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.@SachiaVick Wins Central Coast Pro Tennis Open #USTAProCircuit

Posted by Admin on October 1, 2017
Posted in: USTA, USTA Pro Circuit, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Sachia Vickery Photo Credit / Mike Peeples

Sachia Vickery (Photo: Mike Peeples)

SachiaVickery Wins Central Coast Pro Tennis Open

TEMPLETON, Calif. (Oct. 1, 2017) – Sachia Vickery needed just over one hour to beat fellow 22-year-old Jamie Loeb, 6-1, 6-2, and become the first-ever singles champion as the inaugural Central Coast Pro Tennis Open came to a close on Sunday.

Controlling the points and displaying precision shot-making from both the forehand and the two-handed backhand side, No. 4 seeded Vickery watched as a Loeb forehand sailed wide on the final point in the $60,000 USTA Women’s Pro Circuit event played at the Templeton Tennis Ranch. Vickery looked toward coaches Matt Evans and Chris Howard in jubilation before meeting the No. 8-seeded Loeb at the net. It was the third career USTA Pro Circuit title for Vickery and first at this level having previously won two $25,000-level events.

Both players said Saturday’s three-set semifinal wins took their toll.

“This feels really good, especially after playing such a long match yesterday,” said Vickery, whose WTA world ranking is projected to be No. 115 on Monday when the new rankings are released. “Jamie’s such a great player and we’re such good friends so it’s always tough to play a friend.”

At the end of August, Vickery beat Loeb 6-3, 6-4 in the final round of US Open qualifying in the only previous time the two have met on the pro level.

“Physically I was really feeling it yesterday and today and was just trying to shorten the points and go for my shots and not stay in games for too long,” said Vickery, who was cheered on by her host family and an estimated 250 excited tennis fans on a gorgeous sun-soaked day.

Vickery raced out to a 5-0 first-set lead before Loeb finally got on the board by holding serve for 5-1 before Vickery closed out the first set, 6-1.

Vickery will cash a check for $9,119 and also received a unique tournament logo-designed jewelry piece designed by K. Jons Diamonds and Gem in nearby Atascadero.

Loeb, coached all week by Felix Alvarado, won $4,863 and 48 WTA ranking points. Loeb was trying to capture her eighth USTA Pro Circuit title, and was 7-0 in finals matches coming into the day. “It’s been an up and down year for me,” Loeb said. “Sachia played great and I just wasn’t able to get anything going today. Congrats to her.”

Former college teammates at USC, the No. 4-seeded team of Kaitlyn Christian and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico downed the top-seeded Swiss team of Viktorija Golubic and Amra Sadikovic, 7-5, 6-3, to win the doubles title. Christian, who is the body double for Emma Stone in the new tennis movie“Battle of the Sexes”, has now won eight career USTA and ITF Pro Circuit doubles title.

Olmos has won eight Pro Circuit doubles title this year alone, including her second with Christian. “I just sat back and let K.K. do all the work,” Olmos told the crowd after the match. “It feels great to win the title here in our home state.”

Christian loved everything about her stay in the small town in northern San Luis Obispo County. “We had never heard of Templeton before this week, and we’re from Southern California,” Christian said after the match. “Our chemistry was just amazing today and I just love playing with my old college doubles partner.”

“Templeton Tennis Ranch is honored to work with the USTA in establishing this very successful pro tennis event on the Central Coast,” said Ralph Goehring, tournament director and owner of Templeton Tennis Ranch. “We thank all of the sponsors, volunteers, officials and players that made this week special. We look forward to many more years of hosting this Pro circuit event.”

