My Kalamazoo Preview; Former Champion Wiersholm Overcomes Tough Challenge in Opening Round at Kalamazoo; Clay Champions Riffice and Kirkov Fall in Doubles

©Colette Lewis--
Kalamazoo, MI--

Seeded players in the 18s all received byes in the first round, meaning their opening matches will be Saturday, and obviously the focus is on them in my Kalamazoo preview for the Tennis Recruiting Network. But a former champion will always receive attention at Kalamazoo, and 2012 16s winner Henrik Wiersholm fought his way past Alex Knight 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in one of the featured matches at Stowe Stadium.

Both Wiersholm and Knight have completed their freshman years in college, with Wiersholm at Virginia and Knight at Michigan, and Wiersholm anticipated he would have his hands full against the left-hander from Florida.

"He plays at Michigan and I knew they had a pretty good program over there, so I knew it was going to be a tough match," said Wiersholm. "It wasn't going to be junior tennis, because he goes to college, he knows how to play. I knew it was going to be long points, move the ball around. In the first set, I came out pretty nervous, honestly. I was playing tight, not looking for the ball and he capitalized on that. In the second set, I was just telling myself, yeah, it's Kalamazoo, but you've played this tournament for the fourth time, so what are you doing playing tight? Just go out and play."

In the third set, Knight's service game at 2-2 went to ten deuces and he saved eight break points before holding with an ace.  And although Wiersholm lost the game, he held easily and then broke Knight for a 4-3 lead in a game almost as short as Knight's previous service game was long.

"I think that took a little bit out of him," said Wiersholm. "I don't how many minutes it was, so long, so many deuces. I had a lot of chances but I knew if I put him in a position like that, the next game I could capitalize because he'd be thinking like, wow, that last service game was tough, this one is going to be tough. And so I went after a couple of returns in that game and was able to get the break."

One of the characteristics of Kalamazoo that sets it apart from other junior events is its ability to draw players back from college, Pro Circuit and ITF junior circuit events. 

Stefan Kozlov, who has not played a junior event since last December and accompanied his friend Wiersholm to his press conference in the Tower, explained.

"This tournament is like nothing else," said Kozlov, 17. "Everyone you see, it seems like you haven't seen in years. It's crazy. You see everyone and you've got to talk to them, you've got to plan an extra 30 minutes just for that. Even at junior slams, it's not like this."

Wiersholm agreed.

"It's all the U.S. players, we're all best buds, and a lot of these guys I haven't seen in a year. I walked out to practice yesterday, and like for an hour, everyone was like, ooo, whaah," said Wiersholm, imitating good friends greeting each other after a long absence. "It's insane."

Wiersholm will play No. 8 seed William Blumberg in the second round Saturday. 

"I'm excited," Wiersholm said. "Will's a damn good player."

Blumberg may not be in top physical condition however, as he withdrew from doubles with an illness. His partner Nathan Ponwith did find another player whose partner had also withdrawn, Adrian Chamdani, and they advanced to the third round with a straight-set victory.

No. 5 seeds Sam Riffice and Vasil Kirkov did not survive their first contest however.  The Clay Court champions fell to Alex Diaz and Zach Jennings 6-2, 6-3.

The only other seeded team to lose was No. 14 Jordan Benjamin and Matthew Gamble, who were beaten by Billy Rowe and Reese Stalder 6-1, 1-6, 10-7.

Top seeds Frances Tiafoe and Michael Mmoh, No. 2 seeds Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka and No. 3 seeds Tommy Paul and Wiersholm all advanced in straight sets.

The 16s division begins play on Saturday with unseeded players taking the courts in the first round and the opening round of doubles to follow in the afternoon.  Jake Van Emburgh and JJ Wolf are the top seeds in doubles, with Trent Bryde and Patrick Kypson the No. 2 seeds.  The complete draw for the 16s doubles can be found at ustaboys.com.

Live streaming can be found for one of the show courts can be found here throughout the tournament.

The opening ceremonies, featuring an exhibition with 1995 18s champion Justin Gimelstob, are scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Stowe Stadium.

Tiafoe and Mmoh Top Seeds in Kalamazoo Doubles; Southern Cal Girls Take 18s National Team Title

The doubles draws have been posted for the Kalamazoo 18s, with two rounds scheduled for Friday. As in the singles, a main draw US Open wild card goes to the winners. Last year's defending champion Stefan Kozlov, who partnered Noah Rubin, is not entered in doubles this year.

The 18s doubles seeds:
1 Michael Mmoh and Frances Tiafoe
2 Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka
3 Tommy Paul and Henrik Wiersholm
4 William Blumberg and Nathan Ponwith
5 Vasil Kirkov and Sam Riffice
6 Joshua Sheehy and Parker Wynn
7 Brandon Holt and Riley Smith
8 Zeke Clark and William Genesen
9 Eduardo Nava and Alex Rybakov
10 Spencer Furman and Eric Rutledge
11 Lane Leschly and Alex Ross
12 Oliver Crawford and Johnathan Small
13 Joseph Haig and William Sharton
14 Jordan Benjamin and Matthew Gamble
15 Martin Joyce and Gianni Ross
16 Liam Caruana and Sameer Kumar

The seeded teams receive a bye in the first round, so will play only one doubles match on Friday.

The 16s begin singles play on Saturday and their doubles draw will come out on Friday afternoon.

The match times for singles and doubles are now posted at ustaboys.com. Click the Match Times button at the top of the home page for a printable pdf.

The Southern Cal girls won the USTA Girls 18 National Team Championship, beating the Southern section's team 6-1 yesterday in Claremont, California.  The Southern Cal section had won the boys version of the tournament in Champaign on Tuesday.

Below are the results from the final:

Kalamazoo Draws Posted; Black Top Seed in San Diego, Seeds in 12s and 14s Posted; Ryan Shane Feature

The draws for the Kalamazoo tournament, which starts on Friday, are now available at ustaboys.com.  With such a strong group of seeds there was always going to be some tough, tough quarterfinals, and No. 2 Fritz versus No. 5 Mmoh and No. 1 Tiafoe versus No. 6 Opelka are certainly two of them, provided they all make it that far, of course.

