US Open Qualifying Delayed by Rain; ATP Site Features Britton; Qualifying Underway for ITF Grade 1 Canadian Open
There are five players who can sleep on the knowledge that they'll be playing in the main draw of the U.S. Open next, but there are 54 others who will have to wait for Danny to pass before their fates will be determined. No. 24 seed Shenay Perry of the U.S. is one of the lucky ones, having finished her 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 9 seed Pauline Parmentier of France just a few minutes before the rain returned. No. 32 seed Marta Domachowska of Poland's quick win over Russia's Anastasia Pivovarova was the only other women's qualifying match to finish. The men who qualified today are No. 2 seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, No. 31 seed Alejandro Falla of Colombia and No. 10 seed Michael Berrer of Germany. India's Somdev Devvarman was three points away from his first main draw Grand Slam appearance, leading Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-3, 5-2, when play was suspended. Great Britain's Laura Robson had lost a first set tiebreaker to Eva Hrdinova of the Czech Republic.
Although the weather forecast is not great for the morning, and Arthur Ashe Kids Day has been set back an hour, to 10:30 a.m., it appears likely that the remaining matches will be completed Sunday at the latest, and they will try to finish them Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m.
Since it was announced that Devin Britton would be playing Roger Federer in the first round, a small media storm has gathered around him. Bill Gray talked with Britton for tennis.com (I personally haven't heard anyone call Britton the "future of American tennis," but I guess Gray has), Rick Cleveland of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger speaks with Britton and his former coach at Ole Miss, Billy Chadwick, about his match with Federer, and the ATP website also spoke with Britton for this story. I'm also hoping to add to the mix with a post for the Straight Sets blog at the New York Times in the next few days.
In junior news, the Grade 1 in Canada began today with qualifying, and there are a handful of U.S. juniors competing the week before the Open Junior Championships. The boys in the main draw are: Denis Kudla, Mitchell Frank, Junior Ore, Raymond Sarmiento and Matt Kandath. The girls are: 2008 finalist Nicole Gibbs, Alexandra Cercone, Sachia Vickery, and two special exempts, who are in the final at the New Jersy ITF, Ester Goldfeld and Grace Min. The tournament has its own website, but I found the results of today's qualifying at the ITF junior website.
33 comments:
for those of you interested, there is a facebook group
D BRIT'S TAKING ROG DOWN
where you can add your expertise, opinion, support or gallows humor.
I think devin will lose 3,3,3 or something like that. roger doesnt really care about early round matches anymore and knows he can get to the semis of a slam in first gear. to the casual fan it will look like a good result, imo playing someone like tommy haas would have been a tougher draw. buchanan got a tougher draw because tsonga has something to prove in slams whereas federer has done everything except beat nadal at the french.
Shenay, I'm proud of you for making it through three grueling rounds of qualifying. I'm so proud of you for sending a message to the USTA that "you didn't need their damn wild card" - let them keep giving it to their little princesses, let's see how their wild cards do in the main draw? We'll be watching!
J, You sound like a person with a chip on your shoulder. Relax it is getting old.
I agree with Chip. J needs to chill. Wildcards were very fair this year. Glatch and King EARNED rankings within 2 spots of direct acceptance. McHale EARNED by winning Hardcourts. 2 were reciprocal agreements with other countries. Cecil EARNED by winning NCAAs.
Ya J chill out, shenay has had MORE THAN enough time to get into these tournaments. Good for her for qualifying, but doesnt deserve the wildcard ahead of the players who recieved them.
Glatch, King, Cecil, McHale, Brodsky. None of them have what it takes to be the next Venus & Serena!
Well, I really like Shenay a lot, but if she was going to be the next Venus or Serena, she would be already. And there isn't anyone else out there doing any better than the girls who got the WCs. Peace out.
And Shenay Perry has what it takes to become the next Venus and Serena?
Congrats to Shenay, Carly, Young, Yani, and Witten for qualifying! Well done!
