New USA Career-High Rankings, August 25, 2014

Each week I will endeavor to bring you a list of USAmerican players who have reached a new career-high ranking. This list is not exhaustive but will cover most players in the Top 1000. 

New WTA career-high rankings, August 25, 2014

Player name	New CHR	Last wk *= previous   CHR	+  from last week	Pvs CHR If prior to last wk	Date achieved If prior to last wk
Nicole Gibbs	135	136*	+1
Asia Muhammad	288	290*	+2
Jennifer Brady	536	538*	+2
Alexa Guarachi	603	604*	+1
Josie Kuhlman	632	634*	+2
Anamika Bhargava	641	643*	+2
Julia Elbaba	703	708*	+5	708	7/22/2013
Karina Vyrlan	742	746	+2	744	8/11/2014
Alexandra Riley	767	770*	+3
Alexandria Stiteler	848	896*	+48	892	8/4/2014
Kelly Chen	863	866*	+3	866	8/11/2014
Nadja Gilchrist	867	869*	+2
Michaela Gordon	929	933	+4	932	8/4/2014
Daniella Roldan	1025	1061*	+36

It was a very slow week for rankings moves on both tours, as US Open qualies took center stage.  Those points won't show up until after the Open, and honestly there weren't outstanding results there as no USAmerican qualified for our home slam on either side for the first time in aaaaages.  So I will just highlight three lower-ranked players with the most significant moves.

Julia Elbaba had an excellent sophomore season at the University of Virginia but was given a brutal first-round draw in the NCAA singles championship, and lost to Stanford's Krista Hardebeck 2&2.  She's had a few wins this summer including a first-round win in Landisville over Kateryna Kozlova, who came within a set of qualifying for the US Open this week.  (Meanwhile, Julia's teammate Danielle Collins will be in the main draw of the tournament thanks to her NCAA singles win.)

Alexandria Stiteler continues to have some success in $10Ks overseas, and her QF in Georgia brought her to a new career high.  And new to the scene is 16-year-old Daniella Roldan, who has gotten a couple of wins in South American ITFs to put her on the edge of 1,000.

New ATP career-high rankings, August 25, 2014

Player name	New CHR	Last wk *= previous CHR	+  from last week	Pvs CHR If prior to last wk	Date achieved If prior to last wk
Jared Donaldson	303	305*	+2
Daniel Nguyen	397	474	+77	418	5/27/2013
Marcos Giron	419	433	+14	432	8/11/2014
Connor Smith	478	482*	+4
Alexander Sarkissian	656	680*	+24
Kyle McMorrow	697	701	+4	698	8/4/2014
Raymond Sarmiento	861	865*	+4
Martin Redlicki	948	949*	+1
Thai-Son Kwiatkowski	1027	1600	+573	1508	11/8/2010
Tom Fawcett	1977	1983*	+6
Raymond Sarmiento	865	869	+4	867	7/28/2014

Just three to highlight here, all thanks to an excellent week for Americans at the Calgary Futures event a week ago: Daniel Nguyen has done an impressive job of building his ranking back up past where it was in spring 2013 when he won consecutive Korean Futures events but was then off the tour with injuries until September and it wasn't until March of this year that he started seeing good results again.  So his win over Bjorn Fratangelo to net his second title of the year (with his brother joining "well over 100 people" in the audience) had to feel great.  He beat Alexander Sarkissian in the quarters and qualifier Thai-Son Kwiatkowski in the semis, both of whose results netted them new highs - Kwiatkowski's being by far the biggest jump on either tour this week.

Unfortunately, this week's Winnipeg event wasn't nearly as kind to the Americans, with those three guys losing first round and only two Americans reaching the quarterfinals.

It's two weeks until our next update, and lots of tennis to be played in New York and elsewhere.  Hopefully great and unexpected things will occur and the next update will be packed full of veterans and up & comers! 

Zootopia

For my overview of Friday at The Zoo (USTA Boys 16s & 18s National Championships) go HERE!

Back in civilization after a week+ traversing Michigan and Ohio, I have had time to breathe and write a wrap-up post about Kalamazoo.  And what I want to say about Kalamazoo is that it was a revelation. Both the city (lively, lots of college kids, and beer breweries galore) and the tournament.  It was my first time watching junior tennis live and I was absolutely-no-foolin' impressed by the level of play, particularly among the 16s that I saw.  I'd seen the guys who were playing the 18s a time or two and it's pretty much a given that most of the top-level 18s are good enough to compete right now against top-level college guys and/or on the Futures or even Challenger circuits.  In fact just this week we've seen Altamirano, Escobedo, Kozlov, Rubin, and Tiafoe all take at least a set off Top 200 guys.  But yeah, man, the 16s.  Sure, I was watching the best of the best, but the pace and direction of the shots, consistency of rallies, footwork, speed, and court sense of the players outstripped what I had anticipated.

Saturday at The Zoo featured a great panoply of matches: 16s, 18s, singles, doubles, and consolation matches.  Here were a few snippets that stood out.

