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Dreams Made, Tickets Punched as 2022 @USOpen Qualifying Concludes

Posted by Admin on August 26, 2022

Posted in: Arthur Ashe Stadium, ATP, New York, US Open, US Open Qualifying, USTA, WTA. Tagged: 2022 US Open, atp, itf, new york, US Open Qualifying, wta. Leave a comment

Dreams Made, Tickets Punched as 2022 US Open Qualifying Concludes

Steve Fogleman in Flushing Meadows

On a cloudy and then rainy day in Queens, players walked away with a memory of a lifetime, and in some cases, the most important wins so far in their young careers. It was last call for main draw in New York as the three match tournament reached the Friday crescendo.

Yue Yuan was your first qualifier of the 2022 US Open. She beat Maddison Inglis 6-1, 6-0, in just 53 minutes. The English was better than the audio as I attempted to interview her inside Grandstand Court as she had to flee from a flock of fans who followed behind.

Linda Noskova has done it again. She needed only 6 sets in 3 matches to make her way into her first “next week” at the US Open. This time, the opponent was Alexandra Zakharova in a 6-2, 7-5 victory for the young Czech. After the match, she shared her moment of joy with us.

Both Noskova and Zakharaova were happy to sign U.S. currency for a fan. I’m not sure if it raised the value of the money in his wallet. but the ladies were happy to oblige. You’ve got to love New York. If you don’t, you just get irritated. So love it. Trust me.

Max Marterer has been here before, having qualified three times before today’s 6-4. 6-3 win over Riccardo Bonadio of Italy in 68 minutes. He told us it doesn’t get any easier just because you know you’ve done it before.

Then came the rains that may have washed this reporter out. We’re currently in a 55 minute rain delay and depending on the time that they resume play, this may be my last post from New York. It’s been a great August for American tennis fans and I expect nothing less than major fireworks as the big dogs start their engines on Monday. Cheers!

Fans Return to @USOpen Qualifying and the World’s Better for It

Posted by Admin on August 24, 2022

Posted in: Arthur Ashe Stadium, ATP, New York, US Open, US Open Qualifying, WTA. Tagged: 2022 US Open, atp, Ethan Quinn, itf, Katerina Kozlova, Linda Fruhvirtova, new york, Sara Bejlek, wta. Leave a comment

Fans Return to US Open Qualifying and the World’s Better for It

Steve Fogleman in Fushing Meadows

We’ve had COVID subvariants. Historical Inflation. Supply Chain Issues. Labor Shortages. War.

We’ve all been through so much that anything and everything is comfort food. The resumption of the US Open Fan Week was the most delicious heaping of banana pudding served up all year.

So it was in the home of the birthplace of modern democracy, the most democratic of events is back on after a two year hiatus. For the price of a subway ride, fans have been treated to courtside seats to watch Serena Williams practice in what very well may be her last days on Ashe.

And there are many more treasures on the field courts, where we’ve whittled the field down to a more manageable 64 men and 64 women for a two day sprint in quest of a trip of a lifetime to the main draw next week.

It’s a dizzying array of teens, grizzled journeymen and all player types in between grasping for the prize to be a part of the real deal of this greatness, and we always gravitate toward those who are looking for a life-altering first time grand slam entry. We found a few already in the first round.

Ethan Quinn, ranked #506 and only 18, defeated his first top-200 opponent in compatriot Ernesto Escobedo (#175) to advance to a qualifying semifinal tomorrow against Federico Delbonis (#136) with a chance to claim a second straight top 200 opponent. The 2022 Kalamazoo finalist is a University of Georgia redshirt Freshman.

Linda Fruhvirtova may be only 17, but she has already defeated the likes of Elise Mertens and Vika Azarenka. She was cool as a cucumber after her first round straight sets win over Ylena In-Albon of Switzerland, 6-3-, 6-3 in 1:23 yesterday. Next up for the Czech is Carolina Alves of Brazil tomorrow.

16-year-old Czech competitor Sara Bejlek had the toughest feat of the day on Wednesday and walked away a winner, besting six-time grand slam doubles titlist Kiki Mladenovic. Bejlek edged past the Frenchwoman in the first set, 6-4, before Mladenovic seemingly took control of the match after she won the second, 6-1. But the 16-year-old was not to be outdone, having done it too many times to remember in her young career. “Yeah, I’m like this,” she told me moments after the win. “I’m playing often in three sets. I mean, I’m strong in the head so that’s probably most important why I’m winning three set matches right now,”she said. She definitely took advantage of Mladenovic’s serve in the third and celebrated as her opponent double-faulted the match away. Final Score: 4-6. 6-1, 6-4. Bejlek will meet Australian Priscilla Hon on Court 9 tomorrow around 1pm.

