ESPN.com - TENNIS - IMG signs 13-year-old Australian prodigy Tomic
ESPN.com - TENNIS - IMG signs 13-year-old Australian prodigy Tomic ~~~
In a post last month, I mentioned this signing as likely and IMG made it official today in Key Biscayne. Tomic is taking a break from tennis at the moment; I doubt anyone thought that he would win four straight ITF 18-and-under tournaments and that's a lot of mental and physical strain for one so young.
I was wondering what media outlet would be the first to take Donald Young to task for his 6-0, 6-0 loss in today's main draw at the NASDAQ-100. SportsTicker is the winner.
8 comments:
Collette,
In the wake of Donald Young's experiences competing on the main tour, have you noticed any change in attitude, amongst the junior boys and their families, to the prospect of turning pro early?
AndrewD
Is there any reason to doubt Tomic's ITF victories because they were in New Zealand and Australia, rather than in the United States? I wonder how competitive the ITF's are out there. Thanks.
First to AndrewD's comment, I would just say that significant money is offered to very few juniors, so Young (and Tomic)are not typical enough to have any real impact on other juniors.
As for the level of tennis in ITF Grade 4s and 5s in New Zealand and Australia, I don't have any personal observations to base this on, but I believe it to be similar to those in North America. The quality of the field in the U.S. events varies widely depending upon what else is available at the time. The very best 16 and 17 year olds in Australia don't play this level, but then neither do their counterparts in the U.S. play 4s and 5s. So to answer the question, no, there's no reason to discount this achievement at all.
Collette,
I probably didn't phrase that question too well. I wasn't referring to the very young players but those who are facing the choice of college or professional tennis.
The money situation is, as you say, not typical but, putting that aside for a moment, I did wonder if Young's lack of success (so far) had made the reality of the sport, at the highest level, far more palpable for many juniors and their parents. It is one thing to have an appreciation of the difficulties a professional faces but quite another to see the best amongst you (and such a dominant figure, despite his age)struggle at that level.
AndrewD
Maybe it will have a small impact, but these college vs. pro juniors can look at Young's struggles and then contrast them with Querrey's much more competitive matches at the ATP level and choose to indentify themselves with that success. If Querrey goes to college, now THAT would have an impact.
Before these young juniors decide to turn pro, they AND their parents should take a realistic look at their kid's abilities before foregoing a college scholarship. Most of these kids aren't going to make any money in the pros, then where will they end up in life?
Collette,
Thanks for that. Not to put you on the spot but, do you think Sam Querrey will go on to college and/or do you think, in the light of his recent results, he should?
I found Vania King's recent comments regarding her concerns about turning pro (second year blues, etc) exceptionally mature. It seems like she's a rare example of a person with foresight.
Any plans to do a story on her?
AndrewD
I too was impressed by King's view. I'm afraid that although I'll probably see Vania now and then at the USTA training sites, her days of competing in junior events are over. Definitely my loss. I'll never forget her win at Carson last year, and how she accidently clipped a linesman with her racquet retrieving a ball, apologized audibly and continued to play the point, which she won.
As for Querrey, I can't even get a college tennis coach to say that he would benefit from college at this point, but I don't think he's ruled it out. I hope to speak with him about it next month when I'm in California to see if anything has changed now that he's demonstrated that he can be competitive on the ATP level.
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