Image problem~~Can the USTA fix American tennis? Or is it all talk?

Sports Illustrated writer Scott Price and I have had several discussions about the USTA development initiative while I've been here in New York and his article (online only) covers just some of what we've talked about. The underlying question in all of this is what role a country's tennis federation should play in development. As I've said before, I believe every champion is an exception. The prudent way to spend the vast amounts of money produced by the US Open is to distribute it widely to parents and coaches for use in travel and instruction, and host a few camps to bring the best of the best together.

When things calm down later this month, I'm planning a post that will be entitled "If I Ran USTA High Performance I'd....." and I'm just going to start off with my answer. I hope it will spark a forum for productive suggestions from all of you. So start thinking how you would finish that sentence.

Polansky Topples Boys No. 1 Seed; Brengle Takes Out Girls No. 7

©Colette Lewis 2006--
Flushing Meadows

Canadian Peter Polansky's remarkable comeback from a life-threatening catastrophe was completed Wednesday when he upended top seed and 2006 French Open Junior champion Martin Klizan of Slovakia 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-4.

Polansky, an ITF Canadian Junior Open finalist last week, survived a horrific accident in April while with the Canadian Davis Cup team competing in Mexico City. He crashed through a third story hotel window while sleepwalking, and although he miraculously survived thanks to a small bush that broke his fall, his legs were sliced nearly to the bone by the glass and he suffered a dangerous loss of blood. After intensive hospital care and physiotherapy, he began playing tennis seriously again in July, and was performing on such a high level that he began to receive wild cards into both Futures and ATP-level events in his home country.

Wednesday's win was no surprise to the 18-year-old from suburban Toronto, whose highest ITF junior ranking, 39, was reached in January 2005.

"I've play so many tough matches these past two months," Polansky said, "with the Rogers Cup and the Granby Challenger. I guess I'm getting used to playing the big points well."

"I was serving really well throughout the whole match," Polansky said. "He was barely getting points on it and I managed to break him once in the first and twice in the third."

Klizan picked up his game when he had to, in the second set tiebreak, but Polansky quickly took a 3-0 lead in the third. He protected that break until serving for the match at 5-3, but dropped his only service game of the match to put Klizan back on serve. The tall 17-year-old from Bratislava couldn't accept the gift and made two forehand errors to give Polansky his biggest junior win.

Asked to rate his play on a scale of 10, Polansky gave himself a 9. "I was playing pretty well, just a few mistakes here and there brought it down to a 9."

Polansky's opponent in the round of 16 on Thursday will be 2006 Wimbledon finalist Marcin Gawron of Poland, unseeded in this tournament.

The only American boy left in the singles is fourth seed Donald Young who defeated Fernando Romboli of Brazil 7-5, 6-3. Young faces unseeded Greg Jones of Australia in the round of 16. Jones dismissed Michael McClune 6-1, 6-2 using a powerful array of groundstrokes to go with a big serve and an aggressive all-court game.

Dennis Lajola was serving for the match in the second set against qualifier Artem Smirnov of the Ukraine, but found himself losing it a tiebreak and faltering in the third 2-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5. A nasty fall in the third set resulted in an injury to Lajola's wrist and he and Donald Young, the 5th seeds, withdrew from their first round doubles contest. The other remaining American boy, Chase Buchanan, dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to Madagascar's Lofo Jean Ramiaramanana Wednesday afternoon.


The U.S. girls had a much better day than the boys, and four have made their way to the round of 16. Unseeded Madison Brengle took out seventh seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3, and 16-year-old from Delaware cited a more aggressive game plan, confidence gleaned from playing in the women's US Open qualifying tournament, and the court itself for her success.

"I played really well in my first match (in qualifying) and even the one I lost, I played well. Both were on this court (no. 8), so I'm hoping tomorrow to get it again."

When told that Chris Evert was courtside watching her match, Brengle was thrilled and flattered, and of course, delighted that she had played so well under the scrutiny of the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion.

Brengle will face American Lauren Albanese on Thursday. Albanese, in the completion of a match that began on Wednesday, defeated Chelsey Gullickson 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. Gullickson, 16, was down a set when the match resumed, but she took control of the second set, forcing Albanese to raise her game in the third.

