College players in US summer Futures and Challengers

B

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
jcgatennismom said:
I bet the other guys on the project manager's team will love doing all the work for him... I do think with all the SaaS on the cloud, there will be opportunities possibly for athletes who've been trained in software to work remote while playing some tourneys but to start as PM without even knowing the stuff?
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That's correct. There are many things that former D1 athletes can get away with that most people can't. This is a a prime example. Btw, you realize that it is not that difficult to be a PM, right?

jcgatennismom said:
If he does well on the challengers circuit, he probably wont show up in January.
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That will not happen. At some point, his tennis career will be done and he has to get a real job. At his current position, he has the opportunity to become Senior VP and a hefty 500K/year in salary in a few years because of the current EVP. Where can he find a job with that salary and benefits?

jcgatennismom said:
I am amazed at how many tennis players just play or coach tennis during the summer. Coaching tennis may pay twice the going rate of internships, but those internships pay off after graduation. While college coaches will allow tennis players to miss occasional practices for a job interview, it is hard for tennis players at universities without a tennis booster club to make career connections. Even if the university has in depth career services, college players usually dont have time to attend multiple career events (maybe 1-2 career fairs a year) or join the career related associations who invite local business people to meetings. Any parents of recruits look at past year tennis rosters for universities of interest and check linked in profiles for guys/gals who graduated 2-3 years ago to compare career trajectories. I am also surprised how few athletes have linked in profiles by their junior year; one year my son was offered an internship he had not applied for when a company directly reached out to him via linkedin, offered him an interview, and then the job a few weeks later. Much better than the years he filled out 75 applications to get 5 interviews...
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Linkedin is mostly a waste of time, IMHO. I have a linkedin profile and it is completely useless. I get jobs through the people I previously worked with or met at technology conferences. My son and nephew get internship either through me or with people they meet on the golf course.

You're a tennis player with some level of intelligence, you should have no problem making network connections with alumni from the university athletic department.
 
J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
Qualifying for Rome (GA) Challenger started today. 3 of the guys on the men's collegiate team are playing. Riffice, ranked 955, got the WC into MD while Shelton (433) has to play Qualis???. Murphy Cassone (694) got a WC into Qualis. Ben Shelton must beat Draxl Monday am to get in MD (the replay should be available tomo night or livestream in am). Cassone beat Zeke Clark (Ill alumni) in 1st rd of Qs. The other collegiate Quali WCs went to Cernoch (UNC) who lost to Baadi (Wake/Kentucky) and Patrick Malone (Mich) who won his 1st rd and will play Patrick Kypson tomorrow to try to earn a spot in the MD. A former top D2 player Kiranpal Pannu (Columbus State) will play Donald Young in 2nd Rd of Qs in a battle of Georgia residents. Ryan Harrison was also playing the Challenger Quali and lost in 1st rd. DY and RH time to figure out what's next! JJ Wolf is the 2 seed in the MD. Other US college players/alumni in MD include Govind Nanda (UCLA), Kovacevic (Ill), Keegan Smith (UCLA), Kybakov (TCU). Borna Gojo (Wake) and Rinky Hijikata (UNC) are also playing. Got a few from all the P5s. I sure hope Rome has built more hotels since they built the new center a few years back-big difference from ATL as far as night life or even restaurants....

This tourney is a great warmup for guys who might have a chance to get in qualifier for the ATL 250 later in July...Currently the lowest ranked player listed for ATL 250 Qualifier is 94, Wolf is low 100s... Last year 16 guys played Qs for ATL 250, only 11 Q guys are listed so far for '22, one spot for WC tourney winner, so there could be 4 left for US players...Would be a good warm up for Shelton prior to US Open... Andres Martin, who has had a great summer playing his 1st Futures, received the college WC into the MD of the ATL 250 (usually goes to a UGA or GT player)

As far as other guys on the collegiate team, Kingsley will play his 1st Future of the summer at Pittsburgh which is the only US summer Future on clay. Other Big 10 guys at the tourney-teammates Alex Bernard (rising freshman), Justin Boulais, and OSU alumni Seelig, Mich's Bickersteth all in MD as well as Lapadat of Kentucky. Dostanic lost in the 2nd rd of Cali Future last week to Nathan Ponwith-he may not be playing this week.
 
