Tag: United States Tennis Association

Mixed Results for American Women at U.S. Open

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Thank goodness for Serena Williams!

Once again Serena demonstrated that she is unequivocally the top player in women’s tennis and the only elite singles player in the United States.

While there are a handful of juniors and a half-dozen women under the age of 24 who have shown promise, time will tell if they will become elite players. Mallory Burdette and Sloane Stephens showed that they may be more than one-hit wonders by reaching the round of 32. Time will tell.

This year 16 of the 128 women players were from the U.S. and four reached the round of 32.

Round of 128
The 16 U.S. women players had an embarrassingly weak first round – 5 wins and 11 losses.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, Sloane Stephens, Serena Williams, Venus Williams.
• Losers -. Samantha Crawford, Victoria Duval, Julia Cohen, Melodie Oudin, Jamie Hampton, Nicole Gibbs, Coco Vandeweghe, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Christina McHale, Irina Falconi, and Vania King.

Round of 64
The women fared well in the second round – 4 wins and 1 loss.
• Winners – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, Sloane Stephens, and Serena Williams.
• Loser – Venus Williams.

Round of 32
With the exception of Serena Williams, the other American women lost (Stephens had a strong showing) – 1 win and 3 losses.
• Winners – Serena Williams.
• Losers – Varvara Lepchenko, Mallory Burdette, and Sloane Stephens.

Round of 16
Serena William remained on the winning track – 1 win and 0 loss.

Quarterfinals
Serena defeated Ivanovic handily – 1 win and 0 loss.

Semifinals
Serena blew out Errani – 1 win and 0 loss.

Finals
Serena wins in three sets against Azarenka – 1 win and 0 losses

At the Australian Open, the 10 American women won 9 matches and lost 10. (Serena won 3 matches)
At the French Open, the 12 American women won 15 matches and lost 12. (Serena won 0 matches)
At Wimbledon, the 10 American women won 14 matches and lost 9. (Serena won 7 matches)
At the U.S. Open, the 16 American women won 14 matches and lost 15. (Serena won 7 matches).

In the 2012 Grand Slams, the American women won 52 matches and lost 46. Serena Williams was 17-2. She won 17 of the 52 matches won by American women.

Given the track record of the USTA Player Development Program, hopefully, Serena can stay healthy for a long, long time.

U.S. Juniors Have Mediocre Showing at Wimbledon

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After solid performances in the French and Australian Opens, the American juniors had a disappointing performance at Wimbledon. Through the first three Grand Slams, the two strongest performers have been Mitchell Krueger and Taylor Townsend.

The girls and boys singles events were won by a pair of Canadians. Eugenie Bouchard defeated Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) in the finals of the Girls’ singles. In the Boys’ event Filip Peliwo upset Luke Saville of Australia.

Eight Americans Boys represented the U.S. in singles. Their results are listed below.

Round of 64
The boys had a combined record of 3-5 in the first round.
Winners: Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Stefan Kozlov and Mitchell Krueger.
Losers: Noah Rubin, Alexios Halebian, Connor Farren, MacKenzie McDonald, and Spencer Papa.

Round of 32
The boys had a strong second round, 2-1.
Winners: Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Mitchell Krueger.
Loser: Stefan Kozlov.

Round of 16
The boys split their matches in the third round, 1-1
Winners: Mitchell Krueger.
Losers: Thai-Son Kwiatkowski.

Quarterfinals
Only Krueger advanced to the semifinals, 1-0.
Winner: Mitchell Krueger.
Loser: None.

Semifinals
The journey ended in the semifinals for the boys, 0-1.
Winner: None
Loser: Mitchell Krueger.

The boys had a combined record of 7-8 at Wimbledon. Krueger, the top American, also lost in the semifinals of the French Open. At the French Open, the American Boys were 9-6. Down Under they were 4-3, and McKenzie McDonald led the way, bowing out in the semifinals.

Eight girls represented the U.S. in the singles draw. Their results follow.

Round of 64
The girls had a modest showing in the first round, 4-4.
Winners: Taylor Townsend, Alexandra Kiick, Sachia Vickery, and Kyle S. McPhillips.
Losers: Christina Makarova, Catherine Harrison, Chalena Scholl, and Jennifer Brady.

Round of 32
The girls had a solid second round, 3-1.
Winners: Taylor Townsend, Alexandra Kiick, and Sachia Vickery.
Loser: Kyle S. McPhillips.

Round of 16
The girls had a disastrous third round, 0-3.
Winners: None.
Losers: Taylor Townsend, Alexandra Kiick, and Sachia Vickery.

