The Nats Day Five: Perfect Weather for Long Matches
The weather couldn't be better--sunny with temperatures in the mid 70s and no humidity. It's surprising how many matches featured cramps today; could it be more psychological than physiological at this stage in the tournament?
My story at ustaboys.com provides the details of Tuesday's fourth round matches.
24 comments:
I noticed yesterday that there is one person missing that I was wondering about. My friend used to babysit the Harrison brothers when they lived in Shreevport so I have been following them the last few years, where is Ryan Harrison? He is evidently not here, injured?
Why are all the top boys 14's playing up? #2,3,4 & 6 all played up in the 16's. #2 & 3 lost in the round of 128. #4 & 6 lost in the round of 64. There are two others, #5 & 8 still going, but they are about to age up anyways. This can't exactly help their confidence, not to mention miss out on winning the most important trophy in American junior tennis.
Dear Austin, Ryan is in the Czech Republic playing in the 14 and under World Team Championships as are Raymond Sarmiento and Shaun Bernstein and it is during the same time as Kalamazoo and Christian is here in San Antonio playing in the 14s National Hardcourts. I believe alot of these kids you are asking about are playing up for 2 reason: Kalamazoo is such a special tournament in that it is the 1st time these kids are treated like professionals where people pay to see them play and they have to have players passes to get in and there are very large crowds and things like this. This is why I had Ryan play it last year as a 13 year old so he would not be in awe of the situation when he was in a position to compete for the title some time if he ever is. Also some of these kids may be playing up to try and get used to the pace of the bigger kids for when they do age out. Thanx for asking about the boys even if I dont know who you are. Pat Harrison
Wow that's great. How did the 2 seeded USTA boy's 14 and under team do at that World Team event?
To Anonymous, They finished 9th in the tournament as a team but since you probably already knew that when you wrote your sarcastic letter given that you knew they were the 2 seed thanks for asking anyway. By the way since your letter seems to be personally directed Ryan did win all of his singles matches except for the last 1 against Spain which he lost in 3 sets on red clay which I think is pretty good. Im sure on a different surface he might have had a better result in that as well. Oh thats right he has beaten that child before in Spain on artificial grass during the U.S. and Spain Davis Cup finals but thanks for checking anyway. Pat Harrison
Welcome to the 2nd Annual International Player Haters' Ball!
I'm amazed at all the snide comments directed at the Harrisons. What gives?
Any snide comments directed toward them are pure envy, plain and simple. They are both great kids, and Im not just talking tennis! The evil waters of parents in junior tennis is often very dark and murky!
If I was able to allow multiple children to trot around the globe to play a game just because it pleased me to do so, I wouldn't care less what anyone else on the planet thought, felt or did, either. Why the big fuss over some win loss records? A vicarious life? Nien, Danke.
just a quick question for anyone: Haven't many great players had parents that have sort of "pushed" the issue, especially early in the childs tennis life? How easy is it for Johnny 7 year old to go practice 2-3 hours a day? And dont you think the kids in many cases develop a love and dedication for the game as the years go by? And is it a crime of parenthood if the parents are happy about this?
Sorry..that was more than one question!
I would love to put you on the clue bus, as there always seems to be empty seats when it comes to obscene displays of any kind.
For example it's just A game- not THE game, grace is not just the kitchen help,and Johnny is better off on the court for 2-3 hours than the same amount of time in a field.Someone should tell you, I'd rather not.
The Harrison's need to have a feature article. Thet need a reality TV show.
They are the #1 conversation topic on Zoo tennis. I don't know them, never heard of them, but they make the news.
Lets be frank here. What do you have against the Harrisons?
The Harrisons are Ryan and Christian. Two brothers coaches by their father, and both very good players, arguably the best for their age group (14, and 12) in the U.S. Christian in fact won the Orange Bowl at age 11 last year. Someone on this thread has something against them. The father probably has better things to do than to hang around this board defending them, so I will. To say anything negative about them is a joke. Not to glorify them either. They are just good kids, who do not deserve to be bashed, period.
Harrison's are cool. They are having a laugh at all the attention.
i don't think people are bashing the Harrison kids I think they are pretty good when you look at results. After reading some of the posts from their dad, I think maybe he should figure out why he needs to defend his kid like that.so what if you don't win everything. It gets a lot harder as they get older. How many roger's can there be. Does he coach other people or just his kids? I heard they're at the Newcomb ranch.