Kateryna Baindl (nee Kozlova) is no Spring Chicken here. At 28, she’s trying to find her way in to a seventh US Open main draw, having reached the second round twice in her career. The Ukrainian spoke to me about the situation in Ukraine after her win over Jesika Maleckova yesterday. Next up for Baindl is Tamara Korpatsch of Germany.

Two matches, two days. Let’s do this!

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When the weather cooperates, the Boyd Tinsley Women’s Tennis Classic in Charlottesville, VA, is one of the best tennis experiences in the world. I’ve been through monsoons here and I’ve been through beautiful spring days. And Thursday was a beautiful day on the Har-Tru at the Boar’s Head Sports Resort. 16 first round matches and 8 second round matches were on order due to Wednesday’s rainout. It was perfect for the fans and for the dogs. I saw more dogs today at a tournament than I have ever seen before. It’s called “growing the sport.”

Conditions were a little doggy for the players in the early going. For the first players on the courts on Thursday, the surface played very slow. After Allie Kiick beat Louisa Chirico before 11 a.m., she told me that “we were both hitting” dropshots and that “for two whole games, we had nothing but dropshots.”

Jen Brady and Allie Kiick needed three sets to open the day, with both staging comeback wins over Irina Falconi and Louisa Chirico respectively. In the 2^nd round, it was all Jen Brady from the start and she advanced to a quarterfinal match today against Katerina Stewart.

Camilla Rosatello needed little time to dispatch Olga Ianchuk, who immediately went behind the court and sobbed into a phone call after the match. Cheer up, Olga! Mariana Duque-Marino spoiled my debut of Iga Swiatek 7-6(3), 6-3, and in the nightcap, Duque-Marino proved the tougher competitor in a 6-2, 6-3 sweep of Rosatello. She’ll face the plucky Grace Min today for a spot in the semis.
As for Min, she beat an error-prone Jamie Loeb yesterday morning before taking out Sophie Chang in the nightcap. Chang continued to impress since Charleston with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Victoria Duval earlier in the day.

Top seed Madison Brengle looked out of form, in all of her talking to herself idiosyncratic ways and plaintively looking at her mother in the stands all day. She wasted little time taking out American Maria Sanchez in straights in the first round and then completely fell apart in the round of 16, losing 6-2, 6-1 to Mari Osaka. Osaka plays Anhelina Kalinina later today.

Speaking of dogs: Ashley Kratzer celebrated with her dog, Koa, after a win over Lizette Cabrera in the morning. In late afternoon, she faced Sesil Karatantcheva. That’s when Krasher’s real dog days began. Karantantcheva advanced to play Taylor Townsend, 6-2, 7-6(5).

And then there’s Taylor Townsend. Inching ever closer to the Roland Garros Wild Card, she made another big step forward yesterday to make the quarters at this $80,000.00 event. The window is closing on other Americans to step up and make it a race. With Brady, Stewart and Min the only other Americans still standing at Charlottesville, a semis showing here should nearly wrap it up for Townsend. She showed yesterday that she is heads above the talent field at this level and it’s good to see her succeed.

—S. Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

Boar’s Head Resort (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

I had a strange dream. I dreamt I went to Charlottesville, like I do every year for the ATP Challenger. I stayed at the same hotel as I always do. I went to the same brewpubs I always do. I watched some hard court indoor tennis like I always do. Then, I realized the players in the Challenger were women and I woke up.

Boyd Tinsley Classic (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

Days of constant rain in Virginia turned the Boyd Tinsley Clay Court Classic into the spring indoor classic. Madison Brengle, the tournament’s top seed at #100, dispensed shopping tips to the younger players on tour as she sat near the entrance of the facility all weekend ~~talking about which tournaments offer the best hospitality on the road~~. (Correction: It was all about shopping, I later learned).

Boyd Tinsley Classic (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)

I love qualifying, perhaps because the crowds are lighter or because the players are hungrier. As usual, I was one of two fans in the stands, with a smattering of players, coaches and tournament volunteers scattered throughout the giant Boar’s Head Resort’s indoor facility.

Sunday’s qualifying found the pros relegated to the dungeon courts, where there was no access to watch anything but the match near the net. The University of Virginia women’s team was hosting and they got first dibs on the indoor show courts.

