2-4-8! Who Do We Appreciate? Three Seeded Players In @DelrayBeachOpen Quarterfinal Play Today

Posted by Admin on January 11, 2021
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2-4-8! Who Do We Appreciate? Three Seeded Players In Delray Beach Open Quarterfinal Play Today

Steve Fogleman in Delray Beach

January 11–-John Isner, Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe are clearly the ones to beat in this tournament at the moment. Those seeded Delray Beach Open seeds have a lot of contenders at their tails. Sebastian Korda, who beat John Isner at Roland Garros last year, is set for the challenge against the second seed nig man Isner.

Roberto Quiroz, the 28-year-old Ecuadorean with deep pro tennis roots and in his first ever ATP quarterfinal, will square off against the 4 seed, Hubert Hurkacz. Hurkacz hopes to be the 7th 4 seed to win this tournament. It’s been tours since his last semifinal berth, but former Texas Christian University standout Cameron Norrie will do his best to move on against 8 seed and 2018 champion Frances Tiafoe.

Finally, you’ve got a match this afternoon that will result in an automatic underdog advancing to the semifinals between Christian Harrison and Gianluca Mager. This is Harrison’s first quarterfinal and Mager beat his brother Ryan to open the main draw of the tournament. In fact, Mager is looking to defeat his third American in a row after a win over Sam Querrey in the second round.

I’ve said it many times and it seems to hold true. At the lower level tournaments, seeding means little.The experience and confidence the players earn on the courts prior to the main draw are often enormously valuable.

As far as coronavirus and social distancing protocols here, there seems to be a ramped-up enforcement. With fewer fans in attendance on Friday, there were more groups together in the upper areas of the stadium and plenty of chin-strapping. I looked at the ushers on the concourse below and was worried that these mature-aged volunteers wouldn’t be up to the task. Meanwhile, Delray Beach Police Officers were all over the facility and didn’t seem interested in managing the new rules. By the weekend, that had changed. Frequent announcements were made that all fans were required to be in their assigned seats and that ushers would be coming around to check those seat assignments. Seats were sold in blocks of 2 or 4 with alternating rows and the protocols appeared to be enforced more stringently. Though it’s completely understandable, my heart sunk a little during announcements that fans were prohibited from asking for selfies or autographs from the players. And that photo of Frances Tiafoe above? He says he requested it. The only reason his mask was down was because he’d just finished answering a few questions for me twelve feet away. Throughout the weekend, the announcer made a point to inform the fans that they were about to be part of a national telecast on Tennis Channel, as if to remind them that they didn’t want to give their own town a bad look on TV. Maybe that was the trick.

More @DelrayBeachOpen Seeds Fall on Saturday; Four Quarterfinal Spots Left

Posted by Admin on January 10, 2021
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More Delray Beach Open Seeds Fall on Saturday; Four Quarterfinal Spots Left

Steve Fogleman in Delray Beach

January 10, 2021–The seeds kept dropping on Saturday at the Delray Beach Open in Delray Beach, Florida. Gianluca Magher, the man who defeated Rio Open top seed Dominic Thiem last March, continued his underdog magic with a rude dismissal of #6 seed Sam Querrey, 7-6(8), 6-1.

Next up was Christian Harrison, and Christian’s Mission continued as he handled the tournament’s top seed Cristian Garin, 7-6, 6-2. He continues to marvel at his run in Delray Beach, where as a child he first saw pro tennis played in person.

Following up on Harrison’s heroics, Sebastian Korda advanced over #5 seed Tommy Paul. The tournament’s highest remaining ranked player, John Isner, served his way past Thiago Monteira in the night cap in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(4).

Those results set up a quarterfinal square-off between Magher and Harrison and an All-American match with Isner and Korda. The top half of the singles draw has now lost two of its seeded players, leaving only #4 Hubert Hurkacz in the driver’s seat. In that top half, either Harrison or Magher will reach the semifinals and play on Tuesday. All eyes will be on Hurkacz in today’s day session when he will play his first ever match at Delray Beach following his first round bye.