Last year the top eight seeds in the 18s all reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1976. Could it happen two years in a row after a nearly 40-year gap?

The draws for the other age groups are not yet posted--I'm told the San Diego draws will be out Thursday--but the seeds have all been announced.  Below are the Top 16 seeds in the 12s, 14s, and the girls 16s and 18s.  The 17-32 seeds are available via a link back to the TennisLink site. All 32 of the Kalamazoo 16s and 18s seeds are here.

Girls 18s:

1  Tornado Alicia Black

2  Usue Arconada

3  Sofia Kenin

4  Michaela Gordon

5  Raveena Kingsley

6  Francesca Dilorenzo

7  Ingrid Neel

8  Claire Liu

9  Kayla Day

10  Alexandra Sanford

11  Alexa Graham

12  Ellyse Hamlin

13  Ena Shibahara

14  Rebecca Weissmann

15  Mia Horvit

16  Kelly Chen

17-32

Girls 16s

1  Natasha Subhash

2  Victoria Flores

3  Hannah Lairmore

4  Nicole Mossmer

5  Elysia Bolton

6  Clarissa Hand

7  Taylor Johnson

8  Anna Brylin

9  Carson Branstine

10  Hannah Zhao

11  Victoria Emma

12  Caroline Dunleavy

13  Meg Kowalski

14  Ally Bojczuk

15  Whitney Osuigwe

16  Sydney Jones

17-32

Girls 14s

1  Alexa Noel

2  Katie Volynets

3  Victoria Hu

4  Lea Ma

5  Angelica Blake

6  Reilly Tran

7  Kacie Harvey

8  Chloe Beck

9  Maggie Cubitt

10  Emma Navarro

11  Naomi Cheong

12  Hailey Baptiste

13  Addison Guevara

14  Gabriella Price

15  Cori Gauff

16  Lauren Stein

17-32

Girls 12s

1  Brooke Theis

2  Kenadee Semenik

3  Jenna DeFalco

4  Emma Jackson

5  Rachel Arbitman

6  Bridget Stammel

7  Sydni Ratliff

8  Maria Rizzolo

9  Tyra Richardson

10  Tara Malik

11  Hibah Shaikh

12  Madison Sieg

13  Elise Wagle

14  Ellie Pittman

15  Carrie Beckman

16  Katrina Scott

17-32

Boys 14s

1  William Grant

2  Cannon Kingsley

3  Daniel Sharygin

4  Nathan Han

5  Ronan Jachuck

6  Connor Nisbet

7  Harry Yang

8  Stefan Leustian

9  Evin McDonald

10  Leighton Allen

11  Hunter Heck

12  Andrew Dale

13  Nicholas Garcia

14  Spencer Gray

15  Richard Bell

16  Thomas Yu

17-32

Boys 12s

1  Hugo Hashimoto

2  Karl Lee

3  Saud Alhogbani

4  Phillip Deaton

5  Benjamin Kittay

6  Griffin Daehnke

7  Samuel Landau

8  Eric Perkowski

9  Daniel Dunac

10  Nishesh Basavareddy

11  James Delgado

12  Sam Reichbach

13  Andrew Chang

14  Tonmye Nirundorn

15  Gavin Young

16  Teddy Truwit

17-32

NCAA champion Ryan Shane of Virginia is back competing after an injury layoff following his title in Waco in May.  After going 1-1 in the Lexington Challenger qualifying, Shane will be in action this weekend at the qualifying for the ATP event in Washington DC.  In anticipation of that, Kelyn Soong wrote this feature on Shane for the Washington Post, which contains some interesting background on how Ryan and older brother Justin started playing the sport.

In other University of Virginia news, assistant men's coach Dustin Taylor will be accompanying the USTA Collegiate Team to Italy for two $15,000 Futures events there beginning next week. 

The Aptos Challenger, a $100,000 event that begins in two weeks, could decide the US Open men's Wild Card Challenge. Here's a preview from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

All Top 10 ITF Boys and Girls Entered in US Open Juniors; Southern Cal Wins USTA Boys 18 Team Championship; Donaldson, Kudla Advance in Atlanta

The acceptances for the US Open Junior Championships were released today, and all players in the ITF top 10, and all but one of the top 15, girls No. 15 Julieta Estable, have entered.

Nine US girls have received direct entry: Usue Arconada, Sonya Kenin, Michaela Gordon, Raveena Kingsley, Francesca Di Lorenzo, Ingrid Neel, Claire Liu, CiCi Bellis and Katerina Stewart.  Kayla Day is the first alternate, with an ITF ranking of 56.  Alexandra Sanford and Tornado Alicia Black, the 2013 US girls finalist, are in qualifying Stewart, a semifinalist in New York last year, received entry based on her WTA ranking, currently 158.  Magdalena Frech of Poland, 378 in the WTA rankings, also received her entry by that method.

Caroline Dolhide, ranked No. 16 and a semifinalist last year after advancing through qualifying, has not entered and is not playing the G18s Nationals in San Diego either. She played earlier this month at Wimbledon and reached the third round there.

Seven US boys have received direct entry: Taylor Fritz, Michael Mmoh, Reilly Opelka, William Blumberg, Tommy Paul, Nathan Ponwith and Ulises Blanch.  Sam Riffice has already assured himself of a wild card into the main draw by winning the 18s Clay Courts.

The cutoff for the boys is 45, extremely high for the US Open, but not unusual for the French.  Five players received entry via their ATP rankings, with South Africa's Lloyd Harris (609), Argentina's Juan Pablo Fichovich(706) and two Spanish 18-year-olds: European Championships finalist Bernabe Zapata Miralles(708) and Pedro Martinez Portero(691).  The fifth is 14-year-old Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime, who became the youngest player ever to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP Challenger last week in Granby. Those results moved his ATP ranking up to 749, which is one spot better than necessary for main draw acceptance.  It will be his first junior slam
appearance.

The USTA Boys 18 Team Championships finals were today in Champaign-Urbana, with the Southern California section defeating the Eastern section 5-2.  Eastern's No. 1 player William Blumberg won all his matches during the tournament, including today's over Austin Rapp, but it wasn't enough to counter the depth of coach Barry Horowitz's team.  The results of today's final are below:

The girls 18 final Wednesday gives Southern Cal an opportunity for a sweep of the USTA Team championships. They will play defending champion Southern for the title. The TennisLink site for the girls competition has all the results.