J

JLyon

Hall of Fame
jcgatennismom said:
Qualifying for Rome (GA) Challenger started today. 3 of the guys on the men's collegiate team are playing. Riffice, ranked 955, got the WC into MD while Shelton (433) has to play Qualis???. Murphy Cassone (694) got a WC into Qualis. Ben Shelton must beat Draxl Monday am to get in MD (the replay should be available tomo night or livestream in am). Cassone beat Zeke Clark (Ill alumni) in 1st rd of Qs. The other collegiate Quali WCs went to Cernoch (UNC) who lost to Baadi (Wake/Kentucky) and Patrick Malone (Mich) who won his 1st rd and will play Patrick Kypson tomorrow to try to earn a spot in the MD. A former top D2 player Kiranpal Pannu (Columbus State) will play Donald Young in 2nd Rd of Qs in a battle of Georgia residents. Ryan Harrison was also playing the Challenger Quali and lost in 1st rd. DY and RH time to figure out what's next! JJ Wolf is the 2 seed in the MD. Other US college players/alumni in MD include Govind Nanda (UCLA), Kovacevic (Ill), Keegan Smith (UCLA), Kybakov (TCU). Borna Gojo (Wake) and Rinky Hijikata (UNC) are also playing. Got a few from all the P5s. I sure hope Rome has built more hotels since they built the new center a few years back-big difference from ATL as far as night life or even restaurants....

This tourney is a great warmup for guys who might have a chance to get in qualifier for the ATL 250 later in July...Currently the lowest ranked player listed for ATL 250 Qualifier is 94, Wolf is low 100s... Last year 16 guys played Qs for ATL 250, only 11 Q guys are listed so far for '22, one spot for WC tourney winner, so there could be 4 left for US players...Would be a good warm up for Shelton prior to US Open... Andres Martin, who has had a great summer playing his 1st Futures, received the college WC into the MD of the ATL 250 (usually goes to a UGA or GT player)

As far as other guys on the collegiate team, Kingsley will play his 1st Future of the summer at Pittsburgh which is the only US summer Future on clay. Other Big 10 guys at the tourney-teammates Alex Bernard (rising freshman), Justin Boulais, and OSU alumni Seelig, Mich's Bickersteth all in MD as well as Lapadat of Kentucky. Dostanic lost in the 2nd rd of Cali Future last week to Nathan Ponwith-he may not be playing this week.
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unfortunately it looks like it is close to time for DY to hang up his Pro shoes, quite the fall this year, he is not winning the matches expected anymore, right now down 4/1 to a former D2 player, yes I know he was a Top D2 but still.
 
G

Gemini

Hall of Fame
JLyon said:
unfortunately it looks like it is close to time for DY to hang up his Pro shoes, quite the fall this year, he is not winning the matches expected anymore, right now down 4/1 to a former D2 player, yes I know he was a Top D2 but still.
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Looks like DY came back to win the firs set. Strangely enough, he's gone back to using those old Prince O3 Tour frames. But Kiranpal is no slouch. He was the D2 no. 1 player in 2019.
 
J

JLyon

Hall of Fame
Gemini said:
Looks like DY came back to win the firs set. Strangely enough, he's gone back to using those old Prince O3 Tour frames. But Kiranpal is no slouch. He was the D2 no. 1 player in 2019.
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I noticed he went a little old school when i saw him in LR using the O3, very personable and wish him well. He does put a ton of pressure on himself.
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
Shelton made it through qualies in Rome, GA Challenger (absolutely hammering Liam Draxl along the way, which made me smile)

then took down UCLA's Govind Nanda to open the main draw

and is now serving for the match and a spot in the quarters against Rybakov

| * (Player Id) | ATP Tour | Tennis

ATP Challenger Tour streaming match
www.atptour.com www.atptour.com
 
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M

mikej

Hall of Fame
7-6,6-3 over Rybakov

on to the quarters against another familiar name, Kovacevic

up to #380 in the world

with a win against Kovacevic, he would move up to #348
 
J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
mikej said:
Two break / match points w Kova serving at 5-6, 15-40 … both saved w big 1st serves
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Great match. Kova saved 5 MPs. I thought the match was over when Ben was about to go up 4-0 in 2nd but Kova held and then fought back to 5-5. Both Zeke and Kova, Illinois alumni, have incredible fight. I think Ben has more raw talent. As he gets more pro experience, he will learn how to use that talent more strategically; if he wants to progress, he cant allow his opponents to save so many BPs.
 
