Fernandes, Pliskova Win Australian Junior Championships; Rubin in Les Petits As Final; Fresno State Upsets Texas A&M
I greatly appreciated the opportunity to watch the boys and girls singles finals last night, although it was odd that the ESPN 360 service had replays, hawkeye and closeups (although no commentary) for the boys, but just one camera and not even a microphone on the chair umpire for the girls final. Fernandes' forehand was the major difference in the boys match, I thought, and Pliskova's very impressive serve was the shot that carried her to the title. I wrote a short synopsis of both matches for the New York Times' Straight Sets blog. For the ITF story on the finals, click here. The girls article from the Australian Open website is here, the boys here, and the interview transcripts from the Robson, Pliskova and Fernandes press conferences are here.
The finals are set for Sunday at Les Petits As, and Noah Rubin of the United States will play unseeded Quentin Halys of France for the boys title. Rubin, seeded No. 12, beat No. 16 seed Xander Veys of Belgium 6-4, 7-5 in today's semifinals, while Halys upset No. 2 seed Borna Coric of Croatia 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1. The girls championship match will feature No. 8 seed Kanami Tsuji of Japan against No. 6 seed Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands.
Gabrielle Andrews and Brooke Austin of the U.S. claimed their second major doubles title of the trip, again defeating Americans Alexandra Stiteler and Taylor Townsend in the final, this time by a 6-3, 6-4 score. The boys title went to Australians Thanasi Kokkinakis and Li Tu. Stitler lost in the finals of the singles consolation draw. For complete results, see the tournament website.
Bad weather throughout much of the Southern half of the country has caused delays in the ITA Kick-off weekend, but there has been a notable upset today, with No. 1 seed Texas A & M losing in College Station to No. 4 seed Fresno State 4-3. For more on that match, see Aggieathletics.com.
For other results, see the ITA tournament page.
2 comments:
Colette,
What did you make of Robson? I thought from the results that she seemed to be doing much better on this trip than last year when her form seemed disappointing after 08. Then I saw a bit of her doubles on espn which is the first time I've seen her play, and I was surprised how unimpressed I was. (I'm British although living here so very aware of the British press hyping her.) The final obviously did not go well. Winning the W juniors at 14 is no doubt very good. But watching, I thought wow she's got a long, long way to go and it did not strike me that she necessarily has the tools with the potential to get anywhere as a pro, much less the heights Brits hope for. Is the Robson story too framed by British wishful thinking?
@texastennis:
I think Robson will have a fine pro career. She needs work on her movement and on her second serve, but I believe she is willing to do that, and has the right attitude about filling the holes in her game.
The Wimbledon juniors win probably raised expectations that she would be a Seles or Hingis, winning grand slams by the age of 16. I don't see that happening for her, or any other 16 year old now, what with the age restrictions and increased tour depth. But her doubles results and the way she is able to compete with top WTA players leads me to believe that she will be an accomplished professional in time.
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