SUNDAY SCHEDULE

STADIUM – start 11:00 am

[WC] C. Harrison (USA)/R. Harrison (USA) vs O. Marach (AUT)/L.D. Martinez (VEN)

Not before 12:30 pm

[4] H. Hurkacz (POL) vs D.E. Galan (COL)

Not before 2:30 pm

[8] F. Tiafoe (USA) vs B. Fratangelo (USA)

Night Session – Not before 6:00 pm

[Q] R. Quiroz (ECU) vs I. Karlovic (CRO)

Not before 8:00 pm

C. Norrie (GBR) vs [3] A. Mannarino (FRA)

Court 1 – start 2:00 pm

A. Krajicek (USA)/S. Querrey (USA) vs A. Molteni (ARG)/H. Nys (MON)

Not before 4:00 pm

N. Monroe (USA)/F. Tiafoe (USA) vs [PR] M. McDonald (USA)/T. Paul (USA)

Christian’s On A Mission: @CHarrison94 Sets Up @DelrayBeachOpen Clash with Top Seed @Garin_Cris

Posted by Admin on January 9, 2021
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Christian’s On A Mission: Harrison Sets Up Clash with Top Seed Cristian Garin

Steve Fogleman in Delray Beach

January 9. 2021–-For years, it was young Cristian Harrison who came to Delray Beach to watch his older brother, Ryan, compete in this ATP 250 tournament tucked inside this idyllic beach town. Yesterday, as Cristian Harrison warmed up on the outer court for his first round main draw match, there were only a few fans scattered around the bleachers. Among them was Ryan Harrison, who’d been eliminated from the singles draw on the opening day of the event.

“I’m feeling good. I’m playing a lot of qualies because I don’t have much of a ranking right now,” the younger Harrison said after his straight sets win over Tomas Etcheverry, 6-4, 6-2. After seasons of injuries and more surgeries than you can count on one hand, he knows that court time is precious. “It’s very special,” he told me after the match. “Honestly, to do it in Delray just because some of my first pro tennis memories when I was 13 or 14, coming to this tournament to watch my brother play. I love it here, I love Atlantic Avenue. It sucks that we can’t see it this year with everything going on. It’s special to this in Florida, where I live.”

After getting through the qualifying final in a tiebreak, he breezed through the first round yesterday. Harrison opened the qualifying tournament by knocking out Chile’s Marcelo Barrios Vera. Today, he’ll face the Open’s top seed and #1 Chilean, Cristian Garin, who is currently ranked #22 in the world. “I’ve obviously never played him, but I’ve seen him a lot, in a lot of other tournaments,” he told me. “I don’t think we’ve ever practiced but he’s had a lot of good results.”

He expounded on his fraternal bond with Ryan. “I know how he always wanted it for me, so it sucked for him whenever I was out a lot,” he said. “He could feel my pain when I couldn’t play these tournaments. Now that we’re getting theses chances to be in the same place, we’re making the most of it.”

Indeed, they made the most of it yesterday. After Christian’s singles win, the pair defeated the Texas Twins—Hunter and Yates Johnson, 6-4, 7-6(2), to advance to the quarterfinals in doubles.

SAT., JAN 9 ~ Day Session

11:00am: (2) M. Daniell (NZL) / P. Oswald (AUT) vs A. Molteni (ARG) / H. Nys (MON)

12:30pm: (6) Sam Querrey (USA) vs G. Mager (ITA)2:30pm: (1) Cristian Garin (CHI) vs C. Harrison (USA)


SAT., JAN 9 ~ Evening Session

6:00pm: (5) Tommy Paul (USA) vs S. Korda (USA)

8:00pm: (2) John Isner (USA) vs T. Monteiro (BRA)

2021 @BNPPARIBASOPEN Pulls March Dates; Organizers Hope to Reschedule

Posted by Admin on December 29, 2020
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STATEMENT REGARDING THE 2021 BNP PARIBAS OPEN 

2021 BNP Paribas Open Pulls March Dates; Organizers Hope to Reschedule


INDIAN WELLS, Calif., December 29, 2020 – The BNP Paribas Open will not be held March 8-21, 2021 as originally scheduled. The tournament is proactively working with the ATP and WTA Tours as well as title sponsor BNP Paribas to confirm dates later in the year to hold the event. Details will be released in the near future as plans are finalized.


This decision was made after thorough consultation with state and local health authorities and tournament owner Larry Ellison.

