Few Surprises in Tuesday's Third Round in Kalamazoo
©Colette Lewis 2009--
Kalamazoo MI--
There were some tight spots for several of the top seeds in the 18s division in third round play Tuesday, but the top eight seeds are among the 32 players remaining with a shot at the U.S. Open main draw wild card. Top seed Alex Domijan
On a perfect day for tennis--light breezes, low humidity, partly cloudy skies--the crowds were large, and it was standing room only around Stowe Stadium's court 3 when No. 3 seed Denis Kudla and Blake Davis needed a tiebreaker to decide the opening set. Davis didn't help his upset cause when he double faulted twice in the tiebreaker, but Kudla returned the favor on his first set point, failing to get a serve in play himself. At 6-5, Davis served and bravely charged the net, but missed the volley to give Kudla the set. Davis didn't go away in the second set, trading ground strokes with the 2008 Kalamazoo 16 finalist and moving forward often, but the oft-injured Texan couldn't sustain his effort after reaching 3-all. He called for a trainer trailing 5-3, but it didn't change the momentum, with Kudla finishing off the 7-6(5), 6-3 victory.
Top seed Alex Domijan was also taken to a first set tiebreaker on court 3, and lost the first three points of it to John Huang, but like Kudla, he came away with a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory.
"I thought he would get tight, and I made him play on his serve," said Domijan, who admitted that Huang's ability to hit through the fast court gave him trouble. "And I hit a lot of first serves."
Domijan, who put his height at 6-foot-6 1/2 inches, served better in the second set (he was broken twice in the first), came forward more successfully, and got a break at 3-3 to secure the win and a fourth round matchup with Georgia Tech sophomore Kevin King, the No. 19 seed.
The biggest upset of the day in the 18s saw No. 11 seed Junior Ore fall to Devin McCarthy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. McCarthy, who has committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes, outslugged Ore from the baseline and held his nerve during some trying circumstances late in the match.
After Ore played a sloppy service game at 4-all in the third, and was broken, he asked for a trainer, who assisted him in removing the taping from both his ankles. After a long wait while Ore readied himself for play, McCarthy finally stepped to the service line. Ore immediately made an error to give McCarthy a 15-0 lead, but just as McCarthy was cranking a forehand winner on the next point, a loose ball rolled onto the court and a let was called. McCarthy then missed five consecutive serves to make it 15-30, but Ore missed a backhand, and on the next point, the luck went McCarthy's way. Ore broke a string on the return and the ball sailed long, giving McCarthy a match point, which he converted with a forehand that Ore couldn't handle.
The only other seeded player to lose in the 18s was No. 27 Clay Thompson, who was beaten by Ryan Noble 6-4, 6-2. Thompson and Ore are among the nine seeds who did not advance as expected into the fourth round.
The 16s fourth round has even fewer seeds, with only 19 remaining after Tuesday's third round.
Tenth seed Chase Curry was eliminated by Matthew Alves in a lengthy struggle on the Stowe backcourts 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 and No. 13 seed Jeremy Efferding was defeated by Daniel Ho 6-3, 6-3. Nick Chappell took out No. 31 seed Anthony Tsodikov in a match that was much closer than the 6-2, 6-1 score indicates, and No. 17 Andrew Adams fell to Michael Redlicki 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Top seed Jack Sock looked much sharper and healthier in his 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kristofer Yee than he had in Monday's second round win and No. 2 seed Shane Vinsant, although tested by Christopher Haworth, came through 6-4, 6-3. No. 3 seed Bjorn Fratangelo and No. 4 seed Jackson Withrow also won in straight sets.
Andrew Korinek, who had taken out No. 6 seed Dennis Mkrtchian so impressively on Monday went out to the diminutive Justin Carter 6-1, 6-1.
For complete results, including the late doubles scores, see ustaboys.com
12 comments:
Mkrtchian was injured so Korinek's win over him wasn't as impressive as you might think.
Anyone else notice Ryan Harrison beat Tomic in the qualifying in Binghamton ?
to old school
harrison's results continue to dazzle. Anyone see the main draw match? Lost first set 5-7 then was second set was 0-6. Second set score does not seem like Harrison. Too bad Bertha was a no show for the back draw. WHile he had a good win against an injured Fowler, would have been nice to see how he could do against Holiner. Heard Fowler pulled from Canada.
justthefacts,
"Heard Fowler pulled from Canada."
What does that mean?
Anyone see what happened to Jenkins/Buchanan in doubles. Seems like a pretty noteworthy upset
It means that he pulled out of the
Canadian tournament coming out.
Kevin King, who is serving for the match against Domijan has played in the 18's at the Zoo for four straight years. I wonder how many people have ever done that?
So much for all the build up on Domijan ? Kevin King is the KING !
Also , Kudla crushed Sundling . It should be interesting when they meet again in dubs later .
Kevin King is really good, Georgia Tech is going to have a strong team next year with the recruits they are bringing in.....I'm calling Kudla and Buchanan for the finals with Buchanan winning......by the way, anyone see Milos Raonic won 2 matches at the Canadian Masters and lost to Fernando Gonzalez 4 in the third.....Virginia would have won the title last year if he would went to school
Never understood what the USTA sees in Sean Berman, constantly giving him wildcards into tournaments that he doesn't belong in (i.e last year's US Open qualifier where he was smoked 0 & 0), but even more ridiculous is the lack of respect he exhibits for these gifts: withdrew from the back draw due to injury? looked fine in his loss to Sandgren today. The kid is 16, got a WC into the 18's Zoo and then it's beneath him to play the backdraw? Stop rewarding that kind of disrespect, USTA!
Agree with "dont get it said" . Berman is a marginal player and he disrespects the tournament and the USTA. I dont think he has ever played a back draw match.He is barely American. Surely they can come up with a better prospect to give out these valuable WC's.
i 100% agree with you two. Seam berman is not a true american, not a great athlete, with no real weapons, yet the USTA seems to just be inlove with him. i never understood it. i dont mind him not playing backdraws, but giving him multiple wildcards is rediculous. they should give this kind of unwavering support to people who actually have a chance to make it big time
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