Walker Duncan

Walker Duncan's quest for 9th place in the 18s was going nowhere. Logan Smith was all over him like a good writer on a juicy metaphor.  Smith, whose elegant had taken him to the third round of Junior Wimbledon, seemed barely to have broken a sweat as he went up 6-1 in the final of the Feed-In tournament.  The blond Georgian looked outclassed and frustrated.  Down a break in the second set, Duncan finally reached break point at 4-5* (at least I think it was 4-5* ... next time I do this, if I ever do, I vow to be more organized about note taking!) but then hit an unforced error and in a flash of anger threw his racquet, which earned him a point penalty and earned Smith a match point.  But Walker saved it, then finally broke Smith, and eventually took him to a tiebreak which Duncan won.  The final set was a super tiebreak and that was won 10-8 by Walker and I remember it being dramatic but honestly I couldn't tell you details.  Anyway his smile tells it all.

Connor Hance

The kid who, for some of us, will always be associated with a certain Taylor Dent commercial, played strong, composed tennis in the match I saw.  The #9 seed was in all sorts of trouble, though, in his semifinal against the unseeded (and apparently pretty unknown) Oliver Crawford, the two having split sets and Hance seemingly a bit rattled.  Crawford was coming to the net a lot, with good success.  Early in the third, though, with Hance in the middle of a marathon game in which he was trying to consolidate a break, he hit a tremendous backhand lob that Crawford desperately ran back to get, only to fall.  The South Carolinian wasn't the same after that, perhaps hobbled by the injury, and Hance went on to win 6-4 2-6 6-2. I got a great photo of him in the interview room that I accidentally deleted - so just picture the kid in the commercial all grown up.  (Sidenote: Hance indicated he was "kind of over" the commercial - hopefully he'll get to make another one at some point!)

Gianni & John

A major theme of the two days I was at The Zoo was the deep friendship of two top players in the 16s, John McNally and Gianni Ross.  I wrote a bit about them in my first installment.  They played each other in the second semifinal, and the second set was competitive, with Ross getting it to a tiebreak, but right now 15-year-old McNally is the best American player playing the 16s.  He went on to beat Hance 6-4 6-4 and got a wildcard into the main draw of Junior US Open (Ross got a wildcard into the qualies, as did Hance).  The pair also won the doubles - twice having to get through in third sets.

But mostly, it was interesting to watch these two, both separately and together.  Each referred to the other as his "brother" in their individual interviews, and were clear that their friendship ran much deeper than tennis.  It was a nice view into how tennis can bring people together across distance (McNally is from Cincinnati, Ross from the Chicago area).

Ross & McNally

Collin Altamirano

As I continue my rapid ascent to the dizzying heights of renowned tennis blogger I find it highly doubtful I'll find a more pleasant interview than this Golden Stater.  It's funny that his animated on-court demeanor (on demonstration yesterday as he lost his second-round qualies match at the US Open to former junior star Ricardis Berankis) brought a charge of "obnoxious" on Twitter, because in front of *this* reporter he was thoughtful, respectful, even charming.  Watching him in person, he got a bit lucky in reaching the final - Donaldson was up a break when he was forced to retire, and Kozlov wasn't at 100% in his match - but the confidence and intensity he brings to the court is invigorating.  The big question around Altamirano is "will he or won't he" go to college (or, more accurately, "should he or shouldn't he").  It's a weird quirk of tennis that only Americans are forced to make that choice, whereas players in other countries are allowed to do so.  I won't chime in on this, as I've never been in his position.  I do wish him the best, though, whichever path he chooses.

Michael Mmoh

Ernesto Escobedo is in the final round of US Open qualies today while the guy who beat him in straight sets at The Zoo is playing a juniors tournament in Maryland.  This guy scared the bejeezus out of Noah Rubin - the only one to threaten the eventual champ.  His tools are pretty extraordinary and he looked like he was in 3rd gear most of the time.  He's a little under the radar compared to the other seven 18s quarterfinalists right now.  Which could be the best thing for him, who knows?

Mmoh, Tiafoe, Wiersholm & Paul - 4th & 3rd place 18s doubles

Taylor Harry Fritz

All I'm going to say about this guy is that once he harnesses his game ... watch out.  Wow.


Overall, the tournament was a real eye-opener.  As I've written, all these guys are so good at what they do and already have achieved great things.  It's fun putting faces and styles to names I've only seen and learning about new players.  I'd love to do it again some time.

18s doubles champs Kozlov & Rubin

Baughman signing autographs after the doubles final

Final note: I really do hope they fix the entry system to nationals.  Putting the Smiths and the Deiton Baughmans of the world in qualies is unfair both to them (making them play those extra matches, given how much they had to play anyway, put them at a distinct disadvantage in the fourth round against the top eight seeds) and to their qualifying opponents.  A coach told me that his player had this one chance to play nationals, impress coaches, and possibly qualify.  He one his first-round match but then had to play one of the big three in the second round and never stood a chance.  Given the implications for his future it does seem a bit unfair...


Final final note: keep an eye out for Sam Riffice.  Not only did the 15-year-old serve a first-set bagel to McNally in the quarterfinals, he served for the match in the third set only to lose in a third-set tiebreak.  Then this week he went out to Mmoh in a third-set tiebreak in Maryland, with match point on his racquet (he missed a backhand volley into the net).