August Aces; Harrison Upsets Ljubicic at U.S. Open; Querrey Beats Klahn; Sock Loses to Chiudinelli

The August edition of the monthly feature I write for the Tennis Recruiting Network is up today, and for his performance during the qualifying Ryan Harrison is one of the 11 aces. He's likely to make the September edition too, after his 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 win today over No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

I saw most of the Harrison-Ljubicic match, although I admit that I was switching between that and the Louis Armstrong contest between Sam Querrey and NCAA champion Bradley Klahn. Harrison played extremely well, while Ljubicic looked the more passive player, and a couple of early lob winners by the 18-year-old seemed to keep the Croatian from trying to win points at the net.

Ljubicic later said he struggled in the heat, calling it a perennial problem for him. Harrison, on the other hand, looked very fresh even deep into the fourth set. After dropping the second set in a tiebreaker, Harrison showed frustration for the first time, but after that outburst, which included a long-range racquet heave, he kept his emotions in check, even after losing his serve in the fourth set, up 4-3. Talking with Patrick McEnroe and Darren Cahill after the match on the ESPN2 set, Harrison gave credit to Ljubicic for playing a good game to break. He broke right back, and as he said, "stayed composed and served it out." On match point, there was a close call on the baseline, and a bit of hesitation before the umpire called game set and match.

"For a second there, I was in disbelief," Harrison said. With the win, Harrison becomes the first American teenager to record a slam win over a top 20 opponent since Andy Roddick beat No. 11 Alex Corretja of Spain at the 2001 U.S. Open.

In this AP story, Harrison talks about being the next American hope, while Ljubicic believes that playing the qualifying and not getting a wild card was a plus for Harrison. There is video of Harrison available at espn.com, along with Greg Garber's story.

In the Querrey - Klahn match, neither played well in the first set, with the sparse morning crowd on Louis Armstrong a sharp contrast to the packed Court 11 for the Harrison - Ljubicic contest. Klahn found his form in the second set however, and despite getting drilled in the groin by Querrey (here's Querrey's account of that) went on to even the match. Klahn began to cramp in the third set however, and received treatment on several different changeovers. The crowd got bigger, and started to become more involved in the match when it became clear that Klahn had a chance to push Querrey. Ultimately the 20th-seeded Querrey posted a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory, but Klahn had made an impression.

In his post-match chat with ESPN2, Querrey revealed that he and Klahn had been practicing together all summer in Southern California, so he had a pretty good idea of what to expect from his friend, although obviously not with the stakes so high.

The third match I watched on the usopen.org stream was Jack Sock taking on Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland. An obviously nervous Sock was down 5-0 before he started to move his feet, but once he began to find the court with his forehand the match was basically even. And not only could he consistently hit forehand winners against Chiudinelli, Sock demonstrated superior volleying skills when he got into the net. Often however, he was too far behind the baseline to do anything other than defend, and Chiudinelli was not missing very often. After losing the first set 6-1 and the second 6-4, Sock put together a string of five consecutive games to take the third set 6-1. It was the first set in the Open that the Kalamazoo wild card had won since Donald Young took the opening set from Novak Djokovic back in 2006.

But Sock lost his opening service game in the fourth set when he hit a routine putaway long, and was down 5-0 before he got on the board. It was the first time Sock had played four sets in a match, and he displayed signs of fatigue-double faults and forehands missed by a few inches. Sock held for 5-1, but Chiudinelli finished the match off with little difficulty.

Speaking of Donald Young, the 21-year-old wild card went out quickly to Gilles Simon of France today. He was on the court only 78 minutes before absorbing a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 loss.

NCAA women's doubles champions Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette of Stanford lost to No. 14 seeds and Wimbledon doubles finalists Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonereva of Russia 7-5, 6-3.

The boys 18s National doubles champions Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Nathan Pasha lost to Michael Kohlmann of Germany and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 6-1.

The girls 18s National champions Lauren Herring and Grace Min will play on Thursday, as will 18-year-old wild card winner Beatrice Capra, who plays No. 18 seed Aravane Rezai of France on the Grandstand. Herring and Min play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of women's doubles.