I came for the surface. After Charleston, I can’t just jerk back to hard courts. But Mother Nature had other ideas. And so it was that I didn’t see a single point or practice on the clay.

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I did see some ferocious competition in the likes of Julia Elbaba, playing on her alma mater terra sancta and almost qualifying on will alone, or the awkward effectiveness and endurance of Elizaveta Ianchuk (the Ukranian who’s been here three years in a row) or the punchy counter-attacking of Robin Anderson. Or how about 18-year-old racket tosser Ashley Kratzer, ferocious on court like Barbora Strycova but as quiet and mild-mannered as a teen-ager can be off court. How about the quiet clapping of Carol Zhao’s parents, overjoyed by their daughter’s wins but clapping so softly, as if their own parents were in an adjoining bedroom? On another note, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a 9:00 a.m. match start before at a tournament. Some players are barely awake.

The good news, if you live within three hours of Charlottesville is that the weather forecast is about to break wide open as spring’s wild variations usually do. In two days, no one will remember the constant rain in Charlottesville. I will. It can be so lonely on the tour. The rain has a way of incessantly reminding you of that loneliness. And then you look down on court where a 26-year-old is looking back at her coach after an unforced error, and you’re sitting next to him. And she looks almost right at you, asking “why am I doing this?” It makes you question why any of them don’t hang it up if they haven’t reached the top 100 by the time they’re 24. Regardless, they soldier on. That doesn’t take away from the pain in their eyes, the second-guessing, the constant moving about to cheap hotel rooms, traveling like a band of one where nobody’s ever heard their hit song. You have to remind yourself that these players are here by choice. For the most part, they’re adults. You have to remind yourself that these players aren’t forced into this lifestyle by an authoritarian government. But sometimes, that doesn’t seem apparent at first glance. May the heavens shine down on them and make all of them top 20 players someday.

The sun can’t shine soon enough on Charlottesville and the determined women at the Boyd Tinsley Clay Court Classic. Today is forecast to be partly cloudy and 79 degrees.

—S. Fogleman (the S is for Soggy)

Life on Tour With Jean-Yves Aubone (@JYNole) August 2015 Update #9 A Message to Junior Tennis Players
Jean-Yves Aubone, Tennis Atlantic

A Message To Junior Tennis Players

Dear junior tennis players,

You’re not alone.

Recently I asked my followers on Instagram to e-mail me with any questions they had regarding the life of a professional tennis player or tennis in general. To my surprise, the majority of e-mails I received were from junior tennis players looking for advice on how to deal with low confidence, getting frustrated all the time, and handling their nerves. In more simple terms, they were looking for help with the mental side of the game.

As I read each e-mail carefully, I remembered I was just like them. I remembered how a devastating loss could put me into complete sadness. I remembered how many times I would lose matches because I got nervous during big moments and made some bad decisions. Before answering I thought to myself, “what do I wish I knew then that I know now?”

I wish I understood the importance of training the mind.

For most of my life, I tried to have fun on the court. I tried to let it fly and enjoy the game. I tried endlessly to believe in myself and my abilities as a tennis player. Yet every time things started going wrong, I would get so frustrated things only got worse.

I was always told to have fun and play relaxed but how could I when I was losing? I was told to not worry about winning or losing, but how could I when the ultimate goal was to win? Telling someone to do something without giving them the proper instruction on how to do it, is completely useless.

Up until the last year and a half, no one had ever taught me how to actually play relaxed. No one taught me how to not get frustrated if I started losing. No one ever taught me how to breathe properly so that I could calm myself down. No one ever taught me how to quiet the damn voices in my head that repeatedly said things such as:

“I suck at tennis.
I hate this game.
I knew I was going to lose.
This always happens to me.
I’m just not good enough.”

These mental wars I had with myself were the primary reasons I quit tennis after playing at the collegiate level. The wars began to tear me apart. I suffered on the court and off of it as well. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and quit. Nothing in life, especially a damn game, is worth suffering so much over.

Two years after college the stress from tennis faded away and I decided to leave the office life and give tennis another try. Unfortunately the mental wars began again. I still hadn’t learned how to control my thoughts and nerves. Out of complete desperation, I finally decided to work with a mental coach (I prefer mental coach over psychologist). Slowly I started to learn the proper way to think, the proper words to use in my head, and the proper way to breathe so I could slow my heart rate down when I became nervous.