Overall, the girls had a disappointing showing at Wimbledon, with 7 wins and 8 losses. At the French Open the American girls had 10 wins and 7 losses, although nobody advanced past the round of 16. Down Under, the American girls had 18 wins and 6 losses. Taylor Townsend won the event and Krista Hardebeck was ousted in the semis.

There will like be a larger contingency of American juniors at the U.S. Open. With a little luck and some good home cooking, a strong showing should be on tap.

With the Exception of Serena, Americans Have Mediocre Performance at Wimbledon

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Tennis at the 2012 Wimbledon tournament was fabulous, with a surprising mix of results.

None could be more bizarre than the third round match between Sara Errani, French Open finalist, and Yaroslava Shvedova. Errani didn’t win a point in the first set.

From the American perspective Serena Williams demonstrated that she continues to be a dominant player when she is healthy. She captured her fifth singles title, set a record with 102 aces in singles, and won the doubles title with her sister Venus. Her win also begs the question, “What happens when she and her sister finally get too old to win tournaments?”

There are about a half dozen American women under the age of 24 who have demonstrated they can win Grand Slam matches. Unfortunately, they demonstrated that they are only capable of winning one or two rounds. The most impressive are Sloane Stephens and Taylor Townsend. Stephens is 19 and Townsend is still playing juniors.

Hopefully, Serena and Venus can stay healthy for a long, long time.

Murray lifted the spirits of Brits who have been humiliated recently by Barclay’s LIBOR rate fixing scandal and Rupert Murdoch’s less than ethical behavior. Despite Murray’s loss to Roger Federer, who won his 17th Grand Slam, the Brits can take solace in knowing they are slightly more fortunate than the Chicago Cubs (Fred Perry was the last British man to win the title in 1936 and the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908).

The win by Federer makes this the 33rd out of the last 37 Grand Slams to be won by the big three.

The American men had their strongest Grand Slam performance of the year as 30-year old journeymen Mardy Fish and 27-year old Brian Baker bowed out in the round of 16. Nine of the 12 American players who contended at Wimbledon are 25 years old or older. That means they are the same age or older as Nadal and Djokovic. While they are wonderful players, they have demonstrated they are not consistent “world-beaters” and they are not likely to win a Grand Slam event as long as the top three are at the top of their game.

Ryan Harrison is the most promising up-and-coming player along with junior Mitchell Krueger and McKenzie McDonald. In other words, the dry spell in American men’s tennis is likely to continue for awhile.

 

The singles results for Americans are listed below.

U.S. Men’s Results
Round of 128
The 12 U.S. men players had strong start – 8 wins and 4 losses.
• Winners – Ryan Harrison, Michael Russell, Ryan Sweeting, Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey, Jesse Levine, Mardy Fish, and Brian Baker.
• Losers – James Blake, John Isner, Donald Young, and Wayne Odesnik.

Round of 64
Half of the remaining American players lost in the second round – 4 wins and 4 losses.
• Winners – Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey, Mardy Fish, and Brian Baker.
• Losers – Ryan Harrison, Michael Russell, Ryan Sweeting, and Jesse Levine.

Round of 32
At the Australian Open 1 of 11 American men made it to the round of 32, while none of 8 American men made it to the round of 32 at the French Open. At Wimbledon, the remaining four American men split their matches – 2 wins and 2 losses.
• Winners – Mardy Fish and Brian Baker.
• Losers – Andy Roddick and Sam Querrey.

Round of 16
Both players lost in the round of 16.
• Losers – Mardy Fish and Brian Baker.

At Wimbledon, the 12 American men won 14 matches and lost 12.
At the French Open, the 8 American men won 3 matches and lost 8.
At the Australian Open, the 11 American men won 7 matches and lost 11.

U.S. – Women’s Results
Round of 128
The 10 U.S. women players had a comparatively weak first round – 5 wins and 5 losses.
• Winners – Sloane Stephens, Christina McHale, Jamie Hampton, Serena Williams, and Varvara Lepchenko.
• Losers -. Vania King, Venus Williams, Melanie Oudin, Coco Vandeweghe, and Irina Falconi.

Round of 64
The women fared well in the second round – 4 wins and 1 loss.
• Winners – Sloane Stephens, Christina McHale, Serena Williams, and Varvara Lepchenko.
• Losers – Jamie Hampton.

Round of 32
With the exception of Serena Williams, the American women lost – 1 win and 3 losses.
• Winners – Serena Williams.
• Losers – Sloane Stephens, Christina McHale, and Varvara Lepchenko.

Round of 16
Serena William remained on the winning track – 1 win and 0 losses.

Quarterfinals
Serena continued to play well – 1 win and 0 losses.

Semifinals
Serena won a tough two-set match against Azarenka – 1 win and 0 losses.