The New York Times produced this video look at Lauren Herring's experience at the U.S. Open through the eyes of her father.

For complete results and scores, see usopen.org.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Ryan Harrison, Sam Querrey, Bradley Klahn, Jack Sock, Lauren Herring, US Open, Colette Lewis

Capra's Win Highlights Second Day at U.S. Open

Due to three very long day session matches on Arthur Ashe, it looks like it might be after midnight before we'll know how NCAA champion Chelsey Gullickson does against top seed Caroline Wozniacki, so I'll focus instead on the results from earlier today at Flushing Meadows.

The good news came early, with USTA wild card tournament winner Beatrice Capra taking a 6-1, 6-3 victory from Karolina Sprem of Croatia. The match wasn't on a televised court, so I don't have any insight into the reasons for Capra's win, but in looking at the match statistics, break points coverted stands out. Capra faced only two break points, saving them both, while cashing in on four of her six opportunities. I was hoping for a story on usopen.org, but not finding that, here's one from the Columbia Flier. And I'm sure Capra herself will have plenty to say about her match in her always entertaining diary for usopen.org. She will play No. 18 seed Aravane Rezai of France in the second round.

The news for the other women's wild cards in action today was not as positive. National 18s champion Shelby Rogers won the first set in a tiebreaker from Shuai Peng of China, but lost the second set in a tiebreaker, leaving the match even after more than two hours of play on a very hot day. Peng got an early break in the third and hung on for a 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-3 win over the 17-year-old from South Carolina. Jamie Hampton was the only wild card to face a seeded player, and after dropping the first set to No. 22 seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-4, she came back to take the second 6-3, but couldn't sustain that momentum, losing the third 6-0. CoCo Vandweghe, who had a very long wait for her match on the Grandstand, could find no answers for Sabine Lisicki's game, losing 6-1, 6-0 in 48 minutes.

In men's doubles, which began today, NCAA champions Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz of Virginia lost to No. 10 seeds Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman 6-3, 6-4.

Wednesday's schedule is a much better one for those who would rather watch tennis than live scoring. Qualifier Ryan Harrison and wild cards Bradley Klahn, Donald Young and Jack Sock will be on televised courts, with Klahn playing fellow Californian Sam Querrey at 11 a.m. on Armstrong, and Harrison playing No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia on Court 11, also at 11 a.m. Young and Sock will play on Court 13, third and fourth matches on.

The AP's Howard Fendrich spoke with Sock and his coach Mike Wolf for this story. In it, Sock reveals that there are eight colleges he has interest in playing for should he decide against turning pro in the next year.

Also in action on Wednesday are National junior champions Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Nathan Pasha, who will play Michael Kohlmann of Germany and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the first round of doubles on Court 14.

For complete schedule and results from today, see usopen.org.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, US Open, Beatrice Capra, Jack Sock, Colette Lewis

Gullickson to Play Wozniacki on Arthur Ashe Tuesday Night; McHale Falls to King in Monday's Action; Player Diaries; Why Teens No Longer Win Slams

On the first few days of the U.S. Open, there's so many possibilities that it's difficult to settle on just one. I watched the last few games of Melanie Oudin's 6-3, 6-0 rout of qualifier Olga Savchuk, but I prefer to see matches played in front of packed stadiums, and that will never describe Arthur Ashe during an 11 a.m. match.

I watched some of Roddick's win, which was another one-sided affair, but ESPN2 did switch to the more dramatic contests between No. 5 seed Robin Soderling and qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria on the Grandstand, and on Court 11, No. 17 seed Gael Monfils and qualifier Robert Kendrick of the U.S. Neither produced an upset, but there's always drama deep in the fifth set of a slam. Soderling ended up winning 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(2), 5-7, 6-4 in just under four hours, and Monfils survived his three-hour-plus ordeal by a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 score.

Later in the afternoon, I watched the match between wild card Christina McHale and Vania King, via usopen.org live streaming, which King won 6-3, 0-6, 6-1. By that score you would guess that both players ran hot and cold, and that was true, but neither gave an inch mentally. It was only after McHale got down 3-0 and had treatment for a calf injury that the conclusion seemed inevitable, although she continued to battle.