–S. Pratt

 

Sunday’s Singles Championship

Sachia Vickery, U.S. (4), def. Jamie Loeb, U.S. (8), 6-1, 6-2

Sunday’s Doubles Championship

Kaitlyn Christian, U.S.-Giuliana Olmos, Mexico (4) def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland-Amra Sadikovic, Switzerland (1), 7-5, 6-3

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Johnson (@SJohnson_89), Haas (@TommyHaas13) Headed Back to Newport @TennisHalloFame Championships

Posted by Admin on March 26, 2015
Posted in: ATP, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Johnson (@SJohnson_89), Haas (@TommyHaas13) Headed Back to Newport @TennisHalloFame Championships

Tommy Haas

NEWPORT, R.I., March 26, 2015 – ATP World Tour veteran and former world No. 2 Tommy Haas will compete in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I. this summer. Joining Haas in the player field will be American Steve Johnson, a two-time NCAA singles champion who has established himself well inside the world top-50 ranked players in just two seasons on tour. The Hall of Fame Tennis Championships will be held July 11 – 19 on the grass courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It is the first stop on the U.S. summer swing for pro tennis, and the only ATP World Tour tournament played in New England.

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“Tommy Haas and Steve Johnson are dynamic players who always bring a lot of energy to a tournament, and we know the fans will enjoy seeing them compete in Newport,” remarked Tournament Director Todd Martin.” Tommy has made history around the world with his spectacular career. He never fails to impress fans with his perseverance and skill on court. Steve is steadily building his career and has had tremendous results in the past couple of years. They are two great players to start off our field with, and we’re looking forward to welcoming them back to Newport to kick off the pro tennis summer season in the United States.”

Tommy Haas has been one of the top players on the ATP World Tour since late 1996. Over the span of his career, he has won 15 titles and was ranked world No. 2. In addition, he won the Olympic Silver Medal in 2000. He has made it to the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments, and he advanced to the semifinals at the Australian Open three times and Wimbledon once. Over the span of his career, Haas has made a successful comeback from significant injuries on multiple occasions with exceptional results. After reaching a career high ranking of world No. 2 in May 2002, he missed the entire following season, and then steadily climbed back in the rankings, returning to world top-10 in 2007. He again missed more than a year of competition in 2010 and 2011, returning to reach world No. 11 in 2013. Haas has been out this season due to a shoulder injury, but is training to make a comeback before Newport.

Steve Johnson is currently ranked world No. 43 and is the No. 3 American player. He was the NCAA Singles Champion in 2011 and 2012, when playing for the University of Southern California. He has posted consistently strong results in his first two years on the ATP World Tour. He reached a career high of world No. 37 at the end of the season last year, a result of having advanced to five quarterfinals, as well as the semifinal at Delray Beach. This season, Johnson has been a quarterfinalist at Auckland, Memphis, and Delray Beach. He advanced to the third round at the Australian Open before falling to then world No. 5 Kei Nishikori in four sets.

newport official site

Additional players for the tournament will be announced in the coming weeks. The tournament has a history of attracting up and coming stars as well as veteran players known to be grass court aficionados. Champions in recent years have included Lleyton Hewitt, Nicolas Mahut, and John Isner.

—A. McLaughlin, International Tennis Hall of Fame

College Tennis Buys and Sells: Spring 2015

Posted by Admin on March 24, 2015
Posted in: College Tennis, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

College Tennis Buys and Sells: Spring 2015
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

NCAA_Tennis_Logo

The college tennis season is in full swing and conference play is heating up as the weather gets hotter all around the country. Here is a look at whose stock you should buy and whose stock you should sell as we go deeper into conference play.
BUY
buy
UNC-Wilmington: UNCW has been a strong mid-major program, for years now but early this season the Seahawks looked to be a much weaker version of previous years teams. A loss to UNC-Greensboro seemed to seal UNCW’s fate as 2015 being a rebuilding year. But the Seahawks had other ideas. They fought back and got big wins over Drake and Penn State, both top 45 teams to launch themselves into the rankings at 49 and cement their place as a strong mid-major team once again in 2015.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies have surprised a lot of people early in the ACC season. They started ACC play by upsetting Notre Dame which was a very positive start to the conference season but the real eye-opener was the 6-1 domination of Duke, without #1 player Amerigo Contini. Since then VT survived a tough test from NC State, who was all set to take an important upset win, but the Hokies dug in and denied the Wolfpack the win. A huge part of the Hokies success and their rise to #16 in the nation has been the play of Hunter Koontz, who has only 1 loss this season at the number 4 and 3 positions.

