Vickery Defeats Duval for Teen Tennis Title; Cercone Qualifies for Australia Jrs., Domijan Reaches Hollywood Semis

Thirteen-year-old Sachia Vickery, the top seed, won the Aegon Teen Tennis girls championship, beating fellow Floridian and Bollettieri protege Vicky Duval, the No. 8 seed, 6-4, 7-5 at the prestigious 14-and-under event in Bolton, England. Nikola Milosevic of Serbia, also the top seed, took the boys title, with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over No. 6 seed Evan Hoyt of Great Britain. For complete results, see the LTA results page. The 14-and-under action now shifts to Tarbes, France, where Les Petits As began today with the opening round of qualifying. The website features live scoring once the main draw action begins on Tuesday.

Qualifying is complete at the Australian Open Juniors, and Alexandria Cercone of Seminole, Florida, who was the No. 4 seed, advanced to the main draw with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tamara Curovic of Serbia. Cercone joins Lauren Embree, Beatrice Capra, Ester Goldfeld and Christina McHale in the main draw, which begins on Sunday. Nadiya Kichenok of Ukraine and Spain's Pablo Carreno-Busta won the singles titles at the Grade 1 Nottinghill. For complete results, see the Tennis Australia website.

In the Men's $10,000 Pro Circuit event in Hollywood, Florida, Alex Domijan has reached the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Tihomir Grozdanov of Bulgaria. The draws for this tournament, the women's $25K in Lutz and the qualifying for the men's $10K in Plantation are available at the Pro Circuit results page at usta.com.

Tags: junior tennis, Nikola Milojevic, Sachia Vickery, Australian Open, Pro Circuit, Les Petits As, Colette Lewis

Plaza Cup Wrap; Duval and Vickery Play for Teen Tennis Title; Australian Open Junior Qualifying Underway

In my weekly article for The Tennis Recruiting Network, I wrap up the competition at the Tennis Plaza Cup, which concluded on Monday. If you didn't get a chance to read the daily reports, this article should provide an overview of the three days of action at Salvadore Park.

The USTA 14-and-under groups left for Europe last week, with newly hired national coaches Andres Pedroso (boys) and Kathy Rinaldi (girls) accompanying the teams. The girls, even without Madison Keys, have a very strong team, as evidenced by their results this week in the Aegon Teen Tennis tournament in Bolton, England. On Friday, Bollettieri students Sachia Vickery and Vicky Duval will give us the final we expected in the Junior Orange Bowl, but didn't get when Korean qualifier So Ra Lee beat Vickery in the semifinals. At Teen Tennis, Vickery is the top seed and Duval is seeded No. 8. Brooke Austin of the U.S., seeded 16th, lost to Vickery in the semifinals. Unseeded Luca Corinteli of the U.S. reached the semifinals, where he lost to No. 6 seed Evan Hoyt of Great Britain in two tiebreakers. For complete results, see the LTA website, scrolling down to the tournament results on the left of the page.

The acceptances for Les Petits As, which starts tomorrow with the first round of qualifying, are available at the tournament website. Vickery and Duval are in the main draw, with Austin and Nadia Echeverria Alam in qualifying. Madison Keys did not make the trip, revamping her schedule after her win at The Coffee Bowl. The two U.S. boys in the main draw are Joseph DiGiulio and Nikko Madregallejo. Corinteli and Roy Lederman are listed as competing in the qualifying, but Lederman suffered an injury at Teen Tennis.


In Australia, the ITF Grade 1 at Nottinghill has produced some big surprises, with top seed and Orange Bowl champion Yuki Bhambri of India going out in the second round to unseeded Justin Eleveld of the Netherlands, who has reached the boys final against No. 4 seed Pablo Carreno-Busta of Spain. No. 3 seed Laura Robson, playing her first tournament since injuring her stomach muscle at the Orange Bowl, lost in the quarterfinals to unseeded Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands. No. 8 seed Yana Buchina upset top seed and world No. 1 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand in the quarterfinals, and will play No. 10 seed Nadiya Kichenok of Ukraine in the final. Kichenok defeated No. 2 seed Elena Bogdan of Romania in the semifinals. It was not a good tournament for the U.S., with only Ester Goldfeld winning a main draw match. Eddie Herr champion and No. 4 seed Lauren Embree lost in the first round, as did Beatrice Capra, the No. 11 seed, and qualifier Elizabeth Begley. Harry Fowler, the only boy from the U.S. playing in Australia, also lost in the first round, as the 16th seed.

