Juki's Junior Week in Review, Feb. 22-28, 2016

Behold: the second installment of On the Rise (a tennis blog) junior tennis correspondent Graham Jung's "Juki's Junior Week in Review." Check out last week's post here. Be sure to follow Graham on Twitter at @juki_tennis!

Despite no top-ten juniors contesting ITF Junior Circuit events this week, it was far from uneventful with in-form players continuing to make headlines. Highlights of the week included Australian Open Junior finalist Jurabek Karimov winning in Russia, ensuring a top-ten junior ranking, while the player Karimov beat in the QF Down Under, Yosuke Watanuki, won in Argentina. Playing in the biggest final of her career on the day of her 18th birthday, Argentine Melany Solange Krywoj captured the girls title in Argentina in a fairytale week. Lastly, 13 year-old Tarbes Champion Marta Kostyuk proved she can transition onto the junior circuit with ease as she reached the final of the ITF event in Lithuania, where the major boys favorite fell in the final. 

Jurabek Karimov continues to make waves in 2016 

Photo L to R: Valeriya Zeleva, Elena Rybakina, Lev Kazakov, Jurabek Karimov

Despite being a major powerhouse in tennis, Russia only hosts a small number of ITF Junior tournaments each year with the Yeltsin Cup being the country’s only G1 event. It is only the second edition of the Yeltsin Cup, held at the impressive Kazan Tennis Academy which hosted the 2013 Universiade Games. Top seed in the boys draw was Uzbek Jurabek Karimov, the recent Australian Open runner-up, who won over the Australian Open crowd with his post-match speech. Entering the tournament ranked #12, a deep run in Kazan would ensure Karimov a top-ten debut in the junior rankings. Karimov was pushed to the absolute limits in his QF against Brit Ryan James Storrie, but survived a third set tiebreak to win 6-2 4-6 7-6(5). The second set of that match would be the only set Karimov would drop as he took home the title with a 6-4 6-3 win over third seed Lev Kazakov.

Perhaps not a name familiar to many before the Australian Open, Karimov’s start to the year has pushed him up to #8 in the world. The Uzbek possesses an aggressive game and will have many watching with interest to see how he progresses through 2016. Winning the doubles title was the Russian team of Philip Klimov/Pavel Kotov, defeating the French team of Dan Added/Maxence Broville in a tight 4-6 7-5 [12-10] match.

A view of the Kazan girls final in a ction

Unlike the boys draw, the girls field seemed more like a national championship with only 7 foreign players in the 48 player draw, none of whom reached the QFs. Top seed in the draw was 15-year-old Olesya Pervushina, currently ranked #13 in juniors, who made the somewhat odd decision to start the year playing weaker South American tournaments instead of the Australian Open where she would have been among the favorites. The tall, powerful Russian has already won a Pro Circuit Satellite title and seemed to be the clear favorite coming into the event. But she struggled in her QF match and fell in her next match to fourth seed Elena Rybakina in two sets. Having defeated the top seed, Rybakina went on to win the title with another straight-set victory in the final over Valeriya Zeleva. The title is the biggest in the 16 year-old’s career and moves her up to #30 in the rankings. Runner-up Zeleva capped off her good week winning the doubles title along side Belarussian Nika Shytkouskaya and moves up to #28 in the rankings.

An extensive gallery of photos from Sunday’s final can be seen on the business-gazeta.ru website: http://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/303327

Yosuke Watanuki sweeps Argentina Cup titles

Held in the city of Cordoba, the Grade 2 Argentina Cup featured diverse fields as players have started to arrive in South America from around the world in preparation for the upcoming Copa Gerdau. Adapting to the red clay quickly, a team of four top Japanese athletes made their mark on the tournament winning 3 of the 4 titles and only just coming up short of a clean sweep. Top seed Yosuke Watanuki, who lost to Karimov in the QF of Australian Open Juniors last month, captured both the singles and doubles at the Cordoba Lawn Tennis Club but faced some tough opposition along the way. Watanuki dropped sets in both his QF and SF matches to Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli and American Ezekial Clark, respectively, but went on to win the final easily 6-1 6-2 over Italian Corrado Summaria. The 17-year-old Watanuki teamed up with his younger country mate Toru Horie to win the doubles.

