USTA News

Main Draw play is beginning at 12:30pm at Stowe Stadium and at 1:00pm at WMU Sorensen Courts. Call Stowe Tower for new times & location. 269-337-7340.

The heavy showers on Tuesday morning made for some difficult choices for tennis fans in Kalamazoo, as the 32 main draw singles matches were played on both the Western Michigan Sorensen courts and Stowe Stadium.

Under ideal weather conditions, the third and fourth round main draw matches are all scheduled for Stowe Stadium, while the consolation matches take place at WMU, but to keep the tournament on schedule with two mornings lost to rain in the past three days, the back draw matches were moved indoors to three local sites.

The top four seeds in each division played at Stowe, and their matches varied in difficulty.

Tennys Sandgren, the 16s top seed,  was once again on the verge of elimination, this time against unseeded Erik Blumenkranz of Portola Valley, CA, but again the Tennessean prevailed, taking a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory.  Lawrence Formentera, the second seed in 16s, took out unseeded Taylor Albrecht of Sarasota, FL 6-2, 4-1 ret. ill, one of many matches on the very warm and humid afternoon that featured an illness or injury.

Third seed Evan King and unseeded Daniel Whitehead engaged in a fierce battle in the first set, but King hit a pinpoint forehand winner that caught both lines at set point in the tiebreaker, and Whitehead didn't recover, falling 7-6 (6), 6-0.

Top seed Michael McClune struggled early with  No. 19 seed Luke Marchese, but once the Californian found the range with his ground strokes, he took control for a 6-3, 6-1 win.

Third seed Ryan Thacher and No. 29 seed Adam El Mihdawy were point for point in the first set, but when Thacher came back from 3-4 0-40 on his serve, it marked a change of momentum in the 2006 16s finalist's favor and he won that game and the next eight for a 6-4, 6-0 win.

Nate Schnugg, the fourth seed, and No. 17 seed Houston Barrick engaged in a rematch of their No. 5 singles battle in Athens Georgia in May, when Schnugg, a University of Georgia freshman, and Barrick, a University of Virginia freshman, were playing in the NCAA team semifinals.  Schnugg took that match in three sets; on Tuesday he needed only two, but Barrick was undoubtedly lamenting his missed opportunities as he served for the first set twice, and had a set point in the tiebreak.  But it was Schnugg advancing to the round of 16 by a 7-6 (6) 6-4 score.

Schnugg's friend and doubles partner Kellen Damico also had a grueling test Tuesday at Stowe, although it didn't start out that way against No. 31 seed Jason Jung of Torrance, CA.  The first set, which went to Damico 6-0, was over very quickly, as Jung couldn't find his usually consistent ground game.  He asked for a bathroom break, and it certainly helped him, as he took the second set 6-2. But Damico reasserted himself to take the third set 6-2, although he didn't appreciate Jung's tactics.

"I have a problem with people doing this stalling thing," said Damico. "When  you get beat 6-0 in fifteen minutes, you could have taken a bathroom break before you even went on the court."

Even with the bagel in the first set, Damico wasn't happy with his play.

"I wasn't playing that well even in the first," Damico, 18, said. "He didn't play that well in the first. Then I just stayed the same and he got better. I'm going to have to do a lot better than that . I'm not really happy with the way I played, but I am happy with the way I fought though."

At  the Western Michigan courts, there were more surprises.  Unseeded 15-year-old Ryan Harrison took down No. 13 Dennis Nevolo 6-4, 6-3 and unseeded Zach Nichols ended 2006 16s champion Brennan Boyajian's Kalamazoo winning streak at nine with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory.  It was the second seeded player to fall at Nichols' hands, as the Texan took out No. 24 seed Ryan Lipman in the second round.

Going by seeding, No. 26 Clint Bowles' 6-3, 6-0 rout of No. 7 Bradley Klahn was an upset, but Bowles had taken a similarly lopsided victory in the Clay Court finals just over two weeks ago, so the result was not shocking.

 In doubles action Tuesday evening, the top five seeded teams advanced in the 18s, with the unseeded Nichols and partner Chris Price pulling off the biggest upset, saving three match points en route to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over the No. 6 seeded team of Devin Britton and Adam El Mihdawy.

The 16s lost their No. 4 seeded team, as Chris Camillone and Raymond Sarmiento, the 11th seeds took out Denis Kudla and Junior Ore 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. 