Eric Johnson: The USC Trojan senior has become a rock for his team in the midpoint of the lineup this season. He has only one loss on the dual season and has been beating his opponents by lopsided scores, including ranked players Ralf Steinbach and Maxime Tchoutakian.

Quentin Monaghan: The Notre Dame leader at #1 has been one of the top players in the nation all season. However what he lacked was a signature win, but he got that Friday with a straight set win over Virginia’s Ryan Shane, improving to 6-1 vs ranked opponents in the past month with his only loss coming to the #1 ranked player in the country, Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Louisville. He is leading the charge on what has been a big of a rebuilding year for the Irish.

Matches on TV: College tennis fans have been able to enjoy college tennis on TV this year more than ever. Just in the past few weeks, matches have been shown on ESPN3, the Pac 12 network and the Longhorn Network. The broadcasts have been well done and have been exciting for every involved. Hopefully we see even more of this in the future.

Sell

sell

Cameron Norrie: The TCU freshman burst onto the scene in the fall with several huge wins and skyrocketed to the ITA top 20 immediately. He was widely expected to be a stalwart at #1 for the Horned Frogs all season. However the Kiwi has come on hard times recently. After losing 5 of 8 at the #1 position he was moved down to #2 and is now playing at #3 for TCU. In the past two weeks he has had two lopsided losses to unranked players (6-1 6-3 to Ettore Zito of MTSU and 6-1 6-1 to Chris Kipouras of Dartmouth). He still has time to regain his fall form, but TCU will need him as the season gets to the business end.

SEC veterans: This year has seen 3 SEC players have unexpectedly horrendous seasons, players that had been very solid in previous years. Andrew Adams of South Carolina, Hunter Reese of Tennessee and Harrison Adams of Texas A&M. All 3 of these SEC veterans have piled up the losses in the spring of 2015. Adams and Reese are leaving their schools on low notes, as the senior leaders combine for 2 wins on the season vs teams with a pulse (Andrew Adams has wins over A&M and Stanford while Reese has zero wins of significance). Harrison Adams likewise has had dreadful results. The junior Aggie currently has ZERO wins vs any team since the dual season began. The struggle of these 3 once very good SEC players is baffling and goes to show that any slip in game can cost you dearly in stout college tennis competition.

Naoki Takeda making the NCAA individual field: Arizona men’s tennis has been in bad shape for a while now, but despite the horrible season they are having this year the one bright spot has been Takeda who was as highly ranked as #29 in the nation this year. However in the past few matches he has had two troubling losses to unranked players, which has put his chances of representing Arizona in the NCAA individual tournament in May in jeopardy. The blow of his loss to Peter Nagy of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has softened with Nagy going into the rankings at 73 but his loss to Garrett Patton of Boise State is still very damaging. His high ranking is tenuously based off the strength of a lone win over Dominik Koepfer of Tulane. He will need one more big scalp in Pac 12 play if he wants to play in the 64 player draw in May in Waco.

The Pac 12: While usually a tennis powerhouse, the Pac 12 has been one of the weaker major conferences this season. Southern Cal is a smidge weaker than they have been in the previous championship winning seasons and UCLA is a top 15 now rather than a top 5 team like in the past few years. The top of the conference has gone down a bit but the real struggle has been in the lower parts of the conference. Oregon, Arizona, Washington and Utah would all miss the tournament if the tournament started today and while Oregon and Washington have a chance to make the tournament if they can get some wins coming up, Utah and Arizona both have no chance. Cal is also ranked much lower (low 20s) than they have been recently and Stanford is right around the NCAA tournament bubble. If the Pac 12 wants to be regarded as a top tennis conference again, they must have multiple top 30 teams. Teams like the bottom 4 must improve and strengthen the depth that the other major conferences currently have.

Match abandonment: This controversial practice is the norm in conference play for the Pac 12 and the SEC. It creates a ton of unfinished singles matches, many of which are very close to finish anyway. Recently Xander Veys of UNC-Wilmington was up 4 match points on #38 Ben Lott of Drake when a match on an adjacent court finished clinching the match for UNCW. Ben Lott just stopped playing and walked away, robbing Veys of a big ranked win. Match abandonment makes for uneven records, as some players in the SEC have more unfinished matches than finished ones and it messes up individual rankings for the whole nation. Teams and players would benefit from every match being finished (within reason) as they do in the Big Ten and in the ACC.

