Lauren McHale Considers; Casey Watt Decides
Another day, another post for The Tennis Recruiting Network. Unlike all the other high school seniors I've spoken with in the past few weeks, Lauren McHale hasn't made a decision, and she still has several weeks before the signing period.
Another blue chip, Casey Watt, has selected his school, and it's Notre Dame. This Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story gives the details.
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Heard McHale commited to Princeton yesterday
I just saw that Emmett Egger lost in the quarterfinals in straight sets at the Nike Junior Tour International Masters tournament in Italy. It seems that the USA kids never do well in this. I don't think a USA boy has ever won it.
If Egger had won that last match he would have had an opportunity to play Carlos Boluda who is plowing through the field as usual. Boluda won one match 0 & 0 in 40 minutes.
I thought Egger would do better since he's one of the oldest kids in the tournament with a January, 1993 birthday. Also, Egger is not only good on clay in general, he has trained on European red clay for about two months minimum within the past six months, so I thought that would give him the edge. Oh well! At least DiGulio has made it to the semis of the 12's and Ellen Tsay also has made it to the semis of the G14s.
The website is www.nikejuniortour.com
Chase Buchanan is really stepping his game up. A couple more main draw wins in Futures this week, including a straight-setter yesterday over Nick Monroe, #340 in the world. Rhyne Williams had kind of left Buchanan in the dust for most of '07 but Buchanans is on a nice run here.
Could someone please explain why Chase Buchanan seemed to have that one year slump. He was the premier player for years, then he had that one bad year last year and now he's as great as ever. Was it injuries, burnout, something else?
Most U.S. kids don't even know about it and the ones that do don't care to play it. Just like Boluda and some of the Europeans don't come to the U.S. to play because they wouldn't win on the hard courts over here. When he comes to the U.S. and plays away from the Red Clay in Europe then I'll give him his due but until he wins over here at our place don't knock someone like Egger who is going over to their place and playing on their surface.
That last comment was obviously from someone who is woefully uninformed. First of all, the original comment was not knocking Egger, it was just stating a fact. Second, Boluda dominated at Les Petits As and Teen Tennis which were were indoors on a hard surface which is more Egger's surface than Boluda since Egger is from Seattle. Egger lost in those tournaments very early and Boluda killed everyone. Boluda doesn't need any endorsement from you, he is already good enough to turn pro with our without your support. Finally, this tournament that Boluda just won was played indoors on a hard court the last few rounds because of rain. That fact was discussed on the Nike website.
Boluda good enough to turn pro? Yeah right. With that serve he'll never make it. Staying in your age group and staying in Europe playing on red clay and their slow indoor courts doesnt prove much. You may be the President of the Boluda fan club but you obviously don't know much about real tennis. Yes I know he won a couple of low level I.T.F.'s as well but let him come over here and play tough matches on fast hardcourts and see how how holds up. I'm quite certain his results would be very different and I've seen him play plenty. Why isnt' he in the Orange Bowl or the Eddie Herr if he wants to play against the best away from home? I'm sure you have that excuse as well.
no McHale hasn't committed anywhere
What people fail to understand about Egger is he is developing his game. At the Easter Bowl, he primarily served and volley to win the event. He has continued to come to the net with the understanding he will get killed in the short-term. He goes to Europe to play on the red clay to develop his groundstrokes. He understands he is lacking the explosiveness and movement to grind on clay, so he working on that. The reality is Egger has a huge heart, great work ethic, and will be a big physical presence when he fills out.
Bottom line is Egger is a pretty good player but nothing special. He even lost to Christian Harrison last month in one of the I.T.F.'s. who is a '94 so the loss in the Nike tournament shouldnt be a shock but he does have good potential and will be a big kid.
Those last two comments are actually amusing. To claim that the original poster is from the Boluda fan club is absurd because that poster is in the vast majority of agreement on Boluda.
To the contrary, those last two posters are obviously from the incredibly biased Egger fan club. Those are the worst excuses that they are giving to Egger and I'm sure even Egger himself wouldn't even accept those excuses. He has too much class.
First of all, nobody who knows anything about junior tennis would even compare Egger to Boluda. Egger's results don't indicate that he is in his league yet. The only 3 rivals who have a legitimate claim to be the top player in the world for that age are Boluda, Tomic and Ryan Harrison. Egger's results are simply not at that level yet and never have been. In fact, Egger just lost to Ryan Harrison's kid brother, Christian Harrison, in an ITF just a couple of weeks ago. Christian Harrison is almost two years younger than Egger and Ryan is only 8 months older than Egger and Ryan is winning top level 18 ITFs and Egger hasn't even won a 14s international event yet.
And, to claim that the indoor courts in Europe are slow is really lame.
