What in the name of Wayne Gretzky is going on in Canada?
Almost synonymous with hockey, the cold-weather nation suddenly is becoming a power in tennis, of all sports. Canada is known for slap shots, not passing shots.
Led by rising stars Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil, though, Canada reached the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time this year. Raonic, 22, of Thornhill in the Toronto area and Pospisil, a 23-year-old native of Vernon, British Columbia, have climbed to No. 11 and No. 40 in the world, respectively.
In men's doubles, 41-year-old Toronto product Daniel Nestor has won eight Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal.
Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, a Montreal suburb, last year became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam title when she took the girls singles crown at Wimbledon. The next day, Filip Peliwo of Vancouver, British Columbia, became the second by capturing the boys singles title at the All England Club.
Bouchard, the highest-ranked teenager in the world at No. 32, played in her first WTA final on Sunday. The 19-year-old fell to 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in Osaka, Japan.
And Peter Polansky of Thornhill won his first career Challenger singles title Sunday. The unseeded Polansky, 25, surprised third-seeded Matthew Ebden of Australia 7-5, 6-3 in the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
It doesn't end with tennis, either. Anthony Bennett of Toronto and UNLV was selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in this year's NBA draft, and Andrew Wiggins of Thornhill -- is this suddenly the sports capital of the world? -- and Kansas likely will be the top pick next year. Even Justin Bieber is Canadian.
Polansky, who also downed second-seeded Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., in the Tiburon semifinals, did not lose a set in five matches in the tournament. He fell in the second round of the Napa and Sacramento Challengers in the previous two weeks.
By winning the Tiburon title, the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Polansky jumped 54 places to No. 168. He reached his career high of No. 149 in September last year.
Ebden, 25, lost in a Northern California Challenger for the second time in three weeks. The former top-70 player fell to Donald Young in Napa after leading by a set and a service break.
In an all-American doubles final in Tiburon, third-seeded Austin Krajicek and Rhyne Williams topped second-seeded Bradley Klahn and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-1. Klahn played 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Stanford, where he starred from 2009 to 2012.
Following are the complete Tiburon Challenger singles and doubles draws:
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF
Veteran journalist Paul Bauman, based in Sacramento, covers Northern California professional, collegiate and junior tennis. Contact him at norcaltennisczar@gmail.com and follow him on Bluesky @paulbauman.bsky.com.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Top two seeds ousted in Tiburon semifinals
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| Third-seeded Matthew Ebden of Aus- tralia will meet unseeded Peter Polan- sky of Canada in the final of the Tibur- on Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman |
Neither reached the final.
It was the second career meeting between Ebden and Kudla. The first came two weeks ago in the quarterfinals of the Napa Challenger, with Ebden winning by the almost identical score of 6-3, 7-5. He went on to reach the final, losing to Donald Young after leading by a set and a service break.
Ebden is 1-0 against Polansky, prevailing 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round at Toronto last year on the ATP World Tour.
Ebden is ranked No. 116 in the world after climbing to a career-high No. 61 last October. Polansky is No. 222, down from a career-high No. 149 in September 2012. Both players are 25.
Ebden has played in three Challenger singles finals, winning one.
Polansky advanced to his second career Challenger singles final after losing in the second round at Napa and last week in Sacramento. He fell to Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil on clay in Panama City final last year.
The top seeds in doubles also lost Saturday. Australians Samuel Groth and Chris Guccione fell to third-seeded Austin Krajicek of Tampa, Fla., and Rhyne Williams of Knoxville, Tenn., 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals.
Guccione, a 6-foot-7 (2.01-meter) left-hander, won the 2012 Tiburon title with Rik de Voest of South Africa and the 2011 crown with longtime former partner Carsten Ball of Australia.
Krajicek and Williams will meet second-seeded Bradley Klahn, a former Stanford All-American, and Rajeev Ram in an all-American final.
Following are links to the Tiburon singles and doubles draws and today's schedule:
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Smyczek ends Young's bid for NorCal sweep
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| Tim Smyczek, shown in last week's Sacramento Challeng- er, ended Donald Young's winning streak at 12 matches. Photo by Paul Bauman |
Second-seeded Tim Smyczek subdued the seventh-seeded Young, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
Young, a 24-year-old left-hander from Atlanta, had beaten Smyczek, 25, of Tampa, Fla., in the semifinals of the Napa Challenger and the final of the Sacramento Challenger in the past two weeks.
