Boyajian Wins Matchup of Kalamazoo 16s Champions
©Colette Lewis 2006--
Key Biscayne, FL--
The reigning Kalamazoo 16s champion Brennan Boyajian defeated the 2005 Kalamazoo 16s winner Nate Schnugg 6-3, 7-6 (3) in first round action at the Orange Bowl at Crandon Park Tuesday.
Schnugg was seeded No. 8 in the tournament, Boyajian needed a wild card to get into qualifying, winning three matches over two days, all in three sets, to reach the main draw. But after a day of rest on Monday, Boyajian was ready.
"My strategy was to hit to his backhand," said Boyajian, who lives in nearby Weston, Florida. "I tried to keep him away from the net, because he can hit some amazing volleys. After all, he won the last two Grand Slam junior doubles titles."
As he did in winning the Easter Bowl, the Clay Courts and Kalamazoo this year, Boyajian used his anticipation, speed, variety and placement to keep Schnugg off balance, and when Schnugg did come to the net, Boyajian often greeted him with a deftly placed ball at his feet.
"I tried to keep it low," said Boyajian, 17. "And sometimes to go over him. But I tried never to go at him, his hands are too quick for that."
It didn't go exactly as he had planned at the beginning. Boyajian was broken first in the match, in the fifth game of the first set. He got the break back immediately however, and his serve, not the strongest part of his game, went unbroken the rest of the match.
The second set tiebreak was far from a classic, and when Schnugg lost both his serves at 3-4, he was doomed, although Boyajian admitted he wasn't comfortable either.
"We were both tight, I think, and the suspense built and the wind kicked up," said Boyajian. "I'm just glad to have won it."
Schnugg was disappointed, saying that he had come into the tournament playing well, having won matches in Futures events recently. But in a little over three weeks he'll be starting classes at the University of Georgia and preparing for the Bulldogs' dual match season, and anticipating that, he said he wouldn't dwell on the loss.
Boyajian wasn't the only qualifier from the U.S. to win on Tuesday. Jordan Rux also advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over wild card Ryan Lipman. Other U.S. boys winning on Tuesday were Adam El Mihdawy, Drew Daniel, Mateusz Kecki and Rhyne Williams. No. 3 seed Kellen Damico, who is recovering from mononucleosis, retired in his match with Peter Polansky down 6-2, 2-0. Dennis Lajola, seeded 13th, was also eliminated on Tuesday, dropping a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Fernando Romboli of Brazil.
The U.S. girls had a very successful day with Madison Brengle, Gail Brodsky, Julia Cohen, Ashley Weinhold, Melanie Oudin, Chelsea Preeg, Kristy Frilling and Kim Couts advancing to the second round.
For complete draws, see usta.com. A late afternoon shower may have complicated the scheduling.
20 comments:
what happpened w/ 16 US boys. saw the remaining 9 all lost in rd 32?
I was one of the biggest skeptics on Boyajian after all of his sucess last year but it looks like he is for real
Yeah but he is not going to want to join the Florida dynasty, he is going to come up to Michigan.
Boyajian to FSU, just like his brother. Good win, solid.
I hope that Boyajians win can silence all the critics, because, he is the real deal. He can play tennis , and great tennis. I hope,after college that he turns pro. He has the goods. Goodluck Brennan !
it just shows you how overrated these usta boys are. Why not give boyajain a wc into the main draw. He beat all the usta boys at kzoo. nuff said
usta boys are not overated...some of them are playing pretty well right now
i hope you arent refering to schnugg as being overrated because that would just be a dumb dumb comment....great win boyajin, keep it going!
Brennan is doing a great job, but he didn't "beat all the USTA boys at kzoo", he beat Daniel, Domijan and Thacher in the final rounds. Those guys are not part of high performance best to my knowledge. Please remember that Brennan held his seed. USTA boys are not overrated, Buchanan, Williams, Brad Klahn, Jarmere, and Kecki to name a few, are playing very good tennis and have had excellent results. McClune and Hochwalt are only playing Futures, McClune having wins over Cook and DeHeart and Hochwalt having wins over Tecau and Phil Bester.
I put my money on Brennan when I saw the draw. Schnugg is THE best junior doubles player out there, but his singles performance is not been there...at all. The best performance he's had all year was a Qf at Carson. Otherwise he hasn't gotten out of the first round. Yes he's had a few wins in the Futures, but put him against his peers lately in singles...it isn't working. And I have no idea what Damico is doing...let's go to Eddie Herr and OB after having mono...brilliant.
boyajian is really cute=)
I have seen Boyajian play and I must admit that he is a good player, but I believe in the 89 year age group that there are much better USA boys, like Donald Young, Kellen Damico, Wil Spencer, Dennis Lajola, Mike McClune to name a few. If you look back at the USTA Clay Court and the Zoo draws, you will see that Boyajian was playing against alot of guys younger then him.
umm ok?
but he just beat schnugg whos like 18 pretty easily
so yeah brennans amazing
Schnugg and Damico are overrated. Boyajian just beat
Jarmere and Zerbini - hello people, wake up. The kid
from Florida is the next best thing in US Tennis .
I hope he wins the whole thing!
Hey you want to talk smack? Boyajian had a good match against schnugg and came up with a good win, for you to come out and say damico and schnugg is over rated is rediculous. If you have the pelotas to come out and say your name like a man then you can write things like that. Schnugg is the bet doubles player in the world and I am top 8 in the world and have proven myself to be a top junior, unlike Boyajian, and yet we are in the same year. What does that say about your comment? Until he does somehting significant in the itf tour then you have no arguement. Be a man.
by the way he only beat jenkins and zerbini in a grade A, that is a DREAM DRAW my friend. I played these tournaments to make sure my ITF ranking stays in the top 10. Unfortunately I got a rough draw and was not ready to play the players I played. I payed the price. Brennan had one good win and beat two guys who have not done anything to deserve credit.... YET. I still think Jemere is a great player, but hes young and he will grow into it.
for it being one of brennans first itfs i think its unbelievable that he made quarters at OB.. and to not lose one match in the 16s all year is remarkable no matter who you are.. the usta needs to step up and realize that they cant just give all the wildcards to the kids who have games that "look" like pros. Brennans 10 times smarter than the players on the usta team.
Kellen and Nate's record speak for itself. End of discussion !
hahaha woww this is getting so serious
kellen, chill man we know you're good
but brennan is reallllly good too
C'mon guys. 2 good players, different in your own rites, different roads taken. 3 Gold singles balls in a year for Brennan is quite an accomplishment and absolutely should be recognized by both usta and fellow players. Just becuz a kid doesn't play itf's does not mean they aren't capable of good wins. "Dream draw" is ridiculous, he beat Schnugg in straight sets!! Whats this comment about a " rough draw", didn't think there should be rough draws for players in the top 10 of the world...hmmm... You guys are both good, as I said, capable of anything at anytime, but Brennan is a force to reckon with and Kellen needs to show some new stuff.
I would say Polansky is a tough draw, considering he lost in the finals of junior U.S. Open and just lost in the semis of a 10k future in California, while Damico as I understand it is just coming out of Mono, which incase you didn't know makes you really sick. Anyway I am surprised that Boyajian didn't get a wildcard, just based on that he won Kalamazoo in the 16s. But it is ridiculous to claim that Boyajian is now the real deal and all these other excellent players like Damico are overrated. Damico has been more successful than Boyajian the last 4 years, while usually playing two years ahead of his own age. And no offense to Jenkins and Zerbini, they are both great players, but that is a very nice second and third round at Orange Bowl considering you could have tougher matches back to back as an unseeded player at a national open.
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