Since then, tennis has become less stressful and the emotions of it almost never spill into my personal life. More importantly, at the age of 27 I’m finally able to enjoy the game to the fullest.

We (tennis players) are willing to put an extraordinary amount of hours practicing how to hit a tennis ball, yet almost never work on the most important part of the game: the mind. When a professional tennis player or coach is asked how much of the game is mental, the typical answer is roughly 80%. If the game is about 80% mental, then why are we spending nearly 100% of our practice time on the court and in the gym? The numbers don’t make sense.

My best advice to junior tennis players: start working on the mental side of things as soon as possible. Read books; I personally recommend to begin with The Inner Game of Tennis and Winning Ugly. If your coach is not training your mind- ask him to. If he does not have the proper skills to do so, then find a mental coach. Don’t waste years of your tennis life being continuously stressed on court. Enjoy the beautiful game while having an easier pathway to being the best player you can be.

Life on Tour ATP

Life on Tour With Jean-Yves Aubone (@JYNole) June 2015 Update #8 Mexico
Jean-Yves Aubone, Tennis Atlantic

The mountains of Manzanillo, Mexico

The Grind-An Unnamed Airport, USA

My departure started 11 hours ago and I have many more hours to go until I get home. I’m on my way back from the $10,000 Future’s event in Manzanillo, Mexico where I lost in the first round of singles and then in the doubles final.

I’m at my third airport of the day, drinking a classic American “man’s” beverage, with four hours to go until I lug my gear through my fourth and final stop. Overall, it was not a bad trip. Not just because my job is playing in professional tennis tournaments, but also because it served a greater purpose. It reminded me of how great we have it in the States.

In Mexico, I met up with a few American’s who’d arrived a week earlier to play the first tournament. We were originally supposed to stay at the all-inclusive beachfront resort that was hosting the tournament, but that plan fell apart right away.

The Americans got stuck in a room at the Gran Festivall with no air conditioning, no Wi-Fi – except in the lobby, which barely worked. And then there were the bedbugs. One girl who’d arrived early too, was forced to retire in the middle of her match because her bed bug bites were so inflamed she couldn’t play in the blistering sun.

So, without hesitation my American friends bailed from the resort to a hotel down the road.

During my twenty minute taxi ride through the mountains and small farms of Manzanillo, I thought “if the all-inclusive resort was that bad, what about a local $35 a night hotel?”

Upon my arrival to a narrow building in a busy but worn down part of town, where any cartel gang might easily wreak havoc, I was more than a little concerned. The hotel room doors all were outside, which meant anyone could walk up to my place. It’s not the feeling I wanted on my first day in a foreign country, in a city that I had never heard of before.

Walking up to the third floor (yes, no elevators and carrying the full weight of the 100-degree heat index on my way up the stairs) I stepped into my room, drenched with sweat, but pleasantly surprised. It was clean. The a/c worked. So did the TV, although the only available English channels played nothing but horror movies.

Reality hit, though, when I discovered the only working Wi-Fi spots were in the hallway or down in the parking lot. Many times I opened the window just so I could stick my phone out in the hallway to send and receive text messages. And whenever my fiancé called the room, a beeping noise, like a fax tone, droned through the line.

The view from the hotel

The front desk attendant later explained that a single phone line served the entire hotel. So, if someone else was trying to get a call through, they would interrupt any call in progress. The beeping would continue until whomever else trying to make a call stopped. They never stopped.

By far though, my favorite moment of the trip was on the second day, having to wake up at 6:00 am to be able to practice with my roommate, Collin John, at 7:00 am. The resort was overloaded, hosting both men’s and women’s events on only ten courts. So, players were forced to practice four to a court during the “typical” practice hours. Since we wanted a full court to ourselves, our only option was to wake up for an early morning grind session.

Unfortunately, since we weren’t staying at the tournament hotel, the resort provided no transportation.

So there we were on a Saturday morning, standing on the side of the road at 6:30 in the dark, in Mexico, waiting for the bus, looking completely out of place with our tennis bags and clothing. Then, when we hopped on the 7-peso ride, I couldn’t help but think how ironic it was that two professional tennis players were taking a rickety bus in the 6:30 dusk just to get in a decent practice.

To top it off, the bus dropped us off on a side road next to the resort. To avoid a 15-minute trek up a hill and then back down, we had to throw our bags over the wall and “sneak” in to the resort.

After a few days I got used to the whole bus and “cloak and dagger” routine. The food though, took some doing. I did my best to eat as many meals as possible at the hotel restaurant. Almost every other food joint in the city was street-side with no a/c, so by eating in the hotel I limited how much walking and sweating I was doing.

