Great week for our favorite former college guys as Kevin Anderson, Eric Johnson, Tucker Vorster, and Gonzalo Escobar each won a singles title on the Tour.
Kevin Anderson (Illinois '07) won his 3rd ATP singles title with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the Winston-Salem Open. Anderson wins $83000 and picks up 250 ATP points.
Gonzalo Escobar (Texas Tech '12) won his 5th career Futures singles title with a 7-6(4), 6-0 win over Fritz Wolmarans at the Winnipeg, Canada F7. It was Escobar's 1st title this year and 1st career title outside of his native Ecuador.
Tucker Vorster (Ole Miss '11) won his 5th career Futures singles title with a 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-2 win over Jaime Pulgar-Garcia at the Libreville, Gabon F1. It was Vorster's 4th title this year in 5 finals appearances.
Eric Johnson (USC '15) won his 1st career Futures singles title with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win over Peter Kobelt at the Ashkelon, Israel F10. Johnson came through qualies and won 7 matches on the week while only dropping 3 sets.
PlaySight
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
Weekly News
13 guys with college ties entered the US Open qualies but only 1 came through and that was 2011 Tennessee grad John-Patrick (JP) Smith who won all 3 of his matches in straight sets. Smith will join 7 former collegians in the 1st round of the Open which gets underway on Monday; 2015 NCAA Singles Champion Ryan Shane is the lone current college player to make the main draw. See below for qualie results and round 1 match-ups.
2015 NCAA Women's Doubles Champions Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe of Alabama qualified for the doubles main draw after winning the US Open National Playoffs in New Haven. Typically the NCAA champions get a main draw wild card but since Routliffe is from Canada they had to get in the hard way. Personally I think the NCAA Champions should get a main draw wild card regardless of nationality but that's just me.
Kevin Anderson (Illinois '07) won his 3rd ATP singles title with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the Winston-Salem Open. Anderson wins $83000 and picks up 250 ATP points.
2015 NCAA Women's Doubles Champions Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe of Alabama qualified for the doubles main draw after winning the US Open National Playoffs in New Haven. Typically the NCAA champions get a main draw wild card but since Routliffe is from Canada they had to get in the hard way. Personally I think the NCAA Champions should get a main draw wild card regardless of nationality but that's just me.
Kevin Anderson (Illinois '07) won his 3rd ATP singles title with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the Winston-Salem Open. Anderson wins $83000 and picks up 250 ATP points.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Oracle ITA Masters
We're just under a month away from the first big event of the year in college tennis which is the brand new Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu, CA.
Part of the field was announced a few months back but the rest was made known yesterday with the full list below.
Below are the anticipated preseason rankings of the men's singles participants:
Part of the field was announced a few months back but the rest was made known yesterday with the full list below.
Below are the anticipated preseason rankings of the men's singles participants:
Monday, August 24, 2015
College on Tour Weekly Recap/Results: 8/17 - 8/23
This past week was the first time in a while that we didn't have a guy with college ties win a singles title on the Pro Tour. Now that school is back in session at most colleges and universities they'll definitely be less guys playing pro events each week but hopefully the guys will pick it back up this weekend.
There were 2 guys that played for titles with JP Smith and Dragos Dima coming up short.
Smith (Tennessee '11) only dropped 1 set in route to his spot in the finals of the Vancouver $100K Challenger but he came up short 6-4, 7-5 against Dudi Sela. Smith came into the match having won 5 previous titles (2 Challenger/3 Futures) since turning pro in 2011 but he couldn't get over the hump against Sela who won his 18th career Challenger title.
Dima (Cornell '12) was seeking his first career singles title but went down 6-2, 6-3 to #277 Laurynas Grigelis in the finals of the Medias, Romania F13 Future. Dima, who was playing in his 3rd Futures final of the year, was just briefly at Cornell for a semester back in the fall of 2012 before leaving to become a pro.