At the ATP event in Atlanta, Jared Donaldson defeated fellow qualifier Somdev Devvarman 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the second round, where he will play No. 7 seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.  Another US qualifier, Denis Kudla, outlasted wild card Ryan Harrison 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) to set up a second round metting with No. 3 seed Jack Sock. Sock and Kudla have played five times, including, of course, in the US Open boys final in 2010, with Sock winning three, but Kudla has won their last two meetings, though those were in 2012.

No. 6 seed Steve Johnson advanced with a 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-2 win over Lukas Lacko of Slovakia. Qualifier Austin Krajicek fell to No. 5 seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, and Frances Tiafoe saw his attempt at a first ATP-level win thwarted by Australia's Sam Groth 7-6(3), 6-4.   Mardy Fish and Donald Young both suffered straight-set losses.

Georgia Tech rising sophomore Christopher Eubanks, who received a wild card, plays his first round match against Czech Radek Stepanek on Wednesday.  For more on Eubanks, and his friendship with Donald Young, see this article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Physcology of Singles and Doubles Tennis

Singles, the greatest strain in tennis, is the game for two players. It is in this phase of the game that the personal equation reaches its crest of importance. This is the game of individual effort, mental and physical. 

A hard 5-set singles match is the greatest strain on the body and nervous system of any form of sport. Singles is a game of daring,  dash, speed of foot and stroke. It is a game of chance far  more than doubles. Since you have no partner dependent upon you,  you can afford to risk error for the possibility of speedy victory. Much of what I wrote under match play is more for singles than doubles, yet let me call your attention to certain peculiarities of singles from the standpoint of the spectator.

A gallery enjoys personalities far more than styles. Singles brings two people into close and active relations that show the idiosyncrasies of each player far more acutely than doubles. The spectator is in the position of a man watching an insect under a microscope. He can analyse the inner workings.

The freedom of restraint felt on a single court is in marked contrast to the need for team work in doubles. Go out for your shot in singles whenever there is a reasonable chance of getting it. Hit harder at all times in singles than in doubles, for you have more chance of scoring and can take more risk.

Singles is a game of the imagination, doubles Tennis a science of exact angles.

Doubles tennis is four-handed tennis. Enough of this primary reader definition. 

It is just as vital to play to your partner in tennis as in bridge. Every time you make a stroke you must do it with a definite plan to avoid putting your partner in trouble. The keynote of doubles success is team work; not individual brilliancy. There is a certain type of team work dependent wholly upon individual brilliancy. Where both players are in the same class, a team is as strong as its weakest player at any given time, for here it is even team work with an equal division of the court that should be the method of play. In the case of one strong player and one weaker player, the team is as good as the strong player can make it by protecting and defending the weaker. This pair should develop its team work on the individual brilliancy of the stronger man. 

The first essential of doubles play is to PUT the ball in play. A double fault is bad in singles, but it is inexcusable in doubles. The return of service should be certain. After that it should be low and to the server coming in. Do not strive for clean aces in doubles until you have the opening. Remember that to pass two men is a difficult task.

Always attack in doubles. The net is the only place in the court to play the doubles game, and you should always strive to attain the net position. I believe in always trying for the kill when you see a real opening. "Poach" (go for a shot which is not really on your side of the court) whenever you see a chance to score. Never poach unless you go for the kill. It is a win or nothing shot since it opens your whole court. If you are missing badly do not poach, as it is very disconcerting to your partner.

The question of covering a doubles court should not be a serious one. With all men striving to attain the net all the time every shot should be built up with that idea. Volley and smash whenever possible, and only retreat when absolutely necessary.

When the ball goes toward the side-line the net player on that side goes in close and toward the line. His partner falls slightly back and to the centre of the court, thus covering the shot between the men. If the next return goes to the other side, the two men reverse positions. The theory of court covering is two sides of a triangle, with the angle in the centre and the two sides running to the side-lines and in the direction of the net.

Each man should cover overhead balls over his own head, and hit them in the air whenever possible, since to allow them to drop gives the net to the other team. The only time for the partner to protect the overhead is when the net man "poaches," is outguessed, and the ball tossed over his head. Then the server covers and strives for a kill at once.

Always be ready to protect your partner, but do not take shots over his head unless he calls for you to, or you see a certain kill. Then say "Mine," step in and hit decisively. The matter of overhead balls, crossing under them, and such incidentals of team work are matters of personal opinion, and should be arranged by each team according to their joint views. I only offer general rules that can be modified to meet the wishes of the individuals.

Use the lob as a defence, and to give time to extricate yourself and your partner from a bad position. The value of service in doubles cannot be too strongly emphasized since it gives the net to the server. Service should always be held. To lose service is an unpardonable sin in first-class doubles. All shots in doubles should be low or very high. Do not hit shoulder-high as it is too easy to kill. Volley down and hard if possible. Every shot you make should be made with a definite idea of opening the court.

Hit down the centre to disrupt the team work of the opposing team; but hit to the side-lines for your aces.

Pick one man, preferably the weaker of your opponents, and centre your attack on him and keep it there. Pound him unmercifully, and in time he should crack under the attack. It is very foolish to alternate attack, since it simply puts both men on their game and tires neither.

If your partner starts badly play safely and surely until he rounds to form. Never show annoyance with your partner. Do not scold him. He is doing the best he can, and fighting with him does no good. Encourage him at all times and don't worry. A team that is fighting among themselves has little time left to play tennis, and after all tennis is the main object of doubles.

Offer suggestions to your partner at any time during a match; but do not insist on his following them, and do not get peevish if he doesn't. He simply does not agree with you, and he may be right. Who knows?

Every doubles team should have a leader to direct its play; but that leader must always be willing to drop leadership for any given point when his partner has the superior position. It is policy of attack not type of stroke that the leader should determine.

