It was a pretty straightforward Round of 16 in Kalamazoo on Wednesday as the higher seed in the Boys 18 draw won each of the 8 matches with 6 of those going in straight sets.
#5 Michael Mmoh (2016 Pro) was the only high seed that had to come back from a set down as he dispatched #20 John McNally (2017 uncommitted) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
#12 Eduardo Nava (2015 uncommitted) had the shortest match of the day as his opponent #22 Brandon Holt (2016 USC commit) retired with a hamstring injury after just 3 games were completed.
TRN shows the Fritz/Mmoh quarterfinal as a toss-up with Mmoh the slight favorite at 51%. They also show Kozlov and Paul as good size favorites and Tiafoe favored over Opelka.
Boys 18 Round of 16 Results:
#1 Frances Tiafoe def. #10 Nathan Ponwith 6-2, 6-2
#6 Reilly Opelka def. #30 Nathan Perrone 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
#4 Tommy Paul def. #11 Oliver Crawford 7-6(0), 6-2
#7 Alex Rybakov def. Logan Smith 6-4, 7-6(5)
#12 Eduardo Nava def. #22 Brandon Holt 2-1 ret.
#3 Stefan Kozlov def. Michael Genender 6-4, 6-4
#5 Michael Mmoh def. #20 John McNally 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
#2 Taylor Fritz def. #13 Dennis Uspensky 6-0, 6-1
Thursday’s Quarterfinals
#1 Frances Tiafoe vs. #6 Reilly Opelka
#4 Tommy Paul vs. #7 Alex Rybakov
Friday’s Quartefinals
#3 Stefan Kozlov vs. #12 Eduardo Nava
#2 Taylor Fritz vs. #5 Michael Mmoh
Look for Colette Lewis’s recap on ZooTennis which I’m sure we’ll have all the details from today’s Round of 16 matches.
Another 9 seeds got bounced in the back draw as well – scroll all the way to the bottom to see yesterday’s scores.
By High School Graduation Class
2015 – 4
2016 – 4
By TRN Stars
Blue Chip – 6
Not Rated – 2
By Home State
California – 2
Florida – 3
Maryland – 2
New Jersey – 1
By College Commitment
Turned Pro – 5
Undecided – 3
By UTR
Low – 14.26 (Nava)
High – 15.23 (Paul)
Avg – 14.70
Below is the google doc with 5th round match-ups in place – it’ll probably be easier to view the doc here instead of the chart below.
| Boys’ 18 Singles | ||
| 16 | (2) Taylor Fritz d. (13) Dennis Uspensky | 6-0; 6-1 |
| 16 | (5) Michael Mmoh d. (20) John McNally | 4-6; 6-4; 6-4 |
| 16 | (3) Stefan Kozlov d. Michael Genender | 6-4; 6-4 |
| 16 | (12) Eduardo Nava d. (22) Brandon Holt | 2-1Ret (inj) |
| 16 | (7) Alex Rybakov d. Logan Smith | 6-4; 7-6(5) |
| 16 | (4) Tommy Paul d. (11) Oliver Crawford | 7-6(0); 6-2 |
| 16 | (6) Reilly Opelka d. (30) Nathan Perrone | 6-4; 4-6; 6-3 |
| 16 | (1) Francis Tiafoe d. (10) Nathan Ponwith | 6-2; 6-2 |
| Consolation: | ||
| R4 | Kyle Seelig d. Jack Turchetta | Wo (inj) |
| R4 | Joshua Ortlip d. Ryan Dickerson | Def (ns) |
| R4 | Eddie Grabill d. Alexander Lebedev | Wo (inj) |
| R4 | (25) Liam Caruana d. Charlie Sullivan | Wo (inj) |
| R4 | (9) Sam Riffice d. Ben Vandixhorn | Def (ns) |
| R4 | Johnathan Small d. Henrik Wiersholm | Wo (inj) |
| 4Q | Brandon Lam d. Blaine Boyden | 6-3; 6-4 |
| 4Q | Spencer Richey d. Amit Batta | 6-4; 7-6(4) |
| 4Q | Kyle Seelig d. Maverick Lin | 7-5; 6-3 |
| 4Q | Joshua Ortlip d. (31) Jacob Brumm | 2-6; 6-3; 1-0(6) |
| 4Q | Eddie Grabill d. Christopher Dean | 6-3; 6-0 |
| 4Q | Brenden Volk d. Nicholas Borchenko | Wo (inj) |
| 4Q | Alexander Knight d. (26) Kalman Boyd | 4-6; 6-1; 1-0(6) |
| 4Q | (16) Zeke Clark d. Nathan Niemiec | 6-0; 6-1 |
| 4Q | Alex Diaz d. Mwendwa Mbithi | 6-3; 6-2 |
| 4Q | Nathan Brown d. Nathan Griffin | 6-4; 6-7(2); 1-0(5) |
| 4Q | Charlie Sullivan d. Davey Roberts | 7-6(3); 6-3 |
| 4Q | Joseph Haig d. Sean Burnette | 7-6(4); 6-1 |
| 4Q | (9) Sam Riffice d. Peter Litsky | 6-2; 4-6; 1-0(3) |
| 4Q | Johnathan Small d. David Horneffer | 6-4; 7-5 |
| 4Q | Alex Phillips d. Tyler Raclin | 6-2; 6-1 |
| 4Q | Alex Ross d. William Shkrob | 5-7; 6-2; 1-0(3) |
Does anyone else find it slightly arbitrary that it's only considered an upset if the UTR's differ by 1 UTR point? Why not half a point? Why not 2 points?