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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Second Collegiate Major of Season Begins Thursday at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center; Live Streaming at Atlanta ITF; Kozlov, Baughman Advance at Niceville Futures

Flushing Meadows, NY--

On Thursday, I begin live coverage of USTA/ITA Indoor Intercollegiate Championships here in New York, my tenth consecutive year of attending and writing about this tournament.  This is the fourth year the tournament has been held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and the combination of an outstanding facility, men and women competing together, and the proximity of one of the world's great cities, has made it a special event on the college tennis schedule.

The draws, which now include times, are posted at the ITA tournament hub page, with the women's draw going up this morning. Top seed Jamie Loeb of North Carolina plays veteran Florida Gator Sofie Oyen in the opening round at 2 p.m.  At 2:30, another excellent first round match will feature men's top seed Patrick Pradella of Baylor against preseason No. 1 Mikelis Libietis of Tennessee. 

The day begins with doubles, so singles matches are scheduled to go on as late as 7 p.m. Thursday.  Unlike last year, when a snow storm hit on top of the mess from Sandy, weather should not cause any issues with players getting to New York for their matches.

College Tennis Online has published a men's tournament preview with predictions on all 16 first round matches.

There will be live scoring and a live chat provided by the USTA staff. Links for those features can be found on the ITA tournament page.

Thanks to someone I follow on twitter, I've learned there is live streaming at the ITF in Atlanta, which has to be a first for a Grade 4 event.  The link to the stream can be found at the tournament website under the media tab. The website also has updated draws and the order of play for Thursday's third round. Top seeds CiCi Bellis and Anudeep Kodali have advanced.

In the first round of the $50,000 Challenger in Captiva Island, Florida, today, 18-year-old Allie Kiick defeated No. 3 seed Melanie Oudin 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, and former UNC star Sanaz Marand completed  a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over top seed Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, in a match that was suspended by darkness on Tuesday. No. 7 seed Vicky Duval advanced when Jacqueline Cako(Arizona State) retired trailing 6-1, 3-1. Allie Will(Florida), Jessica Pegula and Julia Boserup, who ended Anna Tatishvili's winning streak when the latter retired, were other American winners Wednesday.

At the Knoxville Challenger, qualifier Mitchell Frank, who dropped out of the Indoor to compete in Challengers this week and next, beat Tennessee's Jarryd Chaplin, a wild card, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the second round. Qualifiers Sanam Singh(Virginia) and Kevin King(Georgia Tech) also won their first round matches.

At the Niceville Futures, 17-year-old Deiton Baughman, a qualifier, defeated No. 3 seed Nick Meister(UCLA) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the first round, and 15-year-old Stefan Kozlov, also a qualifier, posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 5 seed Ruan Roelofse, the former Illinois player from South Africa.

17 comments:

Young Men Development said...

More struggles from the USA young Americans in the challenger circuit.

Ryan Harrison, Jack Sock, Denis Kudla, Steve Johnson all with heavy USTA player development influence and money continue to struggle at Challenger events and overall lack of improvement.

Where are the results from Head of Mens Tennis Director Jay Berger to prove they know what they are doing? It has been over 6 years. answer is none

Foreign coaches in American system WILL NEVER WORK!

The truth will set you free said...

Please explain how working w Ryan Harrison for three months is PD fault. Why isn't anyone blaming his coach after grant Doyle? He fell from 40 to 140 during that time.

Dennis Kudla has gone from 300 to close to top 100 working w PD.

Jack Sock works w an American coach who got John Isner to top 10 in the world. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Anyone seen Jack Sock compete. The issues aren't with his tennis but his lack of commitment to improving his mental game.

Steve Johnson got to Top 100 in about a year from graduating college. All w the help of PD.

Why don't you get your facts straight young me n development.

Factual said...

Facts straight, even with Grant Doyle he only finished the year near 80 after an oh so brief appearance in the top 50. Was playing well with Player Development with a few top 50 wins.. This is his 1st tournament after having to leave Europe with viral pneumonia so he may have legit reason for suspect result.

tennisforlife said...

It can't really be argued that the PD model is broken. Steve Johnson came out of 4 years at USC mentored and coached by his father and Peter Smith and shot into the top 100 a year out. PD took over and its been downhill ever since. 3 years ago Ryan Harrison was ranked above and beating Raonic - they are now over 100 places apart and going in the wrong direction. Harrison has been involved with PD a lot longer than 3 months!. Sock appears to have a work ethic problem and probably has no one but himself to blame for his lack of progress. Ironically Kudla , who has had the least support seems to be making the most progress on his own.

PD should get out of the coaching business. Find players with talent and the motivation to work hard, offer them advice and financial support and let them find the set up that works best. Maybe take a page out of the Canadians play book. Seems to be working.

The truth will set you free said...