COSAT. Mujeres 18 años
El match point con el que @MelKrywojtennis ganó su título en el Córdoba Lawn Tennis Club pic.twitter.com/Z7Z0zix6A3

— Tenis Sports-19 años (@Tenisports) February 27, 2016

Match point to seal Krywoj’s dream week

The one title not won by a Japanese player was in girls singles, where Argentine Melany Solange Krywoj came home with the trophy on the day of her 18th birthday. Krywoj, who will enter the top-100 for the first time thanks to the win, needed three sets to overcome 15-year-old Ayumi Miyamoto of Japan 6-2 6-7(0) 6-1. Both Krywoj and Miymoto would face off in the doubles final as well, but the team of Miyamoto/Hontama won easily 6-0 6-3. Miyamoto’s double title is notable as she now improves her career doubles record to 84-15, having captured 15 titles in her short career (only just turning 15 in December). Miyamoto’s success has not come only in small tournaments: she reached the doubles SF of last month’s Australian Open as well as winning the doubles title at the Grade A Osaka Mayor’s Cup.


Marta Kostyuk reaches final in Lithuania

The third significant ITF junior circuit title of the week was the Grade 2 Siaulial Open held in Lithuania. The boys draw was headlined by Estonian Kenneth Raisma, back in action after reaching the QF of Australian Open. Unlike Karimov and Watanuki, the Estonian was unable claim the boys title as top seed, falling in the final to Czech Republic’s Filip Duda in two tiebreaks. Ranked over 100 spots lower than Raisma, the 8th seeded Czech upset all three of the players in his path to capture the biggest title of his junior career. The 17 year-old Duda also came away with doubles trophy, partnering with country mate Michael Vrbansky, and will improve from #121 in the world to #74.

The girls draw saw upsets and top seeds fall as Great Britain’s Jodie Anna Burrage defeated 13-year-old wildcard Marta Kostyuk in the final 6-3 6-3. The 16 year-old Burrage dropped a set in her opening match but it was clear sailing afterward capturing the biggest title of her career and the second G2 title in two weeks for British girls. The run to the final for Kostyuk, which included an easy victory over #2 seed Markova, shows the Ukrainian Les Petits As Champion can already compete at the highest levels of the junior tour against older competitors. While Kostyuk has dominated against players her own age, her game style lacks huge offensive weapons, casting doubts over her ability to transition and face bigger, stronger girls. Her balanced style of play, which includes excellent retrieving skills, is proving already successful however and with this run she moves from #825 in the rankings all the way up to #381. The girls doubles title was won by Latvian Deniza Marcinkevica, little sister of pro tennis player Diana Marcinkevica, and her Belarussian partner Kaytarina Paulenka.

Juki's Junior Week in Review, Feb. 15-21, 2016

I invited Graham Jung (aka @juki_tennis) to contribute to On the Rise (a tennis blog). Juki is a great follow on Twitter, with a particular interest in junior and ITF Pro Circuit events, and Asian and lower-ranked American players. Please enjoy his first deep dive for OtR (atb) into the week that was in junior tennis!

Emily Appleton & Guiherme Wojciechowski Osorio

Photo Credit: Federacion de Tenis de Chile

The highest grade ITF Junior Circuit held this week was the G2 Copa FTCh in Santiago, Chile. The Chilean stop is week 6 of 10 of the South American clay court junior tour which will close next month with the GA Copa Gerdau in Porto Alegra, Brazil. Without any top juniors in attendance both the boys & girls draws were open and saw top seeds fall in early rounds while players ranked outside the Top 250 prevailed to claim the titles. In the boys draw the victor was 17 year-old Brazilian Guilherme Wojciechowski Osorio, ranked #272, grabbing the biggest title of his junior career. As an unseeded player in the 48-player draw Osorio needed to win six matches, defeating three seeds along his way to the trophy. Osorio's toughest match came against the youngest player he faced, as 14 year-old standout Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina pushed Osorio to a third set tiebreak in the third round. Tirante, the Junior Orange Bowl U14 Champion, is already proving to be a tough competitor against his older opponents at the ITF level. In the final Osorio, who trains in Portugal at the Felner Tennis Academy, defeated unseeded 16 year-old Federico Iannaccone of Italy 6-3 7-5. Iannaccone has shown good promise so far in 2016 having won a Serbian ITF junior title in January.

Brit Emily Appleton won the girls’ title, making the trek to Chile after competing in two indoor ITF Pro Circuit events in Great Britain in weeks prior. The 16 year-old Appleton (@ejappleton14) reached the second round of both $10K Glasgow and $10K Sunderland, and showed her good form could cope with the change to vastly different playing conditions. Appleton only dropped one set on route to her title this week, in her quarterfinal match against top seed Dominique Schaefer of Peru. Schaefer, who represented the United States until last year, has been one of the ITF Junior Circuit standouts of 2016 seeing her ranking climb to top-50 in the world. Appleton faced a surprise finalist as 14 year-old Viktoria Morvayova of Slovakia came through a number of tough opponents including second seed Raquel Pedraza of USA to post the biggest result of her young career. Appleton faced a tough test from the young Slovak but prevailed 7-6(5) 7-5. It was a tough tournament for the Americans, but success was found in doubles as the All-American team of Ezekiel Clark/Gui Gomes won the boys while Raquel Pedraza teamed up with Argentine Melany Solange Krywoj to win the girls.