The opening round of qualifying for the Australian Open Juniors is complete, with Alexandra Cercone of Florida needing a victory on Friday to reach the main draw. Monica Yajima, Noel Scott and Begley lost in the first round.

For complete results of the Australian junior events, see the Tennis Australia website.

Tags: junior tennis, Les Petits As, Aegon Teen Tennis, Optus Nottinghill, Australian Open, Justin Eleveld, The Tennis Recruiting Network, Tennis Plaza Cup, Colette Lewis

Coaches Q and A: What's Dynamic Stretching and Should I Use It?

The question of the best means of stretching has been debated for decades, and to answer a reader's recent question about the various techniques, we turn to Jim Hart, fitness trainer for the Harold Solomon Tennis Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Today's question: The USTA has recently encouraged some new and crazy-looking ways of stretching before a match. What do you think of these new stretching techniques, and do you recommend them for everyone or just serious players?

Hart responds:
Everyone knows to do some form of a warm-up but no one really has a definitive answer as to how to do this most effectively. We have all been taught that a good warm-up will enhance your performance, prevent muscle soreness (called DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness) and decrease the risk of injuries. Everyone expects one conclusive answer from sport studies and unfortunately this has not happened. Static stretching (stretching a group of muscles in one direction for several seconds to promote the lengthening of those muscles) has been used for many years as the primary pre-exercise routine. Most studies, though, have inferred that it is less effective to perform static stretches prior to exercise or sports for various reasons.

Dr. Paul Meli from The Shoulder and Knee Center of South Florida, who is the official orthopedic surgeon of American Top Team (which has one of the largest numbers of professional UFC and mixed martial arts fighters in the world), reports statistically there is insufficient evidence to consistently promote or deny the effectiveness of static stretching prior to exercise. However, his suggestion for an effective warm-up does not include static stretching. Instead he suggests utilizing a light cardiovascular workout, dynamic stretching (a motion that creates a gentle stretch of the muscles and joint – see examples below on how to perform such stretches), and a light mimicking of your sport motions (such as light baseline hitting to get the feel of correct technique of your forehand/backhand).

Most players are familiar with static stretches but do not have a good understanding of dynamic stretching. Basically you are doing a motion that causes first a small, then a progressively larger stretch to the joint and muscle complex. You start with shallow range of motion, progressing to larger motions and start at a slow speed and increase the velocity. Never bounce or jerk the motion. Generally you would pick motions that are utilized in your sport. An Olympic dead lift competitor (lifting a barbell from the ground) probably does not need to do a lot of lateral hip motions, but a tennis player would need a lot of this motion. Some examples of dynamic stretches would be arm circles or windmills, walking lunges, lateral lunges, high knee walking, straight leg walk or toy solder walk. A professional can design and recommend a specific warm-up for you depending on your physicality and any underlying pathology.

This is not to say that static stretching isn’t important because we know that it has significant uses for sports. It is good in assisting motion-limited joints in obtaining full range so that more muscle fibers are utilized for your sport. Static stretching can assist in the healing of an injured area. A static stretch program either after exercise (when muscles and tendons are warm and more malleable) or at some other point in the day can actually assists in strengthening and improving the overall health of your body. As a pre-exercise routine it most likely is not very effective and a few studies have implied that it can even hinder performance temporarily.

This would be the recommendation for all types of players with the only difference the intensity and depth of motion of your warm-up. If you are elderly with an arthritic back but can still play tennis, it probably wouldn’t be wise to try to do a lot of torso twists (gently rotating your upper body from left to right with a stabilized lower body) with high velocity but maybe you can do some small ones at a lower speed. Realize that if you play tennis, you will rotate your spine with some velocity so you need to slowly approach what you are going to do when you play. It is best to have a professional assist with the level of warm-up program for your particular level of physicality. Bottom line is you don’t do a warm up that injures you – one of the reasons you are doing one in the first place!

