Watson Turns Pro; Courier's "Unstrung" Available on DVD; Looking to Asia for New Tennis Stars

The Times published this story about Heather Watson today, which includes her decision to forego college for professional tennis. It isn't exactly a surprising decision, (anyone have any idea who the last junior girls champion attending college was?) and I had thought she had relinquished her amateur status when she agreed to a sponsorship agreement with Sportingbet.com, but I'm far from an expert on that topic.

Bollettieri's admission that he thought she needed to attend college prior to the US Open win, but has now changed his mind, is interesting. What changed, exactly, between the first round losses at the French and Wimbledon Juniors and her impressive play barely two months later? I'm sure Bollettieri has seen this kind of breakthrough happen many, many more times than I have, and it may just be an Outliers-type phenomena. She'll now get more attention, have more confidence and be surrounded by better players, which will provide great support during her transition to the pros.

This question comes up in an interview Jim Courier did with usopen.org prior to the Open, when he talks about the seven boys featured in his movie "Unstrung," which is now available on DVD. Here's Courier's answer when he was asked if he was surprised by the path taken by any of the players he filmed four years ago:

I looked at Donald Young Jr. and he is a player with great promise still but he has somehow been challenged to translate his experience and the confidence he should have taken from his junior success into pro success. I think he has the tools. I’m not sure what is holding him back. That is something I find interesting because in our film he looks like a can’t miss prospect. His success has been rather limited at the pro level. That is a story we have seen before – that juniors have trouble translating their game to the professional ranks but when they are as successful at such a young age as Donald was it is rare that they do not fulfill that promise, so that is a story I am continuing to follow closely.

Courier then goes on to say he is particularly intrigued by the future of Greg Hirschman, who is currently a junior at Stanford.

The education vs. tennis achievement debate gets more attention in this Wall Street Journal article about Yuki Bhambri (who won the dead rubber against Old Dominion graduate Izak Van Der Merwe of South Africa in India's Davis Cup win today) and the rise of tennis in Asia. Bhambri's parents are going against the grain in allowing their son to pursue tennis as a career path, with the emphasis on education so great in that country, according to the story.

Vijay Armritraj, the Indian champion from the 1970s, said the biggest obstacles for Indians and other Asians is their size. Since they tend to be smaller and slighter on average than people in other parts of the world, they will have trouble advancing in a game where strength and power have become integral to success, Mr. Armritraj said. His culture's emphasis on education over athletics also doesn't help.

"People always ask why there aren't more great atheltes(sic) coming out of India," Mr. Armritraj said. "My answer is, you don't see a lot of great software engineers coming out of Spain."

Somdev Devvarman, who is the country's Davis Cup hero after his come-from-behind victory to clinch the tie today, is trying to have it both ways, with a college degree and a successful professional career. Fellow Cavalier Sanam Singh, a semifinalist at the NCAAs last year, is also on that path, as is Karunuday Singh, who will be attending the University of Illinois in January, according to the article.

And speaking of freshmen, there were some notable results in the rain-plagued Southern Intercollegiate Championships. Vanderbilt freshman Ryan Lipman beat Duke's Reid Carleton in a match tiebreaker, and newcomer Henrique Cunha of Duke defeated top seed JP Smith of Tennessee, also in a match tiebreaker. Tennessee freshman Rhyne Williams won a close two-setter over John Peers of Middle Tennessee State. For match results, see georgiadogs.com.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Heather Watson, Yuki Bhambri, Jim Courier, Colette Lewis