To wrap up the tournament, which also featured U14 and U16 tournaments being contested, the Chilean Federation put together a small youtube package as seen below. Detailed results across all age categories can be found at http://cosat.org/Juniors2016/Torneos/GiraCOSAT/06-Chile/chile.php





Tennis Europe Winter Cups Final Rounds

This weekend also saw the Final Rounds played for the Tennis Europe Winter Cups, a Davis Cup/Fed Cup style competition amongst the European nations. The 8 nations qualifying for the finals face off in a knockout format over three days, with each tie featuring two singles matches followed by a doubles match. The Winter Cups provide a great opportunity for young talented players to gain the experience of representing their nation and being part of a team format while providing matches against other top European players of their age group.

Russian Winning G16 team of Olesya Pervushina, Anastasia
Potapova and Varvara Gracheva. Photo Credit: Tennis Europe

The U16 category this year was dominated by Russia, with their boys & girls’ teams both taking away the Winter Cup trophy. The Russia boys team of Alexey Zakharov, Egor Noskin and Timofey Skatov defeated the Netherlands in today’s final 3-0 which was held in Ronchin, France. The Russian team didn’t have it all their own way this week as the semifinal against Bulgaria was decided in doubles which Zakharov/Noskin were able to come through 6-1 7-6(4). Playing first singles for the Russian team, Skatov didn’t drop a set all week leading his team to victory. Only turning 15 last month, Skatov has yet to make his mark on the ITF junior tour but has impressed with performances at the U14 level including a Runner-Up finish at Les Petits As last year.

The Russian U16 girls team surprisingly faced a more difficult route to the title, despite the presence of top junior and potential future stars Anastasia Potapova and Olesya Pervushina. Both the semifinal tie against Switzerland and today’s final against Czech Republic were decided in doubles as each dropped a singles match. It was Potapova who struggled in the semifinal, only winning two games against Simona Waltert, but Pervushina dropped her match today against the tough Lucia Kankova in a third set tiebreak 6-7(4) 6-2 6-7(3). The duo teamed up in doubles in both ties to secure another Winter Cup trophy for Russia.

The U14 titles were won by Italy & Ukraine, in the boys & girls respectively. The Italian team consisted of Lorenzo Musetti, Lorenzo Rottoli and Fausto Tabacco, defeating Czech Republic 3-0 in the final. Rottoli and Musetti recently won the doubles title together at Les Petits As, and continued their good form here. The B14 included livestreaming, with the match archived and viewable at http://livestream.com/accounts/7166631/events/4836560. Marta Kostyuk led the Ukrainian team to the girls' title, but the dominant force in U14 tennis dropped her match today against Slovakia’s Romana Ciskova. It required a team effort from Ukraine as Daria Snigur won her singles match and Kostyuk teamed with 12 year-old Daria Lopatetskaya in doubles to bring home the trophy to Ukraine.

Open Super U12 Auray

One of the few notable U12 tournaments was held this week in Auray, France for the tournament's 25th edition. Past winners of the tournament include a number of top tennis stars including Rafael Nadal (’98), Andy Murray (’99), Kim Clijsters (’95), Dinara Safina (’98), Alize Cornet (’02), with recent champions including promising stars Felix Auger-Aliassime, Francoise Abanda and Anastasia Potapova. Although some very impressive names have won the tournament in the past it is important not to read too much into U12 results, as many past champions haven't made the transition to the professional level. The 2016 champions were Cesar Bouchelaghem of France and Kristina Volgapkina of Russia, both winning their finals in straight sets. Like Tarbes, Auray provided livestreaming for the tournament via youtube, and the finals plus many more matches can be seen on their account: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenSuper12Auray/videos

Asia Muhammad is coming into her own

Asia Muhammad at Midland 2016. (c) Jonathan Kelley

A couple of years ago, while on vacation in Quebec City, I had the pleasure of watching a fun WTA qualifying match between Heidi El Tabakh and Asia Muhammad. I had followed Muhammad's career for years but hadn't seen too many matches, and had never seen her in person. I was immediately enamored by her power and speed, along her her all-court prowess. Muhammad won that match to successfully qualify for the first time into a WTA main draw, although she had previously been given a wild card to the 2008 U.S. Open main draw.

