Legg Mason Tennis Classic--Qualifying Preview

Legg Mason Tennis Classic--
I needed a starting point for the stunning news that Tyler Hochwalt, the 16s champion at the USTA Clay Courts last week, has won two matches in qualifying at the Legg-Mason Tennis Classic today in Washington DC.

Tyler's mom, Debbie, was kind enough to alert me that he had won his first match, over Horia Tecau, the seventh seed, who is ranked in the 300s on the ATP tour. Most 16-year-olds aren't going to win a set, let alone a match, in a ATP qualifying event, and yet Hochwalt came back and won his second match this afternoon, this time over Damiisa Robinson.

These are the type of results that are encouraging for a young professional such as Phillip Simmonds, who is now 19 and hasn't
played a junior tournament since last year's US Jr. Open. (Simmonds also won two qualifying matches today.) They are the stuff that dreams are made of for a youngster like Hochwalt. How cool would it be for Hochwalt to qualify and then draw Alex Clayton, the 18s Clays champion, in the main draw?