—M. Van Tuinen, BNP Parisbas Open

A @DelrayBeachOpen Wild Card for @Andy_Murray Strengthens the Field for Western Hemisphere’s First Tournament of 2021

Posted by Admin on December 29, 2020
Posted in: ATP, Delray Beach. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment
Andy Murray (Photo: Mike Renz for Tennis Atlantic)

A Delray Beach Open Wild Card for Andy Murray Strengthens the Field for Western Hemisphere’s First Tournament of 2021

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Andy Murray, a 46-time winner on the ATP Tour who has been ranked No. 1 in the world, has been awarded a wild card for the season-opening Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com that will take place January 4-13.

The three-time Major champion joins four former tournament winners – Reilly Opelka (2020), Frances Tiafoe (2018), Sam Querrey (2017) and Kei Nishikori (2008) – in the field.

Murray will make his Delray Beach Open debut during Session 8, which will take place Friday night, Jan. 8. Additional headline matches have also been announced, including Opelka beginning his title defense on Thursday night, Jan. 7. The top-ranked American, John Isner, will headline the Saturday night session on Jan. 9, while Milos Raonic, who is projected to be the top seed, will play on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 10.

“I am looking forward to starting the 2021 season in Delray Beach.”  Murray said. “This event will be a good test for me and I’m excited to be back playing on the tour”

Murray will be the 11th of the 26 players to have ever held the ATP’s No. 1 ranking to play the Delray Beach Open, joining Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Jim Courier, Lleyton Hewitt, Ivan Lendl, Carlos Moya, Pat Rafter, Marcelo Rios, Andy Roddick and Mats Wilander.

“We are looking forward to Andy joining us for our season-opening tournament,” said Tournament Director Mark Baron. “He is a champion at every level and among the greatest fighters our sport has ever seen. It will be thrilling to see him play here.”

Murray has won his 46 ATP titles from 68 finals during his career. Those tournament wins include being a two-time champion at both Wimbledon (2013, 2016) and the Olympics (2012, 2016). He was also the winner at the 2012 US Open and in 2016 at the ATP Finals, which was his ninth title of that season.

During his career, Murray has spent 41 weeks ranked as the World No. 1. At the end of January 2019, he underwent a hip resurfacing surgery. In June of that year, he returned to the Tour and immediately won the doubles title at Queen’s Club in London. He returned to singles action in August, and in October, won the title at Antwerp.

The 33-year-old and his wife, Kim, have two daughters and one son. Last year, he was knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.

His brother Jamie, who is one year older, has been ranked No. 1 in doubles and won the 2008 Delray Beach title.

Originally scheduled for February, the 2021 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com will now take place January 4-13. The ATP Champions Tour legends event will begin the action Jan. 4-6. ATP 250 qualifying matches will take place Jan. 5-6. The main draw for the ATP 250 tournament, which will feature 16 doubles teams in addition to the 28-player singles field, will begin Thursday, Jan. 7 with two sessions each day until the finals are contested during a single session on Wednesday, Jan. 13.

All tickets for the “Physically Distanced, Forever Social” event at the historic downtown tennis center are on sale now at www.yellowtennisball.com or by phone at +1 561-330-6000. In order to accommodate spacious conditions in the stadium and throughout the venue, attendance for each session at the 2021 tournament will be capped at 2,000 people, just under 25 percent of the outdoor stadium’s total capacity.

Fans who act quickly can take advantage of a special Holiday Sale on tickets if purchasing before midnight on Dec. 31. Using the promo code CHAMPION, a discount of 30% will be applied to individual box and reserved seats for Sessions 1-4 (ATP Champions Tour matches). For discounted tickets to see the ATP 250 matches, fans can use the code JINGLE to get 10% off individual box seats for Sessions 5-14 (excluding Session 8), while the code BELLS will provide a 20% discount on individual reserved seats for Sessions 5-14 (excluding Session 8).

Last year, Delray Beach resident Opelka served a tournament record 99 aces during the week in which he won his second career ATP Tour title. In doubles Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan captured their sixth Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com title and their 119th as a team. It was the final tournament for the twin brothers who announced their retirement in August. In the opening weekend’s ATP Champions Tour matches, Team Europe, led by Tommy Haas and David Ferrer, earned a 5-2 win over the James Blake-led Team World. This marked the third straight defeat for the home nation in ATP Champions Tour competition at Delray Beach.

