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Thursday, May 3, 2007

April Aces

My monthly photo feature on The Tennis Recruiting Network focuses on the many of the same players who appear in the slideshow below and were subjects of my daily writing on the ISC and Easter Bowl, but there are a few others who caught my attention during the month.

Ryan Thacher got plenty of attention on this site last month, but he gets some major exposure in this article on SI.com.

IMG announced Michael McClune's signing on its website yesterday. It mentions his Nike contract, which is new; McClune was wearing his usual Reebok as recently as the Luxilon Cup. I spoke to McClune early last week; he was training in Fresno with Brad Stine, who until last year was coaching Sebastien Grosjean, and famously worked with Jim Courier for many years. The two are just trying out the arrangement; as of last week anyway, there wasn't any permanent commitment. McClune is entered in the Veracruz Mexico Futures tournament next week and will continue to play primarily at that level, except for Kalamazoo and the U.S. Open Juniors.

Madison Brengle won the USTA High Performance's round robin tournament late last month for the French Open qualifying wild card. Usta.com has a brief update here.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could you tell me a little how this kind of signing work?

From what I read, it is hard to make a living in Tennis. You have to be in
top 100 to make an ok living from competition price money. And there are only a few Americans among top 100.

Anonymous said...

I know that people will probably yell and scream about this comment, but I'll say it anyway. It's great that McClune signed a deal with IMG, however you shouldn't be able to play both sides of the fence. Either you're an amateur or a pro but you can't be both. I feel the same when Donald Young shows up at the Zoo with his entourage. They are both part of the professional circuit and should not be allowed to come back and compete against the amateurs.

Anonymous said...

you are right on the $$$. And "no one should yell or scream".

The one and only reason they return to the Zoo -- is for the wild card to the US Open. It is unquestionably the easiest way to get into a Grand Slam event. Which btw should be easy pickings for a player who competes against pros and then drops back to compete against juniors.

If you want to be a pro-great --- don't compete against people who are still going to school and are not paid to play.

Anonymous said...

College players at the Zoo or any other Level 1 event- great

Pro players - that is a bunch of BS.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree..."pros" should not be allowed at Kalamazoo or Easter Bowl or any other junior tournament, shame on the USTA.

Just what is a Nike clothing endorsement worth...anybody??

Anonymous said...

the clothing, racquet and shoe companies announce thru the media that the contracts are worth $1,000,000 etc. The facts are those announced figures are if the player meets all the pre arranged goals of the company. Top 100, top 50, top ten, grand slam titles etc. Very few players attain that level. Gimelstob was said to have signed a 1 million plus deal --in reality he recieved a fraction of that amount. Depending on the player $50,000 -$100,000 basically enough to pay expenses, for a year if they are lucky.The athletic companies are not in the business of giving away money unless they recieve something in return. The selling of their product. Donald Young was also said to sign a large contract, but that is if certain performance standards are met. At this point, he might get a few Big Macs out of the deal.

Anonymous said...

Collette,

Has Madison Brengle turned pro or is she still keeping her options open, a al Vania King?

Colette Lewis said...

I haven't heard that Brengle has made any decision, but I neglected to ask her at Carson. A rumor that she had turned pro was circulating at last year's US Open Juniors, but there was no truth to it.

Anonymous said...

I like the system as it is. It wouldn't be wrong to change it, but I like the fact that we get to see the best U.S. juniors compete against each other at Kalamazoo. And it only makes the amateurs better to play against the Youngs and McClunes of the world. Their chances of winning are diminished, sure, but I'll bet that many of them embrace the opportunity to compete against such players.

Anonymous said...

totally disagree --should not allow pros to play in junior events. Let a junior win the tournament and then play against a real pro in the US Open. Young, et. al take away the oppurtunity from a junior to play in the Open. It was the decison of the junior who turned pro to compete against pros-- If you turn pro in Basketball you can't go back to school and play for a national championship (NCAA) while you are a pro.