by Bobby Knight | Dec 7, 2016 | Blog
For those tennis junkies that love the opening few days of the NCAA Championships at the final 16 site you might want to make sure you get to either Athens this year or Winston-Salem next year because it looks like changes are coming in 2019. The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Committee recently held a pair of teleconferences to discuss several changes to the NCAA Tournament and they have made several recommendations to the Division I Championship Committee/Competition Oversight Committee which are expected to be approved and implemented in the next 2 to 3 years.The biggest change will be the addition of a super regional round, beginning...
by Bobby Knight | Dec 4, 2016 | Blog
Team USA came to France seeking to win a sixth straight Master’U BNP Paribas and that’s exactly what they did after defeating Russia 4-1. North Carolina senior Hayley Carter kicked off the day with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Alena Tarasova but Russia countered with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 win by Vladimir Korolev (13.44) over Northwestern senior Strong Kirchheimer (14.14). Ohio State sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo (12.55) put Team USA back in front with a 7-6(2), 7-5 win over Viktoria Kamenskaya (WTA 190/12.60) and then Georgia Tech junior Chris Eubanks (14.45) made it 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ivan Davydov (13.44). Hayley Carter and UCLA freshman Ena Shibahara...
by Bobby Knight | Dec 3, 2016 | Blog
Typically when you double fault 15 times in a match your name ends up in the loss column but on Saturday in Waco the guy that had a tougher time on his serve came out on top. Recent Virginia graduate Ryan Shane and recent Illinois graduate Jared Hiltzik went toe-to-toe for just over two hours and when the dust cleared Shane had won his second career pro singles title with a come from behind three-set win. Hiltzik rolled through the first set in 30 minutes after breaking Shane’s 1-1 and 2-4 service games and then in the second set Hiltzik broke in a two-deuce game to take a 3-2 lead. Shane would immediately break back from 15/40 to even it at 3-3 but a...
by Bobby Knight | Dec 3, 2016 | Blog
The singles final is all set in Waco and it’ll be a pair of recent college graduates meeting as Jared Hiltzik squares off against Ryan Shane. Hiltzik (14.57) dropped the opening set 6-1 to recent Tulane graduate Dominik Koepfe (14.31) but the recent Illinois graduate was able to turn the tide in the second and third sets. Hiltzik came back from 0/40 down to hold for 2-1 in the second and fought off another break point to hold for 4-3. Hiltzik then converted his only break point opportunity of the set when he broke Koepfer from 30/40 to go ahead 5-3 and then he served out the set from 40/15 to take it 6-3. In the third set Hiltzik got a huge hold for 3-3...
by Bobby Knight | Dec 2, 2016 | Blog
Three of the four semifinalists in Waco just finished up their college eligibility in May but they felt right at home on Thursday on the indoor courts at Baylor University in the $25K USA F39 Futures. Ryan Shane, who won the 2015 NCAA Singles Championship on these same indoor courts, advanced to his first semifinal since Tallahassee last December after defeating the second seed Tim Van Rijthoven in straight sets. Shane started off the match by fighting off four break points and holding in a seven-deuce game (won’t see that in college tennis) and then followed that up by breaking for an early 2-0 lead. Van Rijthoven came back and took five of the next six...
by Bobby Knight | Dec 1, 2016 | Blog
The $25K USA F39 Futures in Waco finished up the second round on Wednesday with all remaining players in the doubles draw and six of eight in the singles draw having college ties. TCU junior Cameron Norrie, who is the top seed in the singles draw, came back from a set down to defeat Texas freshman Yuya Ito. Next up for Norrie will be recent Tulane graduate Dominik Koepfer after Koepfer defeated Baylor sophomore Juan Benitez in straight sets.Former Illinois teammates Jared Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic will face each other in the quarterfinals after each won on Wednesday. Hiltzik hit nine aces and won 74% of the points on his first serve in a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 win...
by Bobby Knight | Nov 30, 2016 | Blog
The $25K USA F39 Futures in Waco is full of players with collegiate ties with 12 of the final 16 having played/currently playing college tennis. Waco First Round:[1] Cameron NORRIE (GBR/TCU Jr) def. Jimmy BENDECK (USA/Baylor Soph) 6-3, 7-5Yuya ITO (JPN/Texas Fr) def. William LITTLE (USA/Baylor R-Soph) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2Juan BENITEZ CHAVARRIAGA (COL/Baylor Soph) def. Gonzales AUSTIN (USA/Vanderbilt ’15) 4-6 6-3 6-2[8] Dominik KOEPFER (GER/Tulane ’16) def. Julian LENZ (GER/Baylor ’16) 6-2 3-6 6-3Jared HILTZIK (USA/Illinois ’16) def. [3] Eric QUIGLEY (USA/Kentucky ’12) 6-4, 6-2Naoki NAKAGAWA (JPN) def. Arthur RINDERKNECH...
by Bobby Knight | Nov 27, 2016 | Blog
While most of us were feasting on turkey and stuffing last week there were several guys and gals that were out on the pro tour taking care of business. Marcelo Arevalo (Tulsa ’11*) and Alejandro Gomez (Kentucky ’14) won singles titles in their home countries while Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Oklahoma State ’10), Catherine Harrison (UCLA ’16), and Maddie Kobelt (Syracuse ’14) won doubles titles in their backyards. Arevalo swept both the singles and doubles titles at the $10K El Salvador F2 Futures (Clay) in La Libertad. Arevalo was the top seed in both draws with he and Christopher...
by Bobby Knight | Nov 22, 2016 | Blog
After putting out the college pro rankings over the last two days its time to get caught up on some news that took place over the last few days. We’ll start with in Knoxville where former Tennessee All-American Alison Ojeda was named as Tennessee’s new women’s head coach. Ojeda, who played at Tennessee from 1998 to 2002, replaces Mike Patrick who stepped down last week after 30 years on the job due to health reasons. Ojeda came back to Rocky Top in June as an assistant coach after spending the last six seasons at Baylor. The Charlottesville Daily Progress reported that Virginia will be building a new 12-court outdoor facility at...
by Bobby Knight | Nov 22, 2016 | Blog
I’ve done the College ATP Singles Rankings on several occasions throughout the year but I hadn’t got around to breaking down the doubles rankings until now. For many former college players their best chance at success on the pro tour comes not on the singles side but the doubles side. As proof of this statement you need to look no further than numbers; there are 3 players with college ties in the ATP Doubles Top 10 and 25 with college ties in the top 100. In the most recent singles rankings there were 0 players with college ties in the top 10 and just 3 in the Top 100. Of course the one thing that can’t be overlooked is the difference in...
Latest Comments