2015 @ITATennis Indoor Men’s Indoor National Championships Preview

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2015
Posted in: ITA, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

2015 @ITATennis Indoor Men’s Indoor National Championships Preview
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

The ITA Indoor Men’s Indoor National Championships will take place this weekend in Chicago at the Midtown Athletic Club. 16 teams qualified for this event based on winning their kickoff weekend regional, which was recapped previously here on Tennis Atlantic with a kickoff weekend all-star team. The action will be intense in Chicago all weekend, with each team guaranteed 3 matches (teams that make the final will play 4 matches). The teams will be drawn and matched up based on rankings. The draw comes out Wednesday.

 

2015indoors

These 16 teams will be competing in Chicago for the right to be called indoor champion and also for a good shot at quality wins for the rankings.

 

Here are 7 teams in particular to watch that stand out as their designated label:

 

 

The Favorite: Virginia

 

Why the Cavs will win it:

The Virginia Cavaliers enter Chicago as the clear favorite to win the indoor title once again.

  • UVA has made winning the indoor championships almost an annual right of passage in recent years. This year’s team looks to be one of the strongest in their history.
  • Thai-Son Kwiatkowski who is the new #1 ranked player in the ITA rankings has been unbeatable in his early college career and has shown no signs of slowing down.
  • Ryan Shane and Mitchell Frank look to be as formidable as ever.
  • The strength of the UVA top 3 forces former Kalamazoo champion Colin Altamirano to play as low as #4 on the team, which speaks to the Cavaliers insane depth. The strength of the team plus the history of being the top dog indoors, makes Virginia the favorite to win it all in Chicago.

 

Why the Cavs may not win it:

It seems like a pretty safe bet to pick Virginia to win the championship but there are a few reasons why that could potentially not happen.

  • Lack of a challenge thus far. Virginia has not played a difficult dual match yet as a team. The best team they have played to this point has been #43 Louisville. Other top teams have already played a few difficult and testing matches. If the Cavaliers find themselves in a tight match it could lead to some extra pressure being placed on the Cavs.
  • Mental block vs USC. Even though Virginia is the more talented team this year, Southern Cal still has the big advantage in the mental department vs Virginia based on recent history, as the Trojans have owned the Cavs on the biggest stages in recent years even. If these two teams end up facing off, Virginia could again find themselves once again starring down the barrel vs the Trojans in a desperate situation.

 

 

 

The Top Challenger: Southern Cal

 

Why the Trojans will win it:

The biggest obstacle to Virginia waltzing away with the title is Southern Cal. Per usual, the Trojans once again have a very good team.

  • #7 Yannick Hanfmann and #24 Roberto Quiroz are two of the most talented and pro ready players in college tennis and headline a very string lineup. And the two couple to make the #1 ranked doubles team in the land right now.
  • Added to the mix this year is Johnny Wang, who rarely played in the top 6 a year ago but is ranked #20 in the nation early in 2015 and has established himself as a stalwart at #3 for the Trojans.
  • The Trojans are battle tested already, having already beaten #4 Georgia 4-0 in Athens and also have beaten #14 Florida.

 

Why the Trojans will not win it:

Despite the positives there are reasons why to be back the Trojans as your championship pick in Chicago.

  • Lack of indoor success. Southern Cal owns 5 of the past 6 national championships, but has had far less success indoors during hat time.
  • Depth of the line-up is questionable. 4-6 have a few question marks vs the other top teams

 

 

The Other Challengers: Georgia, Baylor and Illinois

Why the Bulldogs could win it:

Georgia has a chance to win the title in Chicago, based on their improved team from a year ago.

  • The strength of the top 3. Freshman #21 Wayne Montgomery joins #21 Austin Smith and #17 Nathan Pasha at the top of the UGA line-up provide the Bulldogs with a good chance to get 4 points vs the other top teams.

