Schnur Stars in Semifinal Saturday Upset Win @NewYorkOpen

Posted by Admin on February 16, 2019
Posted in: ATP, Canada, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Schnur Stars in Semifinal Saturday Upset Win at New York Open
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

The fans finally showed up on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the New York Open after sparse crowds earlier in the week, and they were treated to an early semifinal that showcased the dazzling talent of Canadian Brayden Schnur.

Sam Querrey was a 4 1/2-1 favorite over Brayden Schnur at the start of the match after opening at 3-1 last night.  Schnur held his first serve at love and you had a feeling this one was going to be a tiebreak affair. And the first set tiebreak was a grand affair. Neither player was perfect, but the unexpected return of a Querrey slam down the line changed the balance. Schnur won three challenges in the first set and seemed to be extremely relaxed on court, even fake-celebrating an ace that he knew was a let. He fist-pumped with a sheepish grin, and moved on to the next serve. He later admitted that he was “extremely embarrassed” that he didn’t realize the serve was a let.

After Schnur broke Querrey in the second game of the second set, it seemed as if it were the veteran American who was frazzled and the 23-year-old Canadian in control. It was as if Querrey simply wasn’t expecting Schnur to return so many balls.

Then, nerves set in and Querrey was content to let Schnur make unforced errors. Querrey finally got a break back and then another to take the match to a third set with the momentum in his favor.

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Or so Schnur wanted us to believe. Schnur was lucky to be able to serve first in the final two sets and jumped to a second consecutive 3-0 lead. This time, though, Schnur would not be broken back and propelled by a small crowd of Schnur fans, he held tough all the way.

Brayden Schnur, 2019 New York Open Finalist (TennisAtlantic.com)

Schnur, a 3 time All-American at the University of North Carolina, picked up some fans this week, people he’d never met before. At match’s end, he made sure to acknowledge them.

“The second set got off to a good start but there was a little bit of a letdown,” he said. “Sam played some good tennis. In that third set, you guys got me through so I’ve got your tickets tomorrow. “

Advertisements

World #9 @JohnIsner, @FilaTennis Extend Partnership

Posted by Admin on February 12, 2019
Posted in: ATP, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment
John Isner, 2019 New York Open

John Isner, 2019 New York Open

FILA Extends Partnership With Top Ranked American Male, World No. 9 John Isner
 
(FILA Global) – FILA announced today it has extended its partnership with the top ranked American male, World No. 9 John Isner. FILA has been a partner of Isner for the past three years, and during that time he has risen to a career-high ranking and captured six titles – including his first Masters 1000 singles crown at the 2018 Miami Open.
“The progress John has made in the last three years, elevating his game to become a top 10 ranked player in the world, is impressive,” said Gene Yoon, Global Chairman at FILA. “We are confident John has a lot of great tennis ahead of him and are thrilled to support him moving forward.”
Isner is fresh off his career-best season in which he earned three titles – two in singles (Atlanta and Miami) and one in doubles (Indian Wells). He also registered impressive performances in the Grand Slams, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and quarterfinals at the US Open. At the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, John joined an illustrious club by reaching 10,000 career aces and in the process passed Roger Federer for second all-time. He finished the year by competing in the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London, the first appearance of his career. Isner currently holds 19 career championships – 14 in singles and 5 in doubles.
“My relationship with FILA has been tremendous and I am excited that we are going to continue working together,” said Isner. “The team at FILA goes to incredible lengths to make sure I have the best apparel and footwear, and that has been instrumental to my performance the last few years.” 

Exclusive Interview: Bernard Tomic Notches First Tour Victory of 2019 at @NewYorkOpen

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2019
Posted in: ATP, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Bernard Tomic was on court a full five minutes before Lukas Lacko sauntered into his first round main draw match on Grandstand court this afternoon just before 2:30. Early bird Tomic sent Lacko packing in 53 minutes, 6-4, 6-2, and will face top seed John Isner on Wednesday night at the New York Open.
On facing Isner, I got a great quote out of him: “I think it’s gonna be pretty easy, no?”

Bernard Tomic, 2019 New York Open
Bernard Tomic, 2019 New York Open

Seriously though. “We’ve played a couple of times,” he told me after the match. “Last time I had a chance to win. I lost 7-6 in the 4th (set) in Davis Cup. You know, he has one of the best serves in the world. There’s not much you can do sometimes. I have to go out there and try to play the way I did today.”
Tomic appeared on Australian Television last week and described the poor treatment he received from former US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt during the early days of Tomic’s career.