There was this one no-named family owned taco place though, across the street. After mustering up the courage to try it a few days into the trip, I first considered it the best street-corner taco stand on the planet. Towards the end of the trip, however, I quickly stripped it of that honor when players started getting sick from eating there. My doubles partner, Andre Dome, was forced to withdraw from his singles semifinal and our doubles final due to food poisoning. Lesson learned: never eat at a no-named taco stand on a street corner in Mexico.

The taco stand

So, as tiring and hard as traveling is, when I landed in Orlando for my third connection of the day, the familiar aura of Disney World and the luxury of drinking from the water fountain welcomed me. I wasn’t in Atlanta yet, but in my mind, I was already home.

My next tournaments will be two 15k Future’s events in Tulsa, OK and Wichita, KS. I couldn’t be more excited to play in my home country of the USA. I won’t take a moment for granted.

Life on Tour ATP

Life on Tour With Jean-Yves Aubone (@JYNole) May 2015 Update #6 Tallahassee Renewal
Jean-Yves Aubone, Tennis Atlantic

Tallahassee Tennis Challenger 2015 Jean-Yves Aubone

The 2015 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger

Rock Bottom?

After losing 6-3 6-0 in the qualifying of the Savannah Challenger a week ago, I felt completely lost. It was one of the worst moments of my career. In practice I was playing the best tennis of my life, but when it counted, I couldn’t beat my mom who stopped playing tennis years ago (yes a part of me believed this). It had been about a month and a half since I won a set. I couldn’t understand it. Usually when a player reaches their career high ranking, they are full of confidence; for me it was the opposite. I became more nervous and anxious with each match. Just by looking at the scoreline and my recent matches, one might think I lost on purpose. I wish that was the case. At least I would have understood why I could lose so badly every tournament when I was playing so well in practice. The reality was that I tried until the very last point. I even told myself when I was down a set and 5-0 that at least I had the opportunity to make one of the most epic comebacks in my career. It didn’t happen.

After the match I went straight to one of the practice courts where no one could bother me and I sat alone. I tried to gather my thoughts but I was so angry that I couldn’t think. I sat on the bench looking around hoping that I would find something, anything, that could make me feel better. Unfortunately it started to rain. I thought about going back in the clubhouse but I couldn’t do it. The last thing I wanted was for someone to ask me how the match went. After showering in the fitness center that was a mile away from the tennis clubhouse, and where I knew I wouldn’t be bothered, I went to Starbucks for a few hours. I didn’t want to go back to the hotel because I was staying with Greg (Ouellette) who just beat me!

I called my coach Joseph O’Dwyer and explained to him that I wanted to leave town. I wanted to get away. I felt so frustrated and lost. Even though I didn’t want to quit, I did want to get away from the game. This wasn’t fun anymore. Joseph reminded me that there are ups in downs in tennis and that every player goes through it. He gave me examples such as Ernests Gulbis, who recently was one of the top 20 players in the world and somehow can’t win a match.

Joe also reminded me that someone trying to reach something great has to stay the course no matter how hard it is. Nothing great happens after a smooth ride. I agreed and said I was going to stay in Savannah and practice but I still wasn’t happy. I was so upset that I couldn’t even talk to my fiancé. I felt terrible because she was being punished for something that had nothing to do with her but I couldn’t help it. My frustration had completely taken over my thoughts.

The frustration at practice the next day was very evident. I considered it a victory that I stayed until the very end without throwing my racquet into the woods. As I walked off the practice court I ran into Stanford Boster, one of the USTA’s national coaches. After speaking for a few minutes to him about what I was going through he said something that later on in the day clicked in my head. I don’t want to give away what he said to me but it changed everything. It was so simple yet I’d never thought about it. I now knew what was wrong, and it was fixable. I spoke with Joseph about it and he completely agreed with what Stan said. I was so happy, so relieved. I couldn’t wait to play the next tournament.

The next tournament for me was in the main draw of the Tallahassee Challenger. I was fortunate enough to have a wild card into the main draw. My coach and fiancé were both at the event and in my corner for the first time all year. The timing couldn’t have been better. The combination of them being there and my new mental approach helped me tremendously. Mentally I played the best two matches all year. I was nervous but not anxious. I played free. I played like myself again and I can’t even put into words how happy that made me.