It was back in 2008 when Asia first entered my consciousness. Back then the Tennis Channel was the sponsor of an ATP event in Las Vegas prior to Indian Wells, and they provided coverage both for that and the concurrent $50K women's ITF event. As a Las Vegas native -- one who got her start through Andre Agassi's tennis academy -- 16-year-old Muhammad received a wild card and made her way to the final, losing to Camille Pin in the final but bursting into the spotlight. There was a lot of attention on her then and for the next few months, even becoming the subject of a Harvey Araton New York Times profile at that year's Open.

But for years, the lofty expectations didn't quite pan out. Her ranking bounced around between 350 and 550, with no notable singles results to speak of. Finally, in the fall of 2013, she reached back-to-back semifinals at $25Ks in South Carolina -- enough to get her into the Top 300. The next summer she got to the semis of a $100K in Vancouver (and won her then-biggest doubles title with Maria Sanchez) and then came the Quebec tournament. Upon qualifying, she drew Johanna Konta, the talent-filled Brit who also had struggled to deliver on her talent, especially in tight matches. Of course, their match went to a third-set tiebreaker, won 7-4 by Muhammad -- her first WTA-level victory. (Her next match, against countrywoman Shelby Rogers, was even closer: Rogers claimed that one 6-7(5) 7-6(2) 7-6(5).) The win against Konta put Muhammad into the Top 250.

2015 was an up-and-down year for Muhammad. The biggest up came in doubles: she won her first WTA title in 's-Hertogenbosch with Laura Siegemund, which was calmly noted by yours truly at the time.

ASIA MUHAMMAD WINS HER FIRST WTA TITLE OMGOMGOMG 👍👏😁💁🏾💪💅👌👊☝️🎉💥💥💥💥💥

— Jonathan Kelley (@jokelley_tennis) June 13, 2015

8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> It took until the very end of the year for her best singles result, thanks to a highly successful October-November trip to Australia. She played 6 ITFs, starting the trip only 2-3 (each time losing to a teenager) but ending it 11-2 including two semifinals and her first-ever $50K title in Canberra.

Womens singles final Asia Muhammad (USA) d [2] Eri Hozumi (JPN) 6-4 6-3 Canberra International #protour pic.twitter.com/2QvXxJe1zg

— Tennis Results (@oztennisresults) November 8, 2015

A couple of weeks ago in Midland, Michigan, I caught up with the now-24-year-old Muhammad, who had just flown in from Maui, where she and Sanchez captured their second title together. ("Serious climate change. One of my expectations is to not get sick," she said.) We talked about her success with Sanchez (including their just-completed first round win), her trip to Australia, hitting with new Las Vegas resident Jovana Jaksic, and growing up in the Agassi-Graf world, a time in which she says she "didn't enjoy" because she put "way too much pressure on herself." The whole thing is definitely worth a listen. (Apologies for any errors on my part, including my calling her Quebec win over Konta the final round of qualies.)



Unfortunately, Muhammad drew top seed Madison Brengle in the first round of Midland, and despite having multiple opportunities, she fell 4-6 6-4 7-6(4). But she played some fantastic tennis and with a secure Top 250 ranking, she will have plenty of opportunities this year to break into the Top 200, play qualies of majors, and continue her doubles success (she's now at a career-high #79).

It's great to see her come into her own as a player, and we at On the Rise (a tennis blog) certainly wish the best for her.

Go ahead, get on the Fritzwagon

Taylor Fritz. (c) Jonathan Kelley, On the Rise

Jonathan Kelley, proprietor of On the Rise (a tennis blog), hereby requests the pleasure of your company, along with a guest, aboard the Taylor Harry Fritz bandwagon. The Fritzwagon.

Please reply by February 16, 2016.

(Regrets only.)

Look, I understand the hesitation. After all, you don't have to go back too far to see a plethora of young American tennis players who have been hyped -- hell, we'll say it: overhyped -- only to fail to live up to overwhelming expectations. They win a couple of matches on a big stage and all of a sudden it's "Future of American tennis!!!" this and "Next grand slam champion??????" that. And it doesn't pan out.

Who knows exactly why this happens? Perhaps the young player became too enamored with their own idea of celebrity in our celebrity-first culture. Perhaps they were crushed under the weight of hopes and expectations. Perhaps they weren't as talented as we hoped, or had insurmountable injury setbacks. Perhaps they took their foot off the pedal while other, less spotlit players from less media-saturated countries put their heads down and ... wait, I think I mixed metaphors there. Everyone: keep your head up while driving.