Pick a partner and stick to him. He should be a man you like and want to play with, and he should want to play with you. This will do away with much friction. His style should not be too nearly your own, since you double the faults without greatly increasing the virtues.

how to prevent tennis elbow

If you have ever heard anyone talk about tennis elbow then you surely know that it is not a pleasant situation.  It can be rather painful and it is quite possible to do a lot of work to help how prevent the tennis elbow injury.  However, if you do not treat your body nicely you are putting yourself at a much greater risk for the injury as well as others.  This is something that you should work hard to avoid, after all tennis elbow can cause serious pain that is not just whisked away with a heating pad.

 

You are first going to want to focus on prevention and in this spirit; it means that you need to ensure that you are getting the rest you need between playing.  This means there is no reason that you should go out and play a 4-hour tournament then turn around and practice for another 2 hours.  No matter what you think, this is not a wise idea.  Rather a better idea would be taking the day off after you have finished the tournament so that you can give your arm the rest that it needs. 

Take some time to get into good physical shape.  This includes ensuring that you strengthen your arms and back.  If you ensure that your arms and back are in good physical condition you will have the muscle strength built up that will help you to prevent the injury.  However, failing to make sure you are in good physical condition can make you exceptionally vulnerable to problems.  If you have problems with getting into good muscular shape, you should talk to your instructor or coach if you have one.  If you do not then turn to the internet to help you develop a good exercise routine that will effectively allow you to strengthen these essential muscles.

For those who do not play tennis for hours a day it is important to pace yourself.  This means no playing for four weeks does not give you the right to run out and play for 4 hours straight suddenly.  You should play for much shorter periods after you have had a long period of time away from the court.  Your arm is abused in the process of playing tennis and suddenly jumping in with both feet will put you at risk of wearing it out badly.  Instead, play much easier on your body and work to get back to the game that you prefer to play.  Remember, pushing yourself to achieve the results that you want may seem like a great idea, but pushing too hard will leave you with an injury.

 

Always stretch before you start playing a game or even practice.  In addition, you should stretch after you are done playing as well.  This will allow you to keep the muscles surrounding the tendon as supple as possible.  Often tense muscles can help factor into a tendon injury and will have you in pain quite quickly if you forget to stretch one day.  A few minutes of stretching can go a very long way towards keeping you in good shape and injury free.

The last major consideration that you should take into account is you need to avoid continuously repetitive movements that drag on forever.  If you are practicing a swing or a serve then that is wonderful but at the same time, you need to ensure that you stop on occasion to take a break.  This will be quite helpful in working with you to avoid injury.  If you are overworking your muscles without a break, you are putting yourself heavily at risk of an injury and you are not likely to enjoy the results.   Taking care of your body is the primary thing that you need to be concerned with, not trying to stress over practicing your serve for another two hours straight.  The time you spend on the court will be much more effective with a few small breaks sprinkled into the day.

Kalamazoo Seeds

Boys 18s:

1 Frances Tiafoe
2 Taylor Fritz
3 Stefan Kozlov
4 Tommy Paul
5 Michael Mmoh
6 Reilly Opelka
7 Alex Rybakov
8 William Blumberg
9 Sam Riffice
10 Nathan Ponwith
11 Oliver Crawford
12 Eduardo Nava
13 Dennis Uspensky
14 William Genesen
15 Eric Rutledge
16 Zeke Clark
17 Nick Stachowiak
18 Spencer Furman
19 Gianni Ross
20 John McNally
21 Connor Hance
22 Brandon Holt
23 Emil Reinberg
24 Martin Joyce
25 Liam Caruana
26 Kalman Boyd
27 Andrew Heller
28 Vasil Kirkov
29 Sameer Kumar
30 Nathan Perrone
31 Jacob Brumm
32 Matthew Gamble

Top seeds awaiting introductions at 2014 Nats opening night ceremonies

Boys 16s:
1 Jeffery Wolf
2 Jake Van Emburgh
3 Patrick Kypson
4 Alexandre Rotsaert
5 Sean Sculley
6 Austen Huang
7 Danny Thomas
8 Kyrylo Tsugura
9 Carson Haskins
10 Mac Kiger
11 Brian Cernoch
12 Alexander Brown
13 Andrew Fenty
14 Christian Alshon
15 William Howells
16 Jason Lui
17 Kevin Ma
18 Robert Maciag
19 Abhijeet Joshi
20 William Peters
21 Jaycer Lyeons
22 Kevin Zhu
23 Jeff Zucker
24 Ryan Goetz
25 Trent Bryde
26 Trey Hildebrand
27 Eric Yoo
28 Chambers Easterling
29 John Speicher
30 Ajai Shekhera
31 A. Trice Pickens
32 Cotter Wilson

Improving Your Tennis Technique

One of the biggest problems that people have when learning how to play tennis is learning how to improve their technique.  This can be done through practice and by learning what you are doing, but if you do not know what you are doing it can be very complicated to master the technique. If you have any doubts about what you are doing, then working to follow a few small tips will greatly improve your overall game and ensure that you are playing a much better game.  However, having a good hitting technique is not the only thing that you will need in order to play a good game, but it will certainly help you.

Your first step is going to be the tried and true tip of practice and practice some more.  If you never practice your technique then it is not going to improve no matter how many books you read or how many tutorial videos you watch.  Learning how to improve your technique by reading some books and articles can be helpful, but you must take what you have learned and actually put it to use on the tennis court in order to actually reap the benefits that are available to you.

Your next concern should be making sure that you are using a tennis racquet that is appropriate for your skill level as well as physical size.  If you are using the wrong racquet then no matter what you do there will be no way for you to hit the ball effectively.  If you work very hard to ensure that you are hitting the ball then you are certain to ensure that you are making progress.  A good appropriately sized racquet will make it much easier to hit the ball and ensure that you are able to play the best possible.

For actual tips, you want to always hold the racquet as if you were going to hit the ball with your palm for a forehand swing.  This will allow you to easily get the grip on the racquet you need to connect squarely with the racquet.  If you hit from the side your ball is likely to land in the alley and unless you are playing doubles this is not a god idea at all.

For a good backhand, you need to hold the racquet with either one hand or two depending on how you are most comfortable.  If you do hold the racquet with two hands you need to ensure that you are not overlapping your hands as this will cause you to tilt the racquet slightly which will again hinder your technique and likely result in numerous balls that go out into the alley.  You need to also ensure that you are not using a racquet that is too heavy; if you are, it will pull down either forward or backwards and make it difficult to get a good solid square connection to the ball.