JY in action in Tallahassee

After losing in the second round to Tiafoe, I found myself upset at a few execution mistakes I made. Joseph stopped me and said, “you just got off the court upset at execution mistakes, which can be fixed, rather than being upset at how you couldn’t get a ball in the court and and complaining that your head is a mess. Today is a win, not a loss.” Immediately all my anger went away when I heard that. He was right. Mentally, I was back. I was me again.

I just want to thank my fiancé for her patience and support through all the good and bad moments in my career. I want to thank Joseph for convincing me to stay in Savannah when it was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Finally, I want to thank Stanford Boster for the short conversation that I’ll never forget. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.

Life on Tour ATP

Rain Suspends Play @USTAProCircuit Charlottesville Thursday; Friday Order of Play

Posted by Admin on April 30, 2015

Posted in: Charlottesville, ITF, WTA. Tagged: 2015, Boyd Tinsley, charlottesville, clay court, itf, Katerina Stewart, michelle larcher de brito, tennis, usta, Usue Arconada, women's, wta. Leave a comment

RAIN SUSPENDS PLAY ON THURSDAY AT 14th ANNUAL BOYD TINSLEY WOMEN’S CLAY COURT CLASSIC

Katerina Stewart

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 30, 2015 – Mother Nature cut things a tad short during Thursday’s round at the 14th Annual Boyd Tinsley Women’s Clay Court Classic, the USTA Pro Circuit event being held this week at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. Rain began to fall in the afternoon, cutting a few matches short. The matches are scheduled to be resumed on Friday.

Seven of the eight singles second-round matches were completed, with only one seeded competitor remaining heading into the quarterfinals. No. 3 seed Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal took care of American Caitlin Whoriskey, 6-4, 6-3. The other seeded player that made it through to the second round, No. 6 Paula Ormaechea, was knocked off by fellow Argentinean Florencia Molinero, 6-3, 7-5, on Thursday. Molinero will next face Usue Maitane Arconada, who defeated fellow American Julia Boserup, 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-2.

Larcher de Brito, ranked No. 133, will await the winner between American Jessica Pegula and the lone qualifier still standing, Ukraine’s Elizaveta Ianchuk. Their match was suspended due to weather midway through the deciding third set, tied at 3 games apiece.

2013 Tinsley singles runner-up Allie Kiick survived a tough Thursday challenge from Brazilian Paula Cristina Goncalves, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Up next for Kiick is a quarterfinal matchup against Russia’s Irina Khromacheva, who outlasted Brazil’s Gabriela Ce in three sets on Thursday.

The other singles quarterfinal matchup pits Katerina Stewart of the United States against Canadian Francoise Abanda. Each eliminated a qualifier on Thursday, as Stewart downed American teenager Nicole Frenkel and Abanda bested Storm Sanders of Australia.

Only one doubles quarterfinal match was completed on Thursday, as second-seeded Chieh-Yu Hsu of Taiwan and Justyna Jegiolka of Poland ended the run of Americans Louisa Chirico and Grace Min, 6-2, 6-4. Hsu and Jegiolka needed just two points to clinch the match, but first had to wait out a 30-minute lightning delay.

The match between Samantha Crawford & Emily Harman and Ce & Jessica Moore was suspended in the second set and is scheduled to resume on Friday. The other two doubles quarterfinal matches did not get started on Thursday, as play was officially called at around 4:15 PM.

On Friday, Abanda and Stewart will kick things off on Stadium Court at 10AM (weather pending), with Larcher de Brito’s match to follow after appropriate rest for the winner between Pegula and Ianchuk. That match will resume at 10AM on Court 7 before Arconado and Molinero take the court. Kiick faces Khromacheva in the first match on Court 1, with the three remaining doubles quarterfinal matches to follow later in the day on Courts 1 and 3.

Please see below for Friday’s complete schedule and full results from Thursday.

The 14th Annual Boyd Tinsley Women’s Clay Court Classic features 32 singles players and a 16-team doubles field. The tournament is held at Boar’s Head Sports Club, 200 Wellington Drive in Charlottesville, Virginia. Admission to the tournament is free and the event is open to the public.

This year’s event will again be included in the three-week Har-Tru Wild Card Challenge, which awards one American man and one American woman a wild card into the main draw of the 2015 French Open, which begins in late May. Points will be added to the top American finishers in Charlottesville’s tally, with next week’s tournament in Indian Harbour, Florida marking the last chance to earn points toward the French Open.

Again this year, the Boyd Tinsley Classic will be streamed live at http://www.procircuit.usta.com.