C

collegetennisisthebest

Semi-Pro
Ethan Quinn is having another outstanding singles tournament in California. Quinn defeated USC's Dostanic in the round of 16. 17 year old Kyle Kang upset the top seed(475 in the world) in the round of 16. Quinn knocked off Kang yesterday 6-3,6-4.
Tyler Zink is doing very well in doubles. Won Waco futures with Govind Nanda. Won Dallas futures with George Goldhoff. Zink and Cleeve Harper will play in Pittsburgh futures doubles final later today.
 
J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
Ben Shelton will play his first Challenger final tomo, winning his SF match easily 1,3. The player he beat had defeated the one seed who was ranked #99.
 
J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
collegetennisisthebest said:
Ethan Quinn is having another outstanding singles tournament in California. Quinn defeated USC's Dostanic in the round of 16. 17 year old Kyle Kang upset the top seed(475 in the world) in the round of 16. Quinn knocked off Kang yesterday 6-3,6-4.
Tyler Zink is doing very well in doubles. Won Waco futures with Govind Nanda. Won Dallas futures with George Goldhoff. Zink and Cleeve Harper will play in Pittsburgh futures doubles final later today.
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Too bad Zink didnt stay at UGA. UGA could have used him last year. If he'd stayed, he and Quinn would be on the same team for 22/23.
 
A

andfor

Legend
mikej said:
#323 and one win away from #278

today’s semifinal was indeed a murder
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Today's final should be a really good test for both players. Yu is a former world #1 jr. and Jr. US Open champ who has had his professional tennis slowed by injuries.
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
andfor said:
Today's final should be a really good test for both players. Yu is a former world #1 jr. and Jr. US Open champ who has had his professional tennis slowed by injuries.
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5-5, Wu has a nice game, has a live arm on his forehand and whips some nice crosscourt angles that land at the corner of the service box to open up the court, then has a nice compact reliable backhand - he's doing a nice job getting returns in play and making Shelton earn his return games, which many opponents don't

going to be decided by TBs or a loose service game by someone
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
Wu breaks from 15-40 to take the first set 7-5

Shelton going to have to dig deep if he wants his first CH title - Wu doesn't look like a guy who's going to get knocked off the court by serve-forehand 1-2 punches
 
B

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
andfor said:
Today's final should be a really good test for both players. Yu is a former world #1 jr. and Jr. US Open champ who has had his professional tennis slowed by injuries.
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Wolf was also injured quite a bit during his young career. What make these young players injured so early in their careers? Over work of some tennis muscles?
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
bobleenov1963 said:
Wolf was also injured quite a bit during his young career. What make these young players injured so early in their careers? Over work of some tennis muscles?
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honestly think tennis is just so much more of a physical game than it was a generation or two ago - lots of grinding points w the current surface speeds (unless you're one of those lucky enough to have an Isner or Kyrgios serve), bigger cuts at the ball, more explosive first step speed required to track down your opponent's shots, poly strings that are harder on the joints

might not be football or hockey, but don't think pro level tennis in 2022 is very kind to the body
 
Nostradamus

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
mikej said:
Wu breaks from 15-40 to take the first set 7-5

Shelton going to have to dig deep if he wants his first CH title - Wu doesn't look like a guy who's going to get knocked off the court by serve-forehand 1-2 punches
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Wu is US open champion, what has ben done ?
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
Nostradamus said:
Wu is US open champion, what has ben done ?
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1) turned down Stanford tennis

2) beat the everloving **** out of Fery in NCAAs

3) clinched an NCAA team championship as a teenage freshman against a grad transfer

4) won the ITA All-American singles title + NCAA singles titles + been the #1 ranked ITA Player of the Year...all in the same season

etc
 
Nostradamus

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
mikej said:
1) turned down Stanford tennis

2) beat the everloving **** out of Fery in NCAAs

3) clinched an NCAA team championship as a teenage freshman against a grad transfer

4) won the ITA All-American singles title + NCAA singles titles + been the #1 ranked ITA Player of the Year...all in the same season

etc
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lol, he couldn't get into stanford, didn't even meet the academic req for athlete scholarship
 