To the last few ANON posters. You both make valid points. No Egger is not in the same league with Boluda. Yes the jury is still out on how good Boluda really is because he hasn't played the Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl where he would have to come to the U.S. and deal with the heavy travel, the time change and being in less comfortable environment. Would he have a chance to win those tournaments? Yes but there would be a few other kids in those tournaments who could beat him as well. By the way you forgot to mention Giacomo Miccini who is a '92 and beat Tomic at the U.S. Open handily 6-4, 6-2 and lost to him in a tough 3 setter at the Worl Championships like 11-9 in the breaker in the 3rd. or maybe you just didn't know about him. It didn't sound like anyone was comparing Boluda to Egger as much as there were making the point that Boluda simply hasn't proved himself over here and Egger is working on playing a different game style but that doesn't mean they are in the same league because obviously they are not.
All these comparisons are pointless. When professional tennis rolls around, Egger will have a great game for the professional game because his willingness to move forward coupled with his size. Who cares who wins in the 14s and 16s. Ryan Harrison will be a great player because he tags the ball, never holds back. On that same token, Christian Harrison might materialize to be the best upcomer in American tennis. He has a great attitude, great family, extremely talented, and I'm sure his Dad is preaching him to tag the ball as well. I am very impressed with little Christian. Boluda is already a great player, but so was Donald Young at the same age.
collette, i wrote a message about the girls choosen to be live-ins at Evert's USTA program, last week, and you did not publish it. May I ask why? Thank you!
This is not a put down on Justin Gimlestob, many (myself included) would die to have a nice PRO Tennis career like he has: this may be Egger's best case scenario. He simply lacks the explosiveness, and the racquet head speed, and timing to exceed this. It is extremely wise for his coaches to insist on coming in, this will be his major weapon, along with his size. If he gets a big serve, to go along with his big heart, I see know reason why he will not make a decent living at this sport. You cannot "teach" heart, but you also cannot "teach" the athleticsm needed to go beyond a Gimelstob.
My "problem" with the USTA is that they could do a better job of identifying players that could become top 10, rather than rankings kids ($$$$) who could become PRO players with all the benefits that financial help brings you. (travel/competition/coaching etc)
Tell me there are zero players out there with insane athleticism, huge hearts, but zero guidance, and little $$$$. These players may not be in the top 10 of the 12's (where the USTA "discovers" talent). Without $$$$ and without good coaching, rankings do not always tell the story of potential and talent. Ive said this before on this board. DO NOT abandon the current method of selection and subsequent funding of U.S juniors. Rankings MUST be used for something! But implement another division within USTA, where they identify God-Given talent at a young age..(not just Blacks) and try to DEVELOP top 10 players.
Steven S. said about Egger:
"He simply lacks the explosiveness, and the racquet head speed, and timing to exceed this. It is extremely wise for his coaches to insist on coming in, this will be his major weapon, along with his size. If he gets a big serve, to go along with his big heart, I see know reason why he will not make a decent living at this sport. You cannot "teach" heart, but you also cannot "teach" the athleticsm needed to go beyond a Gimelstob."
This is an interesting analysis that I don't necessarily disagree with. You are certainly correct that his net game is his best weapon and that it will continue to be.
With regard to his size, I have no doubt that he will be 6 ft. tall, but I am no longer so confident that he will be over 6 ft. 2 in. He is turning 15 in January and is still only about 5 ft. 9. That is tall, but he is certainly smaller for his age than Rhyne Williams, Ryan Thatcher, Ryan Harrison, Bob Van Overbeek, Clay Thompson and many others who are more likely to be at least 6 ft 3 to 6 ft. 6 inches by the time they are done.
Another interesting thing about the comparison to Gimelstob. People forget that Gimelstob actually won the Kalamazoo 18's when he was already 6 ft. 5 inches. That seemed to be a bright future ahead of him at the time and it's another lesson about how predictions are merely predictions.
everybody who comments on these needs to stop. How do you think emmett egger would feel if he reads this and its just a whole bunch of people bashing him. People devlope their games at different times. Its not like emmett was boasting about how he is a top junior.. Dont be bashing kids and lowering their confidence when im sure they have already put enough pressure on them selves.
Sundling got to the finals and had three match points in the NJT
You are mischaracterizing the vast majority of these comments as "bashing." I would say that most of them are positive or are at least combined with positive and/or objective comments such as "he has a big heart," "great net game," etc.
first of all you guys dont know jack ok! you guys dont know what the surfaces are what the scores are or i dont think have ever seen most of these players play live. baluda has a somewhat average serve but you cant hurt him off it. To back it up he has a huge forehand. Chase so what had a bad year he is always been a champ and still is. Andre had a few bad years if I remember correctly. Im not comparing them but it happens to all of us. Egger is a solid player but has his weaknesses he is not a guy who is just going to go one and just dominate some of the best junoirs in the world. He has had some good results and made to the quarters and lost to a huge serving Romanian kid on the fast indoor courts. Anyone that has ever been there would know. Who ever said that baluda won his first round in Nike Junior tour 0 and 0 is wrong he won 2 and 0 in about an hour and a half. SO Im sick of reading comments from guys that dont know anything about what goes on at these tournaments and what these players play like. Im also sick of you guys bashin g on the top US junoir players. If anything you guys could show some support for the US players and Give Europeans a hard time. Instead you guys mouth off with no information about the top junoirs in the US trying to support their country the best they can in each and every tournament, and Are traing their butts off every day in pracitce. So Please stop writng stupid comments that insult my intelligence, and anyone else that knows anything about Tennis.