Your stance is also going to be very important.  If you are standing around casually slouching when the ball is coming at you and slowly yawning as you lift the racquet you are not going to get the impact that you need.  You are likely to not care about your technique either.  However, since you are reading this you are telling yourself that you do care about your technique, which means you care about your stance as well.  Ensure that you are properly balancing the weight between your legs to get the best results possible.

The last step is to always ensure that you watch where the ball goes.  If you are wrong about where the ball goes and are having to suddenly bolt across the tennis court to barely touch it with your racquet you are not going to have as good of a return as if you had anticipated exactly where the ball was going.  The skill of always watching the ball will involve a bit of careful planning and practice both on the court and off in order to be truly successful at improving your technique.

Forehand Drive in Tennis

The forehand drive is the opening of every offensive in tennis, and, as such, should be most carefully studied. There are certain rules of footwork that apply to all shots. To reach a ball that is a short distance away, advance the foot that is away from the shot and thus swing into position to hit. If a ball is too close to the body, retreat the foot closest to the shot and drop the weight back on it, thus, again, being in position for the stroke. When hurried, and it is not possible to change the foot position, throw the weight on the foot closest to the ball. 

The receiver should always await the service facing the net, but once the serve is started on the way to court, the receiver should at once attain the position to receive it with the body at right angles to the net.

The forehand drive is made up of one continuous swing of the racquet that, for the purpose of analysis, may be divided into three parts:

1. The portion of the swing behind the body, which determines the speed of the stroke.

2. That portion immediately in front of the body which determines the direction and, in conjunction with weight shift from one foot to the other, the pace of the shot.

3. The portion beyond the body, comparable to the golfer's "follow through," determines spin, top or slice, imparted to the ball.

All drives should be topped. The slice shot is a totally different stroke.

To drive straight down the side-line, construct in theory a parallelogram with two sides made up of the side-line and your shoulders, and the two ends, the lines of your feet, which should, if extended, form the right angles with the side-lines. Meet the ball at a point about 4 to 4 1/2 feet from the body immediately in front of the belt buckle, and shift the weight from the back to the front foot at the MOMENT OF STRIKING THE BALL. The swing of the racquet should be flat and straight through. The racquet head should be on a line with the hand, or, if anything, slightly in advance; the whole arm and the racquet should turn slightly over the ball as it leaves the racquet face and the stroke continue to the limit of the swing, thus imparting top spin to the ball.

The hitting plane for all ground strokes should be between the knees and shoulders. The most favourable plane is on a line with the waist.

Never step away from the ball in driving cross court. always throw your weight in the shot.

The forehand drive from the left court is identically the same for the straight shot down your opponent's forehand. For the cross drive to his backhand, you must conceive of a diagonal line from your backhand corner to his, and thus make your stroke with the footwork as if this imaginary line were the side-line. In other words, line up your body along your shot and make your regular drive. Do not try to "spoon" the ball over with a delayed wrist motion, as it tends to slide the ball off your racquet.

All drives should be made with a stiff, locked wrist. There is no wrist movement in a true drive. Top spin is imparted by the arm, not the wrist.

The backhand drive follows closely the principles of the forehand, except that the weight shifts a moment sooner, and the R or front foot should always be advanced a trifle closer to the side-line than the L so as to bring the body clear of the swing. The ball should be met in front of the right leg, instead of the belt buckle, as the great tendency in backhand shots is to slice them out of the side-line, and this will pull the ball cross court, obviating this error. The racquet head must be slightly in advance of the hand to aid in bringing the ball in the court. Do not strive for too much top spin on your backhand.

I strongly urge that no one should ever favour one department of his game, in defence of a weakness. Develop both forehand and backhand, and do not "run around" your backhand, particularly in return of service. To do so merely opens your court. If you should do so, strive to ace your returns, because a weak effort would only result in a kill by your opponent.

Do not develop one favourite shot and play nothing but that. If you have a fair cross-court drive, do not use it in practice, but strive to develop an equally fine straight shot.

Remember that the fast shot is the straight shot. The cross drive must be slow, for it has not the room owing to the increased angle and height of the net. Pass down the line with your drive, but open the court with your cross-court shot.

Drives should have depth. The average drive should hit behind the service-line. A fine drive should hit within 3 feet of the baseline. A cross-court drive should be shorter than a straight drive, so as to increase the possible angle. Do not always play one length drive, but learn to vary your distance according to your man. You should drive deep against a baseliner, but short against a net player, striving to drop them at his feet as, he comes in.

Never allow your opponent to play a shot he likes if you can possibly force him to one he dislikes.

Again I urge that you play your drive:

1. With the body sideways to the net.

2. The swing flat, with long follow through.

Talking with ITF Junior No. 1 Taylor Fritz; Ayeni Sweeps ITF Grade 4 Titles in Dominican Republic; Donaldson Qualifies for BB&T Open in Atlanta

As the No. 1 ranked ITF junior boy, Taylor Fritz was a popular interview subject at Wimbledon this year, and I spoke with him several times during the junior tournament.  Although many of his peers have turned pro this spring and summer, Fritz has not yet made that decision officially. But from this article I put together for The Tennis Recruiting Network based on those interviews, it appears unlikely that he will attend college.

All the major sports management agencies are interested in Fritz, so his choice will be a story this summer (he says by the end of the US Open). But it's not as if it is a lifetime commitment.  Jack Sock, who signed with CAA initially, has moved to IMG, it was announced today.

Olukayode Alafia Ayeni, who turns 16 next month, won his first two ITF titles last week at the Grade 4 Copa Merengue in the Dominican Republic. Ayeni, seeded No. 11, beat the No. 7, No. 4 and No. 1 seeds to reach the final, where he defeated No. 2 seed Salvador Mijares of Venezuela 6-2, 6-1.  Ayeni and Robert Loeb won the doubles title, with the No. 3 seeds taking a 7-6(8), 7-5 decision from No. 4 seeds Valentino Caratini and Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina.

