Harrison and Nara Win at Osaka Mayors Cup
As David pointed out in his comment today, there have been no updates on the ITF junior website about the Grade A in Japan, but I called Ryan Harrison's father this morning for the results (I was in the habit of asking him every morning in Tulsa, where Pat Harrison was accompanying a group of players from Newk's Tennis Ranch Academy, where he is assistant director). He was driving to El Paso, to join Christian, Ryan's younger brother, who is competing in the Grade 5 there. He reported that Ryan was happy with the way he played in the final and excited to have won his first major junior event. 
It was also a breakthrough tournament for Kurumi Nara of Japan, who defeated the No. 2 and No. 1 seeds in the semifinals. Although she was the No. 4 seed, Nara hadn't advanced past the second round in any Grade A prior to her win.
44 comments:
the US boys have the ITF's top ranked 91 and 3 92s in the top 10. perhaps the future of US tennis is a little brighter than we thought.
the USTA is going to look pretty smart if they're building their new training program around those 4 boys.
i count 4 boys in the top ten 1992s in the ITF rankings. kudos to david roditi as the 92s are his kids.
Roditi did a great job because he never focused exclusively on 4 or 5 kids, but included a bunch both at camps and taking them to tournaments. Van Dalen and Delucia (91 coaches) always picked a few favorites and treated everyone else like they didn’t exist when they would be at tournaments. If their roll and paycheck is to develop players they should have been watching all US talent instead of alienating them.
Rods is the best USTA coach there is. PERIOD. and 92's rule!!
Roditi is doing a great job with the boys but let's not speak too soon. The draw at Osaka didn't have any of the top ITF players. Two big tests are left, the Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl. If any of the American players win either one or both over the likes of Berankis, Ignatik, Fabianno, etc. then we are talking.
4 out of the top 10 92's are american: Harrison, Kudla, VanOverbeek, and Cox
Dont speak too soon, the only reason Kulda, Van overbeek and Cox have so many ITF points is they home school and travel around playing a lot of ITF tournaments.
the only 92 that has separated himself from the pack is Harrison. None of the other mentioned have come close to his results.
i think most parents would be pretty happy to have their kids be top 10 in the world in any age group, but these kids need a couple more years before we know what potential they really have. in the meantime, we should all just celebrate having 4 US kids in the top 10 of the same age group. also, i don't see how it's a bad thing that the USTA took these kids to play ITF events.
we could have sent all of the pan american kids to osaka and it still would have been weaker than the kalamazoo 18s. but who cares i wouldn't take anything away from any of these kids. that being said, i hope the kids that have the game move up to the futures like rhyne williams did, sooner rather than later.
to heck with school. if our kids are going to compete with the eastern european kids they need to totally commit to tennis at 12 like their competition is doing.
it's no coincidence that these are the same kids at the top of the tennisrecruiting.net rankings which is based on quality of wins as opposed to quantity. the reference to "homeschooling" sounds like sour grapes from someone who has performed poorly and is looking for excuses.
what are you talkng about, "reference to homeschooling"? seems that poster was just expressing an opinion, as far as how we can match up with eastern European juniors? Didnt seem like this was coming from "someone who has performed poorly and is looking for excuses". It seems everyone on this thread is saluting the great job Ryan Harrison did, and the potential he has! Why get defensive over nothing? Oh yeah, Dont forget to sign your name after the message.
i think the last poster forgot to sign their name after their message. there are lots of good opinions. and that's all they really are. none of us know how this is going to turn out. we just need to give all of the kids, mentioned or otherwise, a few years to develop without the pressure of hopefully being the players that save american tennis.
congratulations are in order for all of the american kids. it's a numbers game and the more kids we have in the mix the better. good luck to them all. and, unfortunately, the eastern european comparison is probably correct--for both boys and girls.
not just eastern europe, but the rest of the world. doubt there are many top pros or top international juniors male or female that attended traditional school beyond a very early age. harrison figured this out a long time ago. this is probably a crucial piece of the development puzzle for future generations.
Agree with above. The whole point mentioning home schooling is that if you are NOT in a regular school it is easier to rack up ITF points because these tourneys are during the school week. This is not sour grapes, just a fact. Our top US senior, Thacher, he's like 170 ITF with only 3 tournaments because he is in a regular school. I just don’t see the point that four 92s who rack up points with a lot of weak ITFs is meaningful. They are essentially playing each other. To say we should have 12 year olds focus on tennis is equally ridiculous. We don’t read about all those hundreds of eastern European athletes working for nothing that didn’t make it. Cream rises to the top and our top upcoming American Sam Querry didn’t play a lot of itfs and attended a regular school. We all agree Harrison’s win was impressive.
Ryan Harrison has had a professional approach to his tennis development for a long time and his hours and years of work are reflected in his current results. Sam Querrey is a tall kid with a big serve and big forehand. He may have benefited from a full commitment to the game a little earlier. But tall kids with big weapons have an unfair advantage and probably have a separate track.
Juniors who can make it in the pros- Rhyne williams (needs to control attitude) Chase ( stay focused) Devin Britton (groundies need to improve) JT Sundling (Has been injured most of the year gotta get some meat on him) Evan King ( bigger serve) James seal ( continue to play solid) Frank Carelton(attitude control)
Is Sundling still hurt? He just lost 6-3, 6-0 in the first round of a G5. Christian Harrison won three more games against the same player a few weeks ago.
the coaches that work with the older juniors on a daily basis are probably the only ones who know whether their kids have a legitimate shot. reminds me of peter smith (hewitt's junior coach) commenting that when he saw federer in his early teens he just didn't see it in federer. but he said that peter carter (federer's coach) absolutely saw it. if peter smith couldn't see it early, i doubt the rest of us can either. by 18 or 19 it will be obvious to all.
david roditi is an unbelievable coach.. i think all our 92s including myself appreciate that we got him as our usta coach.. rodz ur the man!!