Why the Bears could win it:

Baylor is another team that has a chance to win the title.

  • Strength throughout the lineup. Baylor has no weak spots in their top 6 and can challenge any team 1-6.
  • Maxime Tchoutakian’s form. The latest addition to the Bear roster (joined in January) has been on fire recently by qualifying for the Dallas Challenger.

Why the Fighting Illini could win it:

Illinois has an outsider’s chance at winning the title as well

  • Host team. Even though they are not at home in Champaign, the Fighting Illini are the host school and will probably have the most fans attending.
  • Indoor specialty. Illinois is always a stronger team indoors than outdoors.
  • Line-up balance. The Illini have 5 ranked players and have no weak spots anywhere in the line-up.

 

Why the Bulldogs won’t win it:

  • Questions in the lower parts of the line-up, especially at #6 where they are likely to be the underdog in most matches vs other top teams.
  • Already have been beaten 4-0 by Southern Cal and that was at home in Athens.

Why the Bears won’t win it:

  • Doubles question marks. Baylor has no powerhouse doubles team, like the other top teams do, which could prove costly for the doubles point.
  • Lack of results vs other top teams. Baylor has not fared very well vs other top 10 teams recently and that is a big red flag if one is to pick them to win the title.

Why the Fighting Illini won’t win it:

  • Lack of top quality firepower that is needed to win 4 straight matches. Illinois can beat one of the other top teams but is not likely to win 4 matches in 4 days, simply not strong enough in the end.

 

 

The Pretender: Oklahoma

 

Why the Sooners will not win the title:

Now this is not to say that Oklahoma is not a top 5-quality team, because they certainly are. This is just simply stating that they will not win this particular championship. They have a much better shot in May to win the national title than they do to win this title in Chicago.

  • Top players not yet peaking. #26 Andrew Harris hit his peak level in Australian early in January in preparation for the college season, but since then has not been quite as good. He does have a good win over Noah Rubin but overall Harris has shown his more susceptible side in recent dual matches.
  • Spencer Papa not in the best form. On paper seeing Papa at #4 should seem like a slam-dunk win for Oklahoma every match. However it has not played out that way to this point in the season.
  • Lack of doubles depth. While OU has a strong team at the top doubles position, they have twice lost the doubles point already this season to lower ranked teams (USF and Northwestern) due to losing at 2 and 3 doubles.

 

Why the Sooners could prove me wrong:

Despite the negatives, Oklahoma is still a very talented team.

  • Talent could turn on at any time. Oklahoma has the ability to turn on the jets vs other top teams.
  • Experience of #11 Axel Alvarez-Llamas and #31 Dane Webb. The two veterans could lead the team to rally and get big wins.

 

 

The Gatecrasher: TCU

 

Reasons to watch the Horned Frogs:

TCU is a very talented and improved team that could be dangerous to anyone in Chicago and could turn things upside down

  • Form of #18 Cameron Norrie. Norrie has been on fire recently and is already one of the top college players in the nation very early into his freshman season. He can play with any other top player.
  • Veteran leadership of #48 Nick Chapell, #85 Facundo Lugones and Arnau Dachs. These 3 Horned Frogs have been around TCU a while and know what it takes to get big dual wins, they are all ready to taste the success that has alluded them thus far in their careers.
  • #112 Guillermo Nunez being a rock in the lower line-up. He has yet to lose a dual match and will be a very strong spot for TCU whether they decide to play him at 5 or at 6.

 

Why the Horned Frogs could not be ready to challenge teams:

There are a lot of positive things to say about the TCU Horned Frogs, but there are still a few questions that could stymie their growth to a national challenger here in Chicago.

  • Snake-bitten history in tight matches. Last year TCU lost a ton of close matches, some of which in quite fantastically dramatic ways. If they are pit in a tight match here in Chicago, some of those old memories could seep back into their consciousness, especially for the veterans.

 

 

 

The Mincemeat: Penn State

Why the Nittany Lions are out of their league:

Penn State was a surprise qualifier for the final 16 here in Chicago and garnered a lot of praise nationwide for their surprise qualification. However since then, things have not gone so well.

