Sebastian Korda Wins Australian Open Boys’ Championship
Sebastian Korda, 2018 AO Boys’ Champion
Seventeen-year old Sebastian Korda, of Bradenton, Fla., won the Australian Open boys’ singles title over Korean Chun Hsin Tseng, 7-6(6), 6-4, in Melbourne.
Korda, whose father and coach, Petr, won the Australian Open men’s singles title 20 years ago, became the fifth American ever to win the Australian Open boys’ singles title and the third in the last 50 years (Donald Young, 2005; Andy Roddick, 2000; Butch Buchholz, 1959; Gerry Moss, 1955).
An American has now been victorious at the last four junior Grand Slam tournaments, after Whitney Osuigwe (French Open), Claire Liu (Wimbledon) and Amanda Anisimova (US Open) all won major girls’ singles titles in 2017.
Chris Eubanks, 2017 Charlottesville Challenger (Photo: TennisAtlantic.com)
Newly Minted Pro Chris Eubanks Back to Winning Ways at 2017 Charlottesville Challenger Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
(Charlottesville, VA–October 31) Eight days ago, Chris Eubanks announced that he would give up his final season of eligibility at Georgia Tech to turn pro. Not much else has changed for Eubanks in that time, as the 2016 Charlottesville semifinalist simply returned to his winning ways here in a tight two-set victory over Canadian Samuel Monette, 7-6(9), 6-4. He had plenty of praise for his opponent after notching pro victory Numero Uno.
“I knew that (Monette) going in, it was going to be a grind to play him. He fights as good as anybody out there. He makes you play,” he said of the young Canadian. “I had a very slow start and my legs weren’t working. I don’t know what it was, but luckily after I got a couple of holds I kind of found my legs,” he continued.
As is so often the case, the long tiebreak would prove momentous in this match as well. “The breaker was a battle, a really big momentum shifter,” Eubanks said. “Whoever got that breaker was going to have a little extra juice and I was fortunate to save a couple of set points and come out on top of the breaker and give me some momentum.”
Eubanks gained that momentum and served first in the second set.
Like most players, Eubanks refuses to use numerical rankings toward his near and short-term goals. “Just to be be better every day,” he said. “I don’t want to put certain numbers or quantitative benchmarks on it. I just want to continue to progress and say ‘Hey, I think I’m a better player than I was two months ago’. When the end of December comes and I can say that I’m a much better player than I am right at this moment, then I think I had a successful year.”
You know you’ve got a Georgia Tech engineer on your hands when “quantitative benchmarks” come up at a tennis court. Eubanks will face Next Gen contender Michael Mmoh in Round 2.
Shelby Rogers (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)
Shelby Rogers Defeats Daria Gavrilova in Longest-Ever US Open Women’s Match
August 31, 2017 — Shelby Rogers, of Charleston, S.C., defeated 25th-seeded Daria Gavrilova, of Australia, 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(5), in a second-round match that took 3 hours, 33 minutes, setting a record for the longest women’s match in US Open history.
Shelby Rogers, 2017 Volvo Car Open (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)
The previous record was 3 hours, 23 minutes, set when Johanna Konta defeated Garbine Muguruza in the 2015 second round, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2.
A 24-year old currently ranked No. 62, Rogers — whose best result at a Grand Slam came by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2016 French Open — will play fourth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the third round.
Tennis Road Show Back to Cincinnati Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
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It’s hard to believe it’s already late summer and the tennis road show moved to Ohio for a big build-up to the US Open. With so many engaging story lines on both sides of the sport, the Western & Southern Open will likely set the table for the end-of-year narrative.
While most of the tennis world was witnessing the breakout weekend in Toronto for Sascha Zverev, there were packed stands for qualifying matches in Ohio, including a girl who cried because she didn’t get an autograph from Magdalena Rybarikova. I thought, “It’ll get better.” It can always get better than getting snubbed by Rybarikova for an autograph.
This is the greatest tennis place in America. Not the greatest tennis space like Indian Wells, but the greatest tennis place. A place where Americans root for Americans and where they never say John Eisner. Media Director Pete Holtermann says it best when he tells me that there are 9 states within a 250 mile radius of the event. It’s the Midwestern Open.