Ashley Weinhold, who won two rounds of women's qualifying, continued her excellent play with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Alexandra Panova of Russia, while Julia Cohen cruised into the third round with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Wing Yau Venise Chan of Hong Kong.

For complete draws, including the doubles played on Wednesday evening, see usopen.org. For photographs of U.S. juniors, visit ustaboys.com.

SMASH Column, Early US Open edition

Thanks to my new editor Kamakshi Tandon, the latest online column is up within 24 hours of my writing it.

Sweeting, Kryvonos named Davis Cup practice partners

On a rainy Tuesday afternoon in New York, Patrick McEnroe announced his Davis Cup team for the tie in Moscow Sept. 22-24.

There was no suspense as the team is as everyone expected: James Blake, the Bryan twins and Andy Roddick, who have played the first two rounds.

But the practice partners do change, as the USTA likes to provide as many players as possible with the opportunity to experience Davis Cup, and for this tie Ryan Sweeting and Nikita Kryvonos were named to accompany the team.
Sweeting's success this spring and summer have raised his profile, and it was common knowledge that he would be selected, but Nikita Kryvonos was a surprise to most of the journalists at the press conference.

I saw Nikita at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (BJKNTC), where he trains, on Sunday and he told me he had been asked. Now ranked inside the the ATP top 500, he won a round in the men's qualifying here using his wild card, and has won a Futures event on hard courts in Canada in March and made the finals on clay in May's Futures stop in Orange Park, Fla. Kryvonos turned 20 last week and became a US citizen last year. His native language is Russian, so he'll be able to serve as an interpreter as well as a hitting partner in Moscow.

Young Breezes, Rain Arrives

©Colette Lewis 2006--
Flushing Meadows

The rain held off long enough on Tuesday to allow the completion of the first round of singles in the US Open juniors, but as on Monday, the news wasn't good for the home country's players.

Donald Young, the fourth seed, had no trouble with recent Canadian Open Grade 1 winner Jaak Poldma of Estonia, who is ranked 21st in the ITF's world junior rankings. Young dropped the first game of the match on his serve, but Poldma's go-for-broke style couldn't overcome Young's consistency and his retrieving skills. After a long second game, Young broke back and from there lost only one game.

Acknowledging that Poldma's forehand made him a dangerous opponent, Young pointed to his experience in the main draw, where he played singles, doubles and mixed doubles, as a major factor in his win.

"The pro tournament helped me a lot," Young said.

In addition to Young, top seed Martin Klizan also waited until the tournament's third day to take the court, meeting U.S wild card Bradley Klahn. Playing in his first Grand Slam event, the 16-year-old from Poway, Calif. was overpowered in the opening set, but began to find the Slovak's weaker backhand side in the second, matching him stroke for stroke before falling 6-1, 7-6 (2).

Drew Daniel, the 16-year-old qualifier from Kansas, battled Brazil's Fernando Romboli through three long sets, but couldn't hold an early break in the third and lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

None of the four U.S. girls managed a set in their first round matches on Tuesday. Qualifier Julia Boserup lost to Canadian Open champion and 9th seed Ksenia Milevskaya of Belarus 6-3, 6-3, while wild card Mallory Cecil also drew a seed, no. 13 Sharon Fichman of Canada and was defeated 6-4, 6-1. Another wild card, Jamie Hampton, fell to Kristina Kucova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 and Lindsay Burdette was eliminated by Czech Katerina Vankova 6-4, 6-4.

Nine second round matches were in various stages of completion when rain interrupted them.

Chelsey Gullickson and Lauren Albanese of the U.S. were exchanging service breaks and laser groundstrokes, before Albanese held at 6-5 to take the first set. Gullickson led 1-0 in the second, on serve, when play was suspended.

Dennis Lajola had a one set lead on qualifier Artem Smirnov of the Ukraine in their second round match, winning the first set 6-2. The second set was suspended at 2-2.

The only second round match completed on Tuesday in boys' play was French second seed Jonathan Eysseric's 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Philip Bester of Canada.

Advancing to the third round on the girls side was Petra Martic of Croatia. She defeated qualifier Katrina Tuchmiaa 6-4, 6-0.

All doubles have been cancelled for the day, and the forecast calls for rain throughout the evening.

Rain Halts Play Tuesday at 1:30 pm EDT