McClune vs. Thacher in 18s, Sandgren vs. Seal in 16s for Kalamazoo titles
The 65th edition of the Kalamazoo tournament comes to a close on Sunday, with the two singles championships on the line. No. 1 seed Tennys Sandgren will face No. 4 seed Bo Seal in the 16s, followed by No. 1 Mike McClune versus No. 3 Ryan Thacher in the 18s.
For my wrap up on Saturday's singles semifinals and the doubles championships, see ustaboys.com.
The girls 18s final in Berkeley California will feature Alison Riske against Ashley Weinhold. Visit ustagirls.org for coverage of that event.
And for the US Open Junior Acceptance lists, click here.
TAGS:
9 comments:
Colette, when are the U.S. Junior Open wild cards typically announced?
Jack Sock, the best name in junior tennis breezed through the backdraw at the boys 14's despite being underseeded yet again.
McClune and Sandgren are guaranteed wild cards if they want them. My best guess for the other six is as follows:
1. Ryan Thacher -- If he doesn't get one, it's a crime. He's obviously one of our elite juniors. I really want to see him compete against international juniors for a change.
2. Ryan Harrison -- At least one '92 player is going to get one, and Harrison is the most worthy. Reaching the QFs in Kalamazoo makes him a lock I suspect.
3. Ty Trombetta -- He earned it this week. Knocking off Schnugg, Bowles, and Rux was pretty impressive. He also has a solid ITF ranking (113) and probably has the best chance to be competitive outside of McClune and Thacher (among the wild card choices). He beat 8th ranked Roman Jebavy in a tournament earlier this year, so he has the ability to compete with top-ranked juniors.
4. James Seal -- At least one other player from the 16s is going to get one, and I think Seal edges out Formentera and King.
5. Chase Buchanan -- I'm not overly confident in this pick given his recent results and the fact that he wasn't even seeded at Kalamazoo, but the USTA is still high on him, and his upset of Luncanu at the U.S. Open last year may earn him the benefit of the doubt.
6. Evan King -- King's been really consistent in the 16s. He won the Winter Nationals and finished third at both the Eastern Bowl and Kalamazoo. He also did well at the Clays in the 18s, and he won a couple of Challenger qualifying rounds. Other possibilities are Devin Britton, Alex Domijan, and Lawrence Formentera. I don't think any other '89s or '90s will get one, so it will likely come down to one of these four.
For the six qualifying wild cards, I'll go with:
1. Devin Britton (if he doesn't get in directly)
2. Alex Domijan
3. Lawrence Formentera
4. Denis Kudla
5. Wil Spencer
6. Jeff Dadamo
The last few spots are hard to predict. I'm thinking that Dadamo may get one for his 5th place finish at Kalamazoo and a couple good performances in ITF events such as the Eddie Herr.
Spencer beat #1 junior Uladzimir Ignatic at the International Spring Championships in April.
Kudla is probably the third or fourth best from the '92s. He was runner-up at the Clays and won a couple of ITFs earlier in the year.
Adam El Mihdawy, Denis Lin, J.T Sundling, Bob Van Overbeek (if healthy), Brennan Boyajian, Dennis Nevolo, and Frank Carelton may have a shot as well. Maybe Matthew Kandath deserves a look as well after his impressive showing at Kalamazoo (he beat Carleton 2 and 1).
Don't know if 9 or 10 get in with wild cards and special exemptions but my best guess would be: THE OBVIOUS: 1)Ryan Thacher 2)Tenys Sandgren 3)Michael McClune (if he doesn't turn it down) 4) Ty Trombetta 5)Ryan Harrison PROBABLE: 6) Chase Buchanan 7)Alex Domijan 8)Adam El Midawhy 9)Will Spencer 10)Denis Kudla or Bo Seal because they will probably take another '92 besides Harrison and Kudlas overall record for the year and I.T.F. ranking will probably get him in. He beat King soundly in the Orange Bowl and King doesn't play many I.T.F.'s so doubt he would get in. Bo Seal possible with better overall U.S.T.A. record than King as well. 11) Emmett Egger because he is the top '93 and played no.1 for the U.S. in the Czech Republic during Kalamazoo in the 14 and under World Team Championships. MAYBEES: 1) Devin Britton because of I.T.F. ranking but overall record in U.S.T.A. tournaments would not get him in. 2) Bradley Cox because of I.T.F. ranking and win over Britton at K'zoo. 3)Lawrence Formentera because of Easter Bowl win but has been average since then with a loss to Ryan Noble at Clays and a decent K'zoo. 4) Jeff Dadamo had good K'zoo and is good player. Outside CHANCE: 5)J.T.Sundling 6) Denis Lin 7)Christian Harrison (if they take 2 '93's with his record in International play at the Orange Bowl and Les Petit tournaments) (Remember they are probably going with the younger kids who they think can be the best players in the future professionally instead of some of the older kids who may be better now but won't make it as a pro).
Interesting debate...follow-up question - what other Americans will get in without a wild card? Damico, Kecki, Hamui? Is Williams going to be healthy enough to play?
FYI I saw the mach w/ Carlton and Matthew Kandath and again Carlton tanked, maybe that is reason enought not to give a WC. Also about SOck, he is yet to show he mettle in older age groups after winning the most meaningless of jr. grand slams, the 12s, when all his peers were playing up.
brent,
Young, Damico, Williams (if healthy), Kecki, Hamui, and Krajicek all get direct entry. Not sure about Williams' health, but he is on the entry list. If it was just a pulled stomach muscle, I have to think that he'll be ready to go.
By the way, McClune remarked that Kalamazoo was the end of his junior career, so he may not accept his wild card. Or perhaps he just forgot about it, who knows. It certainly seems clear that he won't return to Kalamazoo next year.
Also, Thacher said that he and his family are planning to go on vacation to Barcelona August 15th. U.S. Open qualifying for the men starts August 21st, so unless he changes his plans, he may miss the U.S. Open.
We could gain some insight into the wild cards by who receives wild cards at the International Hard Court Championship next week. Evan King and Lawrence Formentera have received main draw wild cards, and Junior Ore has received a qualifying wild card. There are still two main draw wild cards and three qualifying wild cards to give out. Tennys Sandgren is second on the qualifying list, so they are undoubtedly waiting to see if he can get direct entry before giving him a wild card. Klahn, Britton, Lipman, Daniel, Trombetta, Nevolo, Harrison, Kudla, and Nguyen are all direct entrants.
By the way, Christian Harrison is a '94. I don't see him getting a wild card. Egger has an outside chance, but I don't think he's at a high enough level yet to really compete in the 18s. Ryan Harrison was last year.
I wonder what will happen with sundling and ngyuen. They won doubles will they possibly get wc to qualies? If not good luck to them in doubs.
Austin, Why do you think Jack Sock is underseeded. They go straight by the national rankings and he has been a very average player for the past 2 years. His game is the same now as it was when he was 12. Thats why he has fallen off the map. The injuries excuse is a copout because his game hasn't changed at all. Whoever is working with him better get him to learn to play a mans game.
Post a Comment