There were 2 guys that played for titles with JP Smith and Dragos Dima coming up short.
Smith (Tennessee '11) only dropped 1 set in route to his spot in the finals of the Vancouver $100K Challenger but he came up short 6-4, 7-5 against Dudi Sela. Smith came into the match having won 5 previous titles (2 Challenger/3 Futures) since turning pro in 2011 but he couldn't get over the hump against Sela who won his 18th career Challenger title.
Dima (Cornell '12) was seeking his first career singles title but went down 6-2, 6-3 to #277 Laurynas Grigelis in the finals of the Medias, Romania F13 Future. Dima, who was playing in his 3rd Futures final of the year, was just briefly at Cornell for a semester back in the fall of 2012 before leaving to become a pro.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
US Open National Playoff
The US Open National Playoff gets started on Friday and will finish on Monday. 32 sectional winners/runner-ups (16 men/16 women) from across the county will meet in New Haven, CT and the winners of each draw will get a wild card into qualifying at this year's US Open.
Updates scores in the google doc below as well on the men's & women's tournament home page.
Men's Singles Draw
Updates scores in the google doc below as well on the men's & women's tournament home page.
Men's Singles Draw
Sunday, August 16, 2015
College on Tour Weekly Recap/Results: 8/10 - 8/16
Another week and another 2 singles titles as both Kevin King and Yannick Hanfmann won Futures titles on Sunday.
Kevin King (Georgia Tech '12) won his 3rd career professional singles title with an impressive 6-3, 6-1 win over #655 Richard Gabb in the finals of the Champaign, Illinois F25 Future. King went 9-1 over the last 2 weeks in central Illinois with the loss coming in the finals to former ITF Junior #1 Luke Saville. King's 2 previous titles came last year in back-to-back week in Mexico.
Yannick Hanfmann (USC '15) won his 2nd career professional singles title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over #295 Gavin Van Peperzeel in the finals of the Friedberg, Germany F11 Future. Hanfmann's other singles title came exactly 1 year ago in Germany so by winning this week he defended those 18 points.
Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M '11) came up just short in the finals of the Aptos, California Challenger when he fell to #85 John Millman 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Krajicek was seeking his 9th career singles title (6 Future & 2 Challenger).
Kevin King (Georgia Tech '12) won his 3rd career professional singles title with an impressive 6-3, 6-1 win over #655 Richard Gabb in the finals of the Champaign, Illinois F25 Future. King went 9-1 over the last 2 weeks in central Illinois with the loss coming in the finals to former ITF Junior #1 Luke Saville. King's 2 previous titles came last year in back-to-back week in Mexico.
Yannick Hanfmann (USC '15) won his 2nd career professional singles title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over #295 Gavin Van Peperzeel in the finals of the Friedberg, Germany F11 Future. Hanfmann's other singles title came exactly 1 year ago in Germany so by winning this week he defended those 18 points.
Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M '11) came up just short in the finals of the Aptos, California Challenger when he fell to #85 John Millman 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Krajicek was seeking his 9th career singles title (6 Future & 2 Challenger).
Thursday, August 13, 2015
NCAA Tournament Going No Ad
I figured it was only a matter of time before the NCAA Championships went along with what was being pushed and as you can read below they have agreed to use no-ad scoring effective with this year's NCAAs in Tulsa.
The release below mentions that the recommendation to go no-ad was approved "with the health and well-being of student-athletes, the overall championship experience and fan engagement at the forefront" but I think we all know that the sole driving force behind the change is to reduce the match times for the benefit of potentially getting more matches on TV.
Having more matches on TV could potentially expand the fan base which leads to more advertising opportunities which ultimately equals more dollars. Why is more money important - because as budgets get tighter all teams are trying to figure out how to bring in more revenue to stay relevant within their own athletic departments. If they are continually at the bottom of the totem pole then chances are greater that they'll be the first program cut if it comes to teams getting cut.