Guys all I am saying is today's tennis talent is coming from parents who can afford the high cost of tennis lessons, because that's where the USTA finds their products, so we are not getting the true athletic talent that should be nurtured (like Venus & Serena) to become true tennis professionals. Just look at our basketball girls and see true athletic talent! Yes, these girls are the best we have right now and rightly so they deserve the wild cards, but honestly are they the best athletic talent in a country with over 30 million children? No, but the system has to change and unless we begin to speak out we will never again have tennis dominance in this country. Is the talent out there? Absolutely, the USTA just have to change their ways of creating and building tennis talent. They need to get rid of their senior citizen coaching staff and hire some young blood just off the tour to scout, find and nurture talent to replace Venus, Serena and Lindsay!
J,
Firstly, you just contradicted yourself.
You wrote yesterday: "These girls did not deserve wild cards, because if they are the best in our country, Lord Help Us!!"
And today, you posted: "Yes, these girls are the best we have right now and rightly so they deserve the wild cards"
So do you think they deserve it or not? Or do you just not know?
No offense, but you don't follow tennis much do you? If you did, you would be well aware of all the changes that have been going on recently with the coaching staffs, both firing and hiring. Some changes people haven't been happy about, and I agree with them. But you can't bash the USTA on something that they have actually done.
And I find it too big of a coincidence that you're praising the William sisters and Shenay, yet, have not even MENTIONED Carly's name. I'm pretty sure that she did just as well as Shenay did, not to mention, she didn't need the USTA's "damn wild card" as you put it. But then again, look at the age differences. How long as Shenay been on the tour? How long have these girls who needed wild cards been on the tour? In case you haven't been following, most of these girls have gotten pretty solid results consistently, so yes, they did deserve the wild cards in my opinion.
Also, do you think that the USTA doesn't want to find good talent? You said that they need a new coaching staff to find talent. Well, to be honest, I'm not a firm believer in "this person has more talent than this person." Maybe physically, a person can be built stronger so that puts them at an advantage, but IMO, it's all about the hard workers and the people who are able to think on the court.
Colette - Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I'm going to post the 1st positive USTA comment on this site.
i have couple of young kids working with the new USTA programs in Carson. They are doing a great job with the kids. I have an 9-10 year old with a 45 min drive to get there. He loves going. David Roditi has assembled a group of outstanding coaches to work with the kids as well as big names like Tracey Austin and Landsdorp. The kids dont really know who these people are but they are having fun and playing with the best kids in the area. It's not perfect but the US is a vast country. Roditi is doing a great job- he is motivating the kids and they love going. Thats whats important and thats whats going to make these kids great. I dont know whats going on at Boca but the 9-11 year old group at Carson are impressive. There is a world #1 somewhere there. The results will tell the story but the USTA is on the right track and doing the right things with the younger kids and that's where it starts...
Could not agree more with J. The USTA has a bunch of princesses. Some of the kids that are with the USTA walk around like they are #1 already. Far from that. The USTA needs to realize tennis is not just a wealthy sport anymore and athletes come from every background(mostly the ones who are struggling to get out of their current situation). They are the ones who are hungry and do not need to be treated like their special until they make it. The USTA needs to scout their future athletes the way football and basketball scouts do. Look in the parks, recreation centers and i bet you will see a couple of kids who are willing to ride their bikes for miles looking for a wall or are hanging out looking to play with anyone who will hit with them. The drive and determination is the first step and then look at athlectisim ect. The kids with the usta most of them cannot think for themselves, probably had mommy or daddy telling them their tourny schedule for the year, on top of them for training ect. Look where the the wild cards are now, on their way home. Just because they won a national ect at 12-15 yrs is not an endorsement for the kind of funding, royality treatment they are getting. Wheres the drive and guts. Just because you spend 6hrs of training does not mean you want it. They are already treated like they are #1s. The Williams sisters did not grow up hand feed, look at them. The USTA has it all wrong. They do need to open up their minds and look at other sports for ideas and their athletes.
