Wimbledon Junior Recap; Rubin Chooses Wake Forest; Sock, Min, Rogers Reach First Career ATP/WTA Semifinals; Kerznerman, DiLorenzo Top Seeds at 18s Clay Courts in Delray Beach and Memphis
Due to the restrictions imposed on print/online media credentialed at Wimbledon, which does not allow them to photograph play, I won't be producing a slideshow or videos from this year's junior tournament. But my recap, which focuses on the boys final featuring Noah Rubin and Stefan Kozlov, is available today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. (If you have access to WatchESPN, a replay of the boys final is available).
Rubin, who was honored by the New York Mets at last night's game, announced today that he will attend Wake Forest this fall. Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky was at Wimbledon throughout Rubin's run to the final; the recruiting battle was between Virginia, where Bresky was an assistant for seven years under Brian Boland, and Wake Forest, where Bresky is entering his third year as head coach.
When asked at Wimbledon (prior to the final) why he had decided to attend college, this is what Rubin said:
"I've been playing pros for a while now and the thing that got my father and I thinking about college is the peak of professional tennis players. You look in the book of Wimbledon and you're seeing 29, 30 (year-old players) all over the place. It's not 18-year-olds, like Nadal, winning slams anymore. So that year of maturity, mentally or physically, I think is important."
Three 20-something Americans reached their first Tour semifinals today. Twenty-year-old Grace Min, 2011 US Open girls champion, made the semifinals of the WTA International-level event in Austria, where she will play Andrea Petkovic of Germany, the No. 4 seed, on Saturday. Qualifier Shelby Rogers, who picked up her first WTA Top 20 win over No. 3 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain on Thursday in Austria, backed that win up today with a win over No. 7 seed and WTA No. 39 Camila Giorgi of Italy in the quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Rogers will play No. 2 seed Sara Errani of Italy in Saturday's semifinal.
At the ATP 250 Hall of Fame tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, No. 7 seed Jack Sock defeated top seed John Isner 6-4, 7-6(4) and will face No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in Saturday's semifinals. Hewitt defeated Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 to advance. Sock's surprise Wimbledon men's doubles title with Vasek Pospisil of Canada appears to have been a catalyst in singles, as he beat Isner for the first time in four meetings.
The USTA Clay Court championships will begin on Sunday for most age divisions, although qualifying in the 16s and 18s began Thursday. Defending champion Dan Kerznerman is the top seed at the Boys 18s in Delray Beach, with 16s Easter Bowl champion John McNally the top seed in the 16s.
Francesca DiLorenzo is the top seed at the Girls 18s in Memphis, which I will begin covering live on Sunday. Katerina Stewart, who has a WTA ranking of 547 after back-to-back titles at $10Ks last month, is seeded fifth. The TennisLink sites for all age divisions are below:
Boys 12s in Winston-Salem, NC
Girls 12s in Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Boys 14s in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Girls 14s in Plantation, FL
Girls 16s in Virginia Beach, VA
Boys 16s & 18s in Delray Beach, FL
Girls 18s in Memphis, TN
6 comments:
It shouldn't be a surprise Rubin chose Wake over UVA...Where was UVA going to get money to fund any kind of scholarship for him? They have to be max'd out and you can't just take it away from players already signed or grab it out of the air (or can you???) UVA tennis funding practices by boosters etc., are already raising flags and if Rubin went there, the NCAA alarms would and should have rang louder than they already are.
Really surprised Rubin decided on Wake Forest. Based in their past history, there's not much there to offer.
Dear Mo'Money-
Actually, university's can take money from players already signed after one year. The scholarship offers are only promised for one year. Sadly, tennis coaches across the country, and particularly the Pac 12, have been cutting scholarships from players for the past several years. The practice is now widespread. I recommend that all players and parents get their scholarship deals in writing and try to get them in writing for more than one year. Otherwise, if the player has one year that was deemed sub par by the coach, or if the coach has a new prospect he'd rather give that money to, then the player's scholarship is up for grabs after just one year. My family learned about this the hard way. This is something that more coaches should be honest about.
Yes, Tennis mom, I realize that and a lot go through that situation unfortunately. My point was being it is July, certainly UVA has allocated all it's 2014-2015 scholarship dollars, no team keeps a bank account of extra money, it's use or lose it - at this point it cannot be taken away, only changed next year. (Some schools may have some tucked away for spring transfer.) But yes, you are right, if you don't perform to the level they want or someone better is recruited, you lose $ and it happens a lot. (If only Colette would do a piece on the reality of men's college tennis to keep parents from being shocked as they go through it.) Many question UVAs practices because they get a lot of top players and even if wealthy, why would pay to go there when they have the ability to get scholarship dollars. There can't be enough money remaining of their 4.5 to fund a Rubin (let alone the players they already have), unless of course they are doing some questionable things (donors paying for things they shouldn't) which has already been suggested for the last few years. But people should know, even #1 male junior in the country frequently doesn't get a full ride, unless he goes in at #1 on the team (and they tend to go to the best teams where they won't play #1). That is reality and why Rubin is going to Wake. Yet #8 girl sitting on the bench has a full ride. Welcome to tennis reality.
Great pickup for Tony and Wake, Tony is a great coach and Wake is a great school with nice facilities. Good luck
Thank you!!!!!
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