DI Competition Oversight Committee approves No-Ad scoring format changes for tennis championships starting in 2016. pic.twitter.com/DFC1LgIzMB
— NCAA (@NCAA) August 12, 2015
The release below mentions that the recommendation to go no-ad was approved "with the health and well-being of student-athletes, the overall championship experience and fan engagement at the forefront" but I think we all know that the sole driving force behind the change is to reduce the match times for the benefit of potentially getting more matches on TV.
Having more matches on TV could potentially expand the fan base which leads to more advertising opportunities which ultimately equals more dollars. Why is more money important - because as budgets get tighter all teams are trying to figure out how to bring in more revenue to stay relevant within their own athletic departments. If they are continually at the bottom of the totem pole then chances are greater that they'll be the first program cut if it comes to teams getting cut.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
College on Tour Weekly Recap/Results: 8/3 - 8/9
5 former college players played for singles titles this week with Mikelis Libietis the only 1 to claim the prize.
Libietis (Tennessee '15) only dropped 1 set all week in his native Latvia in route to winning his 2nd career Futures singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Fred Simonsson. Libietis's other singles title came back in 2013 at the Estonia F2.
John Isner (Georgia '07) was looking for his 11th ATP singles title and 1st above the 250 level but he came up just short falling to #5 Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the ATP 500 in Washington DC.
Kevin King (Georgia Tech '12) was seeking his 3rd singles title but he lost to #220 Luke Saville 6-4, 6-4 at the Decatur, IL USA F24 Future.
Jordi Vives (Florida Gulf Coast '15) made it to his 1st career singles final at the Istanbul, Turkey F31 Future before falling to #449 Aleksandre Metreveli 6-2, 5-2 ret. Vives's previous best result was a pair of quarterfinal appearances.
Anis Ghorbel (Drake '13) made it to his 1st career singles final at the Tunis, Tunesia F17 Future before falling to #835 Tak Khunn Wang 6-3, 6-1 in the finals. Ghorbel's previous best result at a Future was the Round of 16 so making the finals was a big step up.
Libietis (Tennessee '15) only dropped 1 set all week in his native Latvia in route to winning his 2nd career Futures singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Fred Simonsson. Libietis's other singles title came back in 2013 at the Estonia F2.
John Isner (Georgia '07) was looking for his 11th ATP singles title and 1st above the 250 level but he came up just short falling to #5 Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the ATP 500 in Washington DC.
Kevin King (Georgia Tech '12) was seeking his 3rd singles title but he lost to #220 Luke Saville 6-4, 6-4 at the Decatur, IL USA F24 Future.
Jordi Vives (Florida Gulf Coast '15) made it to his 1st career singles final at the Istanbul, Turkey F31 Future before falling to #449 Aleksandre Metreveli 6-2, 5-2 ret. Vives's previous best result was a pair of quarterfinal appearances.
Anis Ghorbel (Drake '13) made it to his 1st career singles final at the Tunis, Tunesia F17 Future before falling to #835 Tak Khunn Wang 6-3, 6-1 in the finals. Ghorbel's previous best result at a Future was the Round of 16 so making the finals was a big step up.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Zoo Boys 18 Semis & Breakdown of the Final Participants
The Boys 18 National Championship and main draw wild card into the US Open will come down to #1 Frances Tiafoe and #3 Stefan Kozlov after each won their semifinal matches in straight sets.
Props goes out to TennisRecruiting.Net's forecasting model for correctly predicting the finals before the tournament started. TRN shows Tiafoe as a slight favorite in the finals with a 53% chance of winning but that's a pretty slim margin.
Boys 18 Semifinal Results:
#1 Frances Tiafoe def. #4 Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-2
#3 Stefan Kozlov def. #2 Taylor Fritz 7-6(3), 6-3
Props goes out to TennisRecruiting.Net's forecasting model for correctly predicting the finals before the tournament started. TRN shows Tiafoe as a slight favorite in the finals with a 53% chance of winning but that's a pretty slim margin.