At the $50,000 Sacramento women's Pro Circuit tournament, which finished late last night, 2014 US Open girls finalist Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, the No. 8 seed, beat top seed An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. It's the third Pro Circuit title for the 18-year-old, but the first at the $50,000 level.

Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey(Tennessee) won the doubles title, beating another unseeded pair, Nao Hibino of Japan and Rosie Johanson of Canada, 6-4, 3-6, 14-12 in the final. It's Whoriskey's ninth pro doubles title, but her first at a $50,000 tournament and her first with Weinhold as a partner.

The third and final tournament in the USTA's Women's US Open Wild Card Challenge is this week in Lexington.  As you can see from the standings chart, it's still anyone's wild card, although Brooke Austin lost in the first round of Lexington qualifying to Jamie Loeb, so she can't accumulate any more points. Loeb is one of five Americans in Tuesday's final round of qualifying.

The men's Lexington Challenger is just the second of their three tournaments, and next week at Aptos is a $100,000 event, so there is a very long way to go in that race. Noah Rubin qualified for Lexington with three wins, including a win over No. 2 seed Frederik Nielsen of Denmark and today's victory over Dimitar Kutrovsky(7) of Bulgaria. Alex Kuznetsov also qualified, putting a total of eight Americans in the main draw.

Rain has stopped play at the BB&T Atlanta Open today, but Jared Donaldson, Austin Krajicek and Denis Kudla won their final qualifying matches to join nine Americans already in the main draw. Donaldson, who was unseeded in the qualifying, beat Gastao Elias of Portugal in the first round, No. 5 seed JP Smith of Australia in the second round and No. 2 seed Guido Pella of Argentina in today's final round of qualifying. Kudla, the No. 1 seed, won both his qualifying matches in straight sets, as did No. 3 seed Krajicek.

The lower level Pro Circuit events this week are a $15,000 Futures for the men in Edwardsville, Illinois, and a $10,000 tournament for women in Austin, Texas.

Mmoh, Herring, Dome and Jones Win Pro Circuit Titles; Bondar and Ymer Claim European Championships; USTA Girls 18 Team Event Underway

Four Americans collected singles titles today, three in North America and the fourth in Egypt.

Julia Jones, a recent Ole Miss graduate, won her first pro title at an $10,000 ITF Pro Circuit event in Egypt, after reaching the finals in singles and doubles the previous week as a qualifier. The unseeded 21-year-old, who received a special exemption into this week's tournament, defeated the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds en route to the final, where she beat unseeded Giada Clerici of Italy 6-3, 6-4.  Jones talks about her victory and her decision to play pro tennis after graduation in this article from the Ole Miss website. Jones, who was not initially named to compete in the American Collegiate Invitational, may be receiving the remaining wild card, although I'm not certain if that's the competition the article is referring to.

Another No. 1 player in the SEC last season, Georgia's Lauren Herring, claimed her first Pro Circuit title since 2010 at the $10,000 tournament in Evansville, Indiana. Herring, a qualifier, defeated Alabama incoming freshman Andie Daniell 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in today's final.  Herring, who had reached the finals in singles and doubles at the $10,000 tournament in Charlotte last month, won eight singles matches to take the title in Evansville, while also reaching the doubles final.

At the Godfrey, Illinois $15,000 Futures, No. 6 seed Michael Mmoh won his second career title at that level with a tough 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Illinois rising senior Jared Hiltzik, the No. 8 seed. Mmoh, who also won a $15,000 Futures in Texas last fall, will now break into the ATP Top 500 when the points are added in two weeks.  Bobby Knight of College Tennis Today was at the final, and he has promised a report on the final, which featured (according to Knight's twitter feed) a rain delay, a medical timeout, a conceded point by Hiltzik, and a shirt-tossing celebration by Mmoh when it was all over.

At the $15,000 Futures in British Columbia, former Cal Poly All-American Andre Dome has also assured himself a place in the ATP Top 500, winning the title with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 decision over top seed Matt Reid of Australia.  The 24-year-old No. 2 seed also captured the doubles title with former Pepperdine star Finn Tearney of New Zealand. Those two titles now give Dome the fourth and fifth of his career, three singles and two doubles, all earned this year.

The European Championships ended today, and at the ITF Grade B1 in Switzerland the boys champion was no surprise, while the girls champion was unexpected.

Wimbledon finalist Mikael Ymer, who won the European 14s title in 2012 and was runnerup last in the 16s, added the 18s title to his resume. The 16-year-old, seeded No. 2, beat unseeded Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

The girls title went to Anna Bondar of Hungary, an 18-year-old playing in her first junior event of the year.  The unseeded Bondar defeated No. 12 seed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final. Teichmann had taken out top seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals.

Vondrousova and her partner Miriam Kolodziejova won the doubles title, avenging their Wimbledon semifinal loss to Hungary's Dalma Galfi and Fanni Stollar, a loss that ended the Czech pair's quest for a Grand Slam.  Vondrousova and Kolodziejova, the No. 2 seeds, beat Galfi and Stollar, the No. 3 seeds, 6-4, 7-5 in the final.

The boys doubles title went to the German team of Tim Sandkaulen and Louis Wessels, with the No. 3 seeds beating unseeded Alexander Erler and Matthias Haim of Austria 7-6(4), 6-1 in the final.

The 16s titles both went to Czech players. Top seed Patrik Rikl defeated No. 8 seed Artem Dubrivnyy of Russia 6-4, 6-1 in the boys final, and unseeded Anna Slovakova beat No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina of Russia 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 in the girls final.

Unseeded Iga Swiatek of Poland, a 2014 Junior Orange Bowl 14s semifinalist, won the girls 14s title, beating top seed Taisya Pachkaleva of Russia 6-2, 6-1 in the final. No. 8 seed Duje Ajdukovic of Croatia won the boys 14s title, beat No. 4 seed Filip Jianu of Romania 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. 

Complete draws can be found at the Tennis Europe tournament page.

I mentioned the USTA Boys 18 Team Championships in yesterday's post. The USTA Girls 18 Team Championships began today in Claremont, California, with the TennisLink site here.  Results can be found by selecting Flight (there's only one), Round (1 was today) and match.

