by Bobby Knight | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog
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...
by Bobby Knight | Aug 9, 2015 | Blog
The Boys 18 National Championship and main draw wild card into the US Open will come down to #1 Frances Tiafoe and #3 Stefan Kozlov after each won their semifinal matches in straight sets.Props goes out to TennisRecruiting.Net’s forecasting model for correctly predicting the finals before the tournament started. TRN shows Tiafoe as a slight favorite in the finals with a 53% chance of winning but that’s a pretty slim margin. Boys 18 Semifinal Results:#1 Frances Tiafoe def. #4 Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-2#3 Stefan Kozlov def. #2 Taylor Fritz 7-6(3), 6-3Don’t forget to read Colette Lewis’s recap of today’s matches on...
by Bobby Knight | Aug 8, 2015 | Blog
The Boys 18 draw in Kalamazoo is down to the final 4 and wouldn’t you know it but the 4 remaining guys are seeded 1, 2, 3, and 4. Neither of Friday’s matches were very close in terms of score with both Stefan Kozlov and Taylor Fritz winning in straight sets while both of Thursday’s matches were much closer with Tommy Paul needing 3 sets to beat Alex Rybakov and Frances Tiafoe getting past Reilly Opelka in 2 tight sets.According to TennisRecruiting.Net’s prediction formula the only unexpected result was Fritz’s win over Mmoh though they basically had it as a pick em’ with Mmoh a 51% favorite. TRN shows both Tiafoe...
by Bobby Knight | Aug 5, 2015 | Blog
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.According to TennisRecruiting.Net’s prediction formula the only surprise winner was #7 Alex Rybakov who was just given a 26% chance of...
by Bobby Knight | Aug 5, 2015 | Blog
The picture is become clearer and clearer in Kalamazoo after another day of results are in the books. There weren’t any big upsets on Tuesday though the scores that probably stuck out the most were in the Genender/Kirkov and Paul/Ross matches. Michael Genender (2015 Stanford commit) rolled over #28 Vasil Kirkov (2018 uncommitted) 6-2, 6-1. Both are TRN Blue Chips with UTRs within .05 of each other so you’d have thought this would have been a tight match but the scoreline tells a different story.#4 Tommy Paul (2015 Professional) got pushed by #19 Gianni Ross (2017 uncommitted) before pulling away in the 3rd set for a 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-0 win....
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