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Friday, July 2, 2010

Wimbledon Junior Finals Set; College Coaches USTA Workshop; Kudla Receives Campbell's Hall of Fame Wild Card

Andy Murray lost in straight sets in the men's semifinals today at Wimbledon, and the last two British hopes for a junior singles title were also eliminated today, with both Laura Robson and Oliver Golding crashing out (a favorite British expression for losing).

No. 10 seed Sachie Ishizu of Japan beat Robson 7-5, 7-6(5), and by all accounts, Robson failed to seize any of the chances she had to take control of the match. Roehampton champion Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic, seeded No. 9, beat No. 15 seed Yulia Putintseva of Russia 6-1, 6-4, and on Saturday will attempt to match her sister Karolina's accomplishment in Australia, where she won the girls singles championship.

Qualifier Ben Mitchell handed Oliver Golding of Great Britain a 6-2, 6-2 loss in today's semifinal, and Mitchell becomes the second consecutive qualifier to reach the boy's final, repeating Jordan Cox's feat from last year. Mitchell will play No. 13 seed Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in the final. Fucsovics beat unseeded Facundo Arguello of Argentina 6-3, 6-2 to reach his first Grade A final. The boys final will be played on Sunday.

My finals preview for the New York Times Straight Sets blog can be viewed here.

For more from Mitchell and Fucsovics see the ITF junior website's article.

For more on the losses by the British players, including information on Robson's plans for the rest of the year, see this BBC article.

Monica Puig, with partner Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and Sloane Stephens, with partner Timea Babos of Hungary, have advanced to the girls doubles semifinals. Great Britain still has a chance for a Wimbledon championship in the boys doubles, with two teams advancing to Saturday's semifinals.

For complete draws, see wimbledon.org.

The USTA recently hosted a College Coaches Workshop in Boca Raton led by Jose Higueras and Jay Berger. Seventeen coaches participated and from this article, it sounds as if the USTA is doing all it can to promote college tennis as a development path. I hope this becomes a regular part of the USTA's schedule and that many more coaches can attend.

It was announced today by the ATP Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, RI, that Denis Kudla has received a main draw wild card into the event, which begins on Monday. Ryan Harrison had previously been awarded a main draw wild card. For more, see the tournament's website.

11 comments:

Another Wildcard said...

Ryan Harrison has ANOTHER wildcard?

He was most successful in the beginning of the year when he played qualifying in alot of events and earning his way into the main draw.

What's the Ryan wildcard count up to? 6, 8, 10?

I'm sure he could have gotten to Newport in time to play qualifying.

Will be interesting to see if he plays the correct level the rest of the summer.

joe said...

lets call it donald young number 2

pay attention said...

When was his last wildcard? He was listed as a wildcard last week but was in with his on ranking at 239. The last direct entry was 289 so obviously that was a misprint. Received no wildcards in Europe. Got into the French and Wimbledon on his on and won 2 rds. at the French so what is his correct level? Sounds like a stupid juniors parents comment wondering why a kid would play up.

Midwest Teaching Pro said...

Pay Attention

Your response made me check the atptour website on this subject. Ryan received 2 wildcards in Europe. Below is a list of all the wildcards he has received and the round he lost.

Noumea Challenger MD (2nd)
Australian Open MD (1st)
San Jose MD (1st)
Dallas Challenger MD (2nd)
Memphis Q's (qualified, 1st MD)
Indian Wells MD (2nd)
Sunrise Challenger MD (1st)
Miami MD (1st)
Queens MD (1st)
Nottingham Challenger MD (Quarters)
Winnetka MD (1st)
Newport MD (starts this week)

ryan deserves wildcards as he is the top american junior but he is averaging 2 wildcards a month. Don't you think that's alot? The atptour website has his YTD win-loss record at 1-7. You ask me what is his level is, I would say Challenger level.

My son knows Ryan, as he is a great kid. I have seen many young american juniors get too spoiled with wildcards and not earning most that they receive. Just a concern I have.

pay attention said...

My understanding of the way these tournaments work is that they will guarantee you a wildcard to make sure you come to their tournament but often times it is not needed. The Australian Open Wildcard was earned by beatin 3 other top Americans(Kuznetsov,Young and Levine) so no gift there. Winnetka was in on his on. Memphis qualies ranking would have gotten him in on his on as well. Dallas the same thing. Many of these tournaments have players withdraw after the cutoff date and then the cut off moves quite a bit such as was the case at the French Open so you get listed as a wildcard even though quite often it was not needed like with 4 of these tournaments listed. It looks like he clearly needs to play Challengers and prove himself there though.