"Get Real"..another excellent post. What is most telling to me, is the perception that these kids are treated like royalty when they are within the usta "favorites". I agree with this, and feel it cannot be beneficial for them. What happens if they do not pan out on the usta's schedule? Would that help, or hurt their confidence, if they were treated like rock stars at age 9-11? Sponsorships, free travel to camps, usta HP gear..etc. Am I saying there is something wrong about the usta trying to seek out talent at young ages? Of course not! But do strongly feel that to treat them, and their parents as prima donnas, basically, "special" kids is wrong. The first things the kids and parents should be told is that nothing is a guarantee, and just by your comments "tennisisforlife" ("there is a world #1 somewhere in there") tells me that little has changed in the way the usta introduces these kids, and the parents, to their "flock".
As GET REAL said, "where is the drive and guts"? That is supposed to manifest itself when "johnny" is walking around at usta tournaments feeling like he is on top of the world, because he keeps balls in play, and has usta coaches socializing and watching matches of his?
the USTA gives the WILDCARDS to the people who earn them. what is this so hard to understand?? we cant criticize the picks this year as they are almost all justified.
The fact of the matter concerning the USTA is that they do have their favorites that they support. I would go into very great detail but fear retaliation from the USTA.
I agree with "get real. I'd like to see these "selected ones" play more USTA National Open type tournaments. Let them play against players that they are "supposed" to beat. Then we can see not only how tough they are, but which players from the other side of the tracks rise to the occasion.
The USTA does their best considering the situation. Tennis is tough and the Williams Sisters are unique. How many junior tournaments did they play? Are people suggesting that the USTA should go find great athletes and sponsor them and have them rarely play junior tournaments. American juniors do not work as hard as juniors from other countries. Americans have MP3 players, PCs, Gaming systems, friends, food on the table. The toughest thing to do is to find a child willing to do the required 4 to 5 hours of training, plus the hour of fitness required each day to compete, while giving 110% the entire time. It's also tough to find coaching that is willing to do that for free or little to no money. Bollateri's academy is the ONLY academy in the United States that has made some players, and that includes the USTA as an academy. I truly think the USTA should put more funding into coaches that are active and hungry not administrators who have name recognition, are commmentators, and are interested in hiring friends and family. The current group that the USTA has latched onto had little to do with the USTA, Gibbs, Stephens, Vickery, Duval, etc., all came from independents and then received invites. The USTA is doing a better job of reaching out to those who are doing the hard work and offering support. In the end the wild card system is flawed, there simply should be more tournaments where you earn your way in on the court. The CoCo Vandewedge wild card last year, what purpose did it serve? There are som few good coaches. Most coaches have one to two players that get their attention out of 8 to 10 children who are just subsidizing the stars in the group. If the USTA was building great coaches, players would follow. Instead the USTA's recent move was to bring out some known names that probably got pretty nice deals, but how hard are they willing to work?
All good comments but the reality of the situation is that middle class children can not afford to play national level USTA tennis with out a severe hardship being felt by their familys. If you make less than $100,000 a year and have 2 working parents and possibly another sibling then good luck. The only possible way is if the parent is the primary coach (or you live close to a free community academy...maybe 3 in the whole US) and is willing to risk the retirement and college funds for their kid to take a shot at the brass ring. Being the father and coach of national girls player and coach of a national boys player the risk may be possible but in my opinion very unhealthy for all concerned. Why risk your financial future and your childrens childhood for a statistically impossible dream? Why not train 2 to 3 hours a day and focus on the academics and social maturation of public education (cant afford private school and tennis...)learning both the good and the bad of this process and knowing the differences to help them on their path to a rich life???? What could be more wonderful then playing a fantastic life time sport with great team relationships and then still having enough in the tank and not feeling like a total failure when the professional reality takes hold and going to college to play tennis on scholarship? And if they have the goods and have graduated and trained for 4 solid years at their respective university then tackle the rigors of professional tennis if that is still the dream with a degree in hand. As John Wilkerson Zina's old coach once said to me if the kids really knew what pro tennis was all about then they would all run away. Tennis is an amazing avenue for the kids if used and inspired correctly but in the hands of over zealous parents can also be destructive. We will never have the best athletes because our system and population demographics do not support it. To many things to do that cost a lot less and unfortunately for the boys the scholarship situation is not real rosy either. Let the kids play (if you can find a way to keep the high school courts open for public use please let me know)and let them dream but do not force them to be something that they are not and please USTA coaches lying is not inspiring and please be realistic and guide most if not all of your players to the college route. A college degree pays a whole lot more than being ranked 150 in the world.
