American teenagers in the top 150s WTA

1

10ismom

Semi-Pro
http://www.wtatennis.com/page/RankingsNSingles/0,,12781~0~193,00.html

17 yo Madison Keys just won $50,000 Challenger event in Saguenay, Canada. She beat Eugenie Bouchard 18 yo 2012 Wimbledon junior champion 4, 2 in the Finals. Her new ranking should be higher than 152.

The current US teenagers in the top 150's are
Christina McHale, almost 20, at #33
Sloane Stephens, age 19 at #38
Lauren Davis, age 19 at #91
Madison Keys, age17 at #152 (this week)
Jessica Pegula, age 16 at#155

Others: Grace Min, age 18, at #184.....previous junior US Open champ
Nicole Gibbs, age 19 at #233......NCAA champ
Samantha Crawford, age 17 at #288...2012 US Open junior champ
And of course.... Taylor Towsend, age 16 currently no WTA ranking..#1 ITF junior

Who on this list do you think has potential to be in the top 20s or be a Grand Slam champion one day?
 
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1

10ismom

Semi-Pro
I would vote for Christina McHale, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys. For Taylor Townsend, I would like to see how she's doing in the pros the next couple of years before voting.

They are just my random picks and best guess.
It would be fun to see this thread again in the future how the guessing will turn out.
 
N

NLBwell

Legend
Sloane Stevens. Possible McHale could get to 20, but not much more than that. Don't know much about some of them, though.
 
1

10ismom

Semi-Pro
A little bit more infos.....

Lauren Davis's highest junior ranking was world # 3. She won both junior Orange Bowl and Eddie Herr the same year. She is 5 ft 2 though.

Madison Keys in 2009 at age 14, beat Serena Williams (reigning Wimbledon champ at that time) in a World Team Tennis singles match. She turned pro at 14 and was one of the youngest girls to ever win a WTA match. She is 5 ft 11 and supposedly has good serves.

Jessica Pegula....I've never heard of but Wiki showed she is a daughter of a billionaire and got wild cards to play in some big pro events like US open and Indian Wells.
 
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M

monomer

Rookie
It might be. I think she just turned pro in January. For the Dow tournament, she was listed to play in the qualifying tournament on Sunday. At the last minute she disappeared from the draw and was placed in the main draw.
 
C

Chemist

Rookie
monomer said:
It might be. I think she just turned pro in January. For the Dow tournament, she was listed to play in the qualifying tournament on Sunday. At the last minute she disappeared from the draw and was placed in the main draw.
Click to expand...

She might have been given a special type of wild card. JE = Junior exception?

Taylor and Sam Crawford lost their opening round of doubles to Craybas and Vandeweghe in 3 sets. Perhaps, Taylor is a bit rusty.
 
S

Soianka

Hall of Fame
monomer said:
FYI, Taylor Townsend is playing in the Dow Corning Classic in Midland, MI. Her first round match is the featured match tonight at 7pm EST. It can be streamed live.

Dow Corning Classic
Click to expand...

Thanks.

It will be interesting to see Sachia Vickery play as well -- another talented junior.

As an aside, on that website, Jainy SCHEEPENS looks like Anna Kournikova in her picture and Brenda SCHULTZ-MCCARTHY looks really old.:oops:
 
C

Chemist

Rookie
Taylor vs Sachia

Sachia played really well, moved well, played consistently and smart. Taylor played well but not well enough against a girl who has much more experience in the pro circuit. Taylor served really well in the 1st set. She had beautiful forehands. She moved quite well. However she just hit way too many unforced errors, most of them just over hitting (wide or deep). From time to time, Taylor played as if she was playing a junior player. One example was that she threw a moon ball that landed 2-3 behind the service line, but she came in to the net and got passed down the line. She could not hit hard from her backhand. She still loves to come to the net. But against good players, she would need to hit a lot better and deeper approaches or come in when her opponent is chasing the ball. In addition, she would need to put more pressure on Sachia's serves. Taylor appeared to stay cool through out the match, while Sachia often showed displeasure for missing shots. However, in the end it was Taylor who did not play like she had confidence to come back and win the match.