In an ever-changing world the tournament will maintain the highest level of health and safety standards for fans, players and staff alike. Please remain updated on our measures at https://yellowtennisball.com/faq/

—Delray Beach Open

2021 @DelrayBeachOpen Kicks Off Tour With @MilosRaonic and Former Champs @KeiNishikori @FTiafoe @ReillyOpelka @SamQuerrey

Posted by Admin on December 24, 2020
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2021 Delray Beach Open Kicks Off Tour With Milos Raonic and Former Champs Kei Nishikori, Frances Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka and Sam Querrey

Seriously. It’s been too long. The last time we saw the men duke it out for an outdoor title was at the 2019 US Open. Our pale skin will be tested under the sun at the Delray Beach Open, the ATP 250 tournament taking place on January 4-13 in Delray Beach, Florida. The event marks the first time in decades that the men’s tour begins in the United States, with the Australian Open’s retreat into February setting the stage for Delray Beach and Antalya, Turkey having the honors of serving as the inaugural events on the annual calendar.

Fans will be held at 25% capacity along with mandatory mask use throughout the grounds.. Tickets must be purchased in isolated blocks of 2 to promote distancing between members of different households. If you are thinking about attending the tournament, you would be well advised to purchase tickets now, I have an unadvertised tip to relate: Due to COVID-19, all former general admission seats are now reserved seating and available for about $25 a piece.

It’s a strong 250 field, with former champion Kei Nishikori and former finalist Milos Raonic headlining, joined in the hunt by the American platoon of Isner and former champions Opelka, Tiafoe and Querrey.

The Delray Beach Open was slated to start in mid-February, so tournament organizers are scrambling at break-neck speed to advance an international event by a staggering 5 weeks. That’s an impressive feat even without the threat of a global pandemic.

This news is a gift to American fans after the year we’ve had.

—S. Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

The Future in Time for the Holidays: @NeuroTennis Smart Tennis Wristbands Coach You While You Play

Posted by Admin on November 30, 2020
Posted in: ATP, Tennis Lessons and Instruction, WTA. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Arlington, Va., November 18, 2020 — NeuroTennis, Inc. today announced the release of its smart tennis wristbands. Two key differences make this wearable technology so different from other smart tennis devices on the market.

“One major difference is that NeuroTennis coaches you while you play,” said NeuroTennis CEO, Alain Cohen. “Other tennis trackers just report statistics on speed, spin, and stroke counts, without much actionable information. NeuroTennis, on the other hand, provides coaching instructions that are synchronized with the rhythm of your hitting, as you play.

Cohen stated the second revolutionary aspect of the technology is that it wirelessly connects the wristbands of two players across the court, in order to pinpoint the timing of audible coaching instructions, precisely when your opponent hits the ball.

Former world No. 1 Mats Wilander was an integral part of designing NeuroTennis. “To reach the next level, I believe in modifying your game and not just measuring it,” Wilander said. “I believe that to reach your full potential, you need to train your brain just as hard as your skills and fitness.”

Features and benefits of NeuroTennis include:

  • Two player or solo mode – NeuroTennis is most typically used in a two-player mode, meaning that the sensors in each device communicate with each other, across the court.
  • NeuroTennnis App – The feature-rich app allows you to select lessons and drills from an extensive library designed by world-class coaches, including Mats Wilander. Taking it to the next level, you or your coach can easily customize content to specifically address your goals. Available for iPhone and Android.
  • Game Modifying Technology™ – While other wearable tennis products just measure physical results, like speed and spin, NeuroTennis is about ingraining better habits and accessing your tennis skills consistently so you can raise your game while you practice. Training at higher levels leads to playing at higher levels.

NeuroTennis is available now at NeuroTennis.com and sells as a pair for $269. For more information on how to train your brain and raise your game, visit NeuroTennis.com.

About NeuroTennis: NeuroTennis has been recently featured on https://gadgetsandwearables.com/2020/07/30/neurotennis/ and https://www.myhealthyapple.com/neurotennis-a-must-have-wristband-for-serious-tennis-players/

It’s Azarenka’s With Asterisks: Vika Wins @CincyTennis Title After Osaka Withdraws

Posted by Admin on August 29, 2020
Posted in: Cincinnati, Western & Southern Open, WTA. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

2012 Winston-Salem Open, Copyright Lindsay Gibbs

It’s Azarenka’s With Asterisks: Vika Wins @CincyTennis Title After Osaka Withdraws

The hot mess that is the 2020 Western & Southern Open has reached its exciting conclusion: with the withdrawal of Naomi Osaka, suffering from a left hamstring injury which occurred in Saturday’s semifinal against Johanna Konta. Vika Azarenka is your women’s singles champion.