38 matches on a single day like last Saturday is Slam-like, if not Slam-lite. It is nearly impossible to cover all of the courts and all of the matches at a big tourney footprint like the Western & Southern Open. You pick what looks good and you plan to stay in that area of the facility. It’s progressively bigger in my usual route of Newport, D.C., Cincinnati and the US Open.
In fact, it’s the perfect warm-up to the US Open. Who knew? Oh, wait.
Sunday’s 19 matches felt relaxing by comparison. Qualifying concluded with the 19 winners, 7 men and 12 women who jump into main draw play today. They were beaten to the first round by Ryan Harrison, Gilles Muller, John Isner and Vik Troicki, who kicked off their first round matches yesterday.
Harrison fought hard in a three set loss to Muller and he heard that American fanbase he says is so sorely needed. They cheered for him through the ups and the downs, but the American wilted in the thrid set tiebreak to advance Muller to the second round with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3) win.
The fans were then served a less dramatic match but got to cheer on another fellow countryman when John Isner eased past Troicki, 7-6(3), 6-4.
Maximilian Marterer of Germany advanced in straight sets yesterday to his first career main draw of a 1000 level event. He was so excited he could barely contain his glee as he rode off on the golf cart he had to share with his opponent, Ramkumar Ramanathan. Ramanathan looked dazed as a man who had lost two consecutive tie breaks despite the fans overwhelming support on Court 4. Marterer rides into the first round against American Frances Tiafoe later today.
J.P. Smith is almost an American to these fans and it showed at the end of his match yesterday. Despite cheering for Christian Harrison throughout the match, their applause turned to the former University of Tennessee alum as he prepared to serve out the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win. Fans flocked to him for photos as he soaked up a memorable weekend on the outer courts.
Taylor Townsend gave many plenty to smile about with her comeback win. After losing the first set in a tiebreak to Carina Witthoeft on Center Court, she stormed back to win out 7-5, 6-1. More adulation by the crowd was in store for Townsend as she was mobbed by well-wishers. Monica Puig is next in store for Townsend later this afternoon on Court 10.
CINCINNATI (August 8, 2017) — Four Americans aged 20-and-under have been awarded wild card entries into the men’s field at the Western & Southern Open. Tommy Paul (20), Jared Donaldson (20), Stefan Kozlov (19) and Frances Tiafoe (19) will play in the main draw of the tournament that will be held August 12-20 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
“We are thrilled to welcome these four American rising stars to the Western & Southern Open,“ said Tournament Director Andre Silva. “There is an energy and buzz around the youth movement that is taking place in the game, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to see that firsthand.”
Jared Donaldson was clutch
Paul, who was raised in North Carolina, has reached consecutive quarterfinals this summer in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Those results propelled him to win the 2017 US Open Wild Card Challenge, and have cut his ranking in half since Wimbledon, pushing him to a career high ranking this week. In juniors, Paul was ranked as high as No. 3 after winning the French Open title and reaching the US Open final during the 2015 season.
Donaldson is a Rhode Island native who will be making his third main draw appearance at the Western & Southern Open, where he owns a 2-2 record. Last year, Donaldson reached the third round at the US Open, becoming the youngest American to do so since 2007. This summer, Donaldson has won at least one round in his last four events, including reaching the third round at both Wimbledon and Washington, D.C.
Kozlov, who lives in South Florida, was the junior finalist at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon while reaching as high as No. 2 in the junior rankings in 2014. He closed the 2016 season by claiming his first career Challenger title in nearby Columbus, Ohio. Kozlov will be making his Western & Southern Open main draw debut.
Francis Tiafoe (Photo: Cynthia Lum/USTA)
Tiafoe, one of just two teenagers in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings, whose father is an immigrant from Sierra Leone who brought Frances to work while serving as the facilities manager of a tennis center in Maryland. In 2015, Tiafoe won the USTA Boys 18s title at Kalamazoo. The winner of two Challenger titles this season, he will be making his main draw debut.
