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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Wolf Upsets Top Seed Chadwell at Spring 18s Nationals


©Colette Lewis 2009--
Mobile AL--

There was no time to savor victory or dwell on defeat Tuesday morning at the USTA Spring Nationals, after Monday's all-day rain forced a second round of singles for everyone Tuesday afternoon, whether main draw or consolation.

One player who did get to sleep on a big win was Spencer Wolf, a 17 seed, who upset top seed Ian Chadwell 6-4, 6-4 in the third round. I had just made the trek from watching girls top seed Beatrice Capra quell the threat from 17 seed Lauren Davis on the opposite side of the 60 court facility, arriving courtside with Wolf serving for the match at 5-4. I wish I could provide more insight on the key to the future Northwestern Wildcat's win--I heard he served well--but it was a day of too many matches and too little time.

No. 3 seed Walker Kehrer was also upset on a sunny and warm St. Patrick's Day, losing to Tyler Brown of New Braunfels, Texas 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(5). I came by when Kehrer was up 4-1 in the third set, and he served for the match at 5-3, but Brown, the son of former two-time Kalamazoo champion and ATP professional Jimmy Brown, won the next three games to put himself in position to close it out on his serve. He lost four points in what seemed like 30 seconds, prompting him to remark that it was the "quickest four points I've lost in my life," and Kehrer had new life.

Brown had an opportunity to come unglued in the tiebreaker, when, up 2-1, he was given a point penalty by the courtside umpire for saying oh my god, a violation of the facility rule. Brown didn't protest, and Kehrer didn't take advantage, double faulting to give Brown a 3-2 lead. At 5-4, Brown uncorked an ace to earn two match points. Kehrer saved one, ending a long rally with a slick backhand angle for a clean winner, but on the next, his forehand sailed long to give Brown the win.

Less than two hours later, Brown was back on the court, and he wasn't able to extend his win streak, losing to Jamin Ball, a No. 17 seed, 6-2, 6-2.

Ball was one of four boys seeded 17th to reach Wednesday's round of 16, and there are also five unseeded players, including 15-year-old Dennis Novikov, who has yet to lose a set in his three victories.

The girls draw has gone more to form, with only one No. 17 seed, Alina Jerjomina, and four unseeded players reaching the round of 16.

Jerjomina won her third round match over No. 3 seed Lilly Kimbell 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, after Kimbell had barely survived against unseeded CC Sardinha in their second round contest. Sardinha served for the match at 5-4 in the third, but Kimbell rallied for a 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-5 win. Monica Turewicz, 16s Orange Bowl champion Chanelle Van Nguyen, Mary Clayton and Chichi Scholl are the four unseeded girls in the last 16. Of the seeds, No. 4 Courtney Dolehide has been particularly impressive, losing only five games in her three wins.

For complete results, see the TennisLink website.

And a special thanks to Melissa and Lloyd Clayton at YourGameFace.com for their help while I sort out some camera issues.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Give me a break. Mobile needs a lesson in English 101, or maybe US history 2009 . "Oh my god" is not considered a profanity in almost every place in the US except the deep south unless the expression is used with a profanity such as "Oh my f.... god". People use this expression all the time: “Oh my god, I can't believe that happened”. I believe, correct me Collette if I am wrong, that according the USTA's own guidelines the expression “Oh my god” must be used with a profanity to be considered a profanity. What is unfair here is that locations like Mobile have their own facility rules based on the ultra conservative beliefs of that part of the country that would not be enforced in other parts of the country. I believe any national tournament the same standards should be applied no matter where the location, and the deep south should not have its own standard based on its own ultra conservative beliefs.

Anonymous said...

I played a tournament in the 80s (in GA) where there were a bunch of hispanic players who the officials thought were cursing (they were). So they outlawed speaking Spanish on the court for the rest of the tournament. In Mobile, what would be the penalty for "dios mio"?

Anonymous said...

"Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again."

Anonymous said...

It's such a bunch of crap. With a church on every corner, god is all over Mobile. I doubt he/she is offended by "oh my god". The other problem is that the officials are so damn old that they can't even hear correctly. Whatever...so glad that we don't need to deal with that anymore now that jr tennis is over. Unfortunately, you now have to deal with all the crap that goes on with college tennis.

Anonymous said...

To the Dude

agree Dylan said it best

freespeach

Anonymous said...

to freespeech and the dude

please explain what dylan has to do with mobile supernationals ... confused

Anonymous said...

tennisparent , you have to think more broadly rather than the microscopic view of life in junior tennis. Dylan's verse, "Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again." is a a broad statement of confines brought on by a specific location or thought process. In this example, Mobile's conservative Christian observance to award penalty points for exclaiming, "Oh my God" is peculiar to this venue where it probably wouldn't a violation anywhere else in the country for junior tennis. Or, in Dylan's case, the middle-class collegiate audience of folk music who objected when Dylan electrified his band (against the acoustic confines of folk music) at the Newport Folk Festival performing Like a Rolling Stone." Dylan's rocking electric version of his music ushered in the folk rock era.

Anonymous said...

Im someone who never utters that phrase, ever, but even so I think its a bunch of crap to penalize someone for saying it. Give me a break. Since when did religion have any place in the tennis world? This is the most global sport in the world, should have nothing to do with anything involving religion. The USTA should take this out of the rulebook altogether.

love-tennis said...

Austin, I agree. But I am sorry, you got a zoo-point penalty for saying the word "crap". You can't say that in blogs regarding the Mobile tournament.

Your penalty is that Colette will take one sentence off your next blog.

You can use the word on any other topic except any regarding Mobile.

* p.s. I don't say it either and neither do my kids (when I catch them) but one tournament should not have different rules, Bible belt area or not.