Boys 18 Semifinal Results:
#1 Frances Tiafoe def. #4 Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-2
#3 Stefan Kozlov def. #2 Taylor Fritz 7-6(3), 6-3
Friday, August 7, 2015
Zoo Boys 18 - Quarterfinal Results
The Boys 18 draw in Kalamazoo is down to the final 4 and wouldn't you know it but the 4 remaining guys are seeded 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Neither of Friday's matches were very close in terms of score with both Stefan Kozlov and Taylor Fritz winning in straight sets while both of Thursday's matches were much closer with Tommy Paul needing 3 sets to beat Alex Rybakov and Frances Tiafoe getting past Reilly Opelka in 2 tight sets.
Neither of Friday's matches were very close in terms of score with both Stefan Kozlov and Taylor Fritz winning in straight sets while both of Thursday's matches were much closer with Tommy Paul needing 3 sets to beat Alex Rybakov and Frances Tiafoe getting past Reilly Opelka in 2 tight sets.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Zoo Boys 18 - Round 5 Results
It was a pretty straightforward Round of 16 in Kalamazoo on Wednesday as the higher seed in the Boys 18 draw won each of the 8 matches with 6 of those going in straight sets.
#5 Michael Mmoh (2016 Pro) was the only high seed that had to come back from a set down as he dispatched #20 John McNally (2017 uncommitted) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
#12 Eduardo Nava (2015 uncommitted) had the shortest match of the day as his opponent #22 Brandon Holt (2016 USC commit) retired with a hamstring injury after just 3 games were completed.
#5 Michael Mmoh (2016 Pro) was the only high seed that had to come back from a set down as he dispatched #20 John McNally (2017 uncommitted) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
#12 Eduardo Nava (2015 uncommitted) had the shortest match of the day as his opponent #22 Brandon Holt (2016 USC commit) retired with a hamstring injury after just 3 games were completed.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Zoo Boys 18 - Round 4 Results
The picture is become clearer and clearer in Kalamazoo after another day of results are in the books. There weren't any big upsets on Tuesday though the scores that probably stuck out the most were in the Genender/Kirkov and Paul/Ross matches.
Michael Genender (2015 Stanford commit) rolled over #28 Vasil Kirkov (2018 uncommitted) 6-2, 6-1. Both are TRN Blue Chips with UTRs within .05 of each other so you'd have thought this would have been a tight match but the scoreline tells a different story.
#4 Tommy Paul (2015 Professional) got pushed by #19 Gianni Ross (2017 uncommitted) before pulling away in the 3rd set for a 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-0 win. Paul is a TRN Blue Chip with a 15.23 UTR while Ross is a TRN Blue Chip with a 13.88 UTR.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Zoo Boys 18 - Round 3 Results
After a day off the USTA Boys 18 Nationals resumed play with 3rd round action and while 21 seeds advanced there were 3 that got upset.
The seeded losers were:
The seeded losers were:
- #18 Spencer Furman lost to Alexander Lebedev 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Levedev (2015 Notre Dame commit) is a TRN 5-star with a 12.81 UTR while Furman (2016 uncommitted) is a TRN Blue Chip with a 13.92 UTR.
- #17 Nick Stachowiak lost to Ben VanDixhorn 6-4, 6-1. VanDixhorn (2015 Northwestern commit) is a TRN 4-star with a 12.89 UTR while Stachowiak (2016 Duke commit) is a TRN Blue Chip with a 13.90 UTR.
- #31 Jacob Brumm lost to Vincent Rettke 6-2, 6-1. Rettke (2016 uncommitted) is a TRN 4-star with a 12.22 UTR while Brumm (2017 uncommitted) is a TRN Blue Chip with a 13.49 UTR.
College on Tour Weekly Recap/Results: 7/27 - 8/2
3 more titles last week and 2 runner-ups for our favorite guys with college ties.