-jcox
A little off topic, but Jarmere Jenkins beat ITF #1 Uladzimir Ignatic 6-4, 6-4 in the first found of USA F26 Futures. It's the second time he's beaten him in about a month. He beat him 6-1, 6-1 at the Kentucky International Tennis Derby.
Jenkins appears to have taken his game to another level. He hasn't won a title yet, but it now seems that he'll be a force to be reckoned with in the big tournaments ahead.
Ryan harrison is an outstanding competitor and i am extremly glad to hear that he won the grade A in japan. Congrats!! Christian Harrison is an outstanding player as well and he will have a good person to look up to in his brother. He will have great success as well. Devin Britton has an amazing serve and some unreal hands at the net. If this kid can get a better handle on his groundies he will be unstopable. Sundling has had different injuries all year. And he was out for a long period of time after k zoo. David you doubt the ones with talent. Like many others this kid is my pick to become a great pro player. Just like the guy from underground tennis said.Rhyne williams is a terrific tennis player and if he can get a grip with his attitude he will be in the future of mens tennis. Spencer simon is going to be an extremly big force on the junior circuit in a couple years. This kid has a great serve and good hands around the net. Also has a monster forehand. Bob van overbeek has a great serve motion and some great volleys. Needs to play a little more arggresive from the baseline. Evan King if he can improve that serve and throw in some aggresive play the sky is the limit. Tennys sandgren this kid is unreal. When i watch him play i dont see anything very special but he knows how to win and comes threw every tough match. This kid will never give up and has a huge heart on the court.
Tennis is such a tough sport because everyone knows the odds of breaking through in the top 50 are almost nil, especially on the men’s side no matter how talented the junior may be. And the kids need to sacrifice so much to play tennis at a high level on the junior side of it, not to mention the financial and emotional cost for families. It would be interesting to survey parents of top juniors to see if they would not have their kid pick up a racket if they had to do it over again.
David,
the kid SUndling lost to Krajinovic is a 14 year old from Serbia who has an ITF ranking in the 500s. He should have been a top seed. Probably will win tourney. The tourney director messed up in seeding.
Talent and drive must be seen in person. These intangibles reveal more than any ranking can show. You can't see quickness and determination from a ranking sheet. Hitting soft and deep and extensive travel is all that is required to achieve a top 10 ranking in any junior list but it won't reveal if you have the goods to become a ranked ATP Pro. As far as the High Performance coaches, they haven't shown that they could pick nor develop kids to becoome pros....ever. They should expand their list and admit they can't.
When Federer and Djokovic were Thacher's age they were both about to break into the ATP Top 100. Nadal was Top 50. When Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were Querrey's age they were ranked 14, 2 and 6 in the world. Thacher and Querrey are doing great but that seems like a lot of ground to make up to seriously contend with the top players at the slams--which is what i think Americans are hoping for.
Did Rhyne opt out of the USTA High Performance program? Seal was never a part of the USTA HP program untl recently although he always was a top 5 player in the 12s and 14s. The HP program tends to only pick tall kids in the 12s and 14s as they value winning ver development.
krajinovic is a very good player.. he's had one loss in the last 2 months in itf play.. he is a top 15 year old player
i have to agree with jcox on this one. roditi is an awesome coach. i know im glad to have him as our 92 coach
Anybody know what has happaned with '92 USTA team member Sean Bernstein who went to les petits and team tennis in the Czech Republic or USTA 91 team member Blake Davis who also went to the same?
shaun bernsteins been struggling with injuries since clay courts.. he only started playing again like 2 weeks ago..
"i have to agree with jcox on this one. roditi is an awesome coach. i know im glad to have him as our 92 coach"
Yes, so much so that you signed your note anonymous. If you support someone at least have the cojones to sign your name.
Shaun Bernstein is also struggling with his new one-handed backhand that he switched to six months ago. You won't see him in any tournaments until he can hit a topspin backhand with confidence. BTW ,this process takes a year to a year and a half for a talented player.
With regard to Sean Bernstein, this is the first time I've heard about injuries. The only thing I heard previously was that he was struggling with Mononucleosis.
Assuming he has had injuries, are the injuries a factor in his decision to switch to a one-handed backhand? Did he hurt his left hand or something? Otherwise, I don't know why he would feel the need to switch to the "oney." His two hander seemed o.k. and I don't think he's going to be so tall that he needs a one hander.
Anyone know anything about this?
dont know much about bernstein but looked at his record and anyone know why he was picked to be on 92 team to les petite and the CZECH Republic
Yes. He was picked because he had a great record then, before his apparent physical problems that developed the next year.
he was very deserving to be picked on the team along with king, sarmiento, cox...
what do you consider a great record. I dnot beleive Bernstein even won a national title. Correct me if I am wrong.
shaun bernstein finished in the top 4 in winter supernats in 05. that is why he went to les petit as. he went to the czech because of his results in 06. just because he did not win anything, he did very well playing up.
shaun bernsteins a great player, person and friend.. he is going through a rough patch with injury right now but once he gets that one hander going and hes playing 100% he'll be back up there with the rest of us...
Shaun didn't like his 2-hander so he wanted to make a switch to a 1-hander. Robert Wong plays in his Eastern Section and plays very well with his 1-handed backhand. Shaun's working very hard to effect the switchover, I think he wants to attack the net more. He changing his gane from aggressive baseliner to all court.
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