The four join a men’s field that includes seven-time champion Roger Federer, two-time champion Andy Murray, former champion Rafael Nadal and defending champion Marin Cilic.
Wild Wednesday as Stollar Shocks Vesnina, Rogers Rocks Keys at @VolvoCarOpen Steve Fogleman and Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic
Fanny Stollar, Charleston 2017 (Photo Credit: Tony Callaio, TennisAtlantic.com)
It was a day when the rain never came, until it did. Many higher-ranked players and Americans probably prayed for the rain to come to the Volvo Car Open in the second and third sets of their matches to allow them to regroup mentally, but it didn’t.
The result? What tournament officials would privately consider a disaster: Americans Venus Williams, Madison Keys and Bethanie Mattek-Sands bowed out, as well as fan favorites Monica Puig and 2016 runner-up Elena Vesnina. The rain finally came, postponing the night session and dropping penny-sized hail nearby.
There were at least two silver linings in those storm clouds. Fanny Stollar, virtually unknown before the weekend, was the player to beat Vesnina and enter the round of 16. Having qualified for her first WTA tour event over the weekend, Stollar has now beaten Asia Muhammad and world #13 Elena Vesnina and will face Ostapenko today. And she really didn’t have any time to soak it in.
A jubilant Stollar of Hungry walked into the Media Center for post match press all smiles as she had just completed the biggest victory of her career when she knocked off No.4 seed Russian Elena Vesnina in a stunning upset 7-6(7), 7-6(3).
Stellar, ranked 282 in the world, dispatched Vesnina in the 2:05 match.
“It really feels good (to win), but it’s still not done, so I can’t be so happy about it because the next one is coming up,” said Stollar. “I just felt really calm and confident right now. So I don’t have any pressure on me at all. I’m just having fun and playing.”
Shelby Rogers, 2017 Volvo Car Open (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)
Though local fans would surely lament the loss of Madison Keys to the tournament, if someone had to do it, let it be Shelby. They got their wish as the hometown girl at her home tournament, dubbed “Ms. Roger’s Neighborhood” by Bethanie Mattek-Sands, made the most of the home-court advantage. Despite offering Keys chances to stick around, the listless top seed was no match for Rogers in a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 runaway train ride. Rogers gets Naomi Osaka today and the winner gets Lucic-Baroni or Bertens. There is a real opportunity for Rogers to advance deep into her own neighborhood.
Shelby Rogers, 2017 Volvo Car Open (Photo: Tony Callaio, Tennis Atlantic)
If you listened to Keys and Williams at their press conferences on Monday, neither seemed to have a lot of fire in their belly. For Keys, it’s a slow recovery. For Venus, it’s just the grind of the tour. She jokingly(?) said it was her third time in Charleston, when it was actually her ninth. A senior moment?
Play starts at 11:00 a.m.
VOLVO CAR OPEN – CHARLESTON, SC, USA
$776,000
APRIL 3 – 9, 2017
RESULTS – APRIL 5, 2017 Women’s Singles – Second Round
S. Rogers (USA) d [1] M. Keys (USA) 46 61 61
L. Siegemund (GER) d [3] V. Williams (USA) 64 67(3) 75
[Q] F. Stollar (HUN) d [4] E. Vesnina (RUS) 76(7) 76(3)
[7] K. Bertens (NED) d K. Bondarenko (UKR) 62 75
[8] A. Sevastova (LAT) d A. Petkovic (GER) 63 64
[10] I. Begu (ROU) d K. Kucova (SVK) 46 62 76(6)
[11] M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) d M. Barthel (GER) 63 62
N. Osaka (JPN) d [13] S. Zhang (CHN) 64 64
[15] L. Safarova (CZE) d [WC] B. Mattek-Sands (USA) 63 63
J. Ostapenko (LAT) d M. Sakkari (GRE) 62 46 62
[Q] A. Rodionova (AUS) d S. Errani (ITA) 62 62
[LL] O. Jabeur (TUN) d M. Linette (POL) 64 64
