Turewicz served for the match at 5-4, but Min broke her with some aggressive shotmaking. At 5-5 however, Min was broken--her overhead seemed to let her down late in the match--and Turewicz didn't falter with her second chance to close out the match.

Turewicz will play second seed Mar, who had her hands full with No. 14 seed Danielle Collins in the opening set. With Mar serving for the first set at 5-4, they two girls played a long, tough game, and Collins had a point to pull even. But her return of serve didn't find the court when she really needed it, and on set point, Mar brought Collins into the net and passed her. Collins went quietly in the second set, with Mar taking a 6-4, 6-0 decision.

Top seed Capra downed No. 13 seed Kate Turvy 6-3, 6-0 and will meet No. 10 seed Alexandra Anghelescu, who defeated No. 7 seed Stephanie Hoffpauir 6-3, 6-3 in match of long points and long games. The only girls match to go three sets was Alina Jerjomina's 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 16 seed Kristin Norton. Jerjomina, a No. 17 seed, hits hard and flat, and Norton is also accomplished at that kind of baseline slugging. Many of the points I saw in the third set cleared the net by mere millimeters, although the margin for error was so small I was always anticipating one would catch the tape. Jerjomina, who jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third set, immediately found herself back on serve with some sloppy play in the fifth game, but Norton couldn't get back even. She took a 30-0 lead serving at 3-2, but lost four straight points to make it 4-2 and Jerjomina kept pounding away until Norton relented.

The boys quarterfinals featured only two three-setters, with No. 4 seed Jack Sock going the distance with No. 15 Billy Federhofer before posting a 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 win. Next for Sock is the surprising Max Ando Hirsh of Austin Texas, who rolled past Harry Seaborn, also unseeded, 6-1, 6-1. Ando Hirsh lost the first game of his first match, but has been impressive since then, taking straight-set wins over Jadon Phillips and Shaun Bernstein Tuesday.

In the other three-set match, Christopher Mengel downed fellow 17 seed Daniel Whitehead 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1. Mengel will play No. 2 seed Connor Smith, who posted a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 17 Daniel Kreyman. Smith, who is willing to hit an approach shot and finish the point with a volley, had trouble closing out Kreyman in the final game, but eventually secured his fourth straight-set victory of the week.

Spencer Wolf, who had upset top seed Ian Chadwell on Tuesday, reached the quarterfinals with a 7-5 6-3 win over Brian Alden. Wolf will face No. 13 seed Sekou Bangoura Jr., who beat No. 7 seed Zachary Leslie 6-1, 7-5.

Perhaps the day's most impressive performance was turned in by No. 11 seed Frederick Saba, who obliterated No. 8 seed Filipp Pogostkin 6-0, 6-1 in less than 45 minutes. Saba will play unseeded 15-year-old Dennis Novikov, who had a considerably longer match against No. 17 seed Jamin Ball, but also got through in two sets, 7-6(3), 7-6(2).

The doubles are still not quite caught up from Sunday and Monday's rain, with some teams through to the quarterfinals and others still in the round of 16.

For complete results, see the TennisLink website.

And for a story from the Mobile Press-Register about Grace Min and Lauren Herring and their longtime friendship and doubles partnership, click here.

Tags: junior tennis, USTA Spring Nationals, Chanelle Van Nguyen, Lauren Herring, Grace Min, Colette Lewis

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Wolf Upsets Top Seed Chadwell at Spring 18s Nationals

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile AL--

There was no time to savor victory or dwell on defeat Tuesday morning at the USTA Spring Nationals, after Monday's all-day rain forced a second round of singles for everyone Tuesday afternoon, whether main draw or consolation.

One player who did get to sleep on a big win was Spencer Wolf, a 17 seed, who upset top seed Ian Chadwell 6-4, 6-4 in the third round. I had just made the trek from watching girls top seed Beatrice Capra quell the threat from 17 seed Lauren Davis on the opposite side of the 60 court facility, arriving courtside with Wolf serving for the match at 5-4. I wish I could provide more insight on the key to the future Northwestern Wildcat's win--I heard he served well--but it was a day of too many matches and too little time.

No. 3 seed Walker Kehrer was also upset on a sunny and warm St. Patrick's Day, losing to Tyler Brown of New Braunfels, Texas 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(5). I came by when Kehrer was up 4-1 in the third set, and he served for the match at 5-3, but Brown, the son of former two-time Kalamazoo champion and ATP professional Jimmy Brown, won the next three games to put himself in position to close it out on his serve. He lost four points in what seemed like 30 seconds, prompting him to remark that it was the "quickest four points I've lost in my life," and Kehrer had new life.

Brown had an opportunity to come unglued in the tiebreaker, when, up 2-1, he was given a point penalty by the courtside umpire for saying oh my god, a violation of the facility rule. Brown didn't protest, and Kehrer didn't take advantage, double faulting to give Brown a 3-2 lead. At 5-4, Brown uncorked an ace to earn two match points. Kehrer saved one, ending a long rally with a slick backhand angle for a clean winner, but on the next, his forehand sailed long to give Brown the win.

Less than two hours later, Brown was back on the court, and he wasn't able to extend his win streak, losing to Jamin Ball, a No. 17 seed, 6-2, 6-2.

Ball was one of four boys seeded 17th to reach Wednesday's round of 16, and there are also five unseeded players, including 15-year-old Dennis Novikov, who has yet to lose a set in his three victories.

The girls draw has gone more to form, with only one No. 17 seed, Alina Jerjomina, and four unseeded players reaching the round of 16.