  • Loss to unranked Penn. How did Penn State celebrate their huge Chicago qualification? By losing to unranked and unheralded Ivy League team Penn. It was a shocking loss that set the Nittany Lions back several steps.
  • Soundly beaten by #37 Virginia Tech. Penn State also lost to #37 Virginia Tech over the weekend in straightforward fashion. If Penn State is getting beat soundly by the likes of a team ranked outside the top 30, then how will they fare vs teams that are top 15 in the nation?

 

 

 

FLORIDA’S @STEFANKOZLOV OPENS WITH BIG WIN AT SO CAL PRO FUTURES TOURNAMENT

Posted by Admin on January 7, 2015
Posted in: ATP, Pro Circuit, USTA. Tagged: , , , , , .

FLORIDA’S @STEFANKOZLOV OPENS WITH BIG WIN AT SO CAL PRO FUTURES TOURNAMENT

 Kozlov Citi Open

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 6, 2015) – Unseeded 16-year-old Stefan Kozlov opened up first-round play at the USTA Pro Circuit $15,000 Southern California Futures Tournament with an easy 6-1, 6-0 victory over No. 7-seeded Joshua Milton of Great Britain on Tuesday at the Marks Tennis Stadium on the campus of USC.

Kozlov, who has turned pro, finished 2014 as the No. 3-ranked ITF junior player in the world and reached both the Wimbledon and the Australian Open junior final in 2014, as well as the junior quarterfinals at the US Open and the French Open.

In December of 2014, the Pembroke Pines, Fla., resident Kozlov also won the prestigious Orange Bowl singles and doubles titles.

In the upset of the day, wild card Taylor Fritz of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., downed top-seeded and former UCLA All-American Dennis Novikov, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5.

Playing 45 miles from his hometown of Thousand Oaks, former four-year University of Washington star Kyle McMorrow opened up first-round play with a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-1, win over Switzerland’s Sandro Ehrat.

In a battle between wild cards, USC’s Eric Johnson got past Stanford’s Tom Fawcett, 6-4, 7-5.

In a battle of qualifiers, former UCLA standout Clay Thompson outlasted North Carolina’s Ronnie Scheinder, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

The tournament announced that reigning NCAA singles champion Marcos Giron had pulled out of the event, but was scheduled to play next week’s USTA $15,000 Futures event at the El Dorado Park Tennis Center in Long Beach.

For more information including draws and schedules, check out procircuit.usta.com. For more information on the Southern California Tennis Academy run by Smith and Mitch Bridge, go to sctennisacademy.com.

To follow all the action on Twitter, go to: @USCMensTennis and also follow: @USTAProCircuit.

Tuesday’s First-Round Singles Results:

Stefan Kozlov, U.S., def. Joshua Milton (7), Great Britain, 6-1, 6-0

Kyle McMorrow, U.S., def. Sandro Ehrat, Switzerland, 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-1

Alexander Ward (5), Great Britain, def. Mitchell Frank, U.S., 6-1, 6-4

Taylor Fritz (wc), U.S., def. Dennis Novikov (1), U.S., 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5

Eric Johnson (wc), U.S., def. Tom Fawcett (wc), U.S., 6-4, 7-5

Eric Quigley, U.S., def, Nick Meister, U.S., 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Clay Thompson (q), U.S., def. Ronnie Scheinder (q), U.S., 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-1

 

Tuesday’s First-Round Doubles Results:

Mackenzie McDonald, U.S. / Martin Redlicki, U.S., def. Jason Jung, U.S. / Daniel Nguyen, U.S., 6-3, 6-1

Yannick Hanfmann, Germany / Roberto Quiroz, Ecuador, def. Nicholas Crystal, U.S. / Thibault Forget, France (wc), 6-4, 6-0

James Cluskey, Ireland / Frederik Neilsen, Denmark (1), def. Alexios Halebian, U.S. / Alex Sarkissian, 6-4, 7-5

Dimitar Kutrovsky, Bulgaria / Dennis Novikov (4), U.S., def. Andre Dome, U.S. / Fabian Matthews, U.S., 2-6, 6-4, 10-8

