College Update

There are lots of interesting stories coming out of college Sports Information Departments now that school is back in session.

Today I learned:

that Steve Forman has started early at Wake Forest;

that Georgia Rose is playing some outstanding tennis for Northwestern;

that Okalahoma State and Boise State earned the last two spots at the ITA Team Indoor next month in Chicago;

and that I'll be one of many spectators in Ann Arbor for the Michigan/Texas men's dual match on Saturday.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, college tennis, Steve Forman

Four U.S. Girls Make Australian Open Juniors Third Round

Reka Zsilinszka, Madison Brengle, Chelsey Gullickson and qualifier Julia Boserup all advanced to the round of 16 with wins on Tuesday at the Australian Open Junior Championships in Melbourne.

Only Brengle, the 16th seed, did so in straight sets; the other three went the distance, although neither Gullickson nor Boserup lost a game in their final sets. Boserup scored the first big upset of the tournament on Monday when she took out No. 7 seed Sharon Fichman of Canada. The other U.S. girls who made the trip--Kim Couts, Julia Cohen and Missy Clayton--all won their first round matches, but lost in second round action Tuesday.

The girls' side saw two notable upsets on Tuesday. No. 2 seed Yung-Jan Chan, who was such a lofty seed based her WTA ranking of 75, lost to Ling Zhang of Hong Kong and No. 4 seed Ayumi Morita went out to Australian wild card Alison Bai.

The U.S. boys, only five of whom were in the draw, have all been eliminated with Mateusz Kecki's loss on Tuesday. He was the only American boy to win in the first round.

The talk of Australia has been Bernard Tomic, who upset No. 6 seed Jose Roberto Velasco of Bolivia on Monday. If you don't think Australia is starved for tennis heroes, read Eleanor Preston's account for the ITF junior site. On Tuesday, Tomic lost to Kevin Botti of France in three sets and Isabella Holland was put out by Boserup. I'll be interested to read the reaction to those results in the Australian press.

For complete draws in Australia, including doubles, see the Australian Open website.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Julia Boserup

An International Flavor: My column in this month's Racquet Sports Industry

I've written enough here on the topic of foreign players in U.S. colleges to leave no doubt where I stand on the issue for regular readers. But I was given the opportunity to reach another audience, that of Racquet Sports Industry, and I jumped at the chance to clarify and amplify my thoughts on this very controversial subject. The column is available online by clicking here.

There has been an no-holds-barred discussion raging over at Underground Tennis that addresses many of the issues I mention, and some I've never even considered. Every popular tennis message board has its own version of this debate. Here's a thread from Tennis Warehouse.

It's rather strange to write an opinion piece that comes out strongly in favor of the status quo. Those who want scholarship limits for international players have a much tougher task; they must issue calls to action and get the current rules changed. I hope they don't succeed.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, college tennis, Racquet Sports Industry, foreign players in U.S. colleges

Illinois Downs Pepperdine; Georgia Perfect on Day 1 of SEC Indoor

The marquee matchup of a very busy weekend of college tennis was Friday night's clash between No. 5 ranked Illinois and No. 10 ranked Pepperdine in Urbana. The Illini came out on top, but the 4-3 score suggests that Pepperdine will not be relinquishing their NCAA title without a battle. There are two accounts available--Illinois' and Pepperdine's.

At the SEC Coaches' Indoor Championships, Georgia had a memorable day on Friday, winning every match they played--eight singles and four doubles. Saturday's results were also impressive. Georgiadogs.com has the details. A more personal account can be found at Underground Tennis, where Bobby Cameron of Tennessee is blogging from New Orleans.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, college tennis, Pepperdine, Underground Tennis

Australian Open Juniors Preview

Helen McFetridge of the ITF recently filed this preview of the Australian Open Junior Championships, which I am, sadly, not going to be covering live. (I also have heard recently that juniortennis.com has changed its plans and will not be there either--coverage will be confined to the ITF and whatever the Australian Open website gets around to posting).

There isn't much to disagree with in her handicapping, although I would probably favor Cornet or Paszek, not Pavlyuchenkova, given that they made it through qualifying in the main draw in Australia, while she fell a match short. I also would mention Evgeniya Rodina of Russia, who is ranked 222 by the WTA computers, a number that might earn her a seed, despite an ITF ranking of 60.

The girls event is unquestionably deeper than the boys, primarily because many girls eligible for main draw qualifying made it worth the trip by entering the juniors too. (None of the boys in the juniors would have had a prayer of getting in qualifying without a wild card). In that category is Madison Brengle, who won the USTA's main draw wild card tournament as a last-minute replacement in December, and had the misfortune of drawing No. 8 seed Patty Schnyder in the first round in Australia. The other U.S. girls in the junior draw are Julia Cohen, Reka Zsilinszka, Kim Couts, Chelsey Gullickson and Missy Clayton. Unlike last year, when five U.S. girls qualified, there will not be appreciably more when qualifying is complete; only Julia Boserup (who had a huge win over world No. 3 Ksenia Milevskaya of Belarus in the quarterfinals of this week's Nottinghill Grade 1) and Brittany Augustine are in the qualifying draw, although both won on Friday.

Only four U.S. boys made the long journey Down Under: Dennis Lajola, Johnny Hamui, Mateusz Kecki and Austin Krajicek. The ITF's top-ranked U.S. boys, Kellen Damico (5), Donald Young (9) and Rhyne Williams (42) passed on the opportunity. Young and Williams are playing the Futures events in Florida this month. The only American in qualifying is Drew Daniel, who was the last player not to get in on his ranking (at the time of acceptance 129, now 66), meaning he will be the first "lucky loser" in, now that he has won his first round in qualifying (I'm pretty sure that's how it works in Grand Slams).

For the qualifying draws, check here. If you are interested in the acceptance list, there is a tab at the top of the page for that (scroll down a bit once you land on that page).

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Australian Open Juniors

Eight Intriguing Questions for 2007

Last week I looked back at 2006, this week I peer into the future with these eight questions for 2007.

The latest Inside Junior Tennis podcast is now available. Kevin McClure and I briefly discuss the Clay Courts situation, the Tampa Futures, the Florida Sectional and the young players making news in Australia. But most of the show is devoted to a list I prepared called Twelve things you can do for a better tournament experience. Although it is geared to those just beginning to play sectional or national tournaments, I think it contains some valuable reminders for all players. You will definitely improve your popularity with tournament directors if you take the advice to heart.

The spring college season is getting underway now, and I wanted to pass along this story about Purdue's new tennis facility, which saw its first action last weekend, and will host the men's Big Ten Championships in April.

Those of us interested in Jesse Levine's college career can get their first look at him as a Gator this weekend at the SEC Coaches Indoor Championships in New Orleans, where he is the fifth seed. LSU is hosting, the preview story is here.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, college tennis, The Tennis Podcast, Jesse Levine