WC said...

You all make good points, but I'd pose the following question...

Who would you give it to instead?

That isn't meant to defend Harrison, I'm just asking for suggestions. You've got several groups of players who are all trying to get a WC here or there. Harrison hasn't proved he can play consistently at tour level, but neither can the older Americans like Evans, Kuznetsov and Sweeting.

You've then got recent college players like Pollock, Strode and Koniecko who would love those WCs, but get no love from the USTA and have to grind their way through futures.

You've also got current college players like Klahn, Shabaz, Buchanan and Johnson, but I wouldn't say any of them are up to Harrison's level quite yet.

To me, the point of giving WCs is to give players exposure to that "next level." The way players have reacted to it have been quite different. DY got all those WCs but never raised his game, whereas Querrey flew straight into the top 100 as did Isner. To me, Harrison isn't making a ton of progress so far this year, so why not try someone else if you are the USTA?

Midwest Teaching Pro said...

WC

"Who would you give it to instead"

Great question.

If there is no one to give it to does not mean you have to give it to Ryan. Are you hurting or helping him by all these wildcards? If Ryan is America's best prospect, why not put his best developmental interest first? That does not mean he should be the first to receive the wildcard.

I would give some of the wildcards to the older guys: Jessie Witten, Tim Symzeck, Michael Yani, Lester Cook, Bobby Reynolds, Robert Kendrick, Alex Bogomolov, Ryan Sweeting, etc. Some of those guys have matches at ATP Tour level or qualified at Grand Slams.

The top college guys should be getting some help into Futures and Challengers. "Klahn, Shabaz, Buchanan and Johnson" should get alot more opportunities.

I agree Ryan isn't making much progress this year and probably because he is playing too much of a higher level.

Amused Reading said...

Rather interesting after saying Ryan Harrison is not making much progress that he beats the 82nd ranked guy in the world 1st rd. of Newport 6-2, 6-1. I also notice that he was listed according to Midwest teaching pro with a 1-7 record for this year. I guess that means they do not count matches won in qualifying of Grand Slams or A.T.P. events otherwise his record would be much different. Obviously the losses have not hurt his confidence and he is learning something up there. I guess someone knows what they are doing more than the people on this board.

Midwest Teaching Pro said...

Amused Reading

I beleive you are judging Ryan on one tennis match. He won 6-1, 6-2 on grass. Are you scratching your head as well?

You think something happened to his opponent--sick, tanked, collecting his prize money, not confident, or tried his butt off and got his butt kicked.

Great win yesterday and I hope he can win the tournament. These posts are not saying Ryan is a bad tennis player and cannot beat Top 100 players. It's about playing the correct level and earning what you receive. Not by getting 12 wildcards in 6 months.

I'll be happy to talk about Ryan more if that means he will start a huge win streak.

Ryan is 13-16 in all of his matches this year, including yesterday.

Amused Reading said...

Midwest Teaching Pro, You can not have it both ways. When he wins at that level his opponent was sick or tanked or whatever but when he loses he does not belong at that level. As you said his record is 13-16 for the year playing at the Challenger and ATP level. Hardly a case for being overmatched. He seems to mix in a blend of tournaments at both levels according to his record. As was stated before by Pay Attention he has not had 12 wildcards or even close. The people that handle him seem to know what they are doing. I am sure every time he loses at that level you will think it is a case for you to be made that he does not belong. Why would I be scratching my head? Judging from his record he has been very up and down all year. Seems to be part of the learning curve. I hope he does well as with all the Americans coming up.

Phil said...

I have to say I was surprised to see Ryan getting so many entries into 250 and 500 events in the US. His prize money for someone at his ranking who is young and pushing up is distorted from the others around him who are having to fight their way through futures and challengers. The standards in men's tennis are so high and it is so tough to make a move inside the top 200. Getting into 250 events and higher should be on merit from success at challenger level instead of ongoing wildcards into bigger tournaments. I have no ax to grind with Ryan, I only just spotted his name recently and I am from the UK so am not a "jealous parent" just a tennis fan. If a player is good enough to make it he will do, surely the better lessons will be learned the hard way. I guess having a big management company with power over the tournament selection committees is a benefit.