Chop Stroke, Half Volley and Court Position

Chop stroke 

In Tennis, a chop stroke is a shot where the angle towards the player and behind the racquet, made by the line of flight of the ball, and the racquet travelling down across it, is greater than 45 degrees and may be 90 degrees. The racquet face passes slightly outside the ball and down the side, chopping it, as a man chops wood. The spin and curve is from right to left. It is made with a stiff wrist.  

The slice shot merely reduced the angle mentioned from 45 degrees down to a very small one. The racquet face passes either inside or outside the ball, according to direction desired, while the stroke is mainly a wrist twist or slap. This slap imparts a decided skidding break to the ball, while a chop "drags" the ball off the ground without break. 

The rules of footwork for both these shots should be the same as the drive, but because both are made with a short swing and more wrist play, without the need of weight, the rules of footwork may be more safely discarded and body position not so carefully considered.

Both these shots are essentially defensive, and are labour-saving devices when your opponent is on the baseline. A chop or slice is very hard to drive, and will break up any driving game.

It is not a shot to use against a volley, as it is too slow to pass and too high to cause any worry. It should be used to drop short, soft shots at the feet of the net man as he comes in. Do not strive to pass a net man with a chop or slice, except through a big opening.

The drop-shot is a very soft, sharply-angled chop stroke, played wholly with the wrist. It should drop within 3 to 5 feet of the net to be of any use. The racquet face passes around the outside of the ball and under it with a distinct "wrist turn." Do not swing the racquet from the shoulder in making a drop shot. The drop shot has no relation to a stop-volley. The drop shot is all wrist. The stop-volley has no wrist at all.

Use all your wrist shots, chop, slice, and drop, merely as an auxilliary to your orthodox game. They are intended to upset your opponent's game through the varied spin on the ball.

The half volley  

This shot requires more perfect timing, eyesight, and racquet work than any other, since its margin of safety is smallest and its manifold chances of mishaps numberless.

It is a pick-up. The ball meets the ground and racquet face at nearly the same moment, the ball bouncing off the ground, on the strings. This shot is a stiff-wrist, short swing, like a volley with no follow through. The racquet face travels along the ground with a slight tilt over the ball and towards the net, thus holding the ball low; the shot, like all others in tennis, should travel across the racquet face, along the short strings. The racquet face should always be slightly outside the ball.

The half volley is essentially a defensive stroke, since it should only be made as a last resort, when caught out of position by your opponent's shot. It is a desperate attempt to extricate yourself from a dangerous position without retreating. never deliberately half volley.

Court position

A tennis court is 39 feet long from baseline to net. There are only two places in a tennis court that a tennis player should be to await the ball.

1. About 3 feet behind the baseline near the middle of the court, or

2. About 6 to 8 feet back from the net and almost opposite the ball.

The first is the place for all baseline players. The second is the net position. 

If you are drawn out of these positions by a shot which you must return, do not remain at the point where you struck the ball, but attain one of the two positions mentioned as rapidly as possible.

The distance from the baseline to about 10, feet from the net may be considered as "no-man's-land" or "the blank." Never linger there, since a deep shot will catch you at your feet. After making your shot from the blank, as you must often do, retreat behind the baseline to await the return, so you may again come forward to meet the ball. If you are drawn in short and cannot retreat safely, continue all the way to the net position.

Never stand and watch your shot, for to do so simply means you are out of position for your next stroke. Strive to attain a position so that you always arrive at the spot the ball is going to before it actually arrives. Do your hard running while the ball is in the air, so you will not be hurried in your stroke after it bounces.

It is in learning to do this that natural anticipation plays a big role. Some players instinctively know where the next return is going and take position accordingly, while others will never sense it. It is to the latter class that I urge court position, and recommend always coming in from behind the baseline to meet the ball, since it is much easier to run forward than back.

Should you be caught at the net, with a short shot to your opponent, do not stand still and let him pass you at will, as he can easily do. Pick out the side where you think he will hit, and jump to, it suddenly as he swings. If you guess right, you win the point. If you are wrong, you are no worse off, since he would have beaten you anyway with his shot.

Your position should always strive to be such that you can cover the greatest possible area of court without sacrificing safety, since the straight shot is the surest, most dangerous, and must be covered. It is merely a question of how much more court than that immediately in front of the ball may be guarded.

A well-grounded knowledge of court position saves many points, to say nothing of much breath expended in long runs after hopeless shots.

Mmoh vs Hiltzik, Daniell vs Herring in Pro Circuit Finals; Bryde and Paul Win Qualifying Matches at BB&T Atlanta Open; USTA Boys 18 Team Event Underway

Michael Mmoh has reached his second career Futures final at the $15,000 Pro Circuit event and will face Jared Hiltzik in Sunday's final in Godfrey, Illinois.  Mmoh, the No. 6 seed, beat No. 7 seed Evan King 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinals, while No. 8 seed Hiltzik, a rising senior at Illinois, defeated Clay Thompson 6-2, 6-3 to reach the first Pro Circuit final of his career.

At the $10,000 women's event in Evansville, Andie Daniell reached her first Pro Circuit final, with the 17-year-old incoming Alabama freshman winning a grueling 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 decision from No. 7 seed Alexa Graham in Saturday's semifinals.  Daniell will play qualifier Lauren Herring, the Georgia All-American who is in her second $10,000 final since graduating in May.  Herring defeated Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal Saturday.

Herring and teammate Kennedy Shaffer lost in the doubles final Saturday, with the unseeded pair falling to top seeds Nicha Lertpitaksinchai and Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand 6-2, 6-3.

Wild card Brooke Austin defeated Robin Anderson in Friday night's quarterfinal at the $50,000 Sacramento tournament, but lost to No. 8 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals.  Kalinina will play top seed An Sophie Mestach of Belgium in Sunday's final. By advancing to the semifinals, Austin now ties Sanaz Marand for the top spot in the USTA US Open Wild Card Challenge with one more tournament this coming week in Lexington, left to decide it.

At the Binghamton Challenger, top seed Kyle Edmund of Great Britain will take on No. 2 seed Bjorn Fratangelo in the final after Edmund defeated qualifier Sekou Bangoura 6-3, 7-6(4) and Fratangelo downed Brydan Klein of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2.

