Freshman fall-NC fr wins $15K, LSU fr beats Geller and other stories

J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
In mid Sept, the ITA and UTR published its list of the top 10 freshmen/newcomers with slight differences but before discussing those, I want to mention 2 freshmen who didn’t make either list:

Justin Boulais (OSU) CAN UTR 13.11, current ATP 976, top ATP 540, reached #324 jr ITF, won MD matches at 2 Challengers including beating ATP #237. This kid is playing PreQualis at All-American

Ronnie Hohmann (LSU) USA UTR 12.86, current/top ATP 1380, reached #158 jr ITF, reached Future QF. What is interesting about Ronnie is that he earned his #158 jr ranking playing one jr ITF tourney going through Qualis and winning 9 total matches to earn title at Junior Indian Wells. Along the way he beat Zach Svajda (Kzoo champ who won his 1st 2 sets in MD US Open 1st rd UTR 14.21). To prove beating one UTR 14+ was not a fluke, he beat Axel Geller of Stanford (UTR 14.24) this fall in a Future. You think his UTR might be understated? Maybe LSU will pull itself out of the SEC basement with this guy and Stefan Kozlov’s little brother Boris.

Two of the ranked freshmen have already won MD Challenger matches over the last 12 months as well as Boulais above. Combining UTR/ITA lists for a total of 13 ranked players, there are 5 Americans, 3 Czech players, and 2 Canadians plus 1 each from UK, Australia, and France. Players marked * are playing in Qualis of All American in Tulsa next week-the top 10 get in Qualis, but not all are playing. Cannon Kingsley made it into a MD-assume as a wild card choice.

ITA List with 12-month highlights

1*) Ondrej Styler (Mich) Czech UTR 14.01, current ATP 1156, top ATP 1118, reached #13 jr ITF, reached SF of Czech Future

2*) Liam Draxl (Kent) CAN UTR 13.95 current ATP 881, top ATP 559, reached #9 jr ITF, won MD matches at 3 different Challengers including a win vs Keegan Smith, reached 2 Future QFs

3*) Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) CZE UTR 13.82 current ATP 724, top ATP 531, reached #284 jr ITF, reached F/SF of Futures

4) Cannon Kingsley (OSU) USA UTR 13.86 current ATP 934, top ATP 593, reached #10 jr ITF, won MD matches at 2 different Challengers including a win vs Evan Song ATP #450, reached Future QFs

5)Rinky Hijikata (UNC) AUS UTR 13.69 current/top ATP 751, reached #9 jr ITF, won Fayetteville AR $15K Future this fall, reached 1SF/2QFs

6)Taha Baadi (Wake) CAN UTR 13.6 current/top ATP 1258, reached #31 jr ITF, reached 2 QFs Futures

7*) Drew Baird (UCLA) USA UTR 13.46 current ATP 998, top ATP 995, reached #12 jr ITF, reached $25K SF

8) Baptiste Anselmo (UGA) FRA UTR 13.28 current ATP 1450, top ATP 1448, reached #67 jr ITF, reached 2 R16 (one MD win at each)

9*) Andres Martin (GT) USA UTR 13.43, no Future play, reached #88 jr ITF

10) Marcus Walters (FLST) UK UTR 13.31 current ATP 1606, top ATP 1582, reached #207 jr ITF won 1 MD future match

From UTR’s list

Tomas Jirousek (TCU) CZE UTR 13.62 current ATP 767, top ATP 762, reached #220 jr ITF, reached 2 SF, 2 QF Futures

Ronan Jachuck (Harvard) USA UTR 13.55 current ATP 1068, top ATP 1065, reached #91 jr ITF, reached 1 SF, 1 QF Futures

Jan Magnus Johnson (UCF) USA UTR 13.43 current ATP 1911, top ATP 1897, reached #415 jr ITF, won 1 MD Future match
 
J

jrstrat

Rookie
Switching topics from the great Axel Geller, here is an article on Jenson Brooksby who is still scheduled to enroll at Baylor in January.

www.sportscasting.com

4 Reasons Jenson Brooksby Should Skip Baylor for the Pro Circuit

Jenson Brooksby made headlines when he beat former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych in the first round at the U.S. Open. Now he has a hard choice to make.
www.sportscasting.com www.sportscasting.com

Brooksby has by far the highest ATP ranking (277) and UTR ranking (14.85) in collegiate tennis. He rolled past 3 collegiate top ten tennis players in futures this summer, advanced through his 3 US Open qualifying matches, won his first round US open match vs former world top ten Berdych, and then took a top 20 player in the world to 4 sets in round 2 of the US open.

