My Tennis Recruiting Network article on Learner Tien's run to the title at the USTA Boys 18s Nationals in Kalamazoo was posted today. Also included is a my coverage of the B18s doubles championship, which was played inside due to rain. For another look at the doubles final, see this article from tennis.com's Matt Fitzgerald, who covered the match and the exuberant (and wet) outdoor photo shoot with Ethan Quinn and Nicholas Godsick and their families at Stowe Stadium afterward.
Although I wasn't able to definitively determine it, I believe 2022 was the first time both the 16s and 18s champions in Kalamazoo were left-handed. If you think I may have overlooked someone, let me know in the comments; the list of champions can be found at ustaboys.com.
Tennis Recruiting also posted an article this afternoon on Eleana Yu's title at the USTA Girls 18s Nationals in San Diego.
Joel Drucker spent a day at San Diego earlier in the tournament and wrote this article, focusing primarily on Reese Brantmeier and Alexis Blokhina, for tennis.com. I loved his concluding paragraph.
"
So, this I’ll dare say: enough. The history of tennis shows that it’s impossible to forecast which juniors can even become pros, much less win Grand Slam titles. Instead, take in how much great tennis these two have already played by this stage of life. Pause and ponder how that’s also the case for everyone else competing at the Barnes Center this week. Each of these players is that dedicated child at the local park or club, the one you see hitting with her parent at 6:00 a.m., practicing serves at 6:00 p.m. Each will likely play college tennis. And hopefully, if they haven’t been too squeezed by external and internal pressures, expectations, and conjecture, each will continue to enjoy the sport for decades and take pride in how much of their heart and mind they’ve given to the game. Helpful as a community can be, as Brantmeier and Blokhina vividly demonstrate, tennis’ biggest superpower might well be the way an individual can take responsibility for her or his own destiny."
Qualifying for the
ITF J1 in College Park Maryland begins Saturday, with two rounds, with the final round scheduled for Sunday. Kase Schinnerer and Isabella Chhiv are the top seeds in qualifying.
I will be in College Park to cover the tournament, beginning with main draw matches on Monday August 22.
Emma Navarro earned her fourth WTA Top 100 win this afternoon at the
WTA 125 in Vancouver, beating top seed and WTA No. 61 Madison Brengle 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. The 2021 NCAA champion, now up to a career-high of 144 in the WTA rankings, will face unseeded Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece in Saturday's semifinals.
At the
$15,000 USTA men's Pro Circuit tournament in Memphis, three Americans are through to the semifinals: Florida alum Sam Riffice[7], Illinois alum Zeke Clark[2] and Duke senior Garrett Johns. Johns defeated Alex Michelsen 7-5, 7-6(4) today and will face 2020 NCAA champion Riffice on Saturday. Clark plays No. 6 seed Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan, a sophomore at Tennessee, next.
Michelsen and Cooper Williams have advanced to the doubles final with today's 7-5, 6-2 win over wild cards Walker Stearns(Ole Miss) and Andrew Rogers(Tenn/Pepperdine). They will face unseeded Millen Hurrion(Kentucky) of Great Britain and Finn Bass(Ole Miss) of New Zealand in Saturday's final.
The wild cards for the US Open Championships for juniors have not been released and probably will not be revealed until late next week, but I thought I would post a listing of those that have been guaranteed, based on the performances last week at the Nationals. NA means the player did not need the wild card that was guaranteed to them, as they had already achieved entry into that particular draw.
18s Champion – US Open Main Draw and US Open Junior Main Draw-- Learner Tien/NA
18s Finalist – US Open Qualifying and US Open Junior Main Draw--Ethan Quinn/NA
18s Doubles Champions - US Open Main Draw:
Nicholas Godsick and Ethan Quinn
18s 3rd Place – US Open Junior Main Draw--Ozan Baris/NA
16s Champion – US Open Junior Main Draw--Darwin Blanch
18s 4th & 5th Place – US Open Junior Qualifying--
Martin Damm(not age eligible), Aidan Kim/NA
18s Champion – US Open Main Draw and US Open Junior Main Draw--Eleana Yu
18s Finalist – US Open Qualifying and US Open Junior Main Draw--Valerie Glozman
18s Doubles Champions - US Open Main Draw:
Reese Brantmeier and Clervie Ngounoue
18s 3rd Place – US Open Junior Main Draw--Ariana Pursoo
16s Champion – US Open Junior Main Draw--Alyssa Ahn
18s 4th & 5th Place – US Open Junior Qualifying--
Katherine Hui, Reese Brantmeier
0 comments:
Post a Comment