Current and future college players in ATP events

[db379]

Wow, such a close match.... Blake beats Klahn 7-6 7-6.

[db379]

I am surprised no one has discussed this here yet. Tiburon Challenger in the SF bay area. Plenty of former college players battling it out this week. QF: Johnson won an easy match against Kudla. Seriously from what I saw, Kudla doesn't have any weapon to hurt Johnson and I wonder why he didn't go to college instead of turning pro...

R Williams lost a long 3 setter against Sock.

Klahn played a very close match against veteran B Reynolds, and lost in the tie-break of the 3rd. I really thought Klahn had the match. He was down 3-0 in the 3rd and managed to win 4 straight games to lead 4-3. He was a couple points away from the match on Reynolds serve at 5-4.... very very close. Reynolds had to dig deep and serve extremely well to win this. Good effort Brad!

[mikej]

Originally Posted by db379

I am surprised no one has discussed this here yet. Tiburon Challenger in the SF bay area. Plenty of former college players battling it out this week. QF: Johnson won an easy match against Kudla. Seriously from what I saw, Kudla doesn't have any weapon to hurt Johnson and I wonder why he didn't go to college instead of turning pro...

R Williams lost a long 3 setter against Sock.

Klahn played a very close match against veteran B Reynolds, and lost in the tie-break of the 3rd. I really thought Klahn had the match. He was down 3-0 in the 3rd and managed to win 4 straight games to lead 4-3. He was a couple points away from the match on Reynolds serve at 5-4.... very very close. Reynolds had to dig deep and serve extremely well to win this. Good effort Brad!

i think you're too down on kudla based on one match you saw - his overall body of work is very solid
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/P...nis-Kudla.aspx

he's ranked 166 - that's higher than anyone you mentioned in those three matches except blake and reynolds (who is barely above him, ranked 162)

yes, sock and johnson have bigger games, kudla doesn't base his game around huge weapons like they do - but they're both ranked below him despite good us open showings (sock 220, johnson 174)

klahn and williams aren't close to his ranking (klahn 316, williams 277)

i think kudla would have totally wasted his time in college - he would've been too fit and steady for most college players to compete with - wouldn't have been stretched to develop bigger shots since he wouldn't have needed them to win comfortably - on tour he's pushed to up his game, and clearly he's doing pretty well with that ranking at 19 yrs old

[floridatennisdude]

First time I've read a mikej post about an American outside the top 100 whom he didn't feel would have benefitted from college. Not that I disagree, just pointing out the historical significance.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by floridatennisdude

First time I've read a mikej post about an American outside the top 100 whom he didn't feel would have benefitted from college. Not that I disagree, just pointing out the historical significance.

haha, but with that said, i'd say the odds are against him being a money-making pro on tour for a number of years

he'll probably peak at 50-60 if i had to guess, but maybe he could go higher in the ferrer mold

as far as tennis, yes going pro was a better call to develop his game...as far as life and having a productive career at some point, i don't know

[mikej]

Originally Posted by floridatennisdude

First time I've read a mikej post about an American outside the top 100 whom he didn't feel would have benefitted from college. Not that I disagree, just pointing out the historical significance.

ps, sock is outside the top 100 and i've never been critical of his decision to go pro...so i wouldn't say kudla is the first...but yes i have a high threshold for american juniors not making a dumb decision going pro

[floridatennisdude]

Originally Posted by mikej

ps, sock is outside the top 100 and i've never been critical of his decision to go pro...so i wouldn't say kudla is the first...but yes i have a high threshold for american juniors not making a dumb decision going pro

I think sponsorship had a lot to do with Sock. He had expenses covered from the jump by going pro. Without those perks, he'd have been ok going to college for a year to boost his resume. He was in a no lose situation in that either scenario was going to be fine for him. Kudla took on a little more risk.

[db379]

Originally Posted by mikej

i think you're too down on kudla based on one match you saw - his overall body of work is very solid
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/P...nis-Kudla.aspx

he's ranked 166 - that's higher than anyone you mentioned in those three matches except blake and reynolds (who is barely above him, ranked 162)

yes, sock and johnson have bigger games, kudla doesn't base his game around huge weapons like they do - but they're both ranked below him despite good us open showings (sock 220, johnson 174)

klahn and williams aren't close to his ranking (klahn 316, williams 277)

i think kudla would have totally wasted his time in college - he would've been too fit and steady for most college players to compete with - wouldn't have been stretched to develop bigger shots since he wouldn't have needed them to win comfortably - on tour he's pushed to up his game, and clearly he's doing pretty well with that ranking at 19 yrs old

OK, 166 at 19yo is not bad, but by no means amazing either. But that's not the point. He does have a pretty good resume and he's fit and moves well which is all good. But he does not have any big weapon, no big serve, no big FH, no big BH... He has not beaten anyone better ranked than 88 (Kamke) this year and most of his wins are against guys ranked above 200.
He has had some tight matches against good players but I have a hard time seeing him move up the rankings without a drastic change in his game. He needs to develop a big weapon! Maybe he can, and that's great for him, but when I watched him play against S Johnson in Tiburon, he was really powerless. Johnson had an easy time to win this with his big serve and FH.
Just saying.
Watching B Klahn yesterday who lost in QF too, Brad has more weapons (better serve and FH), and in only 4 months on tour he has already beaten a world top 35 and former top 10, and nearly beat Blake (77) last week. Now, I agree it's not enough data to draw definitive conclusions but that's the feeling I have watching these various guys. Kudla is a very good player but he has to change his game if he wants to move up.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by db379

