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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Austin, Andrews, Kozlov Reach Teen Tennis Semis; McHale Beats Vaidisova; Australia Notes

The 14-and-under tournament in Bolton, England is down to the semifinals, and three Americans remain in the running for the Aegon Junior International Teen Tennis titles.

Top seed Brooke Austin will play Estelle Cascino of France, the No. 9 seed, in one of Thursday's semifinals, and Gabrielle Andrews, the No. 16 seed, will play unseeded Jana Fett of Croatia in the other. With semifinal wins, Austin and Andrews will duplicate the results of two Americans girls last year, when Sachia Vickery defeated Vicky Duval in the final.

In the boys division, unseeded 11-year-old Stefan Kozlov has reached the semifinals, having defeated the No. 9 and No. 5 seeds along the way, and will face another unseeded player, Maxime Janvier of France, in Thursday's semifinal.

The U.S. girls are assured of the doubles title, with Austin and Andrews, the No. 4 seeds, playing the other American team, unseeded Alexandra Stiteler and Taylor Townsend, in the final. Neither team has lost a set in reaching the final. The two U.S. boys teams lost in the quarterfinals.

For complete results, see the LTA website.

In the $25,000 Pro Circuit event in Lutz, Fla., Christina McHale defeated former WTA Top 10 player Nicole Vaidisova, the No. 4 seed, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the second round. McHale will play Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, whom she defeated in the second round last week in Plantation. Julia Cohen defeated qualifier Sloane Stephens and last week's champion Ajla Tomljanovic also advanced to the second round. Qualifiers Jamie Hampton and Jacqueline Cako won their first round main draw matches.

For complete results, see the Pro Circuit page at usta.com.

At the ITF Grade 1 lead-up to the Australian Open Junior Championships, the Loy Yang Traralgon International, unseeded Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands defeated wild card Ben Mitchell of Australia 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 for the boys title. Top seed Timea Babos of Hungary took the girls title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 6 seed Sachie Ishizu of Japan. Nick Chappell, one of only two U.S. boys Down Under, defeated Orange Bowl champion and No. 1 seed Gianni Mina of France in the first round, and won another round before falling to Jannick Lepescu of the Netherlands. Mitchell Frank, the No. 2 seed, lost in the first round to Australian wild card James Duckworth.

For complete draws, see the ITF junior site.

Thanks to ESPN 360, I was able to see the last two sets of the Marin Cilic - Bernard Tomic match, which went to the 14th seeded Cilic 6-7 (6), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The tennis wasn't exactly scintillating, with 133 unforced errors, but the length of the match--nearly four hours, and the lateness of the hour--after 2 a.m., may have had something to do with that. In fact Tomic is quoted as saying that the late start (after 10 p.m.) may have contributed to his loss in this AAP story.

9 comments:

Claude Balestrat said...

It's just completely unprofessional to dismiss the quality of an entire match when you only saw the very last part of it, especially when its the part where the guys are starting to get ragged. Cilic even said that it was just a matter of physical strength that got him through in the end. The match DID include a lot of scintillating tennis, a lot of tactical play and a real contrast in style. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it wasn't there.

You throw in the 133 unforced errors like it actually shows the tennis was bad. But they played FIVE sets. That's 26 unforced errors per set. In the Nadal 3 set win they had an average of 29 unforced errors per set. In the fantastic Blake-Del Potro match (great match) they had 24 .

Cilic was trying to hit Tomic off the court. Tomic was trying to contain Cilic and keep up with his pace. That contributed to the unforced errors but it also added to the excitement. Plus, the atmosphere elevated it.

Just don't get it. You're a pro, act like one.

5.0 Player said...

Claude that gratuitous bashing of Colette was totally uncalled for. You must have had a bad day but you didn't need to take it out on her. She made it clear that she was only basing her opinion on what she saw and was only making an observation.

You make a decent point about the total errors not being so many when you consider that it was a 5 set match, but your agressive and abusive tone ruins your message. You could have made this same point without the daggers and more people would have actually listened to you and given you credit for it.

I've had my serious disagreements with Colette (on such subjects as limiting the domination of foreign players in U.S. college tennis) but we've debated them in a civil manner. Calling her "completely unprofessional" and using phrases like "Just don't get it. You're a pro, act like one" are not something that should be tolerated in a civil society unless you were provoked which you surely were not.

In fact, that Colette was secure enough to publish your flame just shows how secure and professional she really is.

McLovin said...

I did not see the match but read the blogs on TW which almost everyone describe as the most unwatchable pushing, slice forehands, moonballing exhibit by Tomic that they have ever seen on the ATP Tour.

Austin said...

Two American men and two women in the Round of 32 Down Under, pathetic.

Great way to start the season USA.

Down Under said...

Austin

Is this your way of trying to draw up some fights on this blog?

Wait until the tournament is over before commenting on the results of the Americans.

Which country do you support?

NOW there are 2 American men in the rd of 16 and Roddick is a huge favorite to reach the quarters.

The Williams sisters are favorites to reach at least the Semis.

Stop bitching and do something about it. The easiest thing is to criticize, the tough thing is doing something about it and encourage.

Enjoy the dark world you live in.

Claude Balestrat said...

5.0 Player ,

I stand by everything I wrote. It is unprofessional to make such a sweeping judgement about a match you haven't watched in its entirety. It also does nothing for your credibility, which is what any journalist relies on, to make assumptions based on statistics.

This isn't simply a flame, its
frustration with the dismissive tone the blogger seems to have about successful international players. Others have chastised her in the past and Ive kept quiet but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. It's never enough that these kids are getting it done and performing well, there's always something she doesn't like or some way she can take a shot at them. All of those little digs reveal an underlying attitude and it isn't one that a professional journalist should have.

5.0 Player said...

Well Claude, I do appreciate the more civil tone of your last posting.

Needless to say, you are entitled to your opinion but I have been regularly reading this blog since its inception and I've never seen any bias against international players. She has been quite objective in my opinion.

In fact, she was supportive of Tomic the first time she wrote about him at her first tournament in the B12s Orange Bowl. And, as you can see by her comments today she remains very positive on Tomic. She's more positive on Tomic than I am as I think he's got incredible hands but below average movement ability.

Moreover, she has been supportive of international players playing U.S. college tennis in some fierce debates against me, someone who would like to see some restrictions on the number of scholarships for international players in U.S. college tennis. From my perspective I could begin to believe that she is bias FOR international players AGAINST U.S. players.

I might be wrong but I think you are suffering some mild paranoia in that you assume that because she is U.S.-based she must have a bias against the international players but I do appreciate hearing your opinion without all the name calling in your original post.

John said...

Claude - you are entitled to your opinions but just know you are in the distant minority in your thinking and passing of judgement.

Colette Lewis said...

I have been informed by the real Claude Balestrat that he did not write the comments on this post; they were written by someone appropriating his name. Thankfully this is a rare occurrence. My apologies to him for any inconvenience this has caused.