Jerjomina won her third round match over No. 3 seed Lilly Kimbell 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, after Kimbell had barely survived against unseeded CC Sardinha in their second round contest. Sardinha served for the match at 5-4 in the third, but Kimbell rallied for a 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-5 win. Monica Turewicz, 16s Orange Bowl champion Chanelle Van Nguyen, Mary Clayton and Chichi Scholl are the four unseeded girls in the last 16. Of the seeds, No. 4 Courtney Dolehide has been particularly impressive, losing only five games in her three wins.

For complete results, see the TennisLink website.

And a special thanks to Melissa and Lloyd Clayton at YourGameFace.com for their help while I sort out some camera issues.

Tags: junior tennis, USTA Spring National Championships, Spencer Wolf, Colette Lewis

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Update on Rain Delay at Spring Nationals and Other News

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile, AL

The bulk of the rain appears to be moving out, and the plan remains to finish the eight boys first round singles matches in progress and play the second round singles matches. Even with 60 courts, this will make for a late night, and I'm not sure how much time I'll have to do a review tonight. So look for some Twitter updates, and perhaps a short summary of the highlights of the night action.

In the meantime, there are a few items I wanted to post while they are still timely. The first is the Tennis Recruiting Network's schedule for the upcoming spring signing period, with coverage beginning this coming Thursday. During all this rain, I've been able to work on one of the live announcements coming out the first full week of April, an assignment that has helped make the hours in the hotel room a bit more productive these past few days.

The USTA's website is featuring a short video on Ryan Lipman, one of the Talbert Sportsmanship Award winners, and a College Spotlight feature on Northwestern's Lauren Lui. After a week off, the U.S. Pro Circuit action resumes in Redding, Calif., where the women are contesting a $25,000 event. Among those playing in qualifying are Nicole Gibbs, Christina McHale, Anna Orlik and Ajla Tomljanovic. Laura Granville is returning to action after a long absence, and yesterday defeated Jacqueline Cako in the first round of qualifying. See the Pro Circuit page for complete results.

Charleston's The Post and Courier recently featured a brief article about local junior Shelby Rogers's trip to Costa Rica, where she was a semifinalist in the ITF Grade 3 there.

And finally, please check out the new spring merchandise at the Tennis Warehouse, via the link at the top of the sidebar. Purchases made through that link help pay my travel bills, and I appreciate your support!

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, The Tennis Recruiting Network, Ryan Lipman, Lauren Lui, USTA Spring Nationals, Shelby Rogers, Colette Lewis

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Most First Round Singles at 18s Spring Nationals Squeezed in Amid Rain Storms

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile, AL--

The sun made an appearance in Mobile Sunday afternoon, drying the courts at the tennis center and allowing the first round of girls singles to be completed before it began to rain again, just after the lights were switched on.

The 60 courts and four-plus rain-free hours kept disaster at bay, and I was faced with a tennis buffet of cruise ship proportions. As I reported on Twitter, I spent some time watching unseeded Mary Clayton down No. 6 seed Ellen Tsay 6-2, 6-3. Tsay, who wins with guile and placement, not power, made many more unforced errors than usual, and Clayton kept blistering her two-handed forehand and backhand into the corners. Of the two, Clayton showed more consistency and Tsay is unlikely to post a win when that happens.

It wasn't a good day for No. 6 seeds, as Lawrence Formentera, who, like Tsay, can claim an Easter Bowl 16s title, also lost, falling to Gonzales Austin of Miami, Fla. 6-2, 7-5. I didn't see any of that match, nor did pick up any buzz when top seed Ian Chadwell dropped the first set to Omar Aly before finding his way to a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory. Chadwell, who will join Alabama in the fall, was the only top eight seeded winner, boy or girl, to drop a set Sunday afternoon. Beatrice Capra, the girls No. 1 seed, didn't lose a game, and Hanna Mar, the No. 2 seed, had too much variety for Madison Cohen in a 6-2, 6-2 win. The same was true of boys No. 2 seed Connor Smith, who defeated Roger Anderson 6-2, 6-1.

I had hoped to see more of the Chichi Scholl - Emina Bektas contest, but it was played on a far court on the "old" part of the complex, where the viewing is not good. As I had expected, it was a tough match, with Scholl taking out Bektas, a 17 seed, 7-5, 6-4. No. 8 seed Ester Goldfeld and Elizabeth Epstein also played on that side, and I did see Goldfeld begin her comeback in the second set, where she trailed 4-1, two breaks, before recording a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory. In addition to Bektas, several other 17 seeds bowed out--Maria Belaya, who was eventually subdued by wild card Liz Begley 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Marivick Mamiit, who lost to Nicole Melichar 6-4, 7-5 and Brittany Dubins, who fell to Erin Vierra 6-1, 7-6(3).

The boys first round was not completed before the evening rain began, but a couple of double-digit seeds were put out, with No. 14 Chris Cha losing to Dennis Novikov 6-4, 6-3 and Ben Chen, a No. 17 seed, going out to Shaun Bernstein 6-3, 6-1.

Please see the TennisLink site for all the scores of the matches that were completed on Sunday.

And for those of you interested in college tennis, there is a blog devoted to Texas college tennis called, what else? texascollegetennis.com. He is also on Twitter, so I was able to follow Viriginia's 4-3 win over Texas today in Austin while I was out covering the Spring Nationals. He also is the bearer of sad news, as Texas A & M, a 4-3 winner over Illinois today, played without Wil Spencer, due to the death of his father.


Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Mary Clayton, USTA Spring Nationals, Texascollegetennis.com, Colette Lewis

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Rain in Mobile Threatens to Disrupt Spring Nationals

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile, AL--

About two hours into registration for the 2009 USTA 18s Spring Nationals, the predicted rain finally materialized here, and five hours later, nearly two inches has fallen on the 60 courts of the Mobile Tennis Center.