OK, 166 at 19yo is not bad, but by no means amazing either. But that's not the point. He does have a pretty good resume and he's fit and moves well which is all good. But he does not have any big weapon, no big serve, no big FH, no big BH... He has not beaten anyone better ranked than 88 (Kamke) this year and most of his wins are against guys ranked above 200.
He has had some tight matches against good players but I have a hard time seeing him move up the rankings without a drastic change in his game. He needs to develop a big weapon! Maybe he can, and that's great for him, but when I watched him play against S Johnson in Tiburon, he was really powerless. Johnson had an easy time to win this with his big serve and FH.
Just saying.
Watching B Klahn yesterday who lost in QF too, Brad has more weapons (better serve and FH), and in only 4 months on tour he has already beaten a world top 35 and former top 10, and nearly beat Blake (77) last week. Now, I agree it's not enough data to draw definitive conclusions but that's the feeling I have watching these various guys. Kudla is a very good player but he has to change his game if he wants to move up.

yeah, like you said, i wouldn't draw too much from "nearly" losses - kudla also nearly beat blake, losing 7-5, 5-7, 5-7 in sarasota - and nearly beat roddick (losing 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 4-6 after he won four solid matches while making it through qualifying and beating sock in san jose)

it's a fair question about his style of play, but i'm not convinced he has to develop a massive weapon, just improve everything over time across the board - i still think he can succeed to a lesser degree than ferrer with that style, reaching the 50-60 in the world level for a few years perhaps if he stays healthy

probably one of the guys like sock, johnson, klahn with bigger weapons will end up being a better pro than him while a couple will not - too early to tell which of those guys will make the most of their weapons (i'm guessing johnson)

[mikej]

oh, and yes, klahn has had a couple quite impressive wins - not only melzer but andreev is a hell of a player

[TopDawg]

Some guys playing in Futures/Challengers this week and last.

Birmingham AL Future
Georgia's KU Singh lost in the 1st round to former USC Trojan Daniel Nguyen 7-6 6-4

Pensacola FL Future - Qualifying Draw
Pedro Dumont, Zack White, James Chaudry, Jordan Angus, Stefan Vinti, Malte Stropp, and Romain Bogaerts are representing Mississippi State.
Connor Glennon, David O'Leary, Johnny Grimal, Joe Salisbury, David O'Hare, and Cedric De Zutter are representing Memphis.
Florida's Florent Diep is there as well.

Charlottesville VA Challenger - Qualifying Draw & Main Draw
Mac Styslinger, Julen Uriguen, Ryan Shane, Justin Shane, Jarmere Jenkins, & John Harrison Richmond representing UVA in the Qualifying Draw. Alex Domijan got a wild card into the main draw.

[jaggy]

Will Kendall has now qualified for his 2nd future in a row in India, lost to a seed last week in round one and drew one again this week. he graduated Indiana in spring.

[ClarkC]

Another surprising win for Mac Styslinger, beating #8 seed Carsten Ball of Australia in the qualifying draw of the Charlottesville Challenger. He would have to upset Jeff Dadamo to make the main draw.

[tennis7777777]

Outside of Mac tough tournament for the Cavs so far, alumni like Shabaz and Singh not playing very well

[Automator]

Originally Posted by ClarkC

He would have to upset Jeff Dadamo to make the main draw.

Styslinger just defeated Dadamo in three sets to qualify for the main draw, and grab 5 points.

[tennis_tater]

Styslinger is having a great fall so far...definitely one of the best of this past year's recruits.

[Clemson_tennis]

Originally Posted by tennis7777777

Outside of Mac tough tournament for the Cavs so far, alumni like Shabaz and Singh not playing very well

Singh has been playing well. He did beat Meister routinely in the first round. He is getting better and will be a consistent challenger player soon.

But yes Shabaz has gone far away.

[TopDawg]

Pensacola FL Future - Qualifying & Main Draw

3 Miss State freshmen qualified in Pensacola with Pedro Dumont, Jordan Angus, and Romain Bogaerts are winning in straights in the final round of qualies. Dumont meets former Illini #1 Dennis Novolo in the 1st round, Angus meets former Buckeye #1 Chase Buchanan, and Bogaerts meets fellow qualifier Oleg Dmitriev who I know nothing about.

Connor Glennon and Joe Salisbury from Memphis both came through qualies too. Salisbury beat MSU freshmen Stefan Vinti 7-6 in the 3rd and Glennon beat former Gator/TarHeel Joey Burkhardt 6-4 in the 3rd. Salisbury meets former Michigan #1/2 Jason Jung and Salisbury meets Zimbabwe's Takanyi Taranganga in the 1st round

Florida's Florent Diep knocked out former FSU #1 Jean-Yves Aubone 7-6 in the 3rd to qualify for the main draw. Diep has racked up some impressive wins of late. Diep draws Bjorn Fratangelo in the 1st round.

[Clemson_tennis]

Janowicz who Novikov beat at the US Open beat Andy Murray today.

[Clemson_tennis]

Future USC Trojan Connor Farren defeated The #1 Cesar Ramirez in a Mexican future.