One of his wins vs collegiate top tens this summer was Axel Geller who Brooksby crushed 2 and 3. That being said, Geller may have been tired since it was his nap time. I'm just not sure.
 
J011yroger

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
jrstrat said:
Switching topics from the great Axel Geller, here is an article on Jenson Brooksby who is still scheduled to enroll at Baylor in January.

www.sportscasting.com

4 Reasons Jenson Brooksby Should Skip Baylor for the Pro Circuit

Jenson Brooksby made headlines when he beat former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych in the first round at the U.S. Open. Now he has a hard choice to make.
www.sportscasting.com www.sportscasting.com

Brooksby has by far the highest ATP ranking (277) and UTR ranking (14.85) in collegiate tennis. He rolled past 3 collegiate top ten tennis players in futures this summer, advanced through his 3 US Open qualifying matches, won his first round US open match vs former world top ten Berdych, and then took a top 20 player in the world to 4 sets in round 2 of the US open.

One of his wins vs collegiate top tens this summer was Axel Geller who Brooksby crushed 2 and 3. That being said, Geller may have been tired since it was his nap time. I'm just not sure.
Click to expand...

Good replacement for Roy Smith, who is a super cool guy BTW.

J
 
Nostradamus

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
Fabresque said:
lol
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Axel Geller has been dominating the futures and challenger circuit during summer. He didn't even play ITA events in the fall because he is too good right now. So what do you think will happen in NCAA tournament next may ? could be the champion without even dropping a set.
 
J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
Nostradamus said:
Axel Geller has been dominating the futures and challenger circuit during summer. He didn't even play ITA events in the fall because he is too good right now. So what do you think will happen in NCAA tournament next may ? could be the champion without even dropping a set.
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Geller has won two $15K Futures and has not won any matches at Challengers he played the last 12 months. On ATP rankings site, he is listed as #635 behind Jensen Brooksby 276, Brandon Nakishima 489, Brandon Holt 534, Sam Riffice 549, Govind Nanda 556, Oliver Crawford 561, and Paul Jubb 613. I think Geller has a decent chance of making QFs of NCAAs next May. He is in range with Ben Sigouin 637, Galarneau 644, and McNally 645. McNally beat Geller in a pro event as did a LSU FRESHMEN as I have noted before. Let us know when Geller wins a $25K or a Challenger match this year. On the bright side Geller has recently beat Illinois #1 and #2 and another Illini at Futures but not sure if Geller can beat the top guys at Baylor, Virginia, UCLA, USC, Florida, UNC, or South Carolina. If he avoids those schools, maybe he can have a perfect season. He is talented and in the top college dozen but definitely not TOP DOG yet. Brooksby, Nakishima, Holt, Nanda, and Geller are registered to play Malibu $25K In Nov-will be interesting to see which guy goes the deepest. Brooksby is the 1 seed for MD but at his ranking, maybe he will get in a Challenger instead if there is one that week.
 
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Nostradamus

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
jcgatennismom said:
Geller has won two $15K Futures and has not won any matches at Challengers he played the last 12 months. On ATP rankings site, he is listed as #635 behind Jensen Brooksby 276, Brandon Nakishima 489, Brandon Holt 534, Sam Riffice 549, Govind Nanda 556, Oliver Crawford 561, and Paul Jubb 613. I think Geller has a decent chance of making QFs of NCAAs next May. He is in range with Ben Sigouin 637, Galarneau 644, and McNally 645. McNally beat Geller in a pro event as did a LSU FRESHMEN as I have noted before. Let us know when Geller wins a $25K or a Challenger match this year. On the bright side Geller has recently beat Illinois #1 and #2 and another Illini at Futures but not sure if Geller can beat the top guys at Baylor, Virginia, UCLA, USC, Florida, UNC, or South Carolina. If he avoids those schools, maybe he can have a perfect season. He is talented and in the top dozen but definitely not TOP DOG yet. Brooksby, Nakishima, Holt, Nanda, and Geller are registered to play Malibu $25K In Nov-will be interesting to see which guy goes the deepest. Brooksby is the 1 seed for MD but at his ranking, maybe he will get in a Challenger instead if there is one that week.
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so you are saying Geller is the Next Gen top contender to make it into the ATP tour finals ?
 