Dear Anonymous, To answer your questions as best as possible I think its pretty obvious someone has an ax to grind as has been noted by other readers as well. I have tried to answer direct questions with direct answers when asked whether they are of a nice tone or a sarcastic tone so I dont feel like I am defending my kids as much as just answering the questions. I dont expect my children to win everything and know that teaching them an all court game now will hopefully help their future even if it cost them some matches in the 12s, 14s and even 16s because as you correctly noted it only gets harder as they get older. We do in fact live here at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch where I am one of the Tennis Directors. We moved here over 2 years ago and our family has loved it. I do in fact work with many other kids besides my own who live here at the Ranch or come in to work with me for a few weeks at a time between tournaments. Michael Venus just recently won the Boys 18s Clay Courts, Keri Wong won the Girls 16s Easter Bowl. Daisha Hill-Hurtado is ranked in the top 180 in the I.T.F. at 15 years old. Emmett Egger just finished 3rd at the 14s Hard Courts a couple of weeks ago,Lilly Kimbell finished 2nd at the Girls 14s Easter Bowl.Kristi Boxx has also done quite well reccently. These are a few of the kids I have had the privilege of working with in the past 2 years on a personal level as well as many other Sectionally and Nationally ranked kids here at the Academy. Some of these kids take from other pros as well either back home or here at the Academy but I am very proud of their results just as I am my own childrens. Pat Harrison
Harrison is the top innovative coach in the US. There is talk that he could head the USTA academy in Florida.
Mr Harrison, there is no doubt you are an excellent coach, and I agree if you could possibly be involved in USTA High Performance. But just like the USTA putting pictures of King and Querrey on their Junior Development website, it is very misleading to list ALL the players you have listed. Do you believe that their accomplishments could NOT have occured WITHOUT your help? To me (maybe not others) it leads me to believe that you are responsible for the majority of these kids talent and success. Obviously this is nothing against your qualifications as a coach, but I doubt that the kids you have mentioned have seen anything close to the court time and influence that your sons have had, and the list you provided implies MORE than just a few lessons once in a while. (Not that you have not improved their games, I am sure you have!)
The reason Harrison should be considered by the USTA is simple. He stresses an all-court game, he has proven his ability to teach this with his sons results, and that is where the game is heading for the future, not bashing from the baseline, with big forehand, big serve. Although I would take those weapons as well! If the USTA was really serious about development, they would/should offer this guy anything he wants, and then see what some USTA prospects, especially some that he could catch at a young age, look like in 5 years or so. May be far-fetched, but it could become a Federer factory, and the thought that at least one U.S female could follow a big grounstroke to the net.
To Anonymous, As I stated in my previous post some of these kids also have coaches either back home that they work with when they are not here at Newks or they also work with some of the other coaches here at the Ranch. I do in fact see these kids on a daily basis during the school year and work with them privately at times when they need to work with a particular aspect of their game or talk about things. I dont believe any coach in the world can be responsible for someones talent they either have it or they dont but you can help be a part of developing that talent as you see fit for their particular game style. So I dont think it is misleading in any way to say i have helped these kids games. As i have stated some of them also work with other pros as well and I didnt say I am solely responsible for their success. A question was asked if I work with other kids besides my own and the answer is yes. Again I do not feel solely responsible for their success but merely a part of it. No coach in the world can be solely responsible for any players success any where in the world and like any Academy these players are already great when they get here. Any coaches job is to help the child take 1 more step up the ladder of success as best they can. These kids I have mentioned see the exact same court time as my kids since they work out together at the same time each day. Do I have the same influence? I doubt it since they do not live with me and are not my children. I hope this has answered all the questions as Michael and Ryan are waiting for me to practice. Thanks Pat Harrison
Please don't use Roger's name associated with other future players. There will never be another Roger. He is on a short list of immortal players. If you think he or any other can be replicated you are from another planet.
"if you think he or any other can be replicated you are from another planet" isnt that pretty obvious? Using great players names, and style as a baseline for future success, does not seem like such a crime that it would provoke a response such as that.
A Question for Pat Harrison,
Did you know when you had Ryan represent the USA at the World 14's event that he would be than given the wild card for US open for playing the one position? Did you make a strategic decision not to play the Zoo or were you advised in any way to do this? What about the other boys on the team? I don't mean this in a disparaging way at all either since every that reads the Zoo knows that Ryan is a great little player. But since you seem to have a direct line to High Performance we are all curious.
To Anonymous, Yes I did know ahead of time that he would be granted the wildcard. This was also done the year before for Chase Buchanan as he played 1 for the U.S. last year at the same tournament. I was not advised to do this by anyone but knew this was the tradeoff for not being able to play the Zoo and he was also anxious to see how he would stack up against the best players in the world for his age. As for the other boys on the team Raymond Sarmiento and Shaun Bernstein I cant speak for them but I do know that Ryan had a great time with them over there along with the coach that took them David Roditi. I really dont know that I have a direct line to High Performance but they are nice enough to answer my questions when I call them about Ryans tournaments and what they think he needs to play. I hope this answered your questions and will be glad to do so in the future if I know the answers. Pat Harrison
The key to Pat Harrison's success as a coach? The same as Lansdorp, Bolletieri, etc. He feeds his players baskets and baskets and baskets of balls, over and over and over again, until they hit their shots with confidence.
When the chips are down in a match, players who have been trained this way don't miss.
Now... can we get the USTA coaches to realize this?
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