US Junior Boys Start Strongly

U.S. Junior Boys Start Strongly--
©Colette Lewis 2005

Flushing Meadows NY—-

It was a good day for American boys Sunday, with seven of the eleven playing advancing to the second round in singles.

With over a quarter of the boys draw, (18 of the 64 entrants) from the United States, and five of them seeded, much is expected. But nearly all Sunday's victories were hard-won. Michael Shabaz, Alex Clayton and Alex Kuznetsov all came from a set down to advance, and Wil Spencer and Tim Smyczek needed three to prevail. Only Tim Neilly, the tenth seed, and Dennis Lajola managed to keep their time on the National Tennis Center outer courts to a minimum.

Kuznetsov, who has made a remarkable recovery from a broken right leg suffered in a May auto accident, lost the first set to Croatian Nikola Mektic in a tiebreak, but his attitude about that first set loss reflects a change of perspective borne of the collison with a tree.

“It’s my first (singles) match back since the accident,” said the eighteen-year-old from Richboro Pennsylvania. “I’m so happy to just be out playing,” the fifth seed said. “It’s the first time I’ve taken the court feeling no pressure. I’m out here to have fun and get some matches.”

Michael Shabaz also had not played many singles matches this summer, but after dropping the first set to Russian Valery Rudnev 7-5, the Wimbledon doubles champion found a groove and took the final two sets 7-5, 6-3.

Alex Clayton’s superior fitness proved to be the difference in his 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 conquest of Ukrainian Ivan Sergeyev. Although he squandered a 4-1 lead in the first set, the seventeen-year-old from Ft. Lauderdale proved his mettle, climbing back from a break down in the second set.

“I knew I had to make a change,” said Clayton, the winner of the National Clay Courts in July. “I started to hit high to his backhand.” It was a strategy that eventually wore his opponent down, and while Clayton continued to bounce, Sergeyev, sweating through his clothing in the pleasnt late afternoon weather, began to double over between points. Unable to handle Clayton’s first serve regularly, Sergeyev attempted to shorten any point when he did manage to return one, and often he managed to prolong the games, but not, ultimately, the match.

The girls from the United States have even bigger numbers in the draw, with 21 of the 64 participants from the U.S., but only three of the nine that played Sunday advanced—Alexa Glatch, Liz Plotkin and Maddie Brengle.

For full draws, see
usopen.org

For more photos of U.S. Juniors, see ustaboys.com

The Zen of Flushing Meadows

©Colette Lewis 2005--
Flushing Meadow NY

Landed at LaGuardia early, believe it or not, and within half an hour had our luggage, a cab (driver: Indian, practicing a untranslatable one- stringed instrument between fares) and then a perfectly fine hotel room. The jackhammers and car horns were the aural reminder that I was in New York, and by 3:30 p.m. on the subway-John-Rocker-made-famous, the visual assault began. Actually I’m a big fan of graffiti (it beats gargantuan billboards for Hairspray or Wicked) and it enlivened the trip more than the mundane passengers, the most exotic of whom were a rather tame Harley Davidson couple.

Seeing the American Express Andy’s Mojo billboard cluster along the route prompted some fellow Flushing Meadow-bound fans to take a stab at what-went-wrong. Consensus—not hungry anymore. Well, at least they didn’t blame Dean Goldfine.

After scalping a ticket for my husband, we took a brief detour to the junior qualifying, which takes place in the park outside the gates. The competition was winding down, but a few girls were still battling for those last precious spots in the main draw.

Security seemed a bit less onerous than last year, and, no longer a rookie, my anxiety was substantially less too. I knew where to go, who to talk to, who to avoid. I got my credential and locker (a lifesaver) and then, computer safely stored, raced to court 4 to catch the second round doubles match between Alex Kuznetsov and Scott Oudsema and the Spanish team of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. The young Americans took the first set 7-6 (1), but in the second and third sets were broken at 4-5, the only two breaks of the match.

The vibe around the grounds was as bright as the weather, with James Blake already having blasted Nadal and Andre Agassi a set up on Berdych in Arthur Ashe. We chatted with junior Wil Spencer and his coach Wolf Von Lindenau, who were doing a little last minute work on court and learned that the junior player meeting was imminent.

But I wasn’t going to miss the Agassi press conference—it’s a lesson not only in tennis but in life,--and I wasn’t disappointed. The most profound statement of several was his answer to a question about his future. (I’m paraphrasing, because, instead of writing I was spellbound just listening.) "I’ve never been 35 before, I’ve never played my 20th U.S. Open before, so all this is new to me too. I’m learning as I go.”

A very wise man, who knows you can’t write a scripts for life.

The junior meeting was substantially less zen, with a machine-gun microphone disrupting Eliot Teltscher, Rodney Harmon and USTA PR mogul Tim Curry, and a bunch of restless teenagers, eager to see their draws, far from attentive. I believe they may have gotten more out of the Agassi press conference; perhaps the USTA should have invited them over.

