USTA News
Jordan Cox defeats Denis Kudla in 16s Singles
2008-08-10 Jordan Cox defeated Denis Kudla 6-1, 7-6 (2), 6-3 to win the 16s singles title this afternoon on a cool and windy final day at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.Cox also earned a wild card into the main draw of the Junior U.S. Open.
"That\'s great," Cox said of the wild card. "I\'m looking forward to it a lot. It’s going to be a great experience."
Cox rolled through the first set, but Kudla stepped it up in the second, especially in the ninth game, where he fought off four match points in a game that went to eight deuces before he held serve to pull to 5-4.
“I played well in the first set and I knew he wasn’t playing his best tennis,” Cox said. “I was expecting him to come back and start playing like her normally does at any moment, so I was ready for it.
“I had to just keep playing every point. I believed th at I could win it. I just had to make it happen.”
Kudla said, “In the first set, I was battling nerves, but not a lot, not as much as I did before.
“I was overhitting a little bit and not feeling my strokes and not believing in myself.
“In the second set, I started telling myself just play with my feet and instead of trying to hit winners and everything, just make him play. I ended up doing that and coming back in the big game (in the second set).”
Austin Krajicek defeats Ryan Thacher in 18s Singles
2008-08-10 Austin Krajicek is headed to the U.S. Open after defeating Ryan Thacher 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 at Kalamazoo College\'s Stowe Stadium.Krajicek, a freshman at Texas A&M, earned the wild card into the U.S. Open main draw with the win.
"I\'m going to miss this tournament, but maybe one day I can come back and play the exhibition," Krajicek said.
This is the third year in a row that Thacher, who is headed to Stanford in the fall, was runner-up, two years ago in 16s and last year in 18s.
"They say people don\'t like change, but I don\'t think I would have minded this year," Thacher said. "I still can\'t believe I lost 6-0 in that last set.
Both players peppered each other with big serves and long rallies in the best-of-five set match.
Thacher was serving down 5-0 and love-40 when Krajicek blasted the winner down the line for the title.
"I came out a little nervous and Ryan had a lot more experience in the finals," Krajicek said. "I think that helped him a little in the first set.
"Luckily I came out on top today."
16s Final Set for Sunday 11:30 a.m.
2008-08-09 The 16s final is set, with sixth-seeded Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., taking on seventh-seeded Jordan Cox of Duluth, Ga., in Sunday’s championship match.Kudla defeated second-seeded Evan King of Chicago 6-2, 6-2 in one of today\'s semifinals.
Cox advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (0) win over Bob van Overbeek (5) of Boca Raton, Fla.
The 16s final is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
18s Singles Finals Sunday Afternoon
2008-08-09 Two lefties will play for the wild card into the main draw of the U.S. Open in the 18s singles final Sunday afternoon.Top-seeded Ryan Harrison of New Braunfels, Texas, fell to fifth-seeded Austin Krajicek, of Bryan, Texas, 7-5, 6-1,
Krajicek will face Ryan Thacher (8) of Studio City, Calif., in Sunday’s best three-of-five sets final.
Thacher defeated Ty Trombetta (6) of Hallandale, Fla., 6-0, 6-1.
16s Doubles Final
2008-08-09 Evan King (Chicago) and Raymond Sarmiento, (Fontana, Calif.) the top seeds in 16s doubles, took home the gold ball after defeating sixth-seeded Denis Kudla (Arlington, Va.) and Junior Ore (Gaithersburg, Md.,) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in this afternoon's final.King also won the Bobby Kaplan Sportsmanship Award for Boys' 16s and won his third-place match in singles, after losing to Kudla in a main draw semifinal match earlier today.
"This is a prestigious tournament ... a lot of history behind it," said Sarmiento, who said he hopes the U.S. Open qualies or main is next for him.
In spite of losing his singles semi to Kudla, "I don’t think it made me extra hungry (to win doubles) because I really wanted to win doubles pretty badly, said King. "This is a national title; the gold ball is special."
16s Singles Semifinals Set
2008-08-08 The field for Saturday\'s singles semifinals in 16s has been set and one of the 18s spots is filled as the bottom halves of the draw battled through their quarterfinals matches today.In 18s, Ryan Thacher (8) of Studio City , Calif., defeated Chase Buchanan (2) of New Albany, Ohio, 6-4, 7-5 and will play either Adam El Mihdawy (3) of Long Island City, N.Y. , or Ty Trombetta (6) of Hallandale, Fla., on Saturday.
In 16s, Evan King (2) of Chicago will play Denis Kudla (6) of Arlington, Va., in Saturday’s semifinals.
King beat Ben Guthrie (2) of Plano, Texas, 6-1, 6-0, while Kudla defeated Jack Sock (3) of Lincoln, Neb., 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
“It still wasn’t easy,” King said of the rout. “He fought pretty hard and at the end he has some game points. At the end, he hit some good shots.
"I played really well. I didn’t really make that many errors, so it was a good day."
Kudla, who won on his fourth match point, said, "My serve still isn’t a thing that I’m depending on so much (but breaking Sock’s first serve) definitely gave me a little boost."
In the other half of the 18s semifinals draw, Ryan Harrison (1) of New Braunfels, Texas, will face Austin Krajicek (5) of Bryan, Texas.
In 16s, Ben van Overbeek (5) of Boca Raton, Fla., will play Jordan Cox (7) of Duluth, Ga.
