The Inaugural Cary Challenger in NC!

Another super late post.  Wanted to get this out of the way before my hiatus!

I didn't watch tennis for 2 whole days...it felt great. Need to take more breaks. After Fairfield final, going to disappear until USTAAOWCP.

— Lang (@LangTennis) October 18, 2015

Finally, there was a challenger event close to me!  The $50K tournament held the week after the US Open in Cary (North Carolina), along with the later debutantes ($50K Columbus and $50K Las Vegas), was not part of the USTA Pro Circuit; thus, no commentating provided by the popular Mike Cation.  Per the tournament director (I think), they were approached by the USTA (United States Tennis Association) late in May.  With only a few months of preparation, I was impressed by the organization.  Besides the main attraction, there were several sideshows such as the fast serve contests, silent auctions (raised $1200 for charity), and food tents.  The whole community seemed to be involved.  Numerous kids volunteered to be ball carriers (they rotated ball kids every changeover during the weekend, partly to protect them from the scorching heat).

Center Court

Semifinal Saturday: Winston Salem Futures

My third and final installment of the 2015 Winston-Salem futures series.

To be honest, I didn't plan on attending the semifinals but these came in the mail earlier than expected.

Pictured key chains of Rhyne Williams and Tennys Sandgren during their time at the University of Tennessee. "Sift" is one of their favorite hashtags. Originally, I planned to give them to the former teammates at the Charlottesville Challenger in November.  When I first followed Rhyne and Tennys, I was fascinated by their friendships and was/still am envied of it.  Hadn't seen anything quite like it.  They even had their own language.  (They lost in the doubles final yesterday, but it was nice to see them playing with each other like old times).

Thursday In Pictures: Winston-Salem Futures

This is the second post on the Wake Forest futures.  ICYM the first one: My First Futures Experience at $15K Winston-Salem.  

They had chairs this time, first come first serve. Three courts in action on the left and one on the right for the second round matches.  A cool and breezy day.

The best thing about attending futures (and challengers) is getting to see the players up close.  Smaller crowd makes it easier to spot and interact with the athletes  Also, they are free of charge most of the time.

Brian Baker and Rhyne Williams watching Tennys Sandgren and Noah Rubin

My First Futures Experience at $15K Winston-Salem

While eyes were on the clay grand slam yesterday, I experienced my first futures at the $15K Winston-Salem (first Men's ITF event in the state of North Carolina that I know of. Edit: according to @jaredmckiernan, they used to have a futures in Elkin years ago).  The on-going event is held at the Wake Forest University Tennis Complex, also home to the ATP Winston-Salem Open in August.  I attended the 250 event every year since 2012 and hope to return again this summer.

Futures are the lowest pro circuit events where players can earn ATP points.  They are not glamorous like the ATP level tournaments and sometimes lack amenities found in challengers (next tier up).  But all players start their career there (stepping stone).  Most spectators are friends, family, players, and hard core tennis fans.  Wouldn't be suprised if I was the only "fan" to show up yesterday.

Playing Courts (a.k.a the practice courts of ATP Winston Salem Open)

Unlike the ATP event, there were no proper sitting arrangements at this ITF tourney.  Viewers either stood or sat on the grass unless they brought chairs with them like Brian Baker (pictured below).

March Rankings: Young, Harrison, Fratangelo, Chirico Moving Up

Previous Rankings: February. 