In a statement from the tournament, Osaka said that “this has been an emotional week and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.” Osaka’s initial announcement on Thursday  that she would be withdrawing from the Western & Southern Open taught us a lot about who she is as a person, and even more about tournament organizers clumsiness in responding to off-court issues.

Before American tennis’ governing body even had a chance to decide if it was sufficiently woke, it postponed all play on Friday at the tournament in Queens. According to reports from Tennis.com and ESPN, Osaka tweeted her decision not to play and in less than two hours, the USTA announced that all play would be suspended. Osaka’s courage to make her decision was effectively co-opted by the USTA for their gain. Their Come-to-Jesus moment is not one to be celebrated, as it was only made after Osaka’s decision. The tournament-wide postponement would never have happened if there had been paying ticket holders in the stands and it most certainly would not have happened if the tournament were held in its ancestral home of Mason, Ohio. If Donald Young had announced his intention to withdraw from the first round of the event, would the USTA have postponed 32 matches on a Monday? It’s clear that Osaka’s star power carries enormous weight.

While I continue to consider Osaka’s decision a bold one, her fellow players didn’t ask for a day off. This is unprecedented, and as you know, horrible injustices occur against minorities and the poor every single day of the year. I don’t pretend to know how to eliminate police brutality and social injustice, but I wonder if a precedent is now set: that if something horrible happens to an individual somewhere, that a single athlete can put an entire tournament on hold. I pray that we never lose another human being to police brutality, but in a country of 329 million people, it will sadly happen again. Maybe there is a better way to seek redress for these injustices. To beat the USTA at their own game of glomming on to Osaka’s decision as if it were their own original thought, Osaka should have continued to do the right thing and bowed out of the tournament. We always knew there would be an asterisk next to this year’s Western & Southern Open in the record books, but we didn’t know there would be a ball basket full on the women’s side. Now we’ll remember it for Osaka’s courageous leadership, her left hamstring and virtually nothing else.

 

 

Qualifying in Queens: 10 Americans Awarded @CincyTennis Wild Cards

Posted by Admin on August 7, 2020
Posted in: ATP, Cincinnati, New York, US Open, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Ten Americans Among Wild Card Recipients for Western & Southern Open Qualifying 

Cincy Media Center

The Queen City. Borough of Queens. Fuhgeddaboutit!

CINCINNATI (AUGUST 7, 2020) – The Western & Southern Open has awarded 11 wild cards to its qualifying field, with 10 Americans – including one Cincinnatian – among the recipients.
The five men and six women round out the 48-player qualifying fields. Two rounds of qualifying matches will be held Aug. 20-21, with a dozen women and 12 men joining the main draws, which will begin Aug. 22. All tournament action will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Cincinnati native JJ Wolf, who played at Ohio State, will be joined in ATP Tour qualifying by Sebastian Korda, Mackenzie McDonald, Michael Mmoh and Brandon Nakashima. Ohio State standout Francesca Di Lorenzo joins the WTA qualifying field along with CiCi Bellis, Anna Kalinskaya, Ann Li, Shelby Rogers and Katie Volynets.
Wolf owns four career Challenger titles and has been victorious in three of his last five events dating back to last season. He was 14-2 with two titles during the first two months of this year before play was suspended due to the pandemic. Wolf turned pro in 2019 after going 35-2 and earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors as a junior at Ohio State University. A graduate of Cincinnati Country Day, the 21-year-old will play Western & Southern Open qualifying for the third time in his career.

Sebastian Korda, 2018 AO Boy's Champion

Sebastian Korda, 2018 AO Boy’s Champion

Korda is a 20-year-old Floridian who reached a pair of Challenger finals last season. In 2018, he was the Australian Open junior champion. His father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open and was a two-time Western & Southern Open quarterfinalist (1992, 98).