The 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Smyczek stopped Young's winning streak at 12 matches, but Young leads the series 8-5. That includes Smyczek's victory in a 2011 USTA playoff for a wild card into the French Open.
Smyczek, ranked a career-high No. 91 in the world, will play unseeded Peter Polansky of Canada in the semifinals. Polansky, ranked No. 222, dispatched unseeded Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., 6-4, 6-3.
Smyczek defeated Polansky 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the 2010 Rimouski (Quebec) Challenger in their only meeting.
In today's other semifinal, top-seeded Denis Kudla of Boca Raton, Fla, will meet third-seeded Matthew Ebden of Australia.
Kudla, ranked No. 97, held off Australian left-hander John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 7-5 after trailing 3-0 in the first set. Ebden, ranked No. 116 after reaching a career-high No. 61 last October, topped 20-year-old countryman Benjamin Mitchell 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Ebden is 1-0 against Kudla, winning 6-3, 7-5 two weeks ago in the Napa quarterfinals.
Following are links to the Tiburon singles and doubles draws and today's schedule:
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF
Friday, October 11, 2013
Young, Smyczek to meet for third straight week
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| Donald Young has won 12 consecutive matches, all in Northern California Challengers since losing in the second round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier. Photo by Paul Bauman |
Americans Donald Young and Tim Smyczek will meet for the third consecutive week and 12th time overall today in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger.
Young, seeded seventh, defeated Peter Gojowczyk of Germany for the second straight week 6-3, 6-1 at the Tiburon Peninsula Club. It was Young's 12th straight victory, all in Northern California Challengers, since he lost in the second round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier.
Young, a 24-year-old left-hander from Atlanta, seeks a NorCal sweep after winning the Napa and Sacramento Challengers in the past two weeks.
Smyczek, the second seed, held off Denys Molchanov of Ukraine 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to improve to 9-2 since becoming the last American man left in the U.S. Open. The 25-year-old Milwaukee native lost 7-5 in the fifth set to Marcel Granollers of Spain in the third round at Flushing Meadows.
Young leads Smyczek 8-3 in their series, winning 6-3, 6-2 in the Napa semifinals and 7-5, 6-3 in the Sacramento final.
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| Tim Smyczek improved to 9-2, all in NorCal Challengers, since falling in the third round of the U.S. Open as the last American man remaining. Photo by Paul Bauman |
Both players are undersized. Smyczek is listed at 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and Young at 6 feet (1.83 meters), but both appear two or three inches (5.1 or 7.6 centimeters) shorter.
Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., joined them in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory over eighth-seeded Bradley Klahn, a former Stanford star from Poway in the San Diego area. Klahn had won their three previous meetings, all in three sets.
Sandgren will face Canada's Peter Polansky, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Jarmere Jenkins of College Park, Md. Sandgren and Polansky, both unseeded, have split their two meetings.
The other quarterfinals were set on Wednesday. Top-seeded Denis Kudla of Boca Raton, Fla., will take on Australian left-hander John-Patrick Smith, and third-seeded Matthew Ebden will play fellow Aussie Benjamin Mitchell, 20.
Kudla is 1-0 against Smith, prevailing 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of qualifying in Brisbane on the elite ATP World Tour in January.
Ebden and Mitchell also have met once, but that was four years ago. Ebden, who's five years older, coasted 6-1, 6-3 in an Australian Futures tournament.
Following are the Tiburon singles and doubles draws and Friday's schedule:
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Despite U.S. men's worst year ever, Kudla optimistic
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| Denis Kudla, shown in last week's Sacramento Challenger, was the last American man remaining in singles at Wimbledon. Photos by Paul Bauman |
Simply stated, this has been the worst year in U.S. men's history.
No American reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time, and no U.S. man advanced to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in 101 years.
For one week last month, the United States was shut out of the top 20 in the world for the first time since the computerized rankings began 40 years ago.
In addition, no American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick 10 years ago at the U.S. Open.
