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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Capra's Win Highlights Second Day at U.S. Open


Due to three very long day session matches on Arthur Ashe, it looks like it might be after midnight before we'll know how NCAA champion Chelsey Gullickson does against top seed Caroline Wozniacki, so I'll focus instead on the results from earlier today at Flushing Meadows.

The good news came early, with USTA wild card tournament winner Beatrice Capra taking a 6-1, 6-3 victory from Karolina Sprem of Croatia. The match wasn't on a televised court, so I don't have any insight into the reasons for Capra's win, but in looking at the match statistics, break points coverted stands out. Capra faced only two break points, saving them both, while cashing in on four of her six opportunities. I was hoping for a story on usopen.org, but not finding that, here's one from the Columbia Flier. And I'm sure Capra herself will have plenty to say about her match in her always entertaining diary for usopen.org. She will play No. 18 seed Aravane Rezai of France in the second round.

The news for the other women's wild cards in action today was not as positive. National 18s champion Shelby Rogers won the first set in a tiebreaker from Shuai Peng of China, but lost the second set in a tiebreaker, leaving the match even after more than two hours of play on a very hot day. Peng got an early break in the third and hung on for a 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-3 win over the 17-year-old from South Carolina. Jamie Hampton was the only wild card to face a seeded player, and after dropping the first set to No. 22 seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-4, she came back to take the second 6-3, but couldn't sustain that momentum, losing the third 6-0. CoCo Vandweghe, who had a very long wait for her match on the Grandstand, could find no answers for Sabine Lisicki's game, losing 6-1, 6-0 in 48 minutes.

In men's doubles, which began today, NCAA champions Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz of Virginia lost to No. 10 seeds Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman 6-3, 6-4.

Wednesday's schedule is a much better one for those who would rather watch tennis than live scoring. Qualifier Ryan Harrison and wild cards Bradley Klahn, Donald Young and Jack Sock will be on televised courts, with Klahn playing fellow Californian Sam Querrey at 11 a.m. on Armstrong, and Harrison playing No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia on Court 11, also at 11 a.m. Young and Sock will play on Court 13, third and fourth matches on.

The AP's Howard Fendrich spoke with Sock and his coach Mike Wolf for this story. In it, Sock reveals that there are eight colleges he has interest in playing for should he decide against turning pro in the next year.

Also in action on Wednesday are National junior champions Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Nathan Pasha, who will play Michael Kohlmann of Germany and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the first round of doubles on Court 14.

For complete schedule and results from today, see usopen.org.

14 comments:

avid follower said...

Very interested how the young Americans fair today. Not so much getting a win, nobody really expects Harrison to beat Lubicic, Klahn to beat Querrey, or Sock to beat Chuidinelli. It's have they made improvements to start taking the next step. How do their games, mental and physical, match up at this level. All very young and have time to improve. This will just be another measuring tool marking their hopeful rise to bigger heights.
Donald Young is the other story. I believe he has got to start winning matches in the majors. Today??

openwatcher said...

Hmmmm...Read the comments on Jack Sock's college choices if he goes to school. SIX great reasons Sock should not go to Florida!
1. Carlos Cueto
2. Tyler Hochwalt
3. Jeff Dadamo
4. Joey Burkhardt
5. Johnny Hamui
6. Erik Corace

Sock is gonna be alittle busy with his task at hand and probably won't have the time to read this, but if friends and family don't point this out to him, they are crazy!

Can't believe what comes out of PMac's mouth said...

Congrats to Ryan Harrison on his great play and win over Lubicic! But did you hear how SHAMELESS Patrick McEnroe was in his post match commentary? Saying that "Ryan's coaches Diego Moyano and ?? and Jay Berger gave done a great job" "His Dad Pat has done a lot with him over the years also and he has been training at Bolleteri for a couple years, but when he travels he works with the USTA coaches" Typical USTA jumping in at the end and claiming credit. Should have given Pat credit first, Bolleteri second and THEN added whatever contribution the uSTA and its coaches have made.

work-hard-tennis said...

