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Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Ditty Joins Top 100; Orange Bowl Acceptances


Bonnie Ford of espn.com has been covering all the recent pro tennis bad news with her usual thoroughness and flair, and I hope you don't need me to point you in her direction (her archive is here). I read her feature yesterday on Julie Ditty with special interest, because although both Ditty and Isner are four-year collegians (Ditty has her degree), they represent two sides of the coin of that realm. (The November-December issue of Tennis Magazine has a great feature on Isner by Cindy Shmerler).

Isner's rapid rise--he's gone from a 755 ranking to 117 since July--is unusual (although Benjamin Becker went from 421 to 76 in the first eight months of last year). Most players who go out on the tour after college find it much slower going and many never escape the grind of the Futures events, which is where I saw Ditty earlier this year. Ford describes Ditty's persistence and it's always fascinating when a player hires a new coach and more and better wins soon follow. For a more detailed look at Ditty's results on the Pro Circuit, see Sally Milano's story for usta.com.

The Orange Bowl acceptances are now out, and a couple of things caught my eye. Bernard Tomic and Giacomo Miccini are playing the 16s, not the 18s, and Junior Wimbledon Champion and Junior U.S. Open finalist Urszula Radwanska has entered, as has Anastasia Pivovarova, the Russian who beat Radwanska at last year's Orange Bowl. Pivovarova is ranked 237 by the WTA, Radwanska 288. (Madison Brengle, also entered, is 240). For complete lists, click here.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Colette,
Just took a look at Orange Bowl acceptances. Yasutaka Uchiyama (Japan) has been accepted in both the boys 16 main and 18s qualies for the Organge Bowl. Can he play and apply for both?

Anonymous said...

Im so happy for Julie Ditty. Glad she has perservered through all these years and finally reached the top100.

I wonder if this was a one-time deal for Baker or if he was just waiting to debut in Nashville, odd to do it at the 3rd to last tournament of the year. Knee surgery, knee surgery, hip surgery and wrist sugery. That's a surefire way to ruin a career. I hope he can make it back this time.

Anonymous said...

when will the 14 and 12 acceptances be announced

Colette Lewis said...

The 12s and 14s Jr. Orange Bowl competitors are listed here.

Most who are not selected for main draw will have an opportunity to play qualifying.

Anonymous said...

This question is for Colette and I apologize for going way off the subject but I was curious as to you thoughts/opinions on Lauren Albanese. She was tagged as on of our "up and coming" American players and has seemed to kind of "lose it" over the last year or so. I followed her a bit over the last couple of years and just wanted your RESPECTED opinion. I have my thougthts and was curious as to yours.
Thanks from a committed fan of zootenns.com

Colette Lewis said...

Yes, Albanese has apparently leveled off after a very promising 2006. She has only played one junior event this year, the US Open, and wasn't impressive there in the few games I saw her play. I also saw her in Midland's Pro Circuit event back in February, where she lost in the second round to Abigail Spears and seemed overpowered there. Her first serve can be very effective and she can hit with depth and pace, so I'm not sure why she hasn't moved out of the quarterfinals of $25Ks pattern she's in.