We are just two days away from the start of the 2016 USTA Boys National Championships so just as I did last year I thought I’d give everyone a little more background on the field in the 18s division. For many of these guys this will be the end of their junior career with college on the immediate horizon. One of the most interesting things about this tournament is the fact that the winner gets a main draw wild card into the US Open so you have guys that have already turned pro that come back to play for that coveted prize.
All rounds up through the semifinals are best of three sets but the finals are best of five sets. Frances Tiafoe won it last year defeating Stefan Kozlov 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4.
Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium and Western Michigan’s Sorenson Tennis Courts will host the event with the two sites separated by just 1.6 miles.
I’ve never been to Kalamazoo myself but I’m planning on making my debut this Saturday (one day only) so if you see me walking around don’t hesitate to say hello.
So let’s take a look at the draw and the players in the Boys 18 division. I created a google doc, which you can view at the bottom of the page, with a breakdown of the field in several different categories (draw, seed, home state, high school graduation class, college commitments/interests, Tennis Recruiting Network star ratings, UTR ratings, USTA rankings points, ITF junior ranking, and ATP ranking).
Michael Mmoh is the top seed and to my knowledge is the only one in the field that has already turned pro. Mmoh is one of eight players in the field with an ATP ranking and he has by far the highest at 377. Mmoh also has the highest Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) by a good bit as of 8/1.
North Carolina’s Anu Kodali and Ohio State’s Kyle Seelig are the only two guys in the Boys 18 field that are already in college after having three last year (Henrik Wiersholm, Alex Knight, Grey Hamilton).
There are nine guys with a current ITF junior ranking inside the top 100 with 2017 Ohio State commits John McNally and JJ Wolf the top two at 14 and 25 respectively.
Richard Ciamarra (2017 HS Class) is tops in the most recent USTA combined rankings with Illinois commit Zeke Clark at number two. If you use the just the singles seeding list then Clark is #1
TRN Star Breakdown
Blue Chips: 45
5-star: 71
4-star: 65
3-star: 11
High School Class Breakdown
2015: 2
2016: 57
2017: 117
2018: 16
Schools with multiple committed players
5 – Illinois, UC Davis,
4 – Cal, Notre Dame, Ohio State
3 – Amherst, Columbia, UCLA
2 – Brown, Clemson, Dartmouth, Duke, Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern, Princeton, Valparaiso, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
UTR Breakdown (8/1):
10.77-10.99: 4
11.00-11.99: 20
12.00-12.99: 101
13.00-13.99: 61
14.00-14.62: 6
Avg: 12.75
All the below info is as of 8/1/16 unless otherwise noted.
Here are links to where the information came from:
Tournament Draws & Seeds
TennisRecruiting.Net – College Commitments, Stars, Grad Class, High Class Ranking
USTA rankings
ITF junior rankings
UniversalTennis.com (paid subscription required to see more than a whole number)
The google doc lets you scroll with the headers staying in place so it may be easier to view it here instead of the chart below.
As the tournament progresses I’ll keep tabs on all the guys that are already in college or committed to play at a college starting in the fall. There are usually several commitments announced during the Zoo so keep an eye out for those as well.
Who do you think will win it all a week from Sunday?
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