This is no quickly passing spring storm, and depending on the source, there are predictions of rain through Monday, which would cause major scheduling headaches, even with such a huge number of courts. There are almost no indoor courts in the area, so there can be no relief on that front and at the beginning of the tournament, with so many matches the first two days, there's nothing to do but hope there's a window that allows utilization of all the courts at the site. That of course makes it difficult for a tennis journalist, who can watch two or three matches at a time, but not 40 or 50. So should I miss a big upset, I hope the circumstances will be considered.

I didn't find any must-see first round matches in the boys draw, but there are a few that caught my eye in the girls side. No. 6 seed and 2008 16s Easter Bowl champion Ellen Tsay faces unseeded Mary Clayton, the youngest of the Ft. Lauderdale clan that includes Chris, Alex and Missy. Number 17 seed Emina Bektas has drawn unseeded Chichi Scholl, who reached the round of 16 at the Orange Bowl and has been playing Pro Circuit events most of this year. The match between No. 8 seed Ester Goldfeld and Elizabeth Epstein, who was the eighth seed last year, could also be an entertaining one.

Watch the Twitter Updates section in the sidebar Sunday for weather reports, and, I hope, some first round match commentary and news.

Tags: junior tennis, USTA Spring Nationals, Colette Lewis

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In Mobile; McEnroe's Remark Got Me Thinking

Our trips to Mobile have always turned out well, but they rarely start that way, what with missing luggage two years ago and seven hours on the Memphis tarmac last year. This year was the exception, with everything going perfectly, although the weather forecast is adamantly stating that rain is coming tomorrow and will likely continue into Sunday morning. I'll try to twitter tomorrow with updates on registration and any other information of interest. For more tournament information, see the TennisLink site.



Today I read the April issue of Tennis magazine cover-to-cover (plane trips are where I do the bulk of my print reading these days) and was interested to find a piece by Peter Bodo on Patrick McEnroe's role as head of Elite Player Development at the USTA (sorry, there's no link available). There isn't much new or controversial in the article, just an introduction of sorts to the changes that McEnroe has made since taking the job last April. There's an upbeat quote from former USTA Development director Eliot Teltscher about the revival taking place in Carson and, of course, several quotes from McEnroe. This one stood out:

People think I identify future champions, but the truth is I don't identify anybody. Everybody knows who the gifted kids are (emphasis mine). My job is to make sure those kids get the best kind of help and support from the USTA.

Does everybody know who the gifted kids are?

I'm more inclined to agree with Steve Tignor, who wrote an entry recently in his Concrete Elbow blog at tennis.com entitled Nobody Knows Anything, a reference to the screenwriter William Goldman's comment about the uncertainty of predicting the Hollywood blockbuster in advance. I've never heard Joel Drucker venture more than a "who knows" when asked about a young player's potential. In my own personal experience, the more gifted players I see, the more confused I am. Take, for example 2004, my first year covering the US Open Juniors. On a "gift" scale, I would have placed Phillip Simmonds above Andy Murray. Simmonds is now ranked 411 and Murray is 4.

Maybe McEnroe is right; maybe everybody does know who the gifted kids are. But the future champions? To quote another famous Hollywood personality, Samuel Goldwyn, “Gentlemen, include me out.”

Tags: junior tennis, Patrick McEnroe, Spring National Championships, Colette Lewis

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Spring Nationals Fields; Easter Bowl Moving to Clay?; Sarmiento Blogs from Spain; More on Oudin, Brodsky, Stephens

The USTA 18s Spring Nationals begin on Sunday in Mobile, Ala. This is the fifth year of the event, which was created when the Easter Bowl 18s was converted to an ITF event. The boys field isn't particularly strong this year, particularly with the recent withdrawals of Ryan Noble and Ryan Lipman, but the girls field features Beatrice Capra, Kate Fuller, Ester Goldfeld, Lilly Kimbell, USTA Winter Champion Hanna Mar, Chichi Scholl and a strong group of wild cards including Grace Min, Lauren Herring, Chanelle Van Nguyen and Liz Begley. For the complete list of competitors, see the TennisLink site.

Inside Tennis is now putting their local edition news online, and Steve Pratt has written on the Easter Bowl's past and future for that publication. Lew Brewer, the director of junior competition for the USTA, is quoted as saying they have explored the idea of playing the tournament on clay, which would most likely mean a move from Palm Springs, where hard courts are the norm, to Florida, where Har-Tru is prevalent. For the complete story, click here.

The U.S. juniors currently in Spain, another sign the USTA is serious about development on clay, are taking turns with the blog for usta.com. The current entry, by Raymond Sarmiento, (photos by National Coach Mike Sell) can be found here.

Melanie Oudin certainly raised her professional profile with her Fed Cup win last month in Arizona, with a New York Times profile of her published yesterday.

And Bonnie Ford of ESPN provides a bit of detail on the competition between Gail Brodsky and Sloan Stephens that kicked off Tennis Night in America's Madison Square Garden exhibition. It doesn't sound like they got the diva treatment, but then, it's not everyone who can get in the Knicks' locker room. Scroll to the bottom of Ford's column for the part about Brodsky and Stephens.