In the first round of qualifying for the BB&T Atlanta Open, 15-year-old Trent Bryde and Tommy Paul picked up victories.  Bryde defeated Catalin-Ionut Gard 7-6(4), 6-2 to advance to a second round match against top qualifying seed Denis Kudla.  Paul defeated fellow wild card Walker Duncan 6-3, 7-6(9) and will play No. 8 seed Sugita of Japan in the second round.  The fourth wild card, Reilly Opelka, lost to unseeded Shuichi Sekiguchi of Japan 6-4, 6-4.  Jared Donaldson also reached the second round of qualifying with a win today.

The Atlanta main draw has been posted, with wild card Frances Tiafoe drawing Sam Groth of Australia and wild card Christopher Eubanks, a rising sophomore at Georgia Tech, playing Czech veteran Radek Stepanek.

The USTA's Boys 18s Team Championships got underway today at the University of Illinois.  The draw is here, and the rosters for each section are here. Live streaming is available at a cost of $19.99 for the event.

Keep Your Eyes on the Ball

One of the most important things that you will ever hear when you are playing tennis is to keep your eyes on the ball.  Games have been lost because a player cannot do this.  Yes, it seems virtually impossible to really keep track of that fuzzy yellow ball when it is spinning through the air coming right at you but realize that if you miss you are giving your opponent points.  This as well as the risk of danger or getting hurt should be enough motivation to help you really focus on where the ball is at all times.  If you lose track of the ball you could find it with your head, rather than your racquet.

In order to really master tennis you are going to have to learn exactly how to track the ball no matter where it is.  Do not worry so much about watching your opponent or even scanning the crowd looking for your sweetheart or your parents.  They can see you, and you do not need to see them, instead your focus should always remain on the ball.  If you have difficulty following the ball there are some things that you can do to help correct this situation, after all you want to improve your overall game strategy and skill level so taking the time to really emphasize your weaknesses through more training will help you overall.

There are numerous video games lately that are teaching skills.  Primarily the Nintendo DS offers several eye movement coordination games.  This is a time when playing your video games can actually be good!  Who knew that playing a game was actually able to be helpful, but it is just one way that you can improve your vision skills.  There are also games that are made for the computer, and even drills that you can do with a friend to help you improve your skills.  Work on this a bit and you should start seeing that you can track the ball much easier.

Avoid trying to watch the crowd while you are playing.  The crowd really does not care that you are playing, honestly they do not.  While they are there to watch you play, they are probably doing some things that are rather distracting.  Honestly, they do not always mean to be distracting, but they are and if you focus your efforts and energy on watching the audience, you are going to dramatically hinder your game.  Instead, it is important to try to tune out exactly what the audience is doing and instead focus on the ball and your opponent.  This will help you to ignore anyone who is acting strange in the crowd and also allow you to keep a good steady line of sight with the ball.

Another thing that you need to do is simply practice.  You cannot expect to walk out onto the tennis court for your first match and play like a professional.  This would honestly be a great occurrence, but the professionals of tennis might be a bit upset.  After all those who play tennis well have worked for years to highly develop their skills including watching the ball.  You are not going to be able to simply read a book, watch a video or play a video game to walk out and play a perfect game of tennis.  You will need to pick up a racquet and go out and actually play in order to gain some highly valuable real life experience.

With a bit of practice and some workout sessions to help train your eyes you will be able to always spot the ball during the game.  This will allow you to better focus on where you need to be in order to keep the ball in play.  Learning how to watch the ball is not a trivial thing, this can be one of the most effective ways to improve your overall play without having to be a complete power player.

Can You Learn Tennis Online?

With the internet becoming a much more iatrical part of many people’s lives it is only natural that people turn to the internet more and more to learn things.  This includes even learning about sports, but can you really learn tennis online?  Is it a good method or just a waste of time and money overall?  What are the benefits and is it really worth your time or would you be better off finding an instructor in your local area to teach you?

For the vast majority of people, the internet contains a wealth of valuable information.  However, one of the biggest problems is you need to ensure that you are trying to learn something that is capable of being taught online.  For example, you can learn about scoring, terminology and even find tips on tennis but you are generally not going to find anything that allows you to learn tennis from beginning skill level to advanced player.  You are also not going to find anything that can replace the value of hiring a good quality instructor to help teach you.

However, with this in mind there are occasions when the internet can help you improve your skills even if they cannot teach you everything that you need to know.  For example, if you know where to look you can find plenty of books that will help you troubleshoot some of the problems that you are having in your game style.  Whether you are needing to improve accuracy, power or even control you can get a plethora of tips from a book that you have found online which will ensure that you have plenty of ways to improve your game.  When combined with the information that an instructor gives you this can be quite helpful.

Additionally, looking around online for the information, you need about terminology and scoring as well as rules can be a very wise decision.  This will allow you to focus your time with an instructor on actual playing, rather than learning the more mundane aspects of the game.  If you are having to pay your instructor for a vocabulary lesson, you will quickly see the benefits of using the internet to do vocabulary on your own time rather than paying the instructor to help you with it.

One of the biggest parts of tennis is your mental approach to the game.  If you look around online, there are thousands of books that are designed to help you turn yourself into a mental monster.  You can train your mind to block out distractions, fine-tune your skills and overall improve your game if you are patient.  Using the internet for this skill alone can be very helpful, especially since the internet is full of suggestions on how to improve your mental preparation for a good game of tennis.

While you can learn how to improve your tennis skills on the internet, realizing that you cannot actually learn tennis online is important.  Many people simply do not realize that you cannot replace a physical human instructor with a computer.  However, since a computer cannot correct your swing, nor tell you how to stand for the optimal power in your swing you will be able to quickly see why having a real instructor is quite so vital in order to be truly successful.

Learning ahead of time that you cannot learn tennis entirely online is important.  Keeping your expectations reasonable is very important.  Yet the internet can help you improve your game as long as you are working with a good instructor.  From giving you some new drills, to advice on how to prepare for a tournament to even how you can psych out the competition the internet is packed with plenty of information that can be very helpful to you.  Learning exactly what you are doing is essential in order to know how to improve and using the tools that are available to you to your benefit is important.