The junior singles draws are now posted

Canadian Open ITF Grade 1:: juniortennis.com

Thursday Canadian Junior Tennis Championships--

The ITF junior website has a US Open preview story posted, but it's tame stuff and calling Alex Kuznetsov "relatively unknown on the ITF circuit," when he was a French Junior Open finalist last year is just weird.

For my money, you're better off reading Annie Paton's stories from the Canadian Open. Strategy alert--in this story, Venezuelan Piero Luisi gives his tip on how to beat Wimbledon Champion Jeremy Chardy.

Also, Marcia Frost has the US Open Junior Qualifying Draws posted at collegeandjuniortennis.com

SI.com - 2005 US Open - Richard Deitsch: Tennis will hear more from Scoville Jenkins - Thursday September 1, 2005 2:34PM

SI.com - 2005 US Open - Richard Deitsch: Tennis will hear more from Scoville Jenkins - Thursday September 1, 2005 2:34PM--

It looks like I'm not the only one rooting for Scoville Jenkins. Key quote from this story:

The exposure on USA Network and CBS, and the reams of copy on him today will be worth exponentially more. Tom Ross, his agent at Octagon, told The New York Times that Jenkins does not have a major clothing or shoe deal, but he expected the player to have one signed by the time they left New York.

As of Wednesday night, there was still no deal in place, but we're guessing someone will bite on a handsome and charismatic African-American player (replete with cool dreadlocks) who pushed the world No. 2 to the limit.

Top tennis prospect recovers, plays at U.S. Open:: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Top tennis prospect recovers, plays at U.S. Open: South Florida Sun-Sentinel--
One thing to love about Charlie Bricker is the width and breadth of his tennis interests. He devotes this entire story to top junior Alex Kuznetsov and his remarkable recovery from the broken leg he suffered in an automobile accident in May. One thing not to love about Charlie Bricker is his sloppiness. In a brief item about Alex Clayton last month, he described the Ft. Lauderdale junior as five feet eight inches tall. Alex is six feet tall--we measured him here in Kalamazoo when we read Bricker's dubious number. It's not good enough to take an old profile and presume it's correct, especially when a junior player is involved. In this story, Phil Simmonds is referred to as a fellow junior (he's 19 and played his final junior tournament last September) and from Atlanta (he's from suburban DC). But I absolutely endorse Bricker's pronouncement that Kuznetsov is one of the U.S.'s top young prospects.

Youth Is Served, but Nadal Serves a Bit Better - New York Times (registration required)

Youth Is Served, but Nadal Serves a Bit Better - New York Times-

As regular readers of zootennis know, I've been an unabashed Scoville Jenkins fan since I first saw him play, as a fourteen-year-old, in the 2001 Nationals in Kalamazoo. It was a treat to see him, four summers in a row, get better--bigger, stronger, smarter, and yet retain his sweet, low-key demeanor. But this summer, he elected not to defend his title, (a calculated risk because he needed the US Open wild card), so it has been a year now since I've seen him play. He spent the last twelve months playing the minor leagues, struggling with funding without a clothing/shoe deal of any consequence, but he demonstrated last night, in his loss to Nadal, that the pattern of steady improvement in his junior years has continued.

After watching every point of the match last night, I admit that doubts surfaced when he lost the first two games. Just how, I wondered, is he going to win points from Mr. Defense? Well, he showed me how. With a good first serve and a top-rung forehand that he wasn't afraid to hit. As McEnroe pointed out during the match, Jenkins had more forehand winners than Nadal, by a considerable margin. He had double the winners period, and even the fact that he had four times as many errors isn't that discouraging--there's a fearlessness in that number that's downright heartening. And to see what he learned from last year's Roddick pummeling--about the occasion, and how he could fit into it--was just more evidence of his ability to absorb the game's many lessons.

It was great fun to see his dad, Scoville Sr., in the players box, enjoying the moment, and his coach, Torrey Hawkins, still mouthing encouragement when Jenkins was down two sets and a break in the third. This is an entourage any player would be lucky to have. But he needs more than friends and supporters--he needs money, having just doubled his yearly earnings with the $25,000 he made for reaching the second round. Tom Ross of Octagon, the agency that signed Jenkins to a professional contract last year, said earlier this week that a clothing/shoe deal is in the works. Having limited knowledge of the details of endorsement contracts, I can only speculate on the likelihood that it will provide a financial cushion for Jenkins' next year of development. But potential sponsors would have to be more shortsighted than usual to disregard his attractive combination of work ethic, skill and personality.

Speaking of which, Jenkins is writing a diary for usopen.org, just as he did last year. The first two entries give a glimpse of how he's matured, personally and athletically, in the last year.