Oh man, I so agree! Talk about taking credit for where it isn't deserved. Pat spent HOURS on the court with him, and it is not easy to work with your own kid.

And not just Pat, but Suzy, his wife was there supporting all the time too; your family doesn't get very far without mom doing so much behind the scenes work.

That comment blew me away. Actually he also has only been at Bolletieri's about the last 2 years. He came from Newk's tennis ranch for a few years before that.

**If you took away his success, Newk's would still welcome him back. Would Bolletieri's?

Renton said...

avid follower,

Lubijic has always been a massive choker at Grand Slam level so there were a lot of us who thought Harrison had a very good chance for an upset.

I think the thing that upset me most about Pat McEnroe's comments (no surprise he boosted up the USTA - would have been shocked if he hadn't) was the massive conflict of interest. If Pat's position with the USTA causes him to misrepresent the truth (rearranging credit is, to me, just another form of lying) then he shouldn't be allowed to commentate on matches where USTA players are involved. How can he have any credibility as a commentator when he is willing to so blatantly fudge on the truth?

Its Working said...

The USTA coaches have been helping Ryan for a while. It's Ryan giving them credit in his press conference, along with his father....

"Obviously coaches, Patrick McEnroe, Jay Berger, Diego Moyano is working with me most of the time now. My dad coached me from the time I was two years old, and he's been you know, he's been always there for me, always there to support me throughout my entire career."

There is no bandwagging going on. The USTA didn't develop Ryan--His father did but the USTA coaches are mainly helping him reach from the 400/300s to the 100s and above and it really seems to be working.

David said...

Give it a rest, guys. He gave credit to his father and the Bollettieri Academy. There was no misrepresentation. There's nothing wrong with paying his traveling coaches a compliment. You're indignant over nothing. For the love of god, just relax.

firsthandknowledge said...

Itsworking..His father has worked with people ranked much higher than Ryan is now. Sounds like you were saying he wasnt capable of getting him to the top 100. He knows as much or more about the game as anyone Ryan could possibly work with. If he chooses to have other people work with him for communication purposes nothing wrong with that but it sure isnt because they know something about the game that he doesnt. If you ever watched him teach he is one of the best there is period.

Notconvinced said...

I think the match would have been more interesting if challenges and shot spot were enabled. Pretty sure Ryan's serve was long and it looked for a second like it would be challenged. Just saying. Not that he wouldn't have won but it was odd.

Almost there said...

To First Hand
Just curious. Who else did Ryan's father work with?

Its Working said...

firsthandknowledge

I completely agree with you

Absolutely Ryan's father did and still doing a tremendous job with Ryan. I NEVER said anything about Pat's lack of coaching. Pat is an incredible coach. The USTA coaching staff is more involved with Ryan only because Pat and Ryan want them to be and its their decision.

David said it correctly---everyone just needs to relax on this site!!

Texasmom said...

To almost there
I am also curious as to who he has developed. I thought they moved to Florida because of Ryan's career.

Firsthandknowledge said...

Itsworking..The U.S.T.A. are mainly helping him reach from 300 area to the 100 and up area seems to imply that his dad had taken him as far as he could. He is one of the main pros at the IMG..Bollettierrri Academy and works with a lot of the touring pros. He is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the country and has always worked with many other players. Not just his on children.

Bernie said...

After reading the above comments about Ryan and The USTA it is clear that there is a lot of distrust when it comes to Player Development. I think the most important thing to focus on is the player. It isn't about the credit or who did the developing that really matters but is the player getting better. If you look at any player playing at a high level the people who have made the biggest commitment are the parents. This is even greater when one or both are coaches.But I believe that any player willing to tell the truth will explain that it takes many people to help along the way. It is never one coach or one academy or in some cases one federation. I think that if we look at the players who have made it to the top it is due to a strong support system that surrounds them that has continues to grow and work together. I think the day after a big win for one of our best players should be a happy one for everyone.