At least Bob and Mike Bryan came within two match victories of the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men's doubles in 62 years.
Despite the United States' woes in singles, 21-year-old Denis Kudla of Boca Raton, Fla., is optimistic.
"I don't think anyone is in his prime, except for John (Isner) and Sam (Querrey)," the top-seeded Kudla said today after crushing Austin Krajicek of Tampa, Fla., 6-0, 6-1 in 51 minutes in the second round of the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger. "All the guys before were a lot older, at the end of their careers. I think every guy was at least 30, maybe 29. All the other guys are 19, 20, 21, 22, and we're coming up. We're right there — 100 (in the world), 95.
"If you look at other big federations — the French, the Spanish — they don't have anyone 19, 20, 21. They may have one guy. We have maybe six, seven, even more than that coming up. Maybe in the next three or four years, I think something good is going to happen with American tennis."
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| Benjamin Mitchell, 20, of Australia edged No. 6 seed Rhyne Williams 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1) in 3 hours, 1 minute in the second round of the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger. |
Maybe the United States won't have to wait three or four years for a Grand Slam champion. Kudla said the 6-foot-10 (2.08-centimeter) Isner, 28, and the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, 26, are capable of winning a Slam. But they have not advanced past the quarterfinals and fourth round, respectively.
Isner is ranked No. 13 and Querrey No. 31. Prospects include 21-year-olds Jack Sock (No. 78), Kudla (No. 97) and Ryan Harrison (No. 106); 22-year-old Williams (No. 124); and 23-year-olds Bradley Klahn (No. 131) and Steve Johnson (No. 150).
Further down the road are potential stars Christian Harrison, Ryan's 19-year-old brother, and Stefan Kozlov, 15.
In the meantime, Kudla contends that bad timing has victimized the United States at the highest level. Roger Federer of Switzerland, Rafael Nadal of Spain, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Andy Murray of Great Britain have combined to win 37 of 40 Grand Slam singles titles since Roddick's triumph.
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| Williams saved six match points before succumbing to Mitchell. |
Kudla rejects the argument that players from other countries are hungrier than Americans.
"It's easy to say that, but I think we're pretty hungry," he said. "The toughest thing people sometimes don't look at — or maybe they do — is in other countries, tennis is the second sport. Everyone gets into tennis. Here, it's the seventh or eighth sport, so it's hard to get an unbelievable freak athlete into tennis and, even if (one is) into tennis, to like it."
Kudla has a somewhat different perspective than other Americans. He moved from his native Ukraine to Fairfax, Va., with his family on his first birthday.
"I grew up in a European environment," said the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Kudla, who skipped college to turn pro. "My parents were strict but not crazy strict. I was never spoiled. I wanted tennis. It was always my dream."
Vladimir Kudla, a successful architect, took his family out of Ukraine shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed.
"It was dangerous," Denis said. "There were a lot of drugs and corruption everywhere. It was definitely not an easy place to grow up. My dad just said, 'I don't want that lifestyle for my kids. Come to America; we can do whatever we want; it's a lot safer.'
"I definitely wouldn't have been a tennis player if I had stayed in Ukraine. Yeah, there are (pro) players, but even those guys now, they're all playing somewhere else. They're in France or Germany or Spain. None of them stay in Ukraine.
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| The road from the upscale town of Tiburon to the tournament site offers a stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge. |
Kudla's parents "came here not speaking a word of English and picked it all up in a year or two," he said. "It's pretty amazing what they did."
Kudla reminisced in an otherwise empty locker room at the Tiburon Peninsula Club, tucked away in the hills across the bay from San Francisco. The road from the upscale town of Tiburon to the club offers a spectacular view of the city to the left and the Golden Gate Bridge to the right.
Kudla has lost only two games in two matches after losing in the first round as the top seed in the Sacramento Challenger to alternate Daniel Cox 7-5, 6-0.
"Last week was a disaster," moaned Kudla, who will face Smith in Friday's quarterfinals. "I played awful. I was getting frustrated with everything for no reason and just wasn't able to control it. I was just kind of weak-minded a little bit.
"You can't do that with these guys, because they'll jump all over you. Give them an inch to breathe, and they're going to take it and beat you. That's exactly what happened last week. Definitely, I learned from that quick."