Anyway, for whatever reason, the greatest tennis country in history, the United States of America, hasn't produced any multiple slam champions -- and only one new single-slam champion -- since the legendary Williams Sisters broke through nearly 20 years ago. It's tough to get emotionally invested when you've been let down time and time again. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me 28 times ...

So yes. Everyone, particularly those Big Media outlets, needs to weigh the benefits of that ESPN "Future Star" profile or Vanity Fair photo shoot or Very Special Hollywood Squares episode with Taylor Fritz. Give him, as Courtney Nguyen put it, space. And all of us, media and fans, need to keep our expectations in check. Don't be surprised or distraught if he struggles to win matches against players he "should" be beating handily, or finds himself in the midst of a bewildering losing streak come spring or summer.

But -- and I'm just talking to fellow tennis fans here, particularly once-bitten twice-shy American fans -- I'm here to say you should go ahead and get aboard that Fritzwagon. Because (AHSH* of course) Taylor Fritz is the real deal.

Here are 5 reasons why:

1) Talent. There are the pummeled forehands. The crosscourt backhand winners. The lob.

This lob tho pic.twitter.com/QFfBgo7A3L

— Jonathan Kelley (@jokelley_tennis) February 14, 2016

The footwork.

racket abuse of the MILLENNIUM by @Taylor_Fritz97 in dubs with @stefankozlov ht @MikeCTennis pic.twitter.com/MmPlw2KRh2

— Ricky Dimon (@Dimonator) January 27, 2016

Seriously, though: he's got the size you want and a big-league serve. He plays impressive defense and explosive offense. He has a nice variety of shots and a good court awareness. Whatever holes are in his game are far from glaring, giving the field less to work with than with some other talented players.

2) Room for improvement. That said, he can definitely get better at net. He still is a bit coltish in his movement. His serve can get even better as can his backhand slice. He sometimes looks a little lost when Plan A isn't working. (But don't we all.) One thing is for certain: he can get better. And from what I have observed, he seems dead set on working on any and all weaknesses.

3) Attitude. Right after Fritz missed out on getting the USTA's Australian Open wildcard (by losing to Henri Laaksonen in the Champaign Challenger final), I interviewed him in the exercise room. He said he was disappointed, but motivated to work harder and he welcomed the challenge of going through qualifying. Flash-forward a couple of months: Fritz goes to Australia, wins a challenger, and after winning his first two Australian Open qualifying rounds, comes back from 0-4 in the final set of the final round to make his first grand slam main draw. I don't know what goes on in anyone's head, but from the outside Fritz definitely seems like a great self-motivator, who maintains a level head on and off court.

4) Playing well in big moments. It's not a coincidence that he took (a less-than-100%) Jack Sock to five sets in his first grand slam match. Nor that he is 3-1 in challenger finals. Nor that he is 10-2 in three-setters since the US Open (including 3-0 in third-set tiebreakers). Nor are his often gaudy break point saved numbers coincidental. At this point in his career, Fritz is more likely than not to play well in big matches, and at big moments in those big matches. Even if he doesn't win (see: Nishikori, Memphis), he will generally make his opponent play very, very good tennis until the end to beat him.

5) He's got company. Plenty of people have mentioned this, but Fritz is only the most advanced of a large group of American teens looking to make their mark in the ATP. Yes, Fritz has jumped ahead of his contemporaries in terms of results and ranking, but don't think that they're not still pushing him. Whether it's Jared Donaldson winning a challenger first, or Tommy Paul beating him in the French Open junior final, or Reilly Opelka beating him in the Wimbledon junior semifinals, or Stefan Kozlov beating him in the Kalamazoo semifinals, or Frances Tiafoe winning that Kalamazoo tournament, or Noah Rubin getting a grand slam win first, Fritz has been and will continue to be pushed by his fellow American teens for the foreseeable future. Between those guys and Michael Mmoh, Ernesto Escobedo, and Deiton Baughman (and Jack Sock and Denis Kudla and yes Ryan Harrison), we'll see plenty of other young Americans register impressive ATP accomplishments in the next couple of years. Those guys will help both divert some attention from Fritz and keep pushing him to excel.

All that is to say, dear fans of American tennis, that Taylor Fritz is worth score-following, worth putting aside a couple of hours when he's on TV (which he will be more and more frequently), worth investing some emotional cash in. Worth getting your reasonable hopes up for. Go ahead, root for him. There's room for everyone on the Fritzwagon, so long as you keep in mind the following: (1) he is still a teen, (2) he's playing for himself, not for us, and (3) being on the Fritzwagon (or any fanwagon) does not give you license to dump all over him if his results don't meet your expectations.

