Recruiting Profile: Nick Meister--The Tennis Recruiting Network

I had a chance to chat with Nick Meister at the Clay Courts and this profile is the result of that conversation. I enjoy having an opportunity to discuss future plans and dreams, not just the recent match, and these kinds of assignments are perfect for that.

Any of you checking the scores at the ATP Legg Mason the past three days know this, but here's a synopsis. Brennan Boyajian lost his first qualfying round match (in three sets); Marcus Fugate lost his first in straight sets and Devin Britton, a late wild card recipient, got a walkover and then lost in straights to Phillip King.

On Sunday, Ryan Sweeting beat Tim Smyczek (no. 3 seed in Kalamazoo) in the final round of qualifying and Monday evening Sweeting defeated Justin Gimelstob in the main draw. Michael Venus lost to Janko Tipsarevic 2 & 1. Sam Querrey lost to Wesley Moodie 7-6 in the third.

Lynn Berenbaum is blogging from the Legg Mason all week for tennisX. She'll even tell you who is practicing with whom, and who is watching. Stuff you won't read in your daily newspaper, that's for sure.

Seeds, Draw for Kalamazoo Announced; Young No. 1 in 18s; Boyajian No. 1 in 16s

The Sunday before the tournament here in Kalamazoo starts is always "Draw Day." Before the computer era, I understand it was a long, complicated process, requiring many hours and reinforcements of pizza. We've retained the pizza part of it, but the computer is now doing all the work.

The seeds are listed here.
The draws are here.

A few of the first round matches I'll be hoping to see Friday in the 18s are Viju George vs. Jared Pinsky, Sean Corrigan vs. Chris Madden and Chris Kearney vs. Will Guzick.

The next couple of days are going to be extremely busy for me, so I'll be doing only brief posts, but I will try to get something up every day.

Thacher Leads SoCal

The Los Angeles Daily News' Erik Boal has the scoop on what used to be Jr. Davis Cup and is now called the USTA 18-and-under boys National Team Championships. Ryan Thacher, 16, played in the Intersectionals for Southern Cal, which is the 16-and-under mixed team competition and is now trying to lead his section to another title in the space of a month. Marcia Frost is covering the action for collegeandjuniortennis.com.

I thought my radio segment today on tennislive.com went well; it was great to have an opportunity to talk about junior and college tennis and to get some publicity for this site and the Smash online column. Todd Skovron knows his stuff and I hope to be asked back soon.

Whither American Tennis? Peter Bodo's TennisWorld

I wish this topic was surfacing on Bodo's blog when I had adequate time to post a comment. But as I told Peter, who asked me for a response or comment earlier today, I agree with 90% of his original post. Maybe those of you who have been reading zootennis the past month can guess the 10% that I don't agree with.

For those new to the debate this USTA Evert announcement has brought to the fore, here are the posts from zootennis earlier this month about the topic:
Player Development Roundtable
Defending American Tennis

My Radio Debut

This Saturday, July 29th between 1-2 p.m. Eastern time, I'll be a guest on tennislive.com a tennis radio talk show hosted by Todd Skovron. It is live on 1510 The Zone in Boston and 1320 The Drive in Providence, but those of you in other parts of the country who would like to listen can do so over the internet, by joining, for free, the Tennisliveonline community.

I'll be discussing the upcoming boys National Championships here in Kalamazoo and the girls 18s in San Jose, and any other junior tennis questions that Todd poses.

If you can't listen on Saturday, please check back for the archived audio of the show. In recent weeks I've heard Todd interview Rod Laver and talk to tennis writers Jon Wertheim, Matt Cronin and Bud Collins. That's some good company.

Technical Difficulties

I wasn't able to post last night--blogger was inaccessible for about 12 hours. Fortunately, there wasn't a burning issue to address.

This article by Phil Stukenborg of the Memphis Commerical Appeal about the Girls' 18s Clays is what I was going to post. The Commercial Appeal does a great job of covering tennis, no matter what the level. It's worth the few seconds it takes to register for online access. Photo of finalist Mallory Cecil below.



NOTE: The ustaboys.com site is back up and running.