Sincerely,
your Mentor
I thought Id let you guys know that the enire NJT was played on clay. When it rained they moved it indoors and played on Indoor Clay that actually seemed to be slower. Everyone is so black and white. You guys are either bashinf baluda. Bashing egger. or bashing some other guy. YOu guys take one loss so serioulsy. I thought Id let you knowthat egger has beaten christian the last 13 aout of 14 times. He lost and it was a great win for christian beating egger a top US junoir a year older than him. Christian should be proud but Egger should not put his head down for one second. Many of the top players have lost to younger guys. Egger's game is getting bigger is ground game is a lot biggerthan it was in easter bowl and christian is a surgeon cutting the court away. You guys just keep praising Baluda like he is a god at 14. For anyone that has ever seen the kid you would know that baluda is built like a Tank. By far the most muchure 93 and he packs powerful punches. But Baluda is no where in the same leage as the US old tennis prodigy micheal chang who won the french at age 15 I beleiv. I like where the US program is headed I think were alot deeper than the rest of the world. Ithink in the next couple decades it will be like it wasin the 70's. I also think that the europeans are getting a little plump there not as hungry as they were. Egger De Julio and elen tsy. all out worked there opponents in the NJT and barley lost. Egger and De Julio should have won where the lost I have never seen egger give up so many game points but The Slovak kid that he played was a greatcly court player. I wish you guys could have seen it Ive never seen egger hit such a big forehand and the point quality that they were having was unbelivable. De Julio just wasnt ready for the clay. I think he was the best kid in the turnament but its hard for a 12 year old to go over there and win. You guys got to remember how old these guys are.
Sicerely,
your mentor
That last poster who calls himself "Your Mentor" has a real nerve to be so arrogant and call everyone else stupid when he obviously can't even spell such common words as "mature" (he spelled it "muchure"). He appears to write at a 3rd grade level and spells about 8 words wrong and can't use basic punctuation such as periods and commas.
He also has many basic facts wrong himself. For example, Chang won the French Open when he was 17, not 15.
obviously, you anomomus chump, you must have nothing better to do than critique grammar of a blog. that is the only thing false about my statements. find a better argument. im arrogant? all I do is speak the truth. you all just bash our up and coming junior players, with your uninformed opinions about what they will be and how they will not sucseed in tennis. you are listening to a world class source of junior tennis. RESPECT.
Sincerely,
your mentor
This is to "your mentor". I looked it up and Harrison did not lose to Egger 13 out of 14 times. In fact he has not lost to him in over a year. Also, I would advise in getting spell check on your computer.
Mentor your claim that Egger has beaten Harrison 13 out of 14 times is way off base as well. It is actually 5 out of 6 times. I do think that Emmett has done a great job of developing an all court game and is continuing to get better and better. He and Christian play doubles together and are very good friends and in a few years when they are playing pro tennis I don't think they will care a whole lot about what happened at this stage of junior tennis. You are correct in that it would be nice to see all the American kids get support and encouragement when they have a so called bad tournament and not just when they have a good one. It is a long road in developing an all court game and those types of players usually don't blossom till around 16 or 17 when they can fully cover the passing lanes and explode up and hit the overheads and develop the movement on their serves to serve and volley. I think these kids are going in the right direction and that Emmett will be a very good pro player when all is said and done and he is a great kid. Pat Harrison
When Pat Harrison makes a statement, and signs his name at the end of a post, this demands attention and respect. He is the father/coach of perhaps the two best boys in the world in their age group.
Agree, Pat Harrison is awesome! Not only as a coach, but the way he has raised his boys. They are very respectful, as well as talented. He is for sure not like some of those other tennis parents out there who yell and scream and threaten their kids. It just goes to show that it doesnt need to be this way, in order for kids to find success!
Pat is right in that all court attack players take time to develop. Unlike baseliners, these players have much more arsenal and a multitde of shots to pick from, slice approaches, low and high volleys, backhand overheads. All these shots have to be developed and as they appraoch the net they have less time to make decisions of which shot to employ. Baseliners have more time and fewer shot selections. So the attack player has to develop a bank of experience to learn from which takes more time to develop. That is why Chang, Hewitt and Nadal develop at a younger age than Sampras and Federer. It is also another reason why the USTA is wasting their time with the 12s and 14s and size advantage due to different grwoth rates begins to equalize in the 16s and more so in the 18s.
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