Tags: junior tennis, USTA Spring Nationals, Easter Bowl, Raymond Sarmiento, Melanie Oudin, Gail Brodsky, Sloane Stephens, Colette Lewis

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Spring Nationals Fields; Easter Bowl Moving to Clay?; Sarmiento Blogs from Spain; More on Oudin, Brodsky, Stephens

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February National Opens; SMASH Junior Cup Seeds/Draws Announced; Bricker on Dimitrov

The year's first National Opens were played over the holiday weekend. Although there are too many to detail here, I did want to post a link to the article that appeared in the Dothan (Alabama) Eagle about the boys and girls 14s National Open held there. Any time a local paper takes the time to cover a junior event, I'm going to make sure they get credit for it. Although they sent a reporter, there are no photos, so I'm including one of girls champion Rasheeda McAdoo, the daughter of former NBA star Bob McAdoo, from January's Plaza Cup. To see all the February National Open results, see the TennisLink search page, and click on the short cut National Junior Tournaments in the box on the right. It will take you to 2009, and once you select February, you will get a page with all 19 of the different tournaments.

The SMASH Junior Cup, which begins Saturday, and features a WTA Family Circle qualifying draw wild card to the girls 18s winner, has published its draws. Kristie Ahn has entered the event and is the No. 1 seed. Alison Riske is a No. 5 seed, but unfortunately is in the same quarter of the draw as Ahn. For complete results see the TennisLink site.

While I was in Chicago, Wimbledon and U.S. Open Junior Champion Grigor Dimitrov made quite a splash; following up his win over Tomas Berdych in Rotterdam, the 17-year-old Bulgarian took a set from Rafael Nadal in the second round. This week in Marseille, he drew Gilles Simon of France, the No. 2 seed, and barely lost again, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Charlie Bricker, the longtime Sun-Sentinel tennis reporter who left the paper last summer, is writing regularly now for Bob Larson's Tennis News, and he evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of Dimitrov's game in this post.

Tags: junior tennis, Rasheeda McAdoo, Grigor Dimitrov, Smash Junior Cup, Colette Lewis

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Belated Congratulations to USTA Men's and Women's Champions; Cronin Down on U.S. Men's Tennis

The fact that the USTA Men's and Women's Opens, held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center every year, are played between Christmas and New Year's is no excuse for me to forget about them completely. It's a gold ball tournament, and this year it must have been particularly exciting, with the opening of the new indoor facility. (For more on the new space, Tennis Week's Richard Pagliaro provided this account).

Julia Cohen was the top seed and defending champion, but she lost in the semifinals, and 15-year-old Ester Goldfeld captured the title. Wake Forest senior Cory Parr did repeat as the men's champion, and Parr, the top seed, also took the doubles title too, with Craig Schwartz, who had won the doubles gold with another partner in 2007. For all the results, see the TennisLink site.

Matt Cronin of tennisreporters.net, Inside Tennis and Fox Sports, is, like our frequent commenter Austin, dismayed by the current state of men's tennis in the U.S. As Austin mentions in a comment on yesterday's post, the 1986 birth year, which includes Phillip Simmonds, Scoville Jenkins, Brendan Evans, Scott Oudsema, Nikita Kryvonos (and Alex Kuznetsov, who is actually a 1987 but is considered part of that group, all of whom bypassed college) hasn't fulfilled expectations at the pro level, given their excellent junior results. Cronin says, "U.S. Player Development is now stuck with arguably the least promising generation of young pros in 40 plus years of the Open Era."

Cronin goes on:

Blake has seen plenty of hotshot youngsters arrive in the past year from foreign soils — among them seventh ranked Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, No. 20 Marin Cilic of Croatia and the highly talented Latvian teen (sic, Gulbis is 20), Ernests Gulbis. Two of those kids, Del Porto and Gulbis, are playing San Jose this week and both have the potential to make serious noise all year long.

But when true up-and-comers are discussed in the hallways of the major tournaments, it's those names that are the ones that come first to the lips. Outside of a rare mention of Querrey, no young American name is shouted down the tunnels.

"Everyone of them is enormous," Blake said. "They already look like men and developing early will give you an advantage to compete at this level. At 18 or 19, if you put me against Del Potro or Gulbis, you would have laughed. I was 150 pounds. It wouldn't have been fair. It took me longer and maybe will take some of our guys longer."

Taylor Dent then goes on to stick up for Michael McClune, and Cronin concedes that the older Americans are "pretty supportive of their peers, so it's no surprise that they aren't incredibly disturbed by the fact that of the top 10 U.S. guys, only two are under the age of 26. They are getting used to a brave new world of tennis where the top four men are a Spaniard, Swiss, Serbian (Novak Djokovic) and Scot (Andy Murray)."

I would argue, as I always do, that "player development" has very little to do with the ascendancy of those four. Am I wrong?

For the complete Cronin story, click here.


Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Cory Parr, Ester Goldfeld, USTA National Men's and Women's Open, Matt Cronin, Colette Lewis

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Smash Junior Cup Deadline Next Week; Oudin Helps USA Defeat Argentina in Fed Cup

As in years past, the girls 18s winner of the Smash Junior Cup will receive a qualifying wild card into the WTA Family Circle Cup, a Premiere event paying $1,000,000 in prize money that will take place in Charleston, South Carolina April 11-19. Last year Mallory Cecil won the qualifying wild card, but due to injury, was unable to use it, so finalist Nadja Gilchrist took her place. Alison Riske, a semifinalist last year, is already entered again this year, as is Elizabeth Begley, who like Riske, trains in Hilton Head. The entries for the girls 18s and the other nine divisions close next Sunday, February 15th. See the TennisLink site for details on the Level 3 Southern section tournament. For the press release on the wild card offered from the Family Circle Cup, click here.

The next junior tournament I'll be attending is the 18s Spring Nationals in Mobile, Alabama, and the entries for that event close on February 19th. Please see the TennisLink site for more information.