Daniel Gliner in the 18s and Brandon Mitchell in the 16s produced major upsets on Monday in third round singles action at Stowe Stadium.

Mitchell, a 15-year-old from Laguna Niguel, CA, overwhelmed No. 6 seed Matt Spindler of Sacramento, CA 6-1, 6-1 on a cloudy and humid Monday morning, while Gliner\'s 6-3, 6-4 upset of No. 5 seed Johnny Hamui came in the late afternoon sunshine on court three with plenty of crowd support, including some of his Northern California buddies.

"Not a lot of people thought I was going to win," said Gliner, a 17-year-old from San Francisco. "But all my friends were telling me I had a chance. I had some belief at the beginning, but not much, and as the match progressed my belief increased."

Hamui, of Wesley Chapel FL, took a 4-1 lead in the second set, but there was no comeback for him, with Gliner making disheartening gets and hitting outright winners.

"There was a game at 4-2 (in the second) where I got like three lobs back in a row," said Gliner. "He missed the overhead, and I think that was the turning point."

There was no turning point in a match as lopsided as Mitchell\'s victory over Spindler, but the left-hander admitted that he was at the top of his game.

"My forehand was working really well, and also my serve," said Mitchell, who is playing for the first time in Kalamazoo. "If you have a good serve, it\'s a big advantage. He wasn\'t playing the best he could probably," Mitchell added, acknowledging that he had displayed his best tennis.

Tennys Sandgren, the 16s\' top seed, certainly didn\'t play at his highest level, but he found his way out of a tight spot, down a set and a break to unseeded Thomas Pham of San Diego CA before posting a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

"He was playing really well," said Sandgren, the 2007 16s Clay Court champion. "I wasn\'t, but he sure didn\'t make it any easier."

Both players cramped, but it was Pham who called a trainer, down 3-1 in the third.

"I was cramping early in the third, but I didn\'t want to sit down," Sandgren said when asked why he didn\'t seek any medical attention. "I thought standing, moving, drinking water would be the best way to get through it."

Sandgren felt first-hand the Kalamazoo fans\' famous support for the underdog during a lunchtime match on court one.

"It was a little annoying," Sandgren said good-naturedly. "You try to block it out, but it\'s hard." The Gallatin TN resident then spoke of what he was looking forward to when coming to Kalamazoo as the No. 1 seed.

"Playing on court one, having the crowd behind me," he said, then added after a beat, "You can scratch that one."

Sandgren wasn\'t so fortunate in doubles, as he and Walker Kehrer, the No. 2 seeds, lost to the unseeded team of Ryan Kim and Spindler.

The 16s singles seeds falling on Monday included No. 15 Gabriel Flores, No. 19 John Huang, No. 25 Ryan Cheung, No. 28 Sidarth Balaji, No. 31 Brian Fang and No. 32 Michael Vutam.

Gregory Andrews of Richland, MI, located about 10 miles east of Kalamazoo, reached the final 32 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Dante Terenzio of Stamford CT.

The 18s saw fewer surprises, with Hamui the only Top 16 seed to lose on Monday. But in the 17-32 category, No. 20 Alex Domijan, No. 22 Joey Burkhardt, No. 25 Jeff Dadamo and No. 27 Nick Meister failed to make the fourth round.

In 18s doubles, the only upset saw No. 11 seeds Will Guzick and Steve Schechtman lose to Joshua Graves and Luke Marchese.  Only four seeded teams did not reach the final 16.

16s Main Draw- Play began at 3pm - check with Stowe Tower for times - 269.337.7340

18s Doubles- Postponed until Monday afternoon, not before 5:30 pm...times posted Monday morning.

After more than seven hours of rain delays, the second round of Boys 16s singles were completed Sunday evening, and as was the case Saturday in the 18s, the top eight seeds had no trouble reaching the third round.

Top seed Tennys Sandgren, No. 3 Evan King and No. 4 Bo Seal all took care of business on the front three courts at Stowe Stadium, winning in straight sets.

But No. 9 seed Dennis Kudla, who followed Sandgren on Court 2, needed two and a half hours to take out unseeded Mark Schanerman of Florida 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. Schanerman hit his forehand with authority throughout the match, but began to feel the pressure of the situation late in the third, when errors and double faults crept into his game. Serving at 5-6, 15-30 Schanerman experienced either a cramp or a muscle pull and, unable to serve without wincing, eventually collapsed on the court after dropping the next two points.