“There’s a lot of pressure in this sport and you learn how to deal with it,” Tomic told me. “I had a lot of pressure when I was young. I’ve played really solid and really well so far in my career. I mean I haven’t won slams and that, but maybe that’s something I can do in the future. But 10 years in this career, maybe 8-10 years still in this career. I still feel super young. I’m 26 and there’s guys who are 38, 37, 39 and still playing. It’s been a long journey, but got to keep going and do what I do and hopefully one day it’ll pay off.”

—S. Fogleman

Second Time’s a Charm as @Chris_Eubanks96 Qualifies for @NewYorkOpen Main Draw

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2019
Posted in: ATP, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Adrian Menedez Maceiras

Christopher Eubanks and Ernesto Escobedo traded blows for three sets at New York Open qualifying today, with Eubanks down a break in the third before bringing it home for his first qualifying in two attempts at the New York Open. And the opponent who beat him last year? That’s right. Escobedo.

“7-5 in the 3rd,” Eubanks said after the win. “Exact same score, It feels pretty good, you get a little bit of revenge and let things turn around the opposite way. It’s pretty ironic, same exact round, same exact tournament, same exact score, in theory. It was pretty fortunate for me to go my way.”

It was pretty ironic that he knew the exact scoreline from last year. Well done.

“I think I just kind of stayed dialed in, every point,” he said of the comeback win. “When you get down like that, it’s pretty easy to just want to pack it in. Playing it point by point, hoping for the best, hoping for an opportunity. You put yourself in position to capitalize. I just tried to stay dialed in on my serve.“

All players love the surface they’re currently winning on, but Eubanks was emphatic, given the uniqueness of the black courts. “I like it. I like it,” he said. “Last year was my first time playing on the court and it took a little bit of getting used to and sometimes the court felt hollow. It was so slow. This year it’s a little quicker and it’s helping my serve.”

But my favorite response was the refreshing one about the draw.

“I’m not that superstitious about it,” Eubanks told press. “If the draw comes out, I’m anxious to see who some of my friends are playing, so it’s not that big a deal to me.”

Refreshing answers, and after all, it’s nice to have refreshments with a popcorn match.

—S. Fogleman

Popcorn Match Monday @NewYorkOpen with Qualifying Finals and a Taste of Main Draw

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2019
Posted in: ATP, New York, New York Open. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Ernesto Escobedo, 2019 New York Open

Ernesto Escobedo, 2019 New York Open

Mondays are usually lazy days at an ATP 250 tournament. With a field of 32, there’s always a smaller number of qualifiers and tournament organizers can’t schedule the big names with the byes until the first round is complete. Local favorite Noah Rubin is scheduled to marquee the night session today, and that leaves some popcorn match qualifiers for today’s day session followed by two singles main draw matches.

Ernesto Escobedo came back from a set down to beat Yasutaka Uchiyama, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) yesterday to set up an all-American affair with Chris Eubanks, who breezed past wild card Adam El Midawhy, 6-3, 6-2. Eubanks was so comfortable after the win that he ate the popcorn a fan offered him and autographed the nearly empty bag. I expect Eubanks to get some revenge today, as Escobedo won their qualifying final here in New York 364 days ago. Eubanks also beat Escobedo at last year’s Aptos Challenger.

Alexei Popyrin is the breakout player that everyone hopes breaks out in their tournament. The 19-year-old Australian is at a career high of 123, and he faces Canadian Brayden Schnur, who’s also moving within reach of the top 100, at #153. There’s no head to head matchups on these two, so pick a winner.

Tennys Sandgren takes on 37-year-old Paolo Lorenzi in the tournament’s first main draw match on stadium court. It’s hard to expect anything less than a victory for Sandgren, as Lorenzi is only 1-12 versus top 100 players in the last year. The winner will be rewarded with a second round match against either Peter Polansky or Ryan Harrison.

Around the same time as the Sandgren/Lorenzi showdown, Bernard Tomic will try to continue to resurrect his tennis career in a first round match against Lukas Lacko. Though the pair each have a victory against the other, they haven’t faced each other in seven years, so this really is the rubber match. A focused and in-form Tomic should easily prevail in this one.

What did they bring Noah Rubin to his homecoming on opening night in his hometown? They brought him his biggest test of the year to date: Jordan Thompson, the world #60. Rubin will have to do everything right tonight to win this match and move things in his direction in 2019, where he’s already lost to the likes of Mikael Ymer and Kamil Majchrzak.