Tennisforlife,

How has it been downhill ever since he graduated from USC? He has worked w PD the whole time? So you can't give them credit for working with him to get him I to the top 100? You going to blame his dad and Peter Smith for his terrible BH that is going to limit his ability to ever be a top 40 player? The guy has serious wholes in his game. He had tremendous success early in his career because nobody had the game plan. Now people know how to play him. His BH is so flawed there is probably no chance for him to fix this. And this goes back to his junior coach.

News flash Ryan Harrison traveled wasted a whole year traveling w Tres Davis It wasn't until after Wimbeldon that Harrison started working with PD. So his decline has nothing to do with PD.

Lastly Dennis Kudla probably gets the most support than any of these players do from PD.

The problem isn't PD. The probem is the talent pool. How many of these guys actually have a chance at winning a grand slam. PD can't want it more than the players. They can't try to make filet minonn out of chuck steak. Some of these guys love everything that goes along w being a pro but don't want to do what it takes to actually live the professional lifestyle that has been set by guys like Djokovic Nadal and Federer.

FYI maybe everyone in the private sector (including myself) should take some responsibility for where American tennis is as it relates to the rest of the world. We have a laughable coaching education system with USPTA and PTR. we are so far behind the rest off he world as it relates to our coaching.

Our kids are too comfortable and don't want to tdo what it takes to be truly great. But that is PD fault.

Maddening to watch said...

The Truth, Tou are 100% right. Our kids are too comfortable..they can't be criticized or told the truth without it turning into some psychological need to feel good drama. It starts with the way our society and culture as a whole have become. The " it's not my fault generation". Out to blame circumstances or someone for their lack of drive and willingness to accept or deal with failure and get motivated by it. It starts at the top. Look at our President.. When's the last time he took blame for anything.. On TV every single day making excuses for his failures.. It would be foolish to think kids don't see this and respond the same way..We as a nation have gotten soft soft soft period. It has to carry over to this generation. They are incredibly soft and quite frankly, have been made to feel like that's normal. Way too much feel good psychology involved in this generation and its killed em.

Fair and Balanced said...

Maddening - not only did you use bad judgment to bring politics into this but you even picked the wrong side to criticize.

The President takes responsibility for things every day and just within the last 2 weeks publicly took responsibility for the temporary glitches in the Affordable Care Act website even though he didn’t personally make those mistakes but just because he is the President. Did you and all your Republican friends who watch only Fox News just put your fingers in your ears and just pretend that you didn’t hear and see the President on all the national news stations taking this responsibility?

But I notice that you conspicuously make no mention of the Republicans and Tea Partiers who just tried to take our government hostage and shut it down costing the country over $20B. Just a couple of nights ago Republican Senator Ted Cruz told Jay Leno on the tonight show with a straight face that he did not want the government to shut down.

Nor did you mention this week’s big news that Republican/Tea Partier Senator Rand Paul denied for several days that he had plagiarized his numerous speeches and articles and only blamed his enemies for attacking him. He finally admitted some responsibility when even the Right Wing owned Washington Times fired him as a columnist because of his blatant and recurring plagiarism which included lifting several pages of articles written and published by others.

You Republicans conveniently forget that it was George W. Bush who took us into the worst recession since the Great Depression and since then it was Republican Mitch McConnell and the Republican controlled House that has blocked virtually every legislative attempt that President Obama has made to help the unemployed and get us out of this recession. McConnell and the other Republicans including Rush Limbaugh have been open about the fact that they have blocked all of the President’s efforts because they want the economy to continue to falter because they hoped Obama would take the blame and not get re-elected.

Typical said...

Fair and balanced, that's a Fox slogan. Absolutely zero you said was true or accurate about politics. That's why the attitudes of this generation and willingness to not live in reality and truth have destroyed the discipline and desire of this lost generation.. Why work hard to achieve greatness when someone will take care of you and let you be satisfied with mediocrity, and then as you are doing tryi to justify it. Typical

David Thomas said...

For there to be credible talk and concern about the Mens PD program means there are troubles within the system and bad sediment across the country about the program.

the USTA PD wanted to open their own academy and get into private junior coaching, taking matter into their own hands so they had better produce some results. Produce some players because they do not have confidence in the private sector. Where are results? Where is the development?

There are 2 players in the ATP Top 75. The worst since the Open Era.

They are spreading their coaching philosophy to every coach, RTC program, that everyone should follow their way, their drills, but it does not even work for them. The PD does not coach per individual, they train on a philosophy as a group.

The 2 crosscourt / 1 down the line drill that every player does everyday, that they preach, does not build players or champions. Every player is different and needs to be trained differently. Do they practice transition? rarely. Volleys/Overheads? rarely. Doubles? Never.

The PD has driven out most of the American coaches, replacing them with foreign coaches because apparently the American Way is the wrong way.

There is more concern now than ever before with American Mens Tennis, when is progress going to be made? With this leadership? Miracle

Where has ALL the American Champions been developed? private sector.




fed up said...