ATP - Top 15 Americans

Notable Changes

•  Sam Querrey reclaims the No. 2 spot by reaching the semifinals of ATP Memphis.
• Despite dropping a spot, Stevie Johnson continues his strong 2015 campaign with back to back quarterfinal showings at Memphis and Delray Beach Open.
• Donald Young continues his rise with a semifinal at Memphis and second career ATP final at Delray Beach Open (l. Karlovic).
• Also in Memphis, Austin Krajicek reached first career ATP quarterfinal losing to top seed, Kei Nishikori, in 3 sets.
• Ryan Harrison jumps 56 spots since the last monthly ranking.  The 22 year old qualified and made the semifinals of ATP Acapulco, a 500 level tournament.  Along the way, he defeated Young, Grigor Dimitrov (1st Top 10 win in 23 tries), and Ivo Karlovic before falling to World No. 9 David Ferrer who went on to capture the title.   Harrison attributes his resurgence to the rehiring of coach Grant Doyle and the mentorship of Andy Roddick.
• Tim Smyczek reenters the Top 100 by lifting the title at the $100K Challenger of Dallas taking down fellow American Rajeev Ram.
• Bjorn Fratangelo makes his debut on the list, coming in at No. 12, after winning maiden challenger title in Launceston, Australia. The 2011 Roland Garros Boys champion defeated talented 18 year old Hyeon Chung of Korea in 3 sets.
• Jared Donaldson won his first ATP main draw over fellow wildcard, Stefan Kozlov, in Memphis. ICYMI his Q&A for us, here is the link
• The Bryan brothers won their first doubles title of the year, 104th overall, in Delray Beach.
  

Jared Donaldson Wins First Challenger Title, Youngest American Winner Since Donald Young

Jared Donaldson, one of the Just Drop The Ball's 10 American teenagers to watch in 2015, wins his first career challenger title in Maui today to become the youngest American titlist since Donald Young in 2007 (Aptos).  At 18 years, 3 months, and 23 days old, the teenager is the 55th youngest challenger champion.  American Michael Chang holds the record at 15 years and 7 months when he captured the Las Vegas crown in 1987, roughly 9 years before Donaldson was born.

2015 AO Qualifying in Pictures

Fourteen American men and four American women participated in the 2015 Australian Open qualifications, but only three successfully made it to the main draw.  Thirty-six year old Michael Russell, who declared 2015 as his last professional season,  27 year old Tim Smyczek, and the former Georgian representative, Anna Tatishvili, won three matches for a chance to compete with the best.  Nine men and three women claimed 1st round victories, six advanced to the final qualifying round including Jarmere Jenkins, Alex Kuznetsov, Chase Buchanan, and Alexa Glatch.  In the main draw, Smyczek draws wildcard and 2012 Junior AO winner, Luke Saville of Australia.  Russell gets No. 20 David Goffin (BEL) and Tatishvili opens her campaign against 44 year old Japanese, Kimiko Date-Krumm.  USA has a total of 24 players (7 men and 17 women) in the singles main events, spearhead by John Isner and World No. 1 Serena Williams.

A Hobby Within A Hobby: Making Highlight Videos

You may be familiar with my YouTube channel, SapELee485, which contains array of tennis videos ranging from players' practices to matches and highlights. This is actually my 4^th account (the previous three dedicated to music).  I originally created the channel to showcase the young American talents, but have expanded it to include other nationalities and ages.

In the beginning, I mostly uploaded full challenger matches but ran into copyright issues (USTA Pro Circuit).  I ended up deleting many videos.  Frustrated and trying to find a solution, I began to experiment with making highlights.  I had done slideshow videos before and thought to myself, “it can’t be that much different”.  I was right, it wasn’t; however, it was time consuming because you have to re-watch the match.

Hello World!

My name is Lang and I’m a tennis enthusiast.  I’m inspired by fellow tennis tweeps, specifically Jonathan Kelley, so I have decided to start my own blog.  Probably not the wisest move considering my upcoming busy schedule but what the heck.

How I got into tennis

 

During middle school, my cousin and I were dragged to the park by an older cousin.  He gave us tennis lessons against our will.  To be fair, it was a lot better than the computer programming lectures he gave us the summer before.  But seriously, what was wrong with him?  Teaching C DOS commands to kids during summer vacation!

Anyhow, I don’t play the sport anymore.  In fact, haven’t touched my rackets in years due to a) I suck at tennis and b) reoccurring back ailments obtained from a hydroplane car crash four years ago (surprised I’m alive to be honest). But I like to watch matches and follow players on and off the court, especially on social media.  I started following the women’s game closely in 2011, but shifted my attention to the men’s a year later (because the men tennis forum was pathetic and in need of updates).  In the last several years, I grew to love junior tennis.  Find it exciting to watch young players develop and transition to the main tour.