As dramatic as that match was, it was overshadowed by the Court 1 contest between Texan Blake Davis and Californian Zachary Leslie, both unseeded. The match had everything--chair umpire overrules, time violations, lengthy injury timeouts, a bathroom break, sidearm serving and, at the end of the match, a two-court racquet toss by Leslie, who lost the match 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, to a cramping Davis.

Davis, who took a medical timeout, and was twice treated for cramping on subsequent changeovers, took a bathroom break up 3-2 in the third, and that seemed to send Leslie over the edge. While Davis was serving sidearm and moonballing, Leslie started to do the same, although he didn\'t appear to be injured and never asked for a trainer. The tennis produced in the last three games wouldn\'t have won a match in the 12s, but the pressure of Kalamazoo has a long history of producing the kind of tension evident throughout this match--and the surprising conclusion.

Blake Bazarnik of Kildeer, IL crafted a surprising conclusion of his own, defeating No. 11 seed Davis Holiner of Dallas, TX 5-7, 6-0, 6-3.

Several 17-32 seeds fell in the 16s on Sunday, and local player Greg Andrews of Richland, Michigan pulled off one of the upsets, defeating No. 21 seed Sky Lovill 6-2, 6-3. No. 17 seed Chris Camillone, No. 20 seed Jordan Cox,  No. 22 seed Ian Chadwell and No. 29 seed Wyatt McCoy also failed to advance.

Saturday is the first day seeded players in the 18s take the court, and there were a few upsets, with Reid Carleton (14), Ryan Lipman (24) and Tyler Hochwalt (28) heading to the back draw, all in matches played at the Western Michigan courts. Carleton lost to Oscar Fabian Matthews 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, Lipman fell to Zach Nichols 6-3, 6-4 and Ryan Harrison outlasted Tyler Hochwalt 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

The top eight seeds played under increasingly overcast skies, with no wind or heat marring the ideal tennis conditions. All eight won in straights sets and there was little drama or suspense among those victories. Top seed Michael McClune looked sharp in a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Jonathan Wolff, No. 2 seed Kellen Damico lost only one game against an overmatched Denis Bogatov, and No. 3 Ryan Thacher defeated fellow left-hander David Holland 6-2, 6-3.

Our first look at the seeds in 16s singles is on Sunday, but two rounds of doubles were played Saturday. The only seeded teams failing to advance were the 14th seeded team of Brian Fang and Michael Lin, and No. 15 seeds Christopher Freeman and Mousheg Hovahannisyan.

The last Kalamazoo area player in the 18s draw, Isaac Stein of Portage, fell in three sets to Daniel Gliner in second round action.

The B2 Networks’ broadcast of the USTA Boys 18s and 16s National Championships will only feature every match that is played on Court #1. Follow the tournament bracket at ustaboys.com or visit B2Now to find out which match-ups are being broadcast live.

Matches can be accessed through the event website, ustaboys.com, or at b2livetv.com.

B2 Networks is the exclusive broadcast partner to show the tournament matches via broadband. Fans wanting to watch the matches via B2 Networks, will need a high-speed internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Fans may purchase a day pass or a tournament pass to view the tennis matches. The day pass, featuring all matches on a given day, will be broadcast for the rate of $9.99 (US) per day. The tournament pass, featuring every match from all 10 days of the event, will be broadcast for the rate of $74.99 (US).

B2 Networks is a premier provider of reliable and secure international television and video broadcasting systems, pay per view and billing systems. Our network of arenas, stadiums, local venues, billing systems and data centers are currently in use to distribute live events to personal computers, mobile devices and television screens around the world. Working with organizations such as the National Lacrosse League, the AHL, ECHL. IHL, USHL and selected NCAA and NAIA institutions, B2 has established itself as a leader in innovative direct to home, mobile and television broadcasting.

Update: Additional showing at 9:30pm

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Unstrung, Jim Courier\'s junior tennis documentary filmed in Kalamazoo during the 2005 tournament, will be shown on Monday, August 6 at 7:30 p.m. on the Kalamazoo College campus.

Tickets ($5) are available at the following locations, Stowe Stadium Information Booth, Radisson Information Booth, WMU Sorensen Courts, and at the door beginning at 7:00 p.m. on the day of the showing at the Dalton Theatre in the Light Fine Arts Building at the corner of Academy and Thompson Streets.

For a short video featuring remarks from the producer, director and Courier, click here.

For the trailer, click here, and enter UNSTRUNG in the yellow search box on the left.