Mackenzie McDonald, 2018 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

Mackenzie McDonald, 2018 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

McDonald, who owns a pair of Challenger titles, posted his best ATP result in early 2019 with a semifinal in Delray Beach. His season was then cut short due to a hamstring injury which kept him out of action until the start of the 2020 campaign. The former UCLA Bruin was the nation’s No. 1 collegiate player in 2016, a season he capped by winning the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles. Before enrolling at UCLA, McDonald became the third unranked player to qualify for an ATP Masters 1000 when he did so at the 2013 Western & Southern Open. This year the 25-year-old Californian is seeking his third main draw appearance at the tournament.
Mmoh owns five career Challenger titles, including last fall in Knoxville after he missed four months earlier in 2019 with injury. The 22-year-old Florida resident suffered the injury after a 2018 campaign that included quarterfinals at ATP events in Brisbane and Los Cabos along with a pair of Challenger titles. He was the USTA Boy’s 18s National Championship winner in 2016.
nakashima-wtt
Nakashima burst onto the pro scene in February with a run to the quarterfinals at Delray Beach in his ATP debut. He has reached the semifinals at three ATP Challenger Tour events since turning professional in the summer of 2019. The 19-year-old Californian was named ACC Freshman of the Year last year while playing for the University of Virginia.
Francesca DiLorenzo, 2019 Citi Open (TennisAtlantic.com)
Di Lorenzo was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year and won an NCAA doubles championship during her career at Ohio State. As a professional, she has reached the second round at the US Open in each of the past two seasons. Born in Pittsburgh, the 23-year-old Di Lorenzo was raised in Columbus, Ohio. Her sister, Cristina, was a two-time All Big East honoree while playing tennis at Xavier University.

Cici Bellis, Charleston (Photo: Steve Fogleman/TennisAtlantic)

Cici Bellis

Bellis has reached the third round at three of the four Majors, most recently at this year’s Australian Open. The 21-year-old Californian is working her way back after undergoing four surgeries in 2018-19 on her right arm. The 2014 USTA Girl’s 18s National Champion, Bellis finished that year as the No. 1 ranked junior in the world.
Anna Kalinskaya, 2019 Citi Open (TennisAtlantic.com)
Kalinskaya is a seven-time winner on the ITF Circuit. In the second half of 2019, she posted her best career WTA results with a semifinal at Washington, D.C., and a quarterfinal at Tashkent. The 21-year-old Russian’s parents were both professional badminton players.
Li reached five finals while posting more than 40 match wins on the ITF Circuit in 2019. Early this season she made her Grand Slam tournament debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open. In 2017, she finished as runner-up in the Wimbledon Girls’ Championship. The 20-year-old Pennsylvania native owns two career ITF Circuit titles.

Shelby Rogers, 2017 Volvo Car Open (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)

Shelby Rogers, 2017 Volvo Car Open (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)

Rogers has twice been a finalist at WTA events. The South Carolina native claimed her sixth career ITF Circuit title earlier this year in Midland, Michigan. A quarterfinalist at the 2016 French Open, Rogers battled knee injuries before undergoing an operation in 2018 that sidelined for over one year. As a junior, she was the 2010 USTA Girl’s 18s National Champion.
Volynets won the 2019 USTA Girl’s 18s National Championship and in doing so, earned a wild card into the US Open where she faced eventual champion Bianca Andreescu in the opening round. The 18-year-old Californian closed the 2019 season by reaching her first ITF Circuit final. As a junior, she reached the 2017 US Open quarterfinals.

The @NYEmpireTennis are Truly the Amazins’ of @WorldTeamTennis After Last Point Championship Finish

Posted by Admin on August 2, 2020
Posted in: World Team Tennis. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Courtesy World Team Tennis

Coco Vandeweghe and Nicole Melichar Survive a Championship Point And Rally To Win Super Tiebreaker And King Trophy Over Chicago Smash, 21-20

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.V. (Aug. 2, 2020) – The King Trophy came down to as dramatic a finish as you can have in World TeamTennis as one point decided the entire season with the New York Empire capturing the King Trophy over the expansion Chicago Smash, 21-20, in a Super Tiebreaker on Sunday at Center Court at Creekside at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. 

It all played out in front of a live nationally-televised audience on CBS Television Network. With the match in Extended Play at 20-20 and at 6-all in the Super Tiebreaker (best of 13) the Empire’s Coco Vandeweghe ripped a Sloane Stephens serve with a forehand down the line that nicked the baseline, was reviewed by Hawk-Eye and signaled in. The Finals Female Most Valuable Player Vandeweghe embraced her partner Nicole Melichar as the rest of the Empire players and head coach Luke Jensen joined into the celebration.  