That said, welcome aboard, and enjoy the ride.

*Assuming he stays healthy.

The first point, by Beau Treyz

On the Rise (a tennis blog) is pleased to announce a new contributor: professional tennis player Beauregard Treyz. Originally from Jacksonville, Beau played college tennis at North Florida and then transferred to the University of Nebraska, where he played for a year -- winning the 2013 Big 10 Indoor Doubles Championship with Marc Herrmann -- and from which he graduated with a degree in English. 

Beau first came to my attention via his podcast, "What Do You Get?" I really enjoyed his relaxed, conversational style, and his genuine interest in what his interview subjects were saying. I started following his results at various overseas tournaments and was excited for him when he earned his first ATP point in one of the final tournaments of 2015. His first post for On the Rise is his look at what getting that point meant to him.


The First Point

Outside the chain-link fence of Court 7 in El Kantoui, Tunisia, is where my friend scared me. It was early December, and my roommate, Christian, and I were watching a friend, Ruben, play his first round Qualifying match of a Futures tournament. 

Futures tournaments are the minor leagues of tennis. Qualies are the cage matches that get you into Futures. Chris and I had the pleasure of playing each other later in the afternoon, so we got to watch our friend Ruben fight for a spot in the Main Draw that morning.

Ruben and his Italian opponent were evenly matched; I wouldn’t have bet on the outcome. But at 3-3 in the first set, Ruben was losing his mind. His arm was tight, his serve and forehand didn’t have the same pop they do in practice. After a string of bad points, he turned to us and said, “What am I supposed to do? I can’t make anything!” I know that feeling, and know there’s no advice you really want to hear, so I just said “Come on man, let’s go” Tennis talk for, “get it done.”

Chris, on the other hand, said, “It’s just one ATP point man, it won’t change your life, relax.” This comment stuck in my head like the latest Taylor Swift song, and I couldn’t shake it off. Chris scared me by saying that. I needed an ATP point to change my life; I thought the deal was that getting an ATP point would mean more than just getting my name in the rankings. One ATP point was supposed to be validation and confirmation both in the tennis world and in my own head that my years of dedication had been worth it.

Getting an ATP point is a milestone for us in the tennis world. It may not be anyone’s end goal, but it is a very meaningful start to every player’s career. You never forget where and when you got your first point. But the physical and mental ailments that strike you when you get close to making your dream come true can and do stifle many players.

Chris’ comment bothered me, but I didn’t say anything at the time. I didn’t have a point yet, so what did I know about what having a point does or does not do for a person. Two days after that comment though, I won my first ATP point. 

And my life changed.

Instantly, having a point did two things for me: It helped me stop caring so much about what other people thought of my game and it allowed me to compete for the next 52 weeks without wondering whether or not I’ll get in the draw. Both are massive weights off my shoulders.

The mental part of getting my first point and feeling like I have arrived in the tennis world was big for me. Having one point, and being #2009 in the world, is obviously not my final goal, but it is a validation that I have made a name for myself in the tennis world. I’ve gotten that monkey off my back and now I don’t have to stress about whether or not it will ever happen for me.

My physical life has not changed much; I’m still playing qualies, still losing money at every tournament, and my first serve still needs work; but my mindset has completely changed. Now I’ve accomplished one of my biggest dreams; I really made something happen that I thought might never would. The moment I won was the best feeling I’ve ever had on a tennis court; equal parts joy, relief and astonishment. That feeling has since worn off, but I still have the mental freedom I gained that day. Getting one ATP point changed my mentality, and this new mentality changed my life.

Getting an ATP point doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. At the end of my career maybe having an ATP point will help me get a better coaching job, and a world ranking will be something I can always put on my resume. But I’m playing tennis neither as a resume builder nor to make more money as a coach. I’m doing this to build myself into the person I want to be. Getting an ATP point was exactly the validation I so badly wanted. The freedom it has given me was worth all the work. I am able to let myself succeed and take what I work for.

No matter how unlikely it is that I’ll ever play at the US Open, I won’t know unless I try. I had to try and get an ATP point, I had to get on the plane and say goodbye to my friends and the beach and the comforts of home, but if I could do it once and this new mindset is the payoff, how can I not continue pushing myself? Getting an ATP point is maybe the biggest achievement of my life to date, and how could I give up on this dream now when I might just be getting hot?

The 2016 On the Rise ITA Women's Team Indoors Awards

After a great four days in Madison covering the ITA Women's Team Indoor National Championship for Zoo Tennis, I thought it would be nifty to put together an unofficial All-Tournament Team. I also decided to name Honorable Mentions for each of the 9 spots and give out a few other awards and stuff.