Ty Trombetta Trumps El Mihdawy
2008-08-08 Ty Trombetta (6) of Hallandale, Fla., won his fourth three-setter in a row, advancing to Saturday's semifinals with a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Adam El Mihdawy (3) of Long Island City, N.Y., today.Trombetta will play Ryan Thacher (8) of Studio City Calif., in one 18s semifinal.
Ryan Harrison (1) of New Braunfels, Texas, will face Austin Krajicek (5) of Bryan, Texas, in the other 18s semifinal.
Tournament Update
2008-08-07 Top-seeded Ryan Harrison has a spot in Saturday\'s 18s semifinals, but Rhyne Williams (12) of Knoxville, Tenn., and Austin Krajicek (5) of Bryan, Texas, are waiting to finish their match, which was interrupted by a cloudburst Thursday afternoon.Krajicek won the first set 6-1 but Harrison was leading the second 4-1 when the match was suspended.
The winner will play Harrison, a 6-4, 6-2, winner over Bradley Klahn (7) of Poway, Calif.
"Fortunately I got an early break on the first game," said Harrison. "He ended up breaking me back, but I immediately broke him back to get the game in the second.
"From then on out, when I went up 4-3 serving in the first set, I made a commitment to myself that if he was going to beat me, he was going to have to break my serve, whenever I made three or four first serves a game.
"The only game he broke me in, I missed all six first serves."
The top half of the 16s semifinals field is set with Bob van Overbeek (5) of Boca Raton, Fla., taking on Jordan Cox (7) of Duluth, Ga., on Saturday.
Both won their quarterfinals matches today, with the bottom half of the draw playing in the quarters on Friday.
Van Overbeek defeated Raymond Sarmiento (9) of Fontana, Calif., 7-5, 6-2, using his big serve to his advantage.
"(Sarmiento) was serving very well and I wasn’t getting that many opportunities,” said van Overbeek. “I just wanted to try and hold my serve. I’ve played him in practice and sometimes he’ll give you a few easy mistakes.
"I was hoping for that on his serve,"
With the first set tied 5-5, van Overbeek broke Sarmiento, then served for the set, winning on an ace.
In the second, Sarmiento was broken twice before pull ing to 5-2. On his second match point, van Overbeek won on an ace.
Cox advanced by beating Clay Thompson (11) of Venice Beach, Calif., 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
"I thought I was still in (the second set)," said Cox. "I had one loose game where I got broken, played a couple of loose points and he started playing a little better on my service game.
"I only got broken once (in the second set), so I wasn’t unhappy about it,"
Austin Krajicek v Rhyne Williams
2008-08-07 After a two-hour rain delay that interrupted his match, Austin Krajicek, the fifth seed from Bryan, Texas, advanced to Saturday\'s 18 semifinals with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win over Rhyne Williams (12) of Knoxville, Tenn.The match was Krajicek\'s third three-setter of the tournament.
"I wasn\'t too upset that it rained because I had the momentum in the first set and then it kind of shifted over to his side a little bit," said Krajicek.
After exchanging breaks in the third set, Krajicek held serve for 2-2.
"It was a big game," he said. "That was probably \'I felt I could win the match\' difference there because he had the momentum back and I grinded out that game and that kinda gave me some momentum going into his game."
Krajicek plays top-seeded Ryan Harrison in the semis.
18s Update
2008-08-06 The field is set for the 18s quarterfinals Thursday and Friday with four of the top five seeds advancing.The fourth seed, Alexander Domijan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., was upset by Rhyne Williams (12) of Knoxville, Tenn., 1-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 on Wednesday.
Williams said it's a good thing to know that he can rebound from a 6-1 first-set loss to win the match, but "I've got to get out tomorrow and play another one, which is a bad thing."
Top-seeded Ryan Harrison of New Braunfels, Texas, pulled out a three-setter, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, over Alex Llompart (21) of Carolina, Puerto Rico. Both attend the John Newcombe Academy and "I train with him and practice with him every day," Harrison said. "I warmed up with him today before the match, so obviously there's a little bit of a rivalry there."
"He came out playing well, serving big and got an early break on me ... I wasn’t 100 percent ready to play. I came out a little bit lackadaisical and he was ready to get on top of things and he immediately took advantage. I didn’t even have a break point in the first set."
Harrison will play Bradley Klahn (7) of Poway, Calif., in the quarterfinals. Klahn beat Kyle McMorrow (13), 6-3, 6-2, on Wednesday.
Chase Buchanan (2) of New Albany, Ohio, advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over unseeded Ian Chadwell of Franklin, Tenn., and Adam El Mihdawy (3) of Long Island City, N.Y., defeated Wil Spencer (16) of Ponce De Leon, Fla., 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-2.
"He was missing a lot in the first and I was attacking a little more," El Mihdawy said of Spencer.
In the quarters, Buchanan will play Ryan Thacher (8) of Studio City, Calif., who defeated Jarmere Jenkins (9) of College Park, Ga., 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the round of 16.
El Mihdawy takes on Ty Trombetta (6) of Hallandale, Fla., who beat Dennis Nevolo (11) of Gurnee, Ill., 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
Austin Krajicek (5) of Bryan Texas defeated Steve Johnson (15) of Orange, Calif, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and will face Williams in the quarterfinals.