If you insist on utilizing static stretches, it will not be significantly bad to do so. We are talking about minimal effects. You can even try experimenting yourself. Try one day of including static stretching and one with dynamic stretching. Did you play better, have fewer injuries, or feel less sore after one or the other techniques? Most likely you couldn’t tell the difference. The key point of a pre-exercise routine is to be pliant in all the motions that you may undertake in your sport and to be able to have an improved nerve-to-muscle reaction time. Such an improvement is most likely the key to preventing injuries as well as improving your performance. A light cardiovascular exercise would also theoretically decrease the risk of injury as the warmth of the muscles, ligaments and tendons will improve their ability to absorb some stress without disruption. As far as muscle soreness there does not appear to be any significant decrease in the levels of pain with any pre-exercise routine. Basically, don’t do too much new activity at too stressful a level and you will more likely avoid such after exercise pain.

If the USTA is recommending the discontinuation of static stretching then I would say that they are like most sports, leaning toward more dynamic stretching as part of their pre-exercise routine. If you are embarrassed to look like you are doing a Monty Python routine, have a professional help you pick other motions that are not so ridiculous looking. There are many ways to do dynamic stretching and they do not have to include such odd motions. Just remember that if you do dynamic stretches, do them safely so that you can hopefully enjoy good tennis and have fun.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Harold Solomon Tennis Institute, Colette Lewis

McHale and Oudin Fall in Australian Open First Round; Tomic Makes History with Win

Today is a travel day--back to the single digits of Michigan's winter--so this early post will be a brief review of the opening round performances of some of the juniors at the Australian Open.

In matches overnight, 16-year-old Christina McHale, the USTA wild card tournament winner, lost a heartbreaker to Jessica Moore, an 18-year-old Australian wild card, 1-6, 6-3, 9-7. McHale was featured on the ESPN2 coverage, and was shown early in the third set suffering from a severe leg cramp, but it apparently didn't keep her from taking a 5-3 lead in the the third set. Eventually Moore began to wear her down however, from this account in the Herald Sun. Prior to McHale's grand slam debut, the New York Times and Northjersey.com published profiles. The Times' story, found here, contains an error. McHale did not lose in the first round of the juniors at the U.S. Open this year. She lost in the third round to Madison Brengle, as the Northjersey.com story accurately states.

Seventeen-year-old Melanie Oudin, who was the youngest player to qualify for the women's main draw, lost to 84th ranked Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-4.

Sixteen-year-old Australian wild card Bernard Tomic became the youngest man to win a main draw match in Australian Open history when he beat 73rd ranked Potito Starace of Italy 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(6). Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash had an assessment of Tomic's strengths and weaknesses in this article by Linda Pearce in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Tags: junior tennis, Christina McHale, Melanine Oudin, Bernard Tomic, Australian Open, Colette Lewis

Unseeded Fratangelo and Laurente Claim Plaza Cup 18s Titles; Top Seed Kiick Sweeps Girls 14s

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Coral Gables, FL--

The three Tennis Plaza Cup finals contested on the Har-Tru courts of Salvadore Park Monday all played out differently, with unseeded Bjorn Fratangelo and Kelsey Laurente capturing the 18s titles, while top seed Alexandra Kiick claimed the winner's trophy in the girls 14s.

Fratangelo survived the pressure of needing to win a second tiebreaker to stay alive against hard-hitting third seed Andrew Butz, then coasted to a 6-7 (1), 7-6(3), 6-3 victory.

After having a set point serving at 5-4 in the opening set, Fratangelo saw that chance dissolve when Butz's unexpected defensive slice backhand stayed low, and produced an error. Fratangelo eventually lost his break with a double fault, and after Butz held, faced three set points serving at 5-6. But Fratangelo saved those and appeared to have the momentum going into the tiebreaker. As quickly as the momentum swung his way however, it swung back to Butz, with Fratangelo losing control of his backhand early and often in the tiebreaker.

By breaking Butz early in the second set, Fratangelo looked to be in control, but he made it difficult on himself when he again couldn't close out the set with a lead.

"I was up 5-2 (in the second set) and I let him slip back into it," said the 15-year-old Fratangelo, originally from Pittsburgh, but now training in Naples. "I had to make him hit a lot of balls, keep him moving. I didn't want him to get in a rhythm, because he would just slap winners all over the place."