"We will never have the best athletes because...." It's just too damn expensive a sport, end of discussion.
Mchale Just WHOOPED everybodys asses in California, she doesnt need to prove anything else. She does better Internationally, and in the country then everybody else.
"play more USTA National Open type tournaments. Let them play against players that they are "supposed" to beat."
this is the biggest load of garbage ive ever heard. national opens are the BIGGEST joke tournaments ever, especially in the older age groups. If you are good enough you are well passed this stage at a younger age which is why you do not have to play these VERY WEAK tournaments.
give me a break with the favorites already its getting unbelieveably old. The reason they are the "FAVORITES" is because most of the time, they are the best we have.
I think they should get rid national points for the level 3 (meaningless regional) nationals, cut the Supers back from 192 to 128 draws, and get rid of the National Opens. All of these extra events just allows rich players to buy their rankings. To be rational, tennis competition is a regional sport and excelling in your own section before you advance to the national level like it was in the old days. In today's feel good society, we encourage an additional 64 players to plays Supernationals when they are not good enough to compete. Early rounds are a rout, additional expenses are incurred by players to extend their stays to play an additional round. Time and money wasted for no good reason other than to make players feel good about themselves and for the USTA to earn more fees. We are too soft a nation to reward true excellence. Common sense does not prevail in this sport. I am so glad my son is playing Ivy League college tennis this fall and leaving the absurd junior tennis bureaucracy behind.
The Dude, Way to write something about feel good tennis and then talk about your son playing Ivy League tennis.
the only way to get national points is to play the level 3s and national opens because sectional tournaments give DIDDLY national points
AND ivy league tennis is a step above boys 12s spring supernationals, haha, congrats to you
To "tennis".."ivy league tennis is a step up above boys 12's spring supernationals"
I I were you, I would not be so smug with that comment. His son may one day be driving in his Ferrari at the drive up window at Wendy's, asking your son for a Burger and Fries.
"I I were you, I would not be so smug with that comment. His son may one day be driving in his Ferrari at the drive up window at Wendy's, asking your son for a Burger and Fries."
I'd rather serve burgers and fries than be a person arrogant/insecure enough to feel the need to mention that his son is playing at an ivy league tennis. ivy had nothing to do with what we were talking about, could have just as easily said college tennis. anyway, doesn't really matter, but those people rarely have any friends so doesn't really matter that they have ferarri's.
id gladly serve his son a burger and fries which i would spit in.
i never said ivy league education was bad, its obviously UNBELIEVABLE, and the best in the country maybe the world. but if you actually want to have some respect for your own opinion, realize that ivy league tennis is pretty bad.
"Id rather serve burgers and fries than be a person arrogant/insecure enough to feel the need to mention that his son is playing at a ivy league tennis"
With no offense meant at the people who DO work at the drive up window: No you wouldn't.
the next time the jazz win the title will be in the year 2184
must admit, I agree!
they need stockton and malone back, haha
The goal is to make a living playing pro tennis for some who are good enough and want it enough. Short of that goal, for most who don't have delusions of grandeur, it is to use your tennis to get a good education and enjoy a life long sport. If you think that playing #5 or #6 singles in the SEC or Pac 10 is the end all never reaching the top ATP 100, then you have seriously deluded yourselves about the importance of tennis. Peace out.
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