“I never had this opportunity in World TeamTennis to do Extended Play, to the Super Tiebreaker to the super buster to the Super Breaker (last deciding point),” Vandeweghe said. “I mean I’ve never been under that kind of pressure, ever. It was so much fun to be on my racquet to control the situation. Luckily I controlled it in the right way. It really accentuated what World TeamTennis is; the team vibe, team energy, people picking each other up when they’re down. I had so much fun out there.”

Said Melichar: “I didn’t want to tell Coco to go line, because I know her instincts, but I felt that Bethanie (Mattel-Sands) was going to try and cross and then the second she hit it and they didn’t call an out call I was thrilled, but then the fact that they were challenging (asked to look at Hawk-Eye), we were like ‘oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no’ and then it was just pure joy. It was just incredible.”

World TeamTennis titles are nothing new for New York franchises as the New York Buzz won the King Trophy in 2008 and the New York Sportimes did the same in 2005.

“It’s just so amazing that it came down to one point,” Empire coach Luke Jensen told the crowd after accepting the King Trophy and the $500,000 winning check his team will split. “When you’re a Grand Slam champion you’ve accomplished what you wanted as a kid. That she (Coco) didn’t hesitate to take that shot is amazing. And for New York specifically. Her grandfather played for the Knicks (Ernie Vandeweghe). Her uncle played for the Knicks (Kiki)…We made the trade for her, I reached out to her to say she should play for the orange and the blue, the Knicks colors and our colors. She’s such a gamer and a winner.”

The Smash held a championship point in regulation at 4-all in the tiebreaker (best of nine) as Melichar hit a service winner that Genie Bouchard was unable to handle, giving the set to the Empire and sending the match into Extended Play, 20-18. Vandeweghe won her serve for 20-19, and the Empire pair then broke Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ serve to knot the score at 20-20.

“I’m proud of this team for the fight all year,” said Chicago Smash Coach Kamau Murray. “I made two different decisions at both the end of the regular time and the tiebreaker and we’d have been in a different position. I’m sorry to see it end this way, but they all played well … Looking ahead to next year, I think we have a good core. We’ll bring most of them back and we’ll be here (in the Finals) again.”

In Women’s Singles, 2017 US Open winner Stephens extended the Smash’s lead with a 5-3 win over Vandeweghe to make the score 16-13.

The Empire jumped out to a quick start thanks to the play of WTT Male Most Valuable Player Jack Sock as he recorded wins in Mixed Doubles with Vandeweghe and in Men’s Doubles with Neal Skupski. He then ran into a buzz-saw in the way of 18-year-old Smash rookie Brandon Nakashima, who reeled off a 5-0 win to swing the match in favor of Chicago.

“I think I would chalk that up as my worst set of the three weeks, and unfortunately it came on the most important day, as well,” Sock said. “I just kept my head up. I was able to put 10 points on the board with Neal and Coco and you can’t ask more than that.”

WTT CEO Carlos Silva still had goosebumps talking about the match an hour after the memorable conclusion. “A flip flop in the middle of the match with Nakashima coming back to win 5-0 and swing the match, you couldn’t ask for any more than that,” Silva said. “And Coco’s winning forehand was like a walk-off home run, a buzzer-beater. My heart is still pounding.”

No. 4 New York Empire def. No. 3 CHICAGO SMASH, 21-20 (EP)

Men’s Doubles: Jack Sock/Neal Skupski (Empire) def. Rajeev Ram/Brandon Nakashima (Smash), 5-2

Mixed Doubles: Sock/Coco Vandeweghe (Empire) def. Mattek-Sands/Ram (Smash), 5-4

Men’s Singles: Brandon Nakashima (Smash) def. Sock (Empire), 5-0

Women’s Singles: Sloane Stephens (Smash) def. Vandeweghe (Empire), 5-3

Women’s Doubles: Nicole Melichar/Vandeweghe (Empire) def. Genie Bouchard/Mattek-Sands (Smash), 5-4

Extended Play: Melichar/Vandeweghe (Empire) def. Bouchard/Mattek-Sands (Smash), 2-0

Super Tiebreaker: Melichar/Vandeweghe (Empire) def. Mattek-Sands/Stephens (Smash), 7-6

—S. Pratt, WTT