Butz is certainly capable of that, as his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents Spencer Newman and Jeremy Efferding would attest, but he wasn't able to find the service box on his first try often enough to dominate Fratangelo. In the second set tiebreaker, it was Butz who lost his backhand, and when he lost that and his serve in the first game of the third set, all the air seemed to go out of him. Fratangelo took a 4-0 lead, and Butz was able to win a couple games on the strength of his serving, but he looked disinterested and resigned to losing early in the set.

For the unseeded Fratangelo, the tournament victory was all that he had hoped.

"I expected to do well even though I was unseeded," he admitted. "That (seeding) doesn't really mean anything. I just wanted to come here and play well for the three days, and I felt I played well throughout the tournament."



Laurente's 6-4, 6-4 win over Mary Clayton was woven with threads of deju vu. In each set, Laurente, a 14-year-old from Miramar, broke Clayton at 3-4 and served for the set and the match, and both times she was broken. But she then immediately broke Clayton, a result that wasn't all that surprising to her.

"I was thinking about winning instead of actually the point," said Laurente of her lapses on serve. "I feel like my returns are kind of better than my serve, even though my serve has improved a lot."

Clayton was hitting the ball with pace, but she wasn't able to work her way inside the court to finish a point with Laurente's pinpoint placement and creativity. And although she trains primarily on hard court, Laurente felt comfortable constructing points on the green clay.

"Last time I played Mary she actually beat me, pretty easily, but that was on hard courts," Laurente said of a loss in a Florida Super Series event last September. "It's a completely different type of game play. Hard courts are my home court, but clay is pretty fun."

Laurente is going to continue to play 18s sectionally, although for "super nationals or a really big tournament I'll play 16s," she said. "But I'm going to turn 15 in August, so there's no point in staying in 14s and trying to get to No. 1, because I'm not going to make it."



The only player to take home two main draw winner's trophies Sunday was girls 14s top seed Alexandra Kiick, who came back from an early deficit to defeat doubles partner Blair Martin 7-5, 6-1, then teamed with her friend to take that championship too.

Kiick, the daughter of former Miami Dolphins running back Jim Kiick, trailed 3-0 in the opening set.

"I didn't really warm up, and I was kind of nervous in the beginning" said Kiick, who lives in Plantation. "Because I'm the number one seed, I felt I should win. Once I won the first set I started playing my game, whacking the ball and placing it, and I did better in the second set."

Kiick and Martin took a brief lunch break, then the No. 1 seeded doubles team came back to take an 8-3 win over No. 2 seeds Lauren Burich and Evgenia Rostarchuk.

And although Kiick was pleased that she could help her friend earn a championship in the doubles, she acknowledged needing a different mindset in the singles.

"We're friends off the court, but enemies on the court," Kiick said. "But we'll always be friends, no matter what."

The girls 18s doubles title went to the second seeded team of Brittany Dubins and Bianca Sanon, who downed the No. 3 seeded team of Clayton and Julie Sabacinski 8-2.

Top seed Jackie Kasler took third place in the girls 18s, defeating Dubins 6-2, 6-3, and unseeded Kaysara Mandry took the consolation title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 2 seed Maria Belaya.

The No. 4 seeded team of Spencer Newman and Raleigh Smith took the boys 18s doubles championship with an 8-4 win over the unseeded team of Michael Hui and Christopher Jackman.

Newman participated in four matches on Monday, winning them all, as he won three rounds of consolation, including a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the final over Jesse Feder.

Third place in boys 18s went to Michael Alford, who defeated Jeremy Efferding 6-1, 6-3.

In championships contested at other sites, No. 2 seed Jordan Daigle downed No. 1 seed Thai Kwiatkowski 6-0, 7-5 in the boys 14s at Riviera Country Club. Kwiatkowski took home a champion's trophy however, as he partnered with Strong Kirchheimer to defeat Baker Newman and Daniel O'Connor in the doubles final, 8-3.

At the Biltmore Tennis Center, unseeded Alexios Halebian beat No. 2 seed Hunter Callahan 6-1, 6-3 to win the boys 16s, and unseeded ReeRee Li took the girls 16s title with a 6-1, 6-4 decision over No. 1 seed Jacqueline Crawford.