Maybe she is just rusty - no tournament for more than 4 months!
 
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1

10ismom

Semi-Pro
Chemist said:
Sachia played really well, moved well, played consistently and smart. Taylor played well but not well enough against a girl who has much more experience in the pro circuit. Taylor served really well in the 1st set. She had beautiful forehands. She moved quite well. However she just hit way too many unforced errors, most of them just over hitting (wide or deep). From time to time, Taylor played as if she was playing a junior player. One example was that she threw a moon ball that landed 2-3 behind the service line, but she came in to the net and got passed down the line. She could not hit hard from her backhand. She still loves to come to the net. But against good players, she would need to hit a lot better and deeper approaches or come in when her opponent is chasing the ball. In addition, she would need to put more pressure on Sachia's serves. Taylor appeared to stay cool through out the match, while Sachia often showed displeasure for missing shots. However, in the end it was Taylor who did not play like she had confidence to come back and win the match.

Maybe she is just rusty - no tournament for more than 4 months!
Click to expand...

I watched the last 5-6 games of this match and pretty much agreed with what you said.
I also watched the match she played double with Martina Navratilova against other pros in World Team Tennis last year. Taylor loved coming to the net but it seemed she could not handle the pro level pace and passing shots yet. Her volley skills and all court game soothed her well in juniors but she will need to evolve to be successful at the pro level.
 
M

monomer

Rookie
Chemist said:
Sachia played really well, moved well, played consistently and smart. Taylor played well but not well enough against a girl who has much more experience in the pro circuit. Taylor served really well in the 1st set. She had beautiful forehands. She moved quite well. However she just hit way too many unforced errors, most of them just over hitting (wide or deep). From time to time, Taylor played as if she was playing a junior player. One example was that she threw a moon ball that landed 2-3 behind the service line, but she came in to the net and got passed down the line. She could not hit hard from her backhand. She still loves to come to the net. But against good players, she would need to hit a lot better and deeper approaches or come in when her opponent is chasing the ball. In addition, she would need to put more pressure on Sachia's serves. Taylor appeared to stay cool through out the match, while Sachia often showed displeasure for missing shots. However, in the end it was Taylor who did not play like she had confidence to come back and win the match.

Maybe she is just rusty - no tournament for more than 4 months!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the analysis. I was hoping she could win a couple of matches as I'm going for the quarterfinals on Friday. I'm sure it will be a big step up for her to play at this level. At age 16, I guess it may take her a few years to get the needed experience.
 
C

Chemist

Rookie
10ismom said:
I watched the last 5-6 games of this match and pretty much agreed with what you said.
I also watched the match she played double with Martina Navratilova against other pros in World Team Tennis last year. Taylor loved coming to the net but it seemed she could not handle the pro level pace and passing shots yet. Her volley skills and all court game soothed her well in juniors but she will need to evolve to be successful at the pro level.
Click to expand...

Agree. She should watch the match between Sloane vs Serena at AO. She can learn a lot from Sloane when to come in and how to put volleys away. I think TCF can give her more tips than us.
 
M

monomer

Rookie
Very impressed with Lauren Davis today at the Dow tournament. She is small in stature and lacks a big serve but is a real fighter. Was down 2-5 in the first set and fought back to 5-5 before dropping the set 7-5. The second set went to a tiebreak. She was down 1-4 before coming back to win 7-4. She ended up winning the 3rd set 7-5 after being down 2-5 and holding off a match point. It was very high quality play by both.
 