A

andfor

Legend
mikej said:
honestly think tennis is just so much more of a physical game than it was a generation or two ago - lots of grinding points w the current surface speeds (unless you're one of those lucky enough to have an Isner or Kyrgios serve), bigger cuts at the ball, more explosive first step speed required to track down your opponent's shots, poly strings that are harder on the joints

might not be football or hockey, but don't think pro level tennis in 2022 is very kind to the body
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That combined with old school training physical methods on on and off-court that often compound the problem of pounding tennis itself presents can make it harder on players trying to prevent injury or recover from injury.
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
collegetennisisthebest said:
Ben will have to continue to play well in Indianapolis.
Hopefully, he can beat Hikijata this time
I would like to see Shelton vs. Van Rijthoven in 2nd round

Draws | ATP Tour | Tennis

Official singles, doubles and qualifying draw from the tournament archive in men's professional tennis on the ATP Tour.
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Shelton indeed took down Hijikata, routine 3&4, dude gets better every month

up to #316, and he next faces #104 van Rijthoven
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
in other news (that bob may not like), JJ Wolf is up to a career high of #103

rather surprising, to be honest, as his Challenger results lately have been a mixed bag, including getting upset today in Indy - I'm not totally sure how it's happened other than playing a lot of tournaments, but he was sitting there right next to van Rijthoven when I scoped out the live rankings

Live ATP Ranking

ATP Men Tennis ranking projection for next week
live-tennis.eu live-tennis.eu

Wolf has 80 points to defend in late October from a CH title in Vegas last year, but possible he could finish the year inside the top 100, we'll see, obviously today's result didn't help
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
not a college player, but one more comment from the Indy CH

17-year-old Juncheng Shang won his first round against Brandon Holt and is now up to #344 - steadily climbing

____________________________________________________

our dear bob had the following take on the #1 ranked junior less than a year ago (August 2021), so it's almost a guarantee that he'll make it like Brooksby :)

bobleenov1963 said:
I am back home after watching the match between Juncheng Shang (aka Jerry Shang) and Derrick Chen. Jerry Shang is the current #1 ITF tennis player at the age of 16 years old. He has good ground strokes and smart player but this dude absolutely has ZERO weapons to hurt anyone. His serve is so average, when he serves, he is about 1/2 foot off the ground which is not much of a jump. He is more a defensive player. Physically, he doesn't look intimidating to me. He looks kind of skinny at 5 feet 9 inches, I think he should spend more time in the gym.

Shang reminds me of another player who won the 2018 FO Junior champ, Jason Tseng. Tseng was the #1 Junior player in the world but he is currently ranked 286th. Shang probably has reached his highest potential, IMO.

While I was there watching tennis matches, I also got to talk to several college tennis coaches and I ask them "what is the probability that you will give someone a full tennis scholarship at your school?" The answer is universally "almost never". I then asked "what is the probably that you will give Shang a full ride at your school?" The answer is almost universally "Maybe". I was very surprised by the response that they said "maybe" to the #1 ITF Junior player.
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B

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
mikej said:
in other news (that bob may not like), JJ Wolf is up to a career high of #103

rather surprising, to be honest, as his Challenger results lately have been a mixed bag, including getting upset today in Indy - I'm not totally sure how it's happened other than playing a lot of tournaments, but he was sitting there right next to van Rijthoven when I scoped out the live rankings

Live ATP Ranking

ATP Men Tennis ranking projection for next week
live-tennis.eu live-tennis.eu

Wolf has 80 points to defend in late October from a CH title in Vegas last year, but possible he could finish the year inside the top 100, we'll see, obviously today's result didn't help
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Well, you could say that at least Wolf made it to the 3rd round of '20 USO whereas Gators Riffice got smoked by baby Fed at the '21 USO :-D
 
M

mikej

Hall of Fame
mikej said:
Shelton indeed took down Hijikata, routine 3&4, dude gets better every month

up to #316, and he next faces #104 van Rijthoven
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shelton gets a retirement early in second set after dropping first 7-9 in a TB

up to #301

could move as high as #231 if he took the title
 
J

JLyon

Hall of Fame
mikej said:
shelton gets a retirement early in second set after dropping first 7-9 in a TB

up to #301

could move as high as #231 if he took the title
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Shelton got a little lucky, of course of his fan boys actually cost him the first set by jawing with his opponent, who then won 3 straight points, but good for Shelton has a bright future.
 
S

silentkman

Hall of Fame
JLyon said:
Shelton got a little lucky, of course of his fan boys actually cost him the first set by jawing with his opponent, who then won 3 straight points, but good for Shelton has a bright future.
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what's the benefit of college tennis for Shelton at this point?
 
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