Kimberly Yee, the girls 12s Winter National champion, got some belated recognition from her local newspaper, the Las Vegas Sun in this article.

And in a damp Surprise, Arizona today, the US Fed Cup team came back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Argentina 3-2 and assure themselves a place in the semifinals against the Czech Republic. After Gisela Dulko had taken Argentina's second point with a straight set victory over Jill Craybas this afternoon, Melanie Oudin came back from a set down to defeat Betina Jozami 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 to pull the US even. Then Julia Ditty and Liezel Huber won the doubles match 6-2, 6-3 over an undoubtedly exhausted Dulko and Jozami. Results and stories from the weekend's Fed Cup action are available at fedcup.com.

Tags: junior tennis, Smash Junior Cup, USTA Spring Nationals, Kimberly Yee, Fed Cup, Colette Lewis

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Unseeded Fratangelo and Laurente Claim Plaza Cup 18s Titles; Top Seed Kiick Sweeps Girls 14s

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Coral Gables, FL--

The three Tennis Plaza Cup finals contested on the Har-Tru courts of Salvadore Park Monday all played out differently, with unseeded Bjorn Fratangelo and Kelsey Laurente capturing the 18s titles, while top seed Alexandra Kiick claimed the winner's trophy in the girls 14s.

Fratangelo survived the pressure of needing to win a second tiebreaker to stay alive against hard-hitting third seed Andrew Butz, then coasted to a 6-7 (1), 7-6(3), 6-3 victory.

After having a set point serving at 5-4 in the opening set, Fratangelo saw that chance dissolve when Butz's unexpected defensive slice backhand stayed low, and produced an error. Fratangelo eventually lost his break with a double fault, and after Butz held, faced three set points serving at 5-6. But Fratangelo saved those and appeared to have the momentum going into the tiebreaker. As quickly as the momentum swung his way however, it swung back to Butz, with Fratangelo losing control of his backhand early and often in the tiebreaker.

By breaking Butz early in the second set, Fratangelo looked to be in control, but he made it difficult on himself when he again couldn't close out the set with a lead.

"I was up 5-2 (in the second set) and I let him slip back into it," said the 15-year-old Fratangelo, originally from Pittsburgh, but now training in Naples. "I had to make him hit a lot of balls, keep him moving. I didn't want him to get in a rhythm, because he would just slap winners all over the place."

Butz is certainly capable of that, as his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents Spencer Newman and Jeremy Efferding would attest, but he wasn't able to find the service box on his first try often enough to dominate Fratangelo. In the second set tiebreaker, it was Butz who lost his backhand, and when he lost that and his serve in the first game of the third set, all the air seemed to go out of him. Fratangelo took a 4-0 lead, and Butz was able to win a couple games on the strength of his serving, but he looked disinterested and resigned to losing early in the set.

For the unseeded Fratangelo, the tournament victory was all that he had hoped.

"I expected to do well even though I was unseeded," he admitted. "That (seeding) doesn't really mean anything. I just wanted to come here and play well for the three days, and I felt I played well throughout the tournament."



Laurente's 6-4, 6-4 win over Mary Clayton was woven with threads of deju vu. In each set, Laurente, a 14-year-old from Miramar, broke Clayton at 3-4 and served for the set and the match, and both times she was broken. But she then immediately broke Clayton, a result that wasn't all that surprising to her.

"I was thinking about winning instead of actually the point," said Laurente of her lapses on serve. "I feel like my returns are kind of better than my serve, even though my serve has improved a lot."

Clayton was hitting the ball with pace, but she wasn't able to work her way inside the court to finish a point with Laurente's pinpoint placement and creativity. And although she trains primarily on hard court, Laurente felt comfortable constructing points on the green clay.

"Last time I played Mary she actually beat me, pretty easily, but that was on hard courts," Laurente said of a loss in a Florida Super Series event last September. "It's a completely different type of game play. Hard courts are my home court, but clay is pretty fun."

Laurente is going to continue to play 18s sectionally, although for "super nationals or a really big tournament I'll play 16s," she said. "But I'm going to turn 15 in August, so there's no point in staying in 14s and trying to get to No. 1, because I'm not going to make it."



The only player to take home two main draw winner's trophies Sunday was girls 14s top seed Alexandra Kiick, who came back from an early deficit to defeat doubles partner Blair Martin 7-5, 6-1, then teamed with her friend to take that championship too.

Kiick, the daughter of former Miami Dolphins running back Jim Kiick, trailed 3-0 in the opening set.

"I didn't really warm up, and I was kind of nervous in the beginning" said Kiick, who lives in Plantation. "Because I'm the number one seed, I felt I should win. Once I won the first set I started playing my game, whacking the ball and placing it, and I did better in the second set."

Kiick and Martin took a brief lunch break, then the No. 1 seeded doubles team came back to take an 8-3 win over No. 2 seeds Lauren Burich and Evgenia Rostarchuk.

And although Kiick was pleased that she could help her friend earn a championship in the doubles, she acknowledged needing a different mindset in the singles.

"We're friends off the court, but enemies on the court," Kiick said. "But we'll always be friends, no matter what."

The girls 18s doubles title went to the second seeded team of Brittany Dubins and Bianca Sanon, who downed the No. 3 seeded team of Clayton and Julie Sabacinski 8-2.

Top seed Jackie Kasler took third place in the girls 18s, defeating Dubins 6-2, 6-3, and unseeded Kaysara Mandry took the consolation title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 2 seed Maria Belaya.

The No. 4 seeded team of Spencer Newman and Raleigh Smith took the boys 18s doubles championship with an 8-4 win over the unseeded team of Michael Hui and Christopher Jackman.