Criteria for On the Rise (a tennis blog) All-Tournament Team (OTR ATT): Only players from teams that won their first round match (i.e., made the quarterfinals) were eligible. Moreover, if players played more than one position, they were only considered for the position at which they played the majority of their matches. Finally, preference was generally given to players who played more main draw matches (although consolation matches were considered).

Olivia Hauger. © Jonathan Kelley, On the Rise

MVP: Olivia Hauger, California

Honorable mention: Klara Fabikova, California

Olivia Hauger went 4-0 in singles at the #5 spot and clinched the final dual to secure the University of California its first women's team national championship. The 81st-ranked freshman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, also went 1-1 with her partner Klara Fabikova at #2 doubles. (Fabikova went 3-0 at #2 singles to secure the runner up spot.)

Hauger's clinch came by way of a dramatic comeback in which her opponent, Marika Akkerman of the University of North Carolina, was up 5-3 in the third set with the two teams tied at 3-3. Hauger won the next three games and then saved three game points to win the match with a return winner on a deciding point.

Hauger is the first freshman to win the On the Rise ITA Indoors MVP, and is one of an unprecedented three freshmen and four Cal Golden Bears to be named to the OTR ATT. (To be fair, the "first" and "unprecedented" parts are due to this being the first OTR ATT.)

The other freshmen are #2 (and now #1) Francesca Di Lorenzo of Ohio State University, who went 3-0 in her three main draw matches; and #68 (now #58) Jessie Aney (UNC), who was 2-0 at 4 singles and 1-0 at 3 singles. Hauger is joined on the OTR ATT by Cal's two senior stars, #10 (now #5) Fabikova and Lynn Chi (2-1 at 3 singles), and Cal sophomore Karla Popovic, who went 3-0 (and was up 6-1 4-1 in her unfinished match) at 6 singles and who clinched Cal's dramatic 4-3 semifinal win with a three-set victory over OSU's Olivia Sneed.

UNC had two of the three OTR ATT doubles teams, with Georgia's Silvia Garcia/Caroline Brinson at 2 the only non-Tar Heel team to make the list.

All-Tournament Team - Singles

Francesa Di Lorenzo, © Jonathan Kelley

1. Francesca Di Lorenzo (Fr.) - Ohio State
Honorable mention: Hayley Carter (Jr.) - North Carolina 

2. Klara Fabikova (Sr.) - California
Honorable mention: Brienne Minor (Fr.) - Michigan

3. Lynn Chi (Sr.) - California
Honorable Mention: Astra Sharma (So.) - Vanderbilt

4. Jessie Aney (Fr.) - North Carolina
Honorable Mention: Denise Starr (Jr.) - California

5. Olivia Hauger (Fr.) - California
Honorable Mention: Mariana Gould (So.) - Georgia

6. Karla Popovic (So.) - California
Honorable Mention: Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (Fr.) - North Carolina

All-Tournament Team - Doubles

1. Hayley Carter/Whitney Kay (Sr.), North Carolina
Honorable Mention: Courtney Colton (Sr.)/Sydney Campbell (Jr.), Vanderbilt

Dai/Ouellet-Pizer, © Jonathan Kelley

2. Silvia Garcia (Sr.)/Caroline Brinson (Jr.), Georgia
Honorable Mention: Astra Sharma/Ellie Yates (Sr.), Vanderbilt

3. Ashley Dai (Sr.)/Chloe Ouellet-Pizer, North Carolina
Honorable Mention: Olivia Sneed (So.)/Francesca Di Lorenzo, Ohio State

Memorable Special Shining Moments

GAME of the tournament: The second set tiebreaker between OSU's Ferny Angeles Paz and Vanderbilt's Georgina Sellyn at #5 singles in the quarterfinals. Sellyn had already saved 3 match points to get the score to 6-6, and jumped to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Paz came back to win 13-11, saving 8 set points along the way.

SET of the tournament: Second set, Di Lorenzo vs Maegan Manasse (Cal.), #1 singles, semifinals. Di Lorenzo won 7-6(1) but not without some controversy involving an overrule on match point followed by a hindrance call when Di Lorenzo was serving for the match.

MATCH of the tournament: Hauger d. Akkerman, 7-5 2-6 7-5, #5 singles, final. It was a terrific match that had the added benefit of being the one to decide the national championship.

Doubles match of the tournament: Mayar Sharif Ahmed/Rana Sharif Ahmed (Fresno State) d. Anna Sanford/Miho Kowase (OSU) 7-6(9), #1 doubles, first round. 10 match points saved by the victors. Crazy, fun, intense stuff.

