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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Conkic Surprise Winner at SEC Indoor; Klahn Takes Sherwood Cup; Pro Circuit Notes


I'm back in Michigan, and it's time to catch up with some of the college action over the weekend, as well as other scattered results, before our attention gets absorbed in the Australian Open.

In the SEC Coaches Indoor, the Tennessee Volunteers claimed the singles champion again this year, but it wasn't last year's winner JP Smith repeating, it was Boris Conkic, who had most of his success this past fall in doubles not singles. Conkic, a junior from Serbia, beat Javier Garrapiz of Georgia 7-5, 6-2 in the final. An alphabetical 9-16 seed, Conkic defeated No. 2 seed Alex Lacroix of Florida in the round of 16, No. 8 seed Drake Bernstein of Georgia in the quarters and Nate Schnugg, also of Georgia, in the semifinals. The doubles title went to No. 3 seed Lacroix and Antoine Benneteau of Florida, who beat No. 4 seeds Schnugg and Jamie Hunt of Georgia 8-5 in the final.

For a detailed look at Conkic's victory, see utsports.com.

Another major tournament featuring many top men, the Sherwood Cup, was held over the weekend in Thousand Oaks, Calif. with players from the Pac-10 powerhouses of Stanford, UCLA and USC competing in an individual tournament, as well as those from Big-12 champion Baylor. Stanford sophomore Bradley Klahn won the singles title, defeating Baylor's Denes Lukacs 6-3, 6-4 in the final. The doubles title went to Robert Farah and Steven Johnson of USC who beat teammates Daniel Nguyen and Jason McNaughton 6-3. For more on Klahn's win, see the Stanford athletic website.

As I mentioned in a tweet on Sunday, 16-year-old qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia won the Plantation $25,000 tournament with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 3 seed Johanna Larsson of Sweden. Tomljanovic received a special exemption into this week's $25,000 event in Lutz, Fla, where the top two seeds, Maret Ani of Estonia and Angela Hayes of the U.S., are already out after the first day of main draw play. Christina McHale, a quarterfinalist last week in Plantation, has drawn former WTA Top 10 player Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, the No. 4 seed, in the first round. Sloane Stephens qualified and has drawn No. 6 seed Julia Cohen. Nicole Melichar, Allie Will and Sachia Vickery received main draw wild cards. Vickery lost today to Georgia Stoop of Great Britain 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

In the men's $10,000 tournament in Hollywood, Fla., 15-year-old Alexios Halebian qualified for the main draw with a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over former USC Trojan Gary Sacks. The Orange Bowl 16s champion will go for his fifth straight win when he meets fellow qualifier Eric Nunez, 27, in the first round of the main draw. Wild card Jack Sock lost in three sets in today's first round to No. 3 seed Victor Estrella of the Dominican Republic. Plantation quarterfinalist Alex Domijan received a special exemption and will play his first match Wednesday.

For complete results, see the Pro Circuit page at usta.com.

Also note that Ken Thomas will be in Miami calling Thursday's dual match between the Miami men and Florida Atlantic on radiotennis.com, beginning at 5:45 p.m. Eastern.

NOTE: Those who would like to discuss the upcoming dual college season and make predictions for the Team Indoor coming up next month should use this post. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU TYPE A NAME IN THE APPROPRIATE COMMENT BOX. ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ARE NOT POSTED.

22 comments:

Jon King said...

So no Oudin posts? I was run off and shouted down on this forum for stating the obvious flaws in her game. Yet when I am proven right, no posts? Pretty lame.

eric said...

I think USC will repeat as National Champs this year. They have a transfer who is rank 600 in the ATP tour ...

tennis guy2894 said...

Colette..
There was another very good tournament that ended Monday right down the road from you in Ann Arbor with Miami, Tennessee, Washington visting Michigan. A lot of very good tennis played!

John said...

Colette,
What do you think of the alternative dual match scoring used in the men's UVA-W&M match on Monday? http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=88813&SPID=10610&DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=204870955 It will be used again in South Bend this coming weekend when UVA plays Notre Dame. Has anyone seen ITA or NCAA thoughts about this?

Man in the Moon said...

Jon King-

one match does not make a prognosticator of talent.

I am not particularly in Oudin's corner, one way or the other -- I think she is a good player for her age and time on the tour --

but to lose to the # 88 player in the world - in the 1st round of a Grand Slam does not prove a thing about her game.

She did make a huge splash at the USO, and you can't take that away from her.

I don't think anyone, certainly not me said she was going to be the next Graf -- so Jon, let's see what happens over a period of time --

you might be right, you might be wrong - but it is too early to tell and certainly not on one match.