D. Kasatkina (RUS) d M. Puig (PUR) 60 67(3) 62
D. Gavrilova (AUS) d A. Riske (USA) 63 61
Women’s Doubles – First Round
[2] A. Hlavackova (CZE) / S. Mirza (IND) d D. Gavrilova (AUS) / D. Kasatkina (RUS) 16 63 10-3
[4] L. Hradecka (CZE) / K. Siniakova (CZE) d [Alt] D. Kovinic (MNE) / A. Krunic (SRB) 64 75
ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017
VOLVO CAR STADIUM start 11:00 am
[6] S. Stosur (AUS) vs [10] I. Begu (ROU)
Not Before 12:30 pm
A. Beck (GER) vs [5] C. Wozniacki (DEN) 00
D. Kasatkina (RUS) vs D. Gavrilova (AUS)
[15] L. Safarova (CZE) vs L. Siegemund (GER)
[Q] A. Rodionova (AUS) vs A. Beck (GER) or [5] C. Wozniacki (DEN)
Not Before 7:00 pm
S. Rogers (USA) vs N. Osaka (JPN)
D. Jurak (CRO) / A. Rodionova (AUS) vs [4] L. Hradecka (CZE) / K. Siniakova (CZE)
ALTHEA GIBSON CLUB COURT start 11:00 am
[8] A. Sevastova (LAT) vs [LL] O. Jabeur (TUN)
[Q] F. Stollar (HUN) vs J. Ostapenko (LAT)
[11] M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) vs [7] K. Bertens (NED)
R. Atawo (USA) / J. Ostapenko (LAT) vs [2] A. Hlavackova (CZE) / S. Mirza (IND)
[1] B. Mattek-Sands (USA) / L. Safarova (CZE) vs [WC] E. Halbauer (USA) / S. Kenin (USA)
COURT 3 start 1:00 pm
K. Bondarenko (UKR) / G. Dabrowski (CAN) vs A. Spears (USA) / K. Srebotnik (SLO)
Interview with Alison Riske from Volvo Car Open Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
Alison Riske joined us on Monday after her win at Volvo Car Open to discuss her match against US Open Junior champion Kayla Day, the progression of her career, and her engagement to Stephen Amritraj. And she was kind enough to do all of this in harsh conditions with a rain-soaked malfunctioning microphone.
Kayla Day drew the poker chip that set up the match against Alison Riske during the draw and looks up to Riske. After the win, it was Riske’s turn to return the serving of admiration:
It’s really easy to be complimentary towards Kayla Day. I think she has a really bright future ahead, that’s for sure. She’s an awesome player. Obviously, I respect her as a person, too. She’s come on tour with no sort of air about her even though she’s achieved so much even though she’s only 17 years old. I think the sky’s the limit for her and it will be exciting to see what the future holds. Hopefully, I don’t have to play her too many times.
On her slow and steady rise up the WTA rankings:
It’s definitely been a process. Everyday is a challenge and poses something different. I think the best is yet to come. I hope I can keep achieving new career-high rankings. Hopefully, fingers-crossed, I’ll stay healthy.
On her engagement:
Yes, it’s definitely exciting… I am engaged and it’s been wonderful. He’s so supportive of my tennis which is what really makes it work. Obviously, tennis is my first love.
She agreed that it was only fitting for her to be paired up with another tennis junkie. Her dad, described alternately by her as Robert DeNiro and Fox’s “American Dad” is “totally cool with this.”
Alison Riske, Tennis Atlantic
On a future after tennis:
Tennis has been so good to me, so I would love to be able to give back, somehow, I’m not sure how yet. I see myself still in the sport. I don’t think I could ever have a life without tennis.
On her decision to live in the South, from Florida to South Carolina to Tennessee:
Judging from this rain right now, I’m not sure if it’s because of the weather. Definitely weather is part of it…and the charm definitely has something to do with it. I feel like you just come here and you relax. Your mind relaxes, your body relaxes and you just want to hang out. I don’t know if that’s conducive to playing a tennis tournament. It’s a great place, it’s a special place. I definitely think I’ll have a place here one day in Charleston.