Taylor Fritz, U.S. / Riley Smith, U.S. (wc), def. Markos Kalovelonis, Russia / Mico Santiago, U.S., 6-1, 6-0

Jarryd Chaplan, Australia / Kyle McMorrow, U.S., def. Sandro Ehrat, Switzerland, Oliver Mrose, Switzerland, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-5

Nicolas Meister, U.S. / Eric Quiqley, U.S., (3) def. Stefan Kozlov, U.S. / Mitchell Krueger, U.S., 7-5, 4-6, 10-7

Joshua Milton, Great Britain / Alexander Ward, Great Britain, def. Connor Farren, U.S. / Eric Johnson, U.S., (wc), 2-6, 6-2, 10-6

—S. Pratt

 

 

 

Former USC Player Danielle Lao (@TheLittleGiant) Reaches New Heights on Kindle

Posted by Admin on January 2, 2014
Posted in: ITF, USTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

“The Invaluable Experience” Hits as High as No. 3 on Amazon

Two-time USC All-American Tennis Player Says College Sports are the Experience of a Lifetime

Danielle Lao

Danielle Lao

ATLANTA, Georgia, (January 2, 2014) Following a successful college tennis career, Danielle Lao, a two-time All-American at USC had something to say.

Less than a year ago, Lao started putting her thoughts about college, tennis, and life down in an online Tumblr blog that started attracting more and more readers. Basically, Lao answered questions many student-athletes might have.

Lao decided to turn her writings into a Kindle book, “The Invaluable Experience” with the help of tennis and sports technology writer Rick Limpert.

Many internet surfers read blogs because they are short bursts of information and for the most part, they are free.

The question was, would anyone buy a book based on Lao’s Tumblr posts?

Lao said it didn’t matter.

“Turning my blog posts in a book was a great way to organize my scattered thoughts that I was slowly collecting since the end of my collegiate career,” explained Lao. “College tennis was such a pivotal part in my development as a player as well as a person and my hope is to share with as many people as I can, how college is such an invaluable experience.”

While Lao’s college stories and advice make for a great fodder, an equally good story is how well the book has done after just 30 days.

In its first week, “The Invaluable Experience” was the No. 3 Kindle tennis book on Amazon.com; ahead of such titles as Rafa”, by Rafael Nadal, “Serve to Win” by Novak Djokovic, Brad Gilbert’s “Winning Ugly”, “Facing Federer”, and other books written by tennis heavyweights like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.

“I was ecstatic (with) the news. I am so humbled to be in such great company. A lot of these authors have decorated profiles and some are grand slam champions.”

Cover of The Invaluable Experience

Lao’s nickname is “The Little Giant” and while you have to read the book to find out how she secured that unique moniker, the it has proven to be prophetic as even after 30 days the book still regularly makes the top-10 in the Kindle Store ahead of books by Peter Bodo, Monica Seles, and Allen Fox.

“The Invaluable Experience” is loaded with great advice for current and future student athletes, parents, and fans of college sports. It is available as a Kindle download on Amazon.com and through the book’s website at http://laod38.wix.com/thelittlegiant

“Danielle is what college sports are all about,” added Limpert. “This book is bigger than just the sport of tennis, as it has crossover appeal for anyone looking to play sports in college.”

About Danielle Lao:

Danielle Lao was a member of the USC Women’s Tennis Team (2009-2013). During her time there, she lead the Trojans to back to back PAC 12 Team championships and was team captain her senior year. She wraps up her collegiate career as a two time singles All-American, 3 time ITA title holder, and a recipient of both the Southwest Region Rookie and Senior of the Year. Danielle is currently pursuing a professional career.

About Rick Limpert:

Rick Limpert is an Atlanta-based freelance writer who covers tennis and sports technology for the likes of Yahoo, Examiner.com, TennisRecruiting.net, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and others. He hosts the popular “Tech Tuesday” gadget segment on Sirius/XM PGA Tour Radio and he is the 2013 USTA Georgia “Tennis Writer of the Year” and won the 2013 USTA Southern Section Marc Kaplan Media Excellence Award.