Newman participated in four matches on Monday, winning them all, as he won three rounds of consolation, including a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the final over Jesse Feder.

Third place in boys 18s went to Michael Alford, who defeated Jeremy Efferding 6-1, 6-3.

In championships contested at other sites, No. 2 seed Jordan Daigle downed No. 1 seed Thai Kwiatkowski 6-0, 7-5 in the boys 14s at Riviera Country Club. Kwiatkowski took home a champion's trophy however, as he partnered with Strong Kirchheimer to defeat Baker Newman and Daniel O'Connor in the doubles final, 8-3.

At the Biltmore Tennis Center, unseeded Alexios Halebian beat No. 2 seed Hunter Callahan 6-1, 6-3 to win the boys 16s, and unseeded ReeRee Li took the girls 16s title with a 6-1, 6-4 decision over No. 1 seed Jacqueline Crawford.

The finals of the boys and girls 12s, which were also held at Biltmore Tennis Center after two days of competition at Tropical Park, No. 4 seed Diana Kussainova beat Elysse Graci 6-2, 6-1 for the girls title, and No. 4 seed Chase Colton defeated unseeded Alexander Knight 6-3, 6-1 in the boys championship match.

For complete results, visit the TennisLink site.

The website of the tournament's sponsor, Tennis Plaza, a Racquet World company, can be accessed here.


Tags: junior tennis, Plaza Cup, Kelsey Laurente, Bjorn Fratangelo, Alexandra Kiick, Colette Lewis

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Plaza Cup 18s Finalists Include Only One Seed

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Coral Gables, FL--

It was another dawn to dusk day of tennis at the Plaza Cup Sunday, with singles and doubles quarterfinals and semifinals packed into the eleven hours of play at the 18s site of Salvadore Park.

When the Har-Tru dust had cleared, No. 3 Andrew Butz was the only seed still alive, having overpowered unseeded Spencer Newman 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and unseeded Jeremy Efferding 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals.

When the big right-hander's first serve is on, there are few who can counter his first and third ball power, and on Sunday, the 16-year-old from Vero Beach didn't cool off at any point in either match. Although Butz complained often about the courts' uneven bounces, it wasn't ultimately much of a factor, and even Efferding's willingness to come in to the net was secondary to surviving Butz's forceful offense.

Hoping that Butz will not continue in that vein is 15-year-old Bjorn Fratangelo of Pittsburgh, who advanced to the finals with wins over fellow unseeded players Zachary Katz and Michael Alford. In the morning match, Fratangelo beat Katz 6-2, 6-4, and took the semifinal when Alford was forced to retire after losing the first set 7-5. Alford ran wide for a shot in the first game and went down with a cramp, and although he attempted to serve a couple of more points, he couldn't continue.


The girls 18s final will feature two unseeded players, with Mary Clayton of Plantation, Florida meeting Kelsey Laurente of Miramar, Florida. Clayton has yet to lose a set in the tournament, but she came close in Sunday's semifinal with top seed Jackie Kasler. Kasler, who had served for the first set at 6-5, couldn't hold, but she took a 3-0 lead in the ensuing tiebreaker. Clayton then played flawless tennis, capturing the next six points, and although Kasler held her next two serves, Clayton got an unforced error from Kasler to claim the first set. In the second set, Kasler got down 4-0 before she found her game again, but Clayton, two-handed on both sides, didn't panic when she was broken serving for it at 5-2, and finished the victory by breaking Kasler in the final game.

Laurente, only 14, took out No. 2 seed Maria Belaya 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 in the quarterfinals. Laurente's slight frame gives no indication of how strong she is mentally, and her placement and consistency keep her in every match. In the semifinals, Laurente took an early lead in each set against No. 5 seed Brittany Dubins and despite a few anxious moments late in the second set, cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 win.

The girls 14s final will also be played at Salvadore Park on Monday, with top seed Alexandra Kiick facing No. 3 seed Blair Martin. In the boys 14s at Riveria Country Club, No. 1 seed Thai Kwiatkowski will meet second seed Jordan Daigle.

The boys 16s final pits unseeded Alexios Halebian against No. 2 seed Hunter Callahan, while the girls 16s singles features No. 1 seed Jacqueline Crawford and unseeded Reeree Li. Those matches are on the hard courts of the Biltmore Tennis Center.

The 12s finalists in the boys division are No. 4 seed Chase Colton and unseeded Alexander Knight. In the girls 12s, No. 4 Diana Kussainova will meet No. 5 Elysse Graci for the championship.

For complete draws, including consolation and doubles results, see the TennisLink site.

In the Champion Porsche Pro Circuit events completed today in Boca Raton, No. 2 seed Jose Armas of Venezuela defeated No. 1 seed Gabriel Moraru of Romania 7-5, 6-3, and qualifier Gabriela Paz, also of Venezuela, downed unseeded Sharon Fichman of Canada 6-4, 7-6(4). For complete results, see the Pro Circuit results page.



Tags: junior tennis, Plaza Cup, Mary Clayton, Kelsey Laurente, Andrew Butz, Bjorn Fratangelo, Colette Lewis

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Top Two Seeds Breeze in Girls 18s, But Both Exit in Boys 18s at Plaza Cup

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Coral Gables, FL--

No. 1 seed Jackie Kasler and No. 2 seed Maria Belaya had no trouble in their opening two rounds of the USTA National Level 3 Plaza Cup Saturday on the green clay of Salvadore Park. But in the boys 18s, neither No. 1 seed Mark Schanerman nor No. 2 seed John Yetimoglu could survive past their opening matches.