The real question is - when is the USTA going to hold McEnroe and Higueras responsible for their performance. There is not a private sector organization in the world that would allow this travesty to continue with the 10's of millions of funding they have.

Dave Haggerty - where are you?

Crosscourt man said...

David Thomas, some of your comments are ok.. To say the 2 cross court and 1 down the line drill are all they do is lunacy.. Every player in the world SHOULD do this every day. Have you or anyone on the planet ever watched a match that wasn't about cross courts and down the lines..teaching them the appropriate times to hit them is another thing. I've heard other pros make this completely idiotic comment. The next time you watch ANY match see if they are hitting cross court and down the line. You sound like a USPTA certified pro who may not realize this is what it takes to be great and then learn to do it better than everyone else.

2 cross 1 line said...

So what do you guys want from McEnroe and Higueras? People always compare theUSA to other federations...Spanish and French. The french haven't had a male grand slam champion in forever. The Spanish don't have the younger players coming up. They didn't have a boys 14 and under team in the world championship.

So what do you all want to see from the USTA. NOBODY was able to answer the questions of why the private coaches didn't give jack sock a better backhand? What about Steve Johnson. Why isn't anyone blaming them?

David Thomas is some USPTA pro who got certified in three hours and has no idea about tennis. Tennis a game that is played with controlling the ball while moving their opponent. Our kids can't execute simple patterns of play so how do we expect them to sustain these types of rallies w the top players in the world. Go over to Europe and watch their practices. Thwy master the basics. We master the art of mindless hitting.

With or without pd we would be in no better place. The private sector has proven that tey can't get it done because the USA has nobody coming up on the men's side. Like somebody said above u can't turn chuck steak into filet mignon. USTA pd is working w what they have.

Oh and by the way. Nobody is giving credit to McEnroe and Higueras for helping organize and provide support to a ton of young women. Te USA is dominating the numbers as it relates to the rest of the world.

Where did the Russians go? Spanish men?

fed up said...

2 cross 1 line -- The French and Spanish federations are not spending 10's of millions of $'s a year on this. Over $100mm in the last 8 or so years spent by the USTA. As far as I can tell they have Sloane Stevens to show for it. PMac and Higuerous are paid over $2mm/year - FOR PART TIME WORK!!. That is the membership's money. We deserve better..

David Thomas said...

I have never said the 2 cross 1 line drill is the only drill they do (its a good drill) but the moral was they teach their players as a group and not developing each as individuals. Big Mistake as every player is different - game style, mentally, physically and personality. They want a cookie cutter method as they are praying their "philosophy" works.

Correction, Sloane Stephens was NOT developed by PD. She was already well into the Top 100 when she was coached by two different USTA coaches Troy Hahn and David Nainkin.

The Big change 7 years ago was The USTA PD wanted to get into private junior coaching. So they spend about 10-15 more million a year on such a project that seems to bring back the Big Depression in form of an investment.

The PD coaches work very hard, sacrifice time on the road, but their leaders do not give back - Jose continues not to be fully involved living in Palm Springs. How do they continue to allow that?

Who monitors PD? Who makes them accountable? What is their timetable? USTA members deserve to have answers if that much money is wasted like it is now.

Finally, I am a foreign coach, but most importantly, of a top junior who went through the USTA system. The only benefit seemed all the free expenses of travel, not the loss in confidence and lack of development. Kept changing coaches, kept changing hand feeding drills, never stuck with true plan, no consistency.

Fair and Balanced said...

Typical – I know it’s the Fox slogan; you were obviously incapable of comprehending my sarcasm. Fox is not fair and balanced. It is, in fact, a Republican news channel run by a well-known Republican Operative named Roger Ailes who was the media consultant to all three Republican Presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush. Roger Ailes has always been the President of Fox News since its inception. Based on the lack of knowledge demonstrated in yours and your colleague Maddening‘s recent posts I would be surprised if you were aware of this.

Everything that I said in my previous post is not only true but is easily verified by recent news reports and common historical knowledge such as the fact that George Bush was President of the United States when the Great Recession and financial crisis hit, Lehman Brothers folded and the stock market crashed.

I find your comment about working hard to achieve greatness amusing when your party’s most recent President was George W. Bush who was the son and grandson of two millionaires, was born on third base and was known to be the most lazy and incompetent President in history. The fact that the country crashed under his ill-advised policies and inattention was, therefore, not surprising.

Spelling the word “trying” “tryi” does not advance your case very well.

You are the one who is typical and not living “in reality and truth” when you refuse to believe common knowledge and verifiable historical facts.

Fed up said...

Why don't we stick to tennis here!

incorrect said...

David Thomas, sorry to correct you, Sloane was with usta starting at 600 in the world, Roger Smith was the national coach working with her up until she got well into the top 100.