With more than 90 tournaments throughout the country and prize money ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed on the USTA Pro Circuit for approximately $3.2 million in prize money and valuable ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ranking points.

14th Annual Boyd Tinsley Women’s Clay Court Classic
Thursday, April 30
At Boar’s Head Sports Club
Charlottesville, VA
Purse: $50,000
Surface: Clay-outdoor

Singles – Second Round
Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal [3] def. Caitlin Whoriskey, United States, 6-4, 6-3
Florencia Molinero, Argentina def. Paula Ormaechea, Argentina [6], 6-3, 7-5
Katerina Stewart, United States def. Nicole Frenkel, United States, 6-3, 6-0
Irina Khromacheva, Russia def. Gabriela Ce, Brazil, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Francoise Abanda, Canada def. Storm Sanders, Australia, 6-4, 6-2
Usue Maitane Arconada, United States def. Julia Boserup, United States, 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-2
Allie Kiick, United States def. Paula Cristina Goncalves, Brazil, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Jessica Pegula, United States vs. Elizaveta Ianchuk, Ukraine, susp.

Doubles – Quarterfinals
Chieh-Yu Hsu, Taiwan / Justyna Jegiolka, Poland [2] def. Louisa Chirico, United States / Grace Min, United States, 6-2, 6-4
Samantha Crawford, United States / Emily J. Harman, United States vs. Gabriela Ce, Brazil / Jessica Moore, Australia, susp.
Paula Cristina Goncalves, Brazil / Florencia Molinero, Argentina [1] vs. Francoise Abanda, Canada / Maria Sanchez, United States, ppd.
Olga Ianchuk, Ukraine / Irina Khromacheva, Russia [3] vs. Jacqueline Cako, United States / Vojislava Lukic, Serbia, ppd.

Schedule for Friday, May 1

Court 3/Stadium, starting at 10:00 AM
Francoise Abanda, Canada vs. Katerina Stewart, United States
After Rest, Time TBA
Jessica Pegula, United States or Elizaveta Ianchuk, Ukraine vs. Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal [3]
After Rest, Time TBA
Paula Cristina Goncalves, Brazil / Florencia Molinero, Argentina [1] vs. Francoise Abanda, Canada / Maria Sanchez, United States
After Rest, Time TBA
Olga Ianchuk, Ukraine / Irina Khromacheva, Russia [3] or Jacqueline Cako, United States / Vojislava Lukic, Serbia vs. Chieh-Yu Hsu, Taiwan / Justyna Jegiolka, Poland [2]

Court 1, starting at 10:00 AM
Allie Kiick, United States vs. Irina Khromacheva, Russia
Followed by
Samantha Crawford, United States / Emily J. Harman, United States vs. Gabriela Ce, Brazil / Jessica Moore, Australia (completion of suspended match)
After Rest, Time TBA
Olga Ianchuk, Ukraine / Irina Khromacheva, Russia [3] vs. Jacqueline Cako, United States / Vojislava Lukic, Serbia

Court 7, starting at 10:00 AM
Jessica Pegula, United States vs. Elizaveta Ianchuk, Ukraine (completion of suspended match)
Followed by
Usue Maitane Arconada, United States vs. Florencia Molinero, Argentina

—S. Radcliffe

Dothan Do-Over Featured Today @USTAProCircuit in Charlottesville

Posted by Admin on April 29, 2015

Posted in: Charlottesville, ITF, USTA, WTA. Tagged: 2015, boar's head, Boyd Tinsley, charlottesville, dothan, french open, itf, Katerina Stewart, Louisa Chirico, Sachia Vickery, usa, usta pro circuit, wild card, women's, wta. Leave a comment

Dothan Do-Over Featured Today @USTAProCircuit in Charlottesville
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

An American Tweet-Up

Qualifying concluded at the Boyd Tinsley Women’s Classic in Charlottesville yesterday, and the seeds better be scared. Qualifiers Storm Sanders, Nicole Frenkel, Vojislava Lukic and Elizaveta Ianchuk put in very strong performances that they hope will propel them beyond the first round. Frenkel is the lone American qualifier and she’ll be ready to jump into the Har-Tru Wild Card Challenge after her 6-2, 6-1 victory over Angelina Gabueva of Russia. Gabueva was a lucky loser, and she’ll get a chance to redeem herself in a match against the seemingly ever-vulnerable Michelle Larcher de Brito today.

