Logan Smith, Monica Robinson Win USTA National Open Hard Court Titles; Peter Smith and Sons; Pro Circuit Update; Bradley Drops Men's Tennis

Logan Smith (courtesy photo)

Seventeen-year-old Logan Smith and 19-year-old Monica Robinson won gold balls over the weekend in San Diego, taking the singles titles at the USTA National Open Hard Court Championships. Smith, who was in Europe playing ITF Junior events though the Grade A in Italy, returned home to Southern California for a few weeks, but he is heading back across the Atlantic to compete at the Roehampton Grade 1 and Wimbledon Junior championships.

Smith, who was unseeded in the tournament (his ITF junior ranking is 54) defeated No. 2 seed Deiton Baughman 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Baughman, 18, was the fourth seeded player Smith defeated in his seven wins.

Monica Robinson (courtesy photo)

Robinson, who just completed her freshman year at Notre Dame, was a No. 5 seed in the smaller women's draw.  She defeated unseeded 17-year-old Alexandra Valenstein, also from Southern California, 6-3, 6-0 in the final.

Both draws lost their No. 1 seeds, Brian Battistone and Trang Huynh, to last-minute withdrawals.

For complete results from the tournament, see the TennisLink site.

The Orange County Register recently published this article on the University of Southern California men's head coach Peter Smith(no relation to Logan) and his three tennis-playing sons. Learning the game from one of the best coaches in the country is certainly a great advantage for them, but there are always challenges when a parent coaches his or her child, challenges that are amplified when he or she has had so much success coaching others.  Right now Garrett Patton plays for his father Greg at Boise State and Eric Diaz for his father Manny at Georgia and I'm sure there are others, with Tanner Smith to join that fraternity next year.

In the only Pro Circuit event in the United States last week, unseeded Elise Mertens of Belgium won the $25,000 tournament in El Paso, beating No. 5 seed Ashley Weinhold 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.  Weinhold had barely gotten by Baylor junior Ema Burgic of Bosnia 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6) in one semifinal, while the 18-year-old Mertens beat top seed Connie Hsu of Taiwan 6-2, 6-0 in the other semifinal.  Weinhold did get a title however, as she and Jamie Loeb(North Carolina) took the doubles championship. The unseeded team beat top seeds Hsu and Danielle Lao(USC) 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 in the final.

Bradley University announced on Friday that it was discontinuing its men's tennis program in favor of reestablishing men's indoor track. Bradley was the alma mater of former Kalamazoo Nationals referee and USTA president and chairman David Markin, for whom the tennis courts and a recreation building on the Peoria, Illinois campus are named. Markin died last year.