NEW YORK OPEN – UNIONDALE, USA
$773,985
11-17 FEBRUARY 2019

RESULTS – FEBRUARY 10, 2019

Mens
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) d [Alt] T. Puetz (GER) 63 62
Qualifying – [2] A. Popyrin (AUS) d J. Ward (GBR) 75 64
Qualifying – [3] R. Ramanathan (IND) d [Alt] R. Smith (USA) 46 62 64
Qualifying – [4] C. Eubanks (USA) d [WC] A. El Mihdawy (USA) 63 62
Qualifying – [5] B. Schnur (CAN) d [WC] C. Kingsley (USA) 76(3) 63
Qualifying – E. Escobedo (USA) d [6] Y. Uchiyama (JPN) 46 63 76(5)
Qualifying – T. Smyczek (USA) d [7] R. Quiroz (ECU) 67(6) 63 75
Qualifying – [8] A. Arnaboldi (ITA) d Y. Watanuki (JPN) 75 46 63

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019
STADIUM COURT start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [4] C. Eubanks (USA) vs E. Escobedo (USA)
Qualifying – [3] R. Ramanathan (IND) vs T. Smyczek (USA)
[8] T. Sandgren (USA) vs P. Lorenzi (ITA)

Not Before 7:30 pm
[WC] N. Rubin (USA) vs [7] J. Thompson (AUS)
[WC] B. Evans (USA) / J. Isner (USA) vs S. Gonzalez (MEX) / A. Qureshi (PAK)

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [1] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) vs [8] A. Arnaboldi (ITA)
Qualifying – [2] A. Popyrin (AUS) vs [5] B. Schnur (CAN)
L. Lacko (SVK) vs B. Tomic (AUS)

New @USTA National Coach is @BBakesTennis

Posted by Admin on January 23, 2019
Posted in: ATP, USTA. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Brian Baker Hired as USTA National Coach for Men’s Tennis

Brian Baker, Newport 2013

Brian Baker, Newport 2013

ORLANDO, Fla., January 23, 2019 — The USTA today announced that it has hired former Top-60 pro Brian Baker as a National Coach for Men’s Tennis, based out of the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona in Orlando and reporting to Head of Men’s Tennis Kent Kinnear.

Best known for his perseverance through a multitude of injuries, Baker ranked as high as No. 52 in the world and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2012. He also won two ATP doubles titles and represented the U.S. at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

A Nashville native, Baker was an assistant men’s coach at Belmont University from 2008-11 and then again in 2015 and 2018. He graduated from Belmont with a Bachelor of Business Administration in General Business degree in 2015. “Brian’s experiences as a player and as a coach will be a tremendous addition to our TEAM USA Pro Department, as he works closely with players and their coaches progressing to break their way into the ATP Top 100,” Kinnear said. “His tennis mind, his analytical abilities and his drive and determination for improvement will all be incredible assets for our staff and for our country’s up and coming pro players.”

—USTA

 

As @FTiafoe Turns 21 & Reaches Career Milestone @AustralianOpen, @TheJTCC Training Center Proud of Homegrown Hero

Posted by Admin on January 21, 2019
Posted in: ATP, Australian Open, Junior Tennis Champions Center. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment
Francis Tiafoe
As Frances Tiafoe Turns 21 & Reaches Career Milestone at Australian Open, Junior Tennis Champions Center Proud of Homegrown Hero
Frances Tiafoe celebrated his 21st birthday in “Grand” style by reaching the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open with a 7-5, 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 7-5 victory over #20 seed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
“This is a significant breakthrough for Frances,” said JTCC CEO Ray Benton. “He is the youngest American since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2003 to reach the quarterfinals of a major. His future is wide open.”
The JTCC alumnus is guaranteed to break into the top 30 in the ATP world rankings for the first time and will become the #2 ranked American behind John Isner.
Although Dimitrov, a former world #3, exerted constant pressure, he was only able to take one set off a resolute Tiafoe, who stood firm saving 15 of 18 break points he faced and striking 63 winners in total to clinch his spot in the last eight.
Frances Tiafoe celebrates winning a crucial point against Grigor Dimitrov during their 4th round clash at the Australian Open
Tiafoe’s opponent in the quarterfinals is 17-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. The two have never met before, but Tiafoe expressed his excitement about facing one of the greatest players of all time in his post match interview with ESPN’s Pam Shriver. His clash with Nadal is scheduled during the night session on Rod Laver Arena and is due to start at around 5 am EST on Tuesday.
“It is hard to describe how proud everyone associated with JTCC is of Frances,” exuded JTCC Director of Tennis Vesa Ponkka. “We have all has been missing out on sleep over the last week but the excitement he has generated at JTCC and beyond with his play in Melbourne is truly special to witness.”
— Republished from JTCC