Overall, Kudla has enjoyed a breakthough year. He cracked the top 100 for the first time after Wimbledon, also reached the second round of the U.S. Open and advanced to the semifinals at Queen's Club in London on the elite ATP World Tour.
"I'm really happy with my year, but I want more," said Kudla, who is close to ensuring a spot in the main draw of the Australian Open in January. "There are bigger goals — top 50 now, hopefully top 20, top 10 — just keep pushing, keep working from now to the end of the year."
It can't come soon enough for U.S. men's tennis in general.
Following are the Tiburon singles and doubles draws and Thursday's schedule:
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Jenkins stays hot, upsets fourth seed in Tiburon
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| Jarmere Jenkins, shown in last week's Sacramento Challenger, surprised fourth-seeded Alex Kuznetsov in the first round at Tiburon. Photo by Paul Bauman |
After reaching the semifinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger as a wild card last week, the recent University of Virginia graduate upset fourth-seeded Alex Kuznetsov of Tampa, Fla., 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 in the first round at the Tiburon Peninsula Club.
By reaching his first Challenger semifinal, Jenkins soared 156 places in the world rankings to No. 386. At the NCAA Championships in May, he led the Cavaliers to their first team title in the tournament, advanced to the singles final and won the doubles crown with then-freshman Mac Styslinger.
Jenkins, 22, of College Park, Ga., will play Peter Polansky of Canada on Thursday in the second round. Polansky defeated wild card Campbell Johnson, a senior at the nearby University of California at Berkeley, 6-4, 7-5.
Seventh-seeded Donald Young, coming off singles titles in the Napa and Sacramento Challengers in the past two weeks, defeated qualifier and fellow American Greg Ouellette 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 for his 11th straight victory.
Second-seeded Tim Smyczek, the Sacramento runner-up from Tampa, demolished Matt Reid of Australia 6-1, 6-1. Smyczek, 25, of Tampa avenged a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5), 7-5 loss to Reid in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying in June.
Young, 24, and Smyczek, 25, could meet for the third straight week and 12th time overall in Friday's quarterfinals.
Australian left-hander John-Patrick Smith, a former All-American in singles and doubles at the University of Tennessee, eliminated American Steve Johnson, a Tiburon semifinalist last year, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4.
Following are links to the singles and doubles draws and Wednesday's schedule:
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF
Aussie prospect Kyrgios withdraws from Tiburon
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| Nick Kyrgios, 18, rose to No. 177 in the world by reach- ing the semifinals of the Sacramento Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman |
Kyrgios (pronounced KEER-ee-ose), 18, was replaced in the draw by Marcelo Arevalo, a former University of Tulsa star from El Salvador who will turn 23 on Oct. 17.
Kyrgios, the youngest player in the top 200 in the world by 20 months, rose 14 places to No. 177 by reaching the semifinals of last week's $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club.
The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Kyrgios played two three-set matches with a sore arm in Sacramento before losing to second-seeded Tim Smyczek 6-3, 6-1.
Arevalo is scheduled to face fifth-seeded Rhyne Williams of Knoxville, Tenn., today in the first round in the fourth match on Court 1. Play begins at 10 a.m.
Other new rankings -- Sacramento champion Donald Young soared 22 places to No. 103 in this week's rankings. That would barely put Young directly in the main draw of the Australian Open in January.
Including Young's title in the $50,000 Napa Valley Challenger, the 24-year-old Atlanta resident has improved 42 spots in two weeks. He climbed to a career-high No. 38 in February 2012.
Tim Smyczek, the Sacramento runner-up from Tampa, Fla., rose nine notches to a career-high No. 91.
American Jarmere Jenkins, a semifinalist last week, skyrocketed 156 places to No. 386 four months after graduating fom the University of Virginia in anthropology. In May at Urbana, Ill., Jenkins led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA team title, reached the singles final and won the doubles crown with then-freshman Mac Styslinger.
Following are the singles and doubles draws, complete singles qualifying draw and today's schedule in the Tiburon Challenger:
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw293.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/doubles_draw294.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/qualifying_draw291.PDF
http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/schedule294.PDF
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