You don't deserve the credit yet, as a talent scout.

alex said...

yes he does

wi tennis said...

Look for Texas Tech to surprise some people. I don't think they will win it all, but could possibly sneak in the quarterfinals (depending on draws). They have 5 really good Brazilians, plus a few others that can play. USC. UCLA. Stanford. Virginia. Tennessee. Ohio State. Florida. Are my other quarterfinalists! not very bold picks, I know.

Jon, get a grip, man! Quit looking for props on a tennis message board!...whether you were right or wrong! Think about it! What's Colette's headline supposed to read "Oudin sucks! King was right!"?? Come on now.

get real said...

jon king,

not everyone is against you. i share the same feeling as you. the haters are the ones who wish they knew talent and think they know everything and no nothing. they are called legends in their own minds. it is a shame people do not want to learn from other people, especially when the truth hurts!!!!!!!!!!

Man in the Moon said...

get real, clueless Red, don't get it, etc. etc.

first, I am not against Jon, nor I am against you.

Aren't you the guy who teaches 8 year kids "to move their feet" and the one who came up with comments about Tomic playing and winning against players in Exo's and it doesn't mean much when it doesn't COUNT.
It is true exo's do not count, but Tomic is a very good player for his age and experience on the Pro tour.

BTW, Tomic advances in the AO at a very tender age - where it does COUNT.

I certainly don't mind "learning from other people" as you say --

however those other people not only should be able to articulate what they mean -- their words should also have some substance --
which in the case of you and Jon--

don't really offer much in either case!!

Austin said...

Can we please not start this Oudin garbage again? In regards to that particular match, she flat out choked.

Im a little surprised in Nate Schnugg. A couple years ago I thought he was going to become a dominant college player.

Take this with a grain of salt, but here are my mens college predictions for this season:

Team:
1)USC
2)Tennessee
3)Stanford
4)UCLA
5)Virginia
6)Georgia
7)Texas
8)Baylor
9)Ohio State
10)Florida

Singles:
1)Bradley Klahn-Stanford
2)Steve Johnson-USC
3)John Patrick Smith-Tennessee
4)Robert Farah-USC
5)Eric Quigley-Kentucky

Doubles:
1)Farah/Johnson-USC
2)Klahn/Thacher-Stanford
3)Hunt/Schnugg-Georgia
4)Conkic/Smith-Tennessee
5)Dadamo/Krajicek-Texas A&M

Lets Be Honest said...

Am I wrong or has she not won a match since the USO. She has played about 5 tournaments and Hopman Cup and has not won a match. In fact, she went out in Qualifying in a couple of those.
In Jon Kings defense, he didn't come on here and post after her first loss, 2nd, loss, 3rd loss, only after 6 months of losses. And if my memory is correct, he didn't necessarily say she wasn't going to make it, he was just taking a way and see approach. And all of you have to admit, if she had won all of those matches thru the fall or had done better - you all would have been the first ones to come on here and say he was wrong.

Colette Lewis said...

@John
The ITA interpretation is that a different format than the 3-6 format can be played -- at least 6 individual players must participate per team and both coaches agree on the format, and the format does not conflict with conference rules.
I'm hoping to dig into this more deeply for a story next month.

Man in the Moon said...

let's be honest -

which is the first time I have seen that moniker - along with the "Clueless Red, don't get it, Alex, etc - could this be Jon / get real in disguise?

The point is 1 match, 2 matches , 5 matches, 10 matches - doesn't make a difference.

In the early stages of a career - it is not the losses which sustain -- IT IS THE WINS -- there is a learning curve in the Pros -- typically 18 months to 30 months.

Yes, there are exceptions on both sides of those monthly numbers.

Go ask my buddy,Austin about DYIII. Is he out there long enough to make a credible call.

Austin why is it OK to yap about DYIII's win and not OK to talk about Oudin!!

Austin is still reporting on the wins that DYIII gets- and he is as dead as the proverbial doorknob.

So, it is not soup yet for Oudin.

The fact that Jon, Get Real, and the other first time responders (emphasis added) -- joke -- think if Oudin loses the next few matches, she is out -- it really doesn't mean a thing.

What is clearly evident- that the responses (just love Alex's response)- and Jon, get real, etc.

do not have substance - but just noise!! EMPHASIS ADDED

format said...

re: that UVA dual match format. 'A' for effort, but it doesn't seem to make much sense. When you only have 4.5 scholarships, why increase the number of players needed for a team match? Also, what do you do w/ facilities that have less than 6 courts? It also doesn't seem fan friendly - fans have enough trouble following the current team format when only 6 matches are being played (in singles).

