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Thursday, June 25, 2020

Colby and Honer Win American Clay Court 18s Nationals at The Greenbrier; Draws Posted for First Two ITA Summer Circuit Events, Summer Circuit Coming to Michigan; Brady Defeats Azarenka in Charleston


The finals of the American Clay Court 18s Nationals were played this afternoon at The Greenbrier, with Ryan Colby taking the boys title and Amelia Honer winning the girls tournament.
Colby, a blue chip recruit in the class of 2022, defeated five-star Liam Krall 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 after beating blue chip Michael Zheng 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 in a morning semifinal. Krall received a walkover from Eric Li in the other boys semifinal. Colby takes home the $750 first prize, while Krall earns $325.  Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen won the doubles title, beating Frank Thompson and Chase Robinson 8-2.

The boys draw had 44 participants, but the girls draw had only 24, so there was no qualifying for them. Five-star Amelia Honer, who had the second highest UTR in the draw, defeated four-star Kavya Patel  7-6(1), 6-4 in the final. Honer, a rising senior who has verbally committed to UC-Santa Barbara, defeated five-star Vennmukiil Mathivanan 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals, while Patel beat four-star Maggie Gehrig 6-1, 6-2. The result of the girls doubles final hasn't yet been posted. Honer earned $750 and Patel $325.

The 16s American Clay Court Nationals begin Sunday, also at The Greenbrier. At the close of entries Tuesday, there were 41 boys entries and 12 girls entries.

The ITA Summer Circuit's first two tournaments are set to begin on Friday and Saturday, in California and Georgia.  The Atlanta-area tournament is being played at two sites with more than 140 players in five flights for men and similar numbers for women. Two rising college sophomores, Georgia Tech's Andres Martin and South Carolina's Emma Shelton, are the top seeds in the A Flights. Shelton's younger brother Ben is the No. 2 seed in Flight A, while Allie Gretkowski, a South Carolina recruit, is the No. 2 seed in the girls Flight A.  The draws are here.

The California tournament at the Weil Academy in Ojai and two other sites in Ojai, was scheduled after the cancellation of the two events, last weekend and this weekend, in Long Beach. The tournament, which starts Friday, has more than 64 players registered in both the men's and women's divisions, with Fresno State senior Alexey Aleshchev the top seed in the men's Flight 1 and Vanderbilt rising freshman Anessa Lee the top seed in the women's Flight 1.

Speaking of the ITA Summer Circuit, I was excited to see that a new event for July 18-20 has been added in the Grand Rapids Michigan area, so I will be seeing some live tennis after all this summer. Tom Walker, a longtime junior development coach in Kalamazoo and Lansing, purchased a club in Grand Rapids a couple of years ago and has been hosting many tournaments at that indoor facility. There are no outdoor courts however, so the tournament site is expected to be Hudsonville. I'm not familiar with that facility, but I'm looking forward to getting to know it next month. Registration is open for that event, and other sites have been added, so check out the latest list from the ITA here.

The Credit One Bank Invitational in Charleston has had plenty of rain delays in its first two days and another one at the beginning of today's action, but all of the one-point matches are now complete, with former UCLA star Jennifer Brady beating former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-2.  Brady spoke with Diane Dees last week about her preparation for the event and how she spent her time during the pandemic layoff. Madison Keys defeated Caroline Dolehide 6-1, 6-7(6), 10-4 in the final one-point match, with two two-point matches still to come tonight.  For updates, see tennis.com.

2 comments:

Banu C. said...

Hudsonville has 12 courts with great viewing, bleachers and shaded areas. Plenty of room for social distance appropriate viewing.

Banu C. said...

Great location - 12 courts, plenty of room for viewing, bleachers and shade. Great facility.