—R. Limpert

Min is In, Sanchez Out at Australian Wild Card Playoffs

Posted by Admin on December 12, 2012
Posted in: Atlanta, Australian Open, Wild Card Playoffs. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Grace Min, Troy 2012 (Photo: Rick Limpert)

Grace Min, Troy 2012 (Photo: Rick Limpert)

 

Phenom on fire Maria Sanchez has withdrawn from this weekend’s USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs in Norcross, Georgia.  Though no reason was given for the withdrawal by the USTA, Atlanta media maven Rick Limpert, the “Tech of Sports”, indicated that she suffered from a knee tendonitis flare up. Limpert interviewed her last week in anticipation of Sanchez playing the event.

In comes Georgia native Grace Min, who claims the 8 seed for a second straight year. Last year, she was double-bageled by Alison Riske in the opening round. A year wiser, we’re certain to find improvements in her result. She opens against top seed Julia Cohen on Friday at 10:00 a.m. on Court 2.

Kosakowski to Meet Unseeded Amritraj at Claremont CA Final

Posted by Admin on September 16, 2012
Posted in: USTA. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

KOSAKOWSKI TO MEET UNSEEDED AMRITRAJ ON FINAL DAY OF

17th ANNUAL POMONA VALLEY HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER USTA PRO CLASSIC

Kosaskowski

CLAREMONT, Calif., (Sept. 15, 2012) – Winning eight singles matches in nine days finally proved too much for Haythem Abid to overcome, as the 27-year-old veteran Tunisia Davis Cup player came out flat and fell to 28-year-old and unseeded Prakash Amritraj, 6-2, 6-1, on Saturday in the semifinals at the 17th annual Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Pro Classic, a $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit men’s event.

Amritraj will play No. 2-seeded fellow Southern Californian Daniel Kosakowski, who beat qualifier Daniel Nguyen, 7-6 (3), 6-3, on a scorching day at the Claremont Club. The final is set for 10 a.m.

Abid has played more than 50 Davis Cup ties for Tunisia, a country led by world Top 100 player Malek Jaziri, and which currently competes in the Euro African World Group II. “We’ve played some teams like Ghana, Zimbabwe and India,” said the former UCLA Bruin Abid, who lives in Westwood and trains at the Weil Academy in Ojai. “For me, playing Davis Cup has really just kept the competitive juices flowing.”

Abid’s highest career singles ranking was No. 360, and the lefty has been hampered by a bum left wrist, which he had surgery on in 2008 and 2010. “It doesn’t feel 100 percent but I’ll go with 90,” he said earlier in the week. He also played doubles with young Bruin Dennis Novikov but the pair lost in the second round.

Nguyen, 21, played Kosakowski, 20, tight in the first set, before Kosakowski went up 4-1 in the second and then continued serving well to pull out the match and make his fifth career ITF Futures final. His only Futures victory came in 2011 when he won the $15,000 Sacramento title. A runner-up at the $10,000 Irvine tournament in 2010, Kosakowski also fell in the Calabasas Futures final back in March of this year.

Kosakowski played doubles this week with his brother and coach Marcin, a former UC Santa Barbara standout who is now 31, as the two were the last to gain direct entry acceptance. He said the Bryan and Harrison brothers don’t have too much to worry about. “It didn’t go so well,” he said, of the 6-1, 6-2 loss to Jason Jung and Mark Verryth.

“I think my brother’s best days are behind him,” he laughed. “Maybe we’ll try it again someday, but yeah, he’s a little bit past his prime.”

For more information, check on the web at:www.procircuit.usta.com, www.claremontclub.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Claremont-Club/236147226396

Saturday’s Semifinal Singles Results

WC: Wild card; Q: Qualifier

Daniel Kosakowski, U.S. (2), def. Daniel Nguyen, U.S. (q), 7-6 (3), 6-3

Prakash Amritraj, India, def. Haythem Abid, Tunisia (q), 6-2, 6-1

Friday’s Final Doubles Result

Devin Britton, U.S.-Reid Carleton, U.S. (1), def. Jeff Dadamo, U.S.-Kyle McMorrow, U.S. (2), 4-6, 7-5, 10-6