Two other U.S. wild cards were in action Monday. Ryan Sweeting lost to qualifier Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, (for Josh Rey's account of the match, click here) and Tim Smyczek lost to No. 22 seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(6).

The reciprocal wild cards had better luck, with Carsten Ball of Australia and Guillaume Rufin of France advancing to the second round. Sophie Ferguson of Australia lost her opening match, but Virginia Razzano of France won hers today.

The rest of the women's wild cards will play on Tuesday, with junior champion Shelby Rogers, Beatrice Capra, CoCo Vandeweghe and Jamie Hampton on the schedule. Only Vandeweghe's match with Sabine Lisicki, scheduled for the Grandstand, will be on a court with live streaming, so I'll be monitoring live scoring.

I shouldn't have any trouble following the final women's wild card to take the court Tuesday. NCAA champion Chelsey Gullickson will play top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in a night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium. They will follow Rafael Nadal's match with Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia.

The Kevin Anderson - Somdev Devvarman match today was expected to be a good one, but Anderson cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win. Qualifier Irina Falconi also went out quietly, losing to No. 19 seed Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-1.

For complete results, see usopen.org.

The USTA is again posting player diaries, with Jack Sock, Shelby Rogers, Beatrice Capra, Vania King and Bethanie Mattek-Sands having contributed so far.

Christopher Clarey investigates the reasons why so few teenagers have an impact on the game's top echelons these days in this story for the New York Times. Clarey writes:
There has clearly been a major shift in the men’s game in a short time, too. In the 2000s, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray broke into the top 10 as teenagers while others, like Federer, Richard Gasquet and Juan Martín del Potro, broke into the top 20 as teenagers.

“Everybody was like a teenager when they broke through,” Federer said. “Today, they don’t, so I don’t know if it’s because the top 10 is preventing them from doing that or if it’s just gotten so much more physical, and that’s why it is hard.”

The consensus among players, coaches and agents is that the physical element is indeed the primary factor, although there should be room for the exceptional talent to make an impact.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Christina McHale, Vania King, US Open, Player Development, Colette Lewis

US Open Qualifier Falconi Still Studying; Doubles Draws Posted; ITF Junior News

I caught up with Irina Falconi today by phone to talk about her experience in U.S. Open qualifying and to find out how she was preparing for Monday's match with No. 19 seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy. Although Falconi is no longer in school at Georgia Tech, having turned professional after her sophomore year, she still thinks like a student, telling me that she will be doing homework tonight to learn what she can about her opponent. After talking to Falconi today, I wrote this New York Times Straight Sets blog post about her path from the public courts of a New York city park to the main draw of the U.S. Open.

The doubles draws were released today, and the two junior national championship teams who received wild cards will face unseeded opponents. Lauren Herring and Grace Min will play Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia and her partner Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the opening round. Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Nathan Pasha have drawn Michael Kohlmann of Germany and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

The NCAA champions, who were also given doubles wild cards, both drew seeded teams. Stanford's Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette will play No. 14 seeds Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonereva of Russia, the 2010 Wimbledon finalists. University of Virginia's Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz have drawn No. 10 seeds Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium, who have reached the semifinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.

There are many other young U.S. players who are playing doubles, so check out the complete draws at usopen.org.

The ITF International Hard Court tournament in New Jersey was played last week, with unseeded 14-year-old Christina Makarova of California winning the girls singles title over Ronit Yurovsky, and Alexander Petrone of New York taking both the singles and doubles titles. Petrone, seeded third, beat unseeded Andrew Adams in the championship match. For complete results, see the ITF Junior website.

After winning in New Jersey, Makarova made a quick trip to Canada, where she qualified yesterday for the Grade 1 ITF event there, and won her opening round match today. The fields are traditionally quite strong for this event, and this year is no exception, with the Pliskova sisters the top two seeds in the girls event, and three of the current ITF Top 10 in the boys draw.

In addition to Makarova, U.S. girls playing include Blair Shankle, Julia Elbaba, Noel Scott, Tristen Dewar, Monica Turewicz, Valeria Deronjic, Sachia Vickery, Gabrielle Desimone and Nelo Phiri. Turewicz, at No. 16, is the only one seeded.