But today is all about the Dothan Do-Over. Wild Card challenge leaders and Dothan finalists Katerina Stewart square off today. The match is the third of the day on Stadium Court and the winner may take an upper hand in the race for the reciprocal wild card to the French Open awarded by the USTA. A Chirico loss today would certainly shake things up in the standings and put the pressure on Stewart to continue to win in Charlottesville.

And there will be plenty of others on court today trying to snag wild card points. Of 11 matches today, only three won’t have an American on court. Top seed Sachia Vickery will be on Stadium Court prior to the Dothan Do-Over looking to advance past Julia Boserup. Second-seeded Grace Min will be the feature match on Court 7 against Gabriela Ce in what I call the “The Cage”. It’s the only court in Charlottesville with a tall fence in front of it, so it reminds me of going to watch a friend play at a middle-school court.

And Tornado Alicia Black against Francoise Abanda? Yes, please. They kick things off on Court 1 in just a few minutes.

Vickery and Abanda

I’ll live-tweet the Dothan Do-Over and then leave the tournament, relying on the live stream to keep me informed for the rest of the week. Whether it’s the Men’s Pro Challenger in the fall or this event in the spring, the Boar’s Head Resort is a must-see for tennis fans. Fans and bloggers are basically embedded in the café, which serves as a de facto player’s lounge so you get to watch them kill time between matches in real time. You can’t help but overhearing their jokes and stories and I promise you it’s more fun than watching paint dry. You also get an immediate sense of the real personalities of the assembled athletes. Danielle Lao has to be the happiest American on tour as she has had a permanent smile for three straight days. And I personally nominate Jennifer Elie as the funniest American on the tour. I even called her “American Petko” to her face. She had everyone in stitches joking about a certain college football standout who had been in trouble for stealing crab legs. With your laundry in your bag, and not sure where your next stop is going to be, laughter is a great medicine to get through the tour.

Life on Tour With Jean-Yves Aubone (@JYNole) April 2015 Update #5 Israel Trip Post-Mortem
Jean-Yves Aubone, Tennis Atlantic

No Excuses

There’s no way around it. My trip to Israel for three consecutive tournaments was probably the most gut-wrenching one I’ve ever had. I didn’t even win a set in any of my matches. I’m sure I can come up with a few logical excuses but I know I’d be lying. I had everything I needed to perform. I had a coach with me everyday. I improved at each practice. I ate as well as I could. The weather was impeccable. At night I slept as if I was in my own bed. Unfortunately, none of it mattered. As soon as the match started, my preparation went out the window.

The nerves that usually only exist in the first few games of the match lasted the entire match. I was never calm. I played very indecisive tennis. I couldn’t stick to a game plan. On big points I made way too many unforced errors. To sum it up, I played bad.

As I reflected on this trip I remembered what I learned when working in finance. When picking stocks, one can put all the work in. They could have studied all the fundamentals and technical charts. They could have followed their winning process exactly the same as before. Yet somehow the stock didn’t move in the direction their work indicated it would. That doesn’t mean the process is broken and they didn’t work hard enough. It just means this time they were wrong. But so long as they stick to the process, put the right amount of work in time after time, they will be right more often than not. So long as I keep putting the correct amount of work in, I know I will win more than I will lose.

While I know I’m doing everything I can to put myself in the best position to succeed, I still couldn’t help but feel sick to my stomach during my trip back to the United States. During a 12-hour flight to Newark, where I was stuck in the middle seat and could rarely stand up, I had more than enough time to watch 8 episodes of House of Cards, two movies, and still think about how I spent 3 weeks in the Middle East without even winning a set. I had no ranking points to defend from last year, so it was a great opportunity to move up in the rankings. Instead, I come back with none of my matches going over an hour and a half, and having made $208 in singles (not including expenses). As much as I can say I play for the love of the game, I also like winning and I didn’t even come close.

My original flight was set for way after the day I lost, so I could have stayed and enjoyed all the historical locations that Israel has to offer but I had to get out of there. The longer I was in Israel the more mental damage it would have done. I had to put the trip behind me and prepare for the challenger tournaments in Savannah, Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida

Before I end this blog I want to thank Gabriel Rujinsky for all his help coaching me in Israel. Though the results didn’t show it, my game improved each and everyday because of his help. I have no doubt that the work we put in will show at some point. I also want to thank his wife Manuska. She took care of me like I was part of her family. Finally, I want to thank their three daughters for treating me as their brother. I was so far away from home but I always felt like I was with family. Thank you all for making my trip to Israel as fun possible. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

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