Point of the tournament:

Return winner by freshman @OliviaHauger and the University of California Golden Bears win the 2016 #ITAIndoors pic.twitter.com/TgPTBfmGG1

— Jonathan Kelley (@jokelley_tennis) February 8, 2016

Best interview: Mark Guilbeau (file this under: shameless plug)

Best debut performance: OSU was a set away on two courts from reaching the final in their first-ever ITA Indoors. Great job by Coach Schaub and the rest of the crew, who rose from #16 to #6 in today's rankings.

Most impressive player on a team that only got one point: Wisconsin's top player, #66 Lauren Chypyha, led #5 Maegan Manasse 7-5 1-1 in the first round before their match was abandoned. She then led #53 Saska Gavrilovska (Texas A&M) 6-4 4-3 in the first round of consolation before their match was abandoned. Finally, she grabbed Wisconsin's sole point of the tournament, beating #26 Mayar Sherif Ahmed (Fresno State) 6-1 7-6(4) in the final consolation match.

Sportsmanship: Maegan Manasse. She had a really rough time in singles, going 0-3 against the as-of-today top 3 players in the nation and losing a tough tiebreaker to hand OSU the doubles point in the semis. But she never gave up in any of her matches (her COME ONs when down a set and 1-5 in the final were surely heard by the entire Cal team, and possibly some people off campus) and she was a great sideline cheerleader for her teammates. Sportsmanship means different things to different people, but she really stood out to me as an example of how college tennis is so much more than an individual sport.

Interview with UVA head coach Mark Guilbeau

UVA senior Danielle Collins. © Jonathan Kelley, On the Rise

On day 1 of the 2016 ITA Team Indoor National Championship, the University of Virginia pulled off an emotional win over the #5 seed, Texas A&M. After the win, I spoke with head coach Mark Guilbeau to discuss various aspects of the match. I posted the full interview at the end of this article.

"I feel great about this match," said Guilbeau. "I feel like every team has their challenges, but we certainly are facing a lot right now and these kids focused and played hard."

This was the first competition for the team since five players were suspended for unspecified rules violations. The suspensions came after the team beat Columbia University to win the ITA Kickoff Weekend on January 23. The following Friday, January 29, only 5 players suited up for the team's match against the University of South Carolina, forcing UVA to forfeit a doubles and a singles match which contributed to a 4-3 loss, their first of the season.

The suspensions added to an already obstacle-ridden year for Guilbeau's team. The first blow came when prized recruit Sophie Chang decided not to go to college. The loss to the Gamecocks also led to UVA's unpublished, pre-tournament ranking falling below several other teams, leaving them unseeded for the ITA Indoors.

On Monday, February 1, some of the players were reinstated; two of those players, junior Victoria Olivarez and freshman Meghan Kelley, were in the line-up for the Wahoos on Friday.

Guilbeau didn't discuss specifics of the suspensions or reinstatements, although he mentioned that senior Maci Epstein was still suspended. But in talking about the match, he expressed his pride in the team's work in overcoming adversity and his hope that the team would grow stronger as it worked through these issues.

UVA junior Victoria Olivarez. © Jonathan Kelley, On the Rise

UVA won the doubles point in come-from-behind fashion: after dropping the #3 match, Kelley and senior Danielle Collins won 6-3, then seniors Julia Elbaba and Stephanie Nauta won 7-6(5). "It was good to see the comeback in the doubles there, that took composure," said Guilbeau. "And honestly even without the doubles, I know the resiliency we have, we're going to fight to where, really you look at it, maybe we could have done it even without" winning the doubles point.

In singles, Elbaba got UVA's first win at #2 singles 6-2 6-4 over former Cavalier Rachel Pierson. The matches at #3 and #4 finished simultaneously, with each school winning one. That put UVA up 3-1, with three matches going: Collins at #1, who had come back from a 1-6 1-4* deficit to take her match into a third set; freshman Erica Susi, who was up a set but down a break at #6; and Kelley, who clinched for the Hoos with a 7-5 6-2 win over Domenica Gonzalez at #5.

"Some lessons have been learned for sure, and Meghan came back real well. You could see that was probably the most tactically specific match. She really needed to be really find that opponent's backhand," which she did successfully. Guilbeau added that he was "very proud of Erica Susi. That's a non-scholarship kid that we've already rewarded with a scholarship this semester, and you can see how much she deserves that. She fights her brains out."

UVA faces the University of California in Saturday's quarterfinal at 3:30 p.m.