The finals of the boys and girls 12s, which were also held at Biltmore Tennis Center after two days of competition at Tropical Park, No. 4 seed Diana Kussainova beat Elysse Graci 6-2, 6-1 for the girls title, and No. 4 seed Chase Colton defeated unseeded Alexander Knight 6-3, 6-1 in the boys championship match.

For complete results, visit the TennisLink site.

The website of the tournament's sponsor, Tennis Plaza, a Racquet World company, can be accessed here.

Tags: junior tennis, Plaza Cup, Kelsey Laurente, Bjorn Fratangelo, Alexandra Kiick, Colette Lewis

Plaza Cup 18s Finalists Include Only One Seed

©Colette Lewis 2009--
Coral Gables, FL--

It was another dawn to dusk day of tennis at the Plaza Cup Sunday, with singles and doubles quarterfinals and semifinals packed into the eleven hours of play at the 18s site of Salvadore Park.

When the Har-Tru dust had cleared, No. 3 Andrew Butz was the only seed still alive, having overpowered unseeded Spencer Newman 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and unseeded Jeremy Efferding 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals.

When the big right-hander's first serve is on, there are few who can counter his first and third ball power, and on Sunday, the 16-year-old from Vero Beach didn't cool off at any point in either match. Although Butz complained often about the courts' uneven bounces, it wasn't ultimately much of a factor, and even Efferding's willingness to come in to the net was secondary to surviving Butz's forceful offense.

Hoping that Butz will not continue in that vein is 15-year-old Bjorn Fratangelo of Pittsburgh, who advanced to the finals with wins over fellow unseeded players Zachary Katz and Michael Alford. In the morning match, Fratangelo beat Katz 6-2, 6-4, and took the semifinal when Alford was forced to retire after losing the first set 7-5. Alford ran wide for a shot in the first game and went down with a cramp, and although he attempted to serve a couple of more points, he couldn't continue.


The girls 18s final will feature two unseeded players, with Mary Clayton of Plantation, Florida meeting Kelsey Laurente of Miramar, Florida. Clayton has yet to lose a set in the tournament, but she came close in Sunday's semifinal with top seed Jackie Kasler. Kasler, who had served for the first set at 6-5, couldn't hold, but she took a 3-0 lead in the ensuing tiebreaker. Clayton then played flawless tennis, capturing the next six points, and although Kasler held her next two serves, Clayton got an unforced error from Kasler to claim the first set. In the second set, Kasler got down 4-0 before she found her game again, but Clayton, two-handed on both sides, didn't panic when she was broken serving for it at 5-2, and finished the victory by breaking Kasler in the final game.

Laurente, only 14, took out No. 2 seed Maria Belaya 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 in the quarterfinals. Laurente's slight frame gives no indication of how strong she is mentally, and her placement and consistency keep her in every match. In the semifinals, Laurente took an early lead in each set against No. 5 seed Brittany Dubins and despite a few anxious moments late in the second set, cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 win.

The girls 14s final will also be played at Salvadore Park on Monday, with top seed Alexandra Kiick facing No. 3 seed Blair Martin. In the boys 14s at Riveria Country Club, No. 1 seed Thai Kwiatkowski will meet second seed Jordan Daigle.

The boys 16s final pits unseeded Alexios Halebian against No. 2 seed Hunter Callahan, while the girls 16s singles features No. 1 seed Jacqueline Crawford and unseeded Reeree Li. Those matches are on the hard courts of the Biltmore Tennis Center.

The 12s finalists in the boys division are No. 4 seed Chase Colton and unseeded Alexander Knight. In the girls 12s, No. 4 Diana Kussainova will meet No. 5 Elysse Graci for the championship.

For complete draws, including consolation and doubles results, see the TennisLink site.

In the Champion Porsche Pro Circuit events completed today in Boca Raton, No. 2 seed Jose Armas of Venezuela defeated No. 1 seed Gabriel Moraru of Romania 7-5, 6-3, and qualifier Gabriela Paz, also of Venezuela, downed unseeded Sharon Fichman of Canada 6-4, 7-6(4). For complete results, see the Pro Circuit results page.

Tags: junior tennis, Plaza Cup, Mary Clayton, Kelsey Laurente, Andrew Butz, Bjorn Fratangelo, Colette Lewis