Finals
Serena wins in three sets – 1 win and 0 losses

The 10 American women won 14 matches and lost 9, although Serena won half the matches.

At the French Open the 12 American women won 15 matches and lost 12. At the Australian Open, the 10 American women won 9 matches and lost 10.

Additional results and discussion about the performance of American players is available at posts summarizing the French Open and Australian Open tournaments.

This year there is a bonus. The Olympics will be played between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. We can only hope for the best for the red, white, and blue in these upcoming events.

Jay Berger will be coaching the men’s team. Singles players will include Andy Roddick, John Isner, Ryan Harrison, and Donald Young. If Roddick or Isner get hot or lucky, they might be in line for a medal. The two doubles teams will feature Bob and Mike Bryan and Isner and Roddick. The Bryan Brothers should be medal contenders.

Mary Joe Fernandez will be coaching the women’s team. Singles players will include the Williams sisters, Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko. If Serena remains healthy she will be favored to win a singles medal. Both doubles teams, Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond and the Williams sisters are medal contenders.

Tennis became an Olympic medal sport in 1988. Since then, U.S. players have graced the award podium on 17 occasions. It will be disappointing if four additional medals aren’t added at this year’s event.

 

USTA Ten and Under Mandate Remains Contentious

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The United States Tennis Association recently announced that it passed rules requiring that 10-and-under tournaments be played using smaller courts and lighter equipment.

Their press release quoted USTA President Lucy Garvin as saying, “We’re very excited about what this change means to the future of tennis in the United States. Competition is an important element of learning and growing the game, and now all children 10 and under will have the proper platform with which to compete.”

In addition, Kurt Kamperman, Chief Executive, Community Tennis, USTA said, “This rule change to the competition format for kids 10 and under is critical to the long-term growth of our sport, and ultimately will help us develop new generations of talented players.”

The press release continued by saying that the change in tournament format by both the USTA and the ITF was reached after weighing the benefits for beginners as well as recurring and high-performing youth players. Studies have found that competition, when conducted in a welcoming environment that allows for multiple play opportunities, enhances kids’ enjoyment of the game. And for aspiring collegiate and professional players, the QuickStart Tennis play format fosters proper technique and enhances strategy, key components to success in competitive play.

Over the years teaching professionals, coaches, and manufacturers have endorsed the notion that multiple play opportunities, short courts, lighter racquets, and quality instruction increase the chances that juniors will enjoy and stay in the game. In fact they have developed short racquets, lighter balls, and have had short court programs in place since the mid-1980s.

The mandate handed down by the USTA was not welcomed by some prominent teaching professionals and many in the industry. The following objections to the 10U ruling are from a variety of sources:
• Some 10-year olds have advanced beyond the short court teaching tools and are playing competitive tennis on a full court. For that reason, an appropriate rule change would have allowed short courts for 10U competitive play rather than mandating them.
• The ruling in counter-productive. Ten-year olds who are already playing on a regular court will avoid the 10Us and play the 12Us.
• This is yet another attempt by the USTA to create a monopoly. They want to take credit for the work of others and try to control all aspects of the industry.
• The ruling has not been put in place for the benefit of the sport, but rather the benefit of increasing USTA power.
• Garvin and the USTA do not support the teaching profession. This is illustrated by her comment “Now all children 10 and under will have the proper platform with which to compete.”
• The USTA has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the Player Development program, but have had limited success in development of world class players. This rule change illustrates they are not in touch with the sport or the needs of the tennis industry.
• Every USTA President and Board wants to leave their mark on the sport. This mandate is nothing more than that.
• The USTA is schizophrenic in its decision-making. It wasn’t that long ago that the USTA eliminated lower level age division rankings because research had demonstrated that competition was bad for players under 12 years of age. Now they are calling for increased competition at the younger ages.
• Over the past 20 years, clubs have gone out of business and courts have been eliminated at existing facilities. Dedicating space for new junior courts or converting existing courts for 10U play is not a cost effective investment for recreation departments, tennis facilities, or country clubs.
• The U.S. still has not fully recovered from the Great Recession. The USTA, which has not been a articipant in the recession, is not in touch with the challenges facing the industry.
• Similarly, the new ruling creates barriers to entry for new clubs. 10U courts have limited potential for revenue generation.

Even after the decision has been made, this remains a contentious issue between the USTA and some members of the industry. The real question remains, “Will the 10 and under players ultimately be the winner?”

Over the years, the USTA has introduced a number of excellent programs. Time will tell whether the recent 10U mandate will prove to be a “critical driver of long-term growth of the sport” and a generator of “generations of talented players”. In the meantime it is up to the teaching professionals and the industry to track the success of this USTA decision and hold them accountable if it turns out to be another USTA boondoggle.