In Saturday's ideal playing condition, Kasler, of Gulf Breeze Florida, lost only one game in her first two matches, while Melbourne Florida's Belaya lost seven. Third seed Bianca Sanon fell to unseeded Mary Clayton in an All-Florida battle in the second round, but with four seeds making the quarterfinals, the girls results were downright expected compared to the boys, where the final eight includes only two seeded players--No. 3 Andrew Butz and No. 4 Raleigh Smith.

Sixteen-year-old Zachary Katz of Boca Raton, Florida came back for a 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 win over N. Miami Beach's Schanerman in the second round, while 15-year-old Jeremy Efferding of Lake Worth was one of the many younger players advancing, taking down Miami's Yetimoglu 6-4, 4-6, 10-7. The 16-year-old Butz, of Vero Beach, survived a tiebreaker in lieu of a third set in the first round against John Cappabianca, and his quarterfinal opponent will be unseeded 15-year-old Spencer Newman of Miami. Unseeded Bjorn Fratangelo of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also 15, took out Alexander Teppert , a fifth seed, in the first round and will meet Katz in the quarterfinals. The fourth seeded Smith meets unseeded Michael Alford in the fourth quarterfinal.

None of the girls 18s second round matches went to a tiebreaker in lieu of a third set, although the first round had its share of dramatic matches. In Sunday's quarterfinals, Kasler will play unseeded Sarah McLean of Miami; Plantation's Clayton, younger sister of Chris, Alex and Missy, takes on unseeded Sabrina Kierberg of Ft. Lauderdale; Belaya faces Kelsey Laurente of Miramar, who has lost only two games in her first two matches, and No. 4 seed Julia Sabacinski of Plantation will play No. 5 seed Brittany Dubins of N. Miami Beach.

For results in the other age divisions, visit the TennisLink site.

Tags: junior tennis, Zachary Katz, Tennis Plaza Cup, Colette Lewis

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Top Two Seeds Breeze in Girls 18s, But Both Exit in Boys 18s at Plaza Cup

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Boca Pro Circuit Semis Set; Plaza Cup Coverage Starts Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Coral Gables, FL--

I'm a bit out of my element at Pro Circuit events, and regular readers of ZooTennis know that I rarely cover more than one a year, and never from beginning to end. This is our second year that Paul is directing a site at the Plaza Cup, the Level 3 USTA event for 12s, 14s, 16s, and 18s, and it is the main reason for this trip.

But with the first Pro Circuit event of the year taking place in Boca Raton, we escaped the Michigan winter a few days early to see some of the juniors and former college players in action. We had planned on being there only Wednesday and Thursday, but when Chase Buchanan made the quarterfinals, we decided to wait to leave for Miami until after his match was completed.

He was second up, so I watched some of 2006 USTA National 18s Champion Lauren Albanese's 6-3, 6-4 win over qualifier Darya Kustova of Belarus, and also watched former Florida star Greg Ouellette against Serbian Nikola Ciric. Ouellette, who was cheered on by former Gator teammates Nestor Briceno and Jesse Levine, got off to a very slow start against the big-serving left-hander, who alternated booming serves with delicate drop shots to take the first set 6-3. The unseeded Ciric was up 5-2 in the second set, when wild card Ouellette made his comeback, winning four straight games to take a 6-5 lead. Ciric, who had made error after error in that four game stretch, got back on track to force a tiebreaker, and it was Ouellette who began to miss routine shots, falling behind 5-1, and losing a chance at a third set when Circi cracked an ace to end it 7-6(3).

Tim Smyczek, the fourth seed, who has won seven matches since last Friday's qualifying began, was much steadier than the flashy qualifier Adriano Biasella of Italy, taking a 6-3, 5-2 ret. win. He will play No. 2 seed Jose De Armas of Venezuela, who downed No. 6 seed Jesse Witten, the former Kentucky Wildcat, 6-3, 6-4.

In the last quarterfinal match, top seeded Romanian Gabriel Moraru, who had somehow survived being down a set and 5-0 to Stefan Ianni of Italy in a three hour and forty minute second round match Thursday, showed no sign of fatigue against Buchanan, taking the first set 6-2. Buchanan wasn't finding the range on his backhand, with many of them hitting the net, while Moraru was missing infrequently and serving well.

The second set saw Buchanan raise his level and he stayed with the 26-year-old, who is ranked 294 by the ATP. Leading 5-4 in the second set, Buchanan got his only break points of the set when Moraru fell behind 15-40. The Romanian saved one by pinning Buchanan deep into the backhand corner and forcing an error, but he didn't get a first serve in at 30-40 and Buchanan pounced, blasting a backhand return winner to even the match.

Buchanan lost his serve to open the third set, and again had two break points on Moraru's opening serving game, but when he didn't convert either of those, he seemed to lose his edge. Serving at 1-3, Buchanan made four straight unforced errors, and after that, the result wasn't in doubt, with Moraru taking the third set 6-1.



In the women's semifinals, Albanese will meet qualifier Gabriela Paz of Venezuela, who disposed of Heidi El Tabakh of Canada 6-0, 6-1 in a match played after we left. The other semifinal will feature No. 5 seed Ahsha Rolle, a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 winner over No. 4 seed Tetiana Luzhanska of Ukraine, against unseeded Sharon Fichman of Canada. Fichman dismissed No. 8 seed Anna Floris of Italy 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

I had an opportunity to sit in with Ken Thomas of radiotennis.com, who began his coverage of the event today. He will be there through the finals, so for free internet streaming of the play-by-play, go to radiotennis.com.