John Isner (Georgia '07) won his 3rd straight BB&T Atlanta Open with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Marcos Baghdatis in the finals. Isner has now won 14 singles titles as a professional with 10 of those being on the ATP Tour (2015, 2014, 2013 Atlanta, 2012 & 2011 Winston Salem, 2012 & 2011 Newport, 2014 & 2010 Auckland, 2013 Houston), 3 Challengers (2009 Tallahassee, 2008 Lubbock, 2007 Lexington), and 1 Future (2007 USA F14).
Evan King (Michigan '13) won his 2nd career Futures singles title after defeating Clay Thompson 6-4, 6-3 in the finals of the Edwardsville F23 Future. King's previous title came in June in Zimbabwe. For full details on King's win read my recap.
Joran Vliegen (East Carolina '14) won his 1st career Futures singles title in his 1st career final by beating Julien Cagnina 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) at the Westende, Belgium F8 Future. Vliegen was down a set and a break and rallied for the 3-set win.
John Isner (Georgia '07) won his 3rd straight BB&T Atlanta Open with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Marcos Baghdatis in the finals. Isner has now won 14 singles titles as a professional with 10 of those being on the ATP Tour (2015, 2014, 2013 Atlanta, 2012 & 2011 Winston Salem, 2012 & 2011 Newport, 2014 & 2010 Auckland, 2013 Houston), 3 Challengers (2009 Tallahassee, 2008 Lubbock, 2007 Lexington), and 1 Future (2007 USA F14).
Evan King (Michigan '13) won his 2nd career Futures singles title after defeating Clay Thompson 6-4, 6-3 in the finals of the Edwardsville F23 Future. King's previous title came in June in Zimbabwe. For full details on King's win read my recap.
Joran Vliegen (East Carolina '14) won his 1st career Futures singles title in his 1st career final by beating Julien Cagnina 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) at the Westende, Belgium F8 Future. Vliegen was down a set and a break and rallied for the 3-set win.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Evan King Wins Edwardsville F23 Future Title
The Southern Illinois swing of the USTA Pro Futures Circuit came to an end today in Edwardsville at the F23 Future hosted by the EGHM Foundation with Evan King and Clay Thompson giving the 150+ fans in attendance an entertaining match to watch.
Chicago's Evan King, who is a 2013 Michigan graduate, had the slight edge in crowd support because of him being an Illinois native as well as being a frequent participant in the Edwardsville Future. This was King's 4th visit to Edwardsville in the last 5 years with Evan making the semis in 2013, quarters in 2012, and finals in 2011 so he was hoping to add a Championship to that list of accomplishments.
Venice Beach's Clay Thompson, who is a 2014 UCLA graduate, was making his first appearance in Edwardsville though he had become familiar with the area after playing in Godfrey (22 miles away) last week. The charismatic Thompson had his group of fans as well because if you've seen him play it's hard not to pull for him.
Chicago's Evan King, who is a 2013 Michigan graduate, had the slight edge in crowd support because of him being an Illinois native as well as being a frequent participant in the Edwardsville Future. This was King's 4th visit to Edwardsville in the last 5 years with Evan making the semis in 2013, quarters in 2012, and finals in 2011 so he was hoping to add a Championship to that list of accomplishments.
Venice Beach's Clay Thompson, who is a 2014 UCLA graduate, was making his first appearance in Edwardsville though he had become familiar with the area after playing in Godfrey (22 miles away) last week. The charismatic Thompson had his group of fans as well because if you've seen him play it's hard not to pull for him.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Zoo - Round 2 Results
Day 2 of the USTA Boys 18 National Championship in Kalamazoo is in the books with 24 of the top 32 seeds moving on to Day 3.
4 of the top 16 seeds were upset with 2 of those being top 10 seeds. Below are the 8 seeds to lose though a few wouldn't be considered upsets based off TRN and UTR info.