Cuckoo4Coco wrote: ↑Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:08 pm
I am going to throw out this young American to watch in the USO and that is 19 year old Ben Shelton. I am not going to say he is going to win the tournament, but he could stun some players on the way to a good appearance at the Open. He is also currently playing at the Atlanta Open.
Good eye on Ben Shelton. I saw him play at the Indy Challenger last week. He made the semis. I was surprised he lost that match, actually. The kid has some big firepower. And he was very nice. It looks like he can get stronger physically. I don't think he will win a round at the Open, but you never know. I'll watch him. It will be interesting to see if he stays in school or goes pro. I think he should stay and get stronger.
Funny, I thought Shelton's serves were bombs, but in the two matches I saw, the opponents returned them pretty easily, nice and deep. Particularly Kovacevic, who beat Shelton in the semi. Kovacevic has a sweet one-handed backhand.
Shelton technically beat Van Rijthoven, but it was a retirement. Van Rijthoven won the first set 7-6 and retired with a sore back soon after, but actually Shelton should have won that first set. One of his own team members messed him up. Late in the set, VR missed a serve and Shelton's uncle (I think) clapped, and VR turned to him and called him out, saying it was disrespectful. Kids sitting next to the uncle were hooting about it. It was sort of a spectacle. I didn't see it, but I heard Shelton was visibly upset by his uncle's actions and the whole thing, and promptly dropped his serve. I don't know if this was during the set or TB. Anyway... I was impressed with the kid, but maybe he's a dime a dozen. I think he plays for his dad in Florida.
Wu Yibing won the Challenger, and that makes three in a row this summer on hard court. The final vs Kovacevic was so close. Kovacevic won the first in a TB and Wu took the second 15-13 in the TB.
Not to derail this topic, but the coolest thing I saw during the tournament was after the doubles final, two opponents stayed on court analyzing the match, very complimentary of each other. The losing finalist, Raja Purav, who is 36, looks like he's a member at the host club, not a pro player. The first time he took the court, I was thinking, "Did they have a tournament to give a doubles wild card to some local players?" He looks way older than 36, mostly because he's bald. But he's good.
Also, the courts weren't as big as we're used to seeing on TV, in terms of room behind the baseline. The line judges were always lunging out of the way or covering their heads to avoid getting hit. The proximity hindered players at some points. I saw someone lose a point because the ball was deep and he would have hit the line judge if he had swung. Also, there were only 3 line judges on the whole court. One calling the service line, and one for each sideline. The sideline judges stood on opposite ends of the court and had to call the whole line, even on the other side, plus the center line on the serve. The chair called the baselines. No review.
jazzyg wrote: ↑Tue Jul 26, 2022 3:43 am
Shelton will get a wild card because he as American NCAA singles champion from this year. They did away with automatic wild cards to NCAA singles champs more than a decade ago, but they still give them to players from the U.S. when they win the the NCAA singles title.
Main draw or qualies? I'd prefer a qualies wild card. I just wonder if the R1 prize money lures them into leaving school so they don't have to leave it on the table. I assume if they say in school, they can't accept the $40,000 R1 prize money. I think they can take enough to cover expenses, so maybe there are some loopholes. I also wonder if that's changing now that NCAA athletes can accept endorsements.
Translation
He's a good guy and he's making moves - he's commentating on Tennis Channel in Atlanta this week, I think. I think he said T2, whatever that is. Maybe TC Plus?