Looking at this week's results, I was curious to see how the WCs from Michigan State did in the Lansing tournament. I knew Ozan would do well but the rest of the MSU team is sub UTR12.5. I was surprised to see that 2/3 MSU WCs (Ozan had direct entry) won matches vs seeded players. Freshman David Saye, 5 star, UTR 12.21 in his first Future with only 2 US jr ITF events played, beat Florida's Goodger (6 seed) in 3 and also won his 2nd round to reach QFs. Very rare for player to win ATP points in 1st Future-I know of jr ITF top 50 players who played 10+ Futures before winning a point. Max Sheldon, 12.42 beat 2nd seed Colin Markes. Even 12.0 UTR Pero had a close loss 5,4 vs the 5 seed. Kudos to these guys for making the most of a great opportunity. I wonder why Mich State vs U of M hosted a Future-guess the Lansing tennis community must have more sponsors. MSU outside of Ozan has the roster of a better MM team-yet this week they have played like they really belong in the Big 10. With a new head coach (former asst Jadun) and one of the top recruits in Ozan, it will be interesting to see if MSU has a chance at 4th or 5th place in Big 10 after years toward the bottom.
It is curious to me too why Lansing and Columbus Futures are held on the same weekend vs consecutive weekends as both would draw from many of the same players. If they were different weekends, collegians could play 2 events post fall season. I looked at the rosters around freeze date last year, and most of the same players were high on the alternate lists for both.
Columbus rec player Joey Dillon UTR 4.14 again managed to earn a Quali spot for Columbus event. Now he is 0,0 for 5 Futures. Playing one tourney is a bucket list item-playing more than that is an insult to the players who traveled for high level competition, possibly paid for a hotel (collegians often find hosts),and the chance for an ATP point. His 1st round opponents won't have the best match prep for the 2nd round. If rec players want to play with D1 guys, pay them to be a hitting partner! It only costs $40 to enter a Future so that's a cheap way to get a college hit-if you are a 3.0-4.0 adult, just dont-leave the spot open for a collegian or junior . USTA/ITF go ahead and get the WTN updated and correct for college results, and please use that to number unranked alternates vs random computer generated list. Dillon is WTN 24.2. Most college players 12.5UTR or above have WTN<4 or are in pro zone.