N

Number1Coach

Banned
Chemist said:
Sachia played really well, moved well, played consistently and smart. Taylor played well but not well enough against a girl who has much more experience in the pro circuit. Taylor served really well in the 1st set. She had beautiful forehands. She moved quite well. However she just hit way too many unforced errors, most of them just over hitting (wide or deep). From time to time, Taylor played as if she was playing a junior player. One example was that she threw a moon ball that landed 2-3 behind the service line, but she came in to the net and got passed down the line. She could not hit hard from her backhand. She still loves to come to the net. But against good players, she would need to hit a lot better and deeper approaches or come in when her opponent is chasing the ball. In addition, she would need to put more pressure on Sachia's serves. Taylor appeared to stay cool through out the match, while Sachia often showed displeasure for missing shots. However, in the end it was Taylor who did not play like she had confidence to come back and win the match.

Maybe she is just rusty - no tournament for more than 4 months!
Click to expand...

10ismom said:
I watched the last 5-6 games of this match and pretty much agreed with what you said.
I also watched the match she played double with Martina Navratilova against other pros in World Team Tennis last year. Taylor loved coming to the net but it seemed she could not handle the pro level pace and passing shots yet. Her volley skills and all court game soothed her well in juniors but she will need to evolve to be successful at the pro level.
Click to expand...

You two have to be completely wrong there is no way the no. 1 junior in the ITF who has won titles at the grand slams could enter a tournament and lose to Vickery , ASK TCF he wont believe it , BTW what door was Towsend trying to enter at that tourney , I still cant believe it !! this is not how it happens according to TCF !! Ha Ha Ha anyways I hope Taylor does well cause I have talked to her and she is a real sweet girl .
 
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C

Chemist

Rookie
Number1Coach said:
You two have to be completely wrong there is no way the no. 1 junior in the ITF who has won titles at the grand slams could enter a tournament and lose to Vickery , ASK TCF he wont believe it , BTW what door was Towsend trying to enter at that tourney , I still cant believe it !! this is not how it happens according to TCF !! Ha Ha Ha anyways I hope Taylor does well cause I have talked to her and she is a real sweet girl .
Click to expand...

Taylor got onto the main draw with junior exemption because she was the top ranked junior last year. This should not be considered "back door" because she earned it. A big difference between juniors and pros is that pros are so good running down shots that could have been winners in a junior match. Taylor lost many points when she dictated a rally - she hit 7-8 really good shots and Sachia kept running them down; then Taylor could miss the next ball. Taylor also lost her first round of doubles. She was an even more dominant doubles player in juniors. There was a recent video showing her workout and she said that she lost 8 lbs in 4 weeks. Nice to see that she has started to work on her fitness. Yes, she is highly talented and sweet. With improved fitness and confidence, she will be a top 50 player in a couple of years.
 
I

iri10

Rookie
Chemist said:
There was a recent video showing her workout and she said that she lost 8 lbs in 4 weeks. Nice to see that she has started to work on her fitness. Yes, she is highly talented and sweet. With improved fitness and confidence, she will be a top 50 player in a couple of years.
Click to expand...

Townsend's last juniors match was a loss to 15-year-old Ana Konjuh, who was stronger and better conditioned than her. Admittedly Konjuh is a rather good junior - at this moment she's fighting Urszula Radwanska in the 3rd set of a Fed Cup match.

I do wonder if that match was especially motivating. It's one thing to be physically overmatched against a veteran pro, but it's eye opening when a young whippersnapper does it. I'm rooting hard for Townsend to get over that development hump - I like what I've seen of her.
 
C

Chemist

Rookie
iri10 said:
Townsend's last juniors match was a loss to 15-year-old Ana Konjuh, who was stronger and better conditioned than her. Admittedly Konjuh is a rather good junior - at this moment she's fighting Urszula Radwanska in the 3rd set of a Fed Cup match.

I do wonder if that match was especially motivating. It's one thing to be physically overmatched against a veteran pro, but it's eye opening when a young whippersnapper does it. I'm rooting hard for Townsend to get over that development hump - I like what I've seen of her.
Click to expand...

Konjuh won the 3rd set tiebreak 9-7. Urszula is ranked #37 WTA (and #1 junior in 2007). This is unbelievable! I wonder if Radwanska sisters have the same coach. I think Taylor has a better looking game than Ana. Perhaps, she should hire #one as her fitness coach:)
 
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