Lets Be Honest said...

To: Man in the Moon said...

You need to learn how to read.
Where in my post did I say anything about her future or if she is a good player? My post was strictly about whether he (Jon King) had the right to come on the board and support his earlier predictions. My opinion is that he can because Melanie has not proved him wrong. My post also stated that if she had proved him wrong, then most of you would delightfully pointed out that he was wrong as quickly as possible.

Can I suggest a good reading program for you?

Lets Be Honest said...

To: man in the moon...

However, I do like this:

"Austin why is it OK to yap about DYIII's win and not OK to talk about Oudin!! "

Erick said...

Colette,
Does a country's culture influence their tennis players' style of play? Theoretically, a person is a product of their culture, and tennis - with its unique, individual nature and wide variety of ways of playing - can be read as an expression of oneself, of one's identity. In this, we should see through tennis that one's background informs their game-style.

I thought of this watching the Aussie Open this week. Brad Gilbert commented two nights ago that the Argentinian Del Potro’s power game was unique in that he was “like a Californian.” What does this mean exactly? I think there is something to it. The big-serving, high-power American game – read ‘Roddick’ – could be connected to the US’s popular-based, front-page culture, brashness on a world stage, and ‘Hollywood’ mentality. During the Tomic-Rufin match, the analyst went off on how the French system had an “understanding, an allowance of individuality.” Santoro, Monfils, Gasquet and the gang follow a trend in that they are all different, they all have unique ticks in their games. Could this be rooted in a liberal French culture, in the birthplace of modern individualism/democracy with the Revolution, in the fashionable, flair culture today? Russians like Davydenko, Kafelnikov, or all the women (not Safin, who moved to Spain at an early age – coincidence, I think not) are often monotonous aggressive baseliners, a style intriguingly similar to a Communist production-line mentality. Spaniards and South Americans play a grinding, warrior-like game that expresses the masculine, machismo culture unique to these parts of the world. It is no coincidence that there are proportionally less WTAers from these regions. Finally, us Canadians are generally polite and mild-mannered on the world stage. It seems this holds over in tennis, where we generally don’t play an in-your-face, ruffle-your-feathers, battling, grinding style, and are often satisfied with a close loss. In your experiences, do you see culture influencing gamestyles?

Obviously this is a single argument, and it could potentially be countered with theories that 1) it is all an individual - his personality disposition and physical attributes - that is important, 2) the role of a coach is more of an impact, or 3) other factors are important - socioeconomic, climate, etc. Do you buy into these more?

Thanks a lot for the help and look forward to hearing back.

Man in the Moon said...

let's be honest,

at least your tone is much better than before -- we almost have a dialogue going.

I read very well, but if you read exactly what I wrote and I quote

" - along with the "Clueless Red, don't get it, Alex, etc - could this be Jon / get real in disguise?


I was also writing to Jon, clueless Red, don't get it, etc-- so it wasn't all about you -- it was Jon who was carrying on about Oudin and that is who I was talking about in that sentence.

Maybe you should re-take that reading course.

get real said...

to all the oudin lovers. i do not think she had 5yrs in her to mature as a pro player. martina even said that a great jr. player does not add to success as a pro. i really do not want to knock oudin but she obviously has physical issues already. shes a great fetcher. the problem is with most of you, is your dying for an american female to make it great and you are not looking at the athlete. she is a great athlete but, is she great enough. i do not think she is physically or mentally. maybe jon is looking at the athlete and not the nationality.

Colette Lewis said...

@Erick:
Interesting question that I haven't thought much about. It certainly fits in with what Malcolm Gladwell says in Outliers.
Being an American, I tend to see things through the prism of individuality and personal expression/fulfillment. But I'll continue to ponder your theories.

Eric Amend said...

Sorry, I'm a little late to the dance but....

Jon King,

It wasn't you stating Melanie's "obvious flaws" that got you "run off and shouted down" but you're innate ability to change your declarations from post to post to fit your lousy arguments; you're a pro at that!!!!

And I told you a couple months back when you thought you were proven correct, when she lost in the first round to higher ranked players in the fall like she did this week in the AO, that you need to put it in neutral for a couple years before you'll be proven correct!!!

So... stop waiting for her to lose every match and run to your computer to be the first poster of the topic to say that you were, once again, proven right because if you knew anything at all about tennis development, you would know that it takes years for careers to shake out, NOT months!!!

rose said...

he simply sees all the gaps in her game now and is stating it.