U.S. boys playing in Canada are Mitchell Krueger, Evan Song, Shane Vinsant, Dane Webb, Michael Zhu and Daniel McCall. None are seeded.

The tournament has a website that gives more current information than the ITF junior site. It can be found here.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Irina Falconi, US Open, New York Times Straight Sets, ITF, Canadian Open, Colette Lewis

Falconi and Kendrick Join Harrison in US Open Main Draw; Monday's Schedule Released; Sock Interview

The 32 qualifiers for the U.S. Open have been determined, with wild card Irina Falconi and Robert Kendrick earning victories this evening to join Ryan Harrison in the main draw. Kendrick, the No. 22 seed, defeated Tatsuma Ito of Japan 6-3, 6-3 and Falconi repeated her recent win over Stephanie Dubois of Canada, posting a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Dubois was the No. 25 seed in qualifying.

Steve Pratt, who is working for the USTA in New York during the tournament, provided these quotes from Falconi after her match today.

On playing in front of the New York crowd:
“They were very loud. It’s nice to be in front of your home crowd.”
I moved to Florida from New York when I was 14 so I still keep in touch with a lot of them. A lot of them were here today so it was just so nice to get up from the changeover and see and hear them pumping me up the whole time.”

On beating Stephanie Dubois earlier this month in Vancouver:
“That absolutely helped me. I had some great notes from that match and I just played so solid. I took what I had learned the first time and just developed it even more.”

On being in the U.S. Open main draw:
“It’s a little bit surreal. I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet. I think once I see my name in that draw it will. It’s been quite a journey and I’m very excited.”

“I came here once at a kid. That’s the sad part. It’s my favorite all-time tournament and I didn’t come that much. So it’s really strange to be playing here. I was very young when I came the first time.”

On losing last year in the first round of qualifying:
“Last year was more of a deer in the headlights kind of feeling for me. Now I feel that I really belong here and after each match I feel more comfortable just with the crowds and the atmosphere and everything that goes with that.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing a high seed at Arthur Ashe in a night match. Who knows, that would be fun.”

For more on Kendrick's match, see the article on usopen.org.

Although only three American players got through the qualifying, that is actually as many as any other country advanced, although with all the wild cards, the U.S. started with many more. Canada also advanced three: Rebecca Marino, Peter Polansky and Milos Raonic, as did the Czech Republic and France. In all, 20 different countries had players advance to the main draw.

It is also interesting to note that of the 64 seeded players that began the qualifying, only 12 of them-6 men and 6 women-actually won three matches. I'm not sure what that means, but perhaps it's an indication of how little difference there really is between the 105th and 240th ranked players.

The schedule has been announced for Monday, and neither the junior champions nor the NCAA champions are on it, nor is Ryan Harrison Wild card Christina McHale and Vania King will play on Court 13, and Tim Smyczek, the winner of the USTA wild card tournament, will take on No. 26 seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil on Court 11.

Falconi and Kendrick don't have much rest time, as each will be back on court on Monday. Falconi is playing No. 19 seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy on Court 11, and Kendrick will take on No. 17 seed Gael Monfils of France on the same court.

Two former U.S. Open boys champions will meet on Monday, with qualifier Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, the 2007 champion, meeting wild card Ryan Sweeting of the U.S., the 2005 champion. The 2006 champion, Dusan Ljoda of the Czech Republic, also reached the main draw, beating former USC Trojan Robert Farah of Colombia 7-5, 6-4 today.

Monday will also see two of the high profile qualifiers meet each other, with Portugal's Michelle Larcher de Brito facing India's Sania Miraz.

The rematch of the 2007 NCAA semifinal between Virginia's Somdev Devvarman and Illinois' Kevin Anderson is also scheduled for Monday, on Court 7.

For complete draws and Monday's schedule, see usopen.org.

Dave "The Koz" Kozlowski provided this interview with Kalamazoo champion Jack Sock prior to his U.S. Open debut at Tennis Ledger.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, US Open, Irina Falconi, Robert Kendrick, Jack Sock, Colette Lewis