For complete results of the Champion Porsche Pro Circuit events, see the results page at usta.com.

For the Plaza Cup draws, see the TennisLink site.


Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Champion Porsche Pro Circuit Event of Boca Raton, Lauren Albanese, Plaza Cup, Colette Lewis

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Boca Pro Circuit Semis Set; Plaza Cup Coverage Starts Saturday

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Oudin Signs with BEST; Charges Against Mississippi St. Player Dropped; Copper Bowl Winners

Melanie Oudin has signed with the management agency BEST (Blue Entertainment Sports Television), formerly known as SFX. The announcement came via a press release dated December 17, 2008. Oudin, who had begun playing as a professional back in February, joins a client roster that includes Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, the Bryan twins and Sam Querrey among many others. For the full press release, click here. To see the full roster of clients represented by BEST, click here.

Back in November, a Mississippi State tennis player was charged with rape, but a judge dismissed the case yesterday, according to this Associated Press item.

The Copper Bowl ended today, and two Texans took the 18s: Top seed Brett Ellen Keeler of Austin and No. 11 seed Ben Guthrie of Plano. In the 16s, two Floridians emerged with the kachina dolls given to the winners: No. 31 seed Trey Strobel and No. 7 seed Maci Epstein.

In the 14s Balaji Jothishankar, the 23rd seed, was the boys winner and top seed Alexandra Morozova took the girls title. Both are from Florida. The 12s titles went to Texan Gabriella Umoquit and Hawaiian Zandrix Acob.

For complete draws, see the TennisLink site.

Due to rain, it appears that the 12s and the consolation matches resorted to tiebreakers in lieu of third sets. This is an account, from the Tucson Citizen, of the semifinal match between Gregory Anderson of Tucson and David Liu of Omaha Neb., which was decided by a tiebreaker. Anderson lost to Acob 6-1, 6-0 in the final.

Winter National champion Christian Garay ascended to the top spot in the USTA rankings after his win in Tucson last week, and the Columbus, Ga. Ledger-Enquirer took note with this article, which also reveals that Garay saved three match points in his third-set-tiebreaker win over Toshiki Matsuya.

Tags: junior tennis, Melanie Oudin, Mississippi State, Copper Bowl, Christian Garay, Colette Lewis

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Oudin Signs with BEST; Charges Against Mississippi St. Player Dropped; Copper Bowl Winners

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Winter Nationals Report, Photos; ATP Chennai Open Has Virginia Connection

Julie Wrege of The Tennis Recruiting Network was in Scottsdale Arizona for the 16s and 18s finals and filed this report on the four matches today. There is also a featured photos album for the Winter Nationals here.

The 2009 professional tennis tours kick off Monday in Auckland New Zealand, Brisbane Australia (where Bernard Tomic has a wild card), in Doha Qatar (where Nadal, Federer, Murray and Roddick are competing), and in Chennai India (where two-time NCAA champion Somdev Devvarman has been given a wild card to compete in his hometown event).

Indian tennis has been regularly in the news the past few weeks, but not just to congratulate Yuki Bhambri on his Orange Bowl victory and rise to the No. 2 spot in the ITF junior world rankings. The Indian government has adopted a new policy that allows only those holding passports from India to represent the country, which means that U.S. passport holders Sunitha Rao and Shikha Uberoi won't be on India's Fed Cup team, and Prakash Amritraj, who grew up in Southern California, isn't eligible for future Davis Cup ties.

That decision and the lead up to the Chennai Open has produced quite a few stories on the state of Indian tennis. In this interview with Leander Paes, Devvarman is touted as the country's next star, and in this article, Devvarman talks about his training with Andy Roddick.

In an interesting matchup of junior vs. college tennis in today's first round of Chennai qualifying, wild card Sanam Singh, a sophomore at the University of Virginia, defeated Bhambri 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. For complete results, visit the ATP's Chennai Open page.


Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, USTA Winter Nationals, Sanam Singh, Chennai Open, Colette Lewis

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The Year's First Champions

The finals at the USTA Winter Nationals concluded today in Arizona, with gold and silver balls awarded in all four age groups.

In the boys 12s, No. 2 seed Christian Garay, who was runner-up to Spencer Papa in the Little Rock Nationals last August, claimed the title with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) win over No. 1 seed Toshiki Matsuya, The girls 12s final saw No. 4 seed Kimberly Yee defeat No. 2 seed Christina Makarova.

The boys 14s champion is Trey Daniel. In one of the few one-sided matches of the day, Daniel, seeded seventh, downed No. 1 seed Terrell Celestine 6-0, 6-1. No. 17 seed Coy Jones Hunter beat No. 8 Julia Elbaba 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 for the girls 14s title.

Kyle McPhillips, who at No. 25, was the lowest seed to garner a gold ball, outlasted top seed and girls 16s national champion Lauren Davis 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. Jack Sock, the top seed in the boys 16s, added to his vast gold ball collection by beating No. 2 seed Shane Vinsant 6-1, 6-4.

Hanna Mar, the top seed in the girls 18s, got past No. 11 Kate Fuller 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, and No. 2 seed JT Sundling won the boys 18s, defeating No. 7 Connor Smith by the unusual score of 1-6, 6-0, 7-6(0). An eyewitness report from 10isdad mentions that Sundling was down 5-0 in that final set. He also supplied this link to a photobucket album of shots he took at some of today's boys matches.

For complete results, including the doubles and consolation finals, click here for the 16s and 18s, and here for the 12s and 14s.

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you have every opportunity to pursue your dreams in 2009.

Tags: junior tennis, USTA Winter Nationals, Christian Garay, Colette Lewis

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The Year's First Champions

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