B

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
Nostradamus said:
Axel Geller has been dominating the futures and challenger circuit during summer. He didn't even play ITA events in the fall because he is too good right now. So what do you think will happen in NCAA tournament next may ? could be the champion without even dropping a set.
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I am reminded by my company's CEO words everytime I see this quote. "Success is not continuous. Success is only momentary". Just because you hit record sale this month does not mean you will get the same record sale six months from now.

NCAA tournament is single elimination. You never know what will happen. One bad day or even one bad afternoon and you are done. It is is not like golf where you can recover from the first or even 2nd day.
 
Nostradamus

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
bobleenov1963 said:
I am reminded by my company's CEO words everytime I see this quote. "Success is not continuous. Success is only momentary". Just because you hit record sale this month does not mean you will get the same record sale six months from now.

NCAA tournament is single elimination. You never know what will happen. One bad day or even one bad afternoon and you are done. It is is not like golf where you can recover from the first or even 2nd day.
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I agree. Axel Geller is the sure lock to win the NCAA in 2020.
 
am1899

am1899

Legend
Interestingly, Cannon paired with John McNally (Caty’s brother), who also plays for OSU. And one of the two guys they defeated has had some impressive Challenger Tour results lately - Emilio Gomez.
 
J

jrstrat

Rookie
Nostradamus said:
Axel Geller has been dominating the futures and challenger circuit during summer. He didn't even play ITA events in the fall because he is too good right now. So what do you think will happen in NCAA tournament next may ? could be the champion without even dropping a set.
Click to expand...

I think Geller will get his ass kicked by Brooksby just like when they played two months ago.

https://www.**************.org/live-tennis/h2h/usa-2019-t16186/brooksby-geller-m18952162/
 
J

jrstrat

Rookie
Update on Brooksby. He participated in the Oracle Challenger event which was his first ATP event since winning a round in the main draw of the US Open.
The challenger event is a major step up over the M15 and M25 events that the top college players compete in and top college tennis players do not have the ATP ranking to qualify at this level. He beat the #411 ranked ATP player, Gonzalo Villanueva, 6-2 6-2 and then lost to Marcos Giron in the second round in three tight sets. Giron ended up winning the tourney beating Ivo Karlovic in the finals. Yes, the Ivo Karlovic that has been in the top 50 on the circuit for the last 10-15 years.

Giron was the NCAA champion in 2014 and has worked his way up to 102 in the ATP rankings after 5 years on the pro circuit and it was a really tight match with Brooksby. Brooksby now has an ATP ranking of 267. Brandon Nakishima has the next highest ATP ranking in college tennis at 371. I'm calling it right now, Brooksby is going to absolutely dominate college tennis in 2020.
 
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A

andfor

Legend
jrstrat said:
Update on Brooksby. He participated in the Oracle Challenger event which was his first ATP event since winning a round in the main draw of the US Open.
The challenger event is a major step up over the M15 and M25 events that the top college players compete in and top college tennis players do not have the ATP ranking to qualify at this level. He beat the #411 ranked ATP player, Gonzalo Villanueva, 6-2 6-2 and then lost to Marcos Giron in the second round in three tight sets. Giron ended up winning the tourney beating Ivo Karlovic in the finals. Yes, the Ivo Karlovic that has been in the top 50 on the circuit for the last 10-15 years.

Giron was the NCAA champion in 2014 and has worked his way up to 102 in the ATP rankings after 5 years on the pro circuit and it was a really tight match with Brooksby. Brooksby now has an ATP ranking of 267. Brandon Nakishima has the next highest ATP ranking in college tennis at 371. I'm calling it right now, Brooksby is going to absolutely dominate college tennis in 2020.
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While Brooksby has the H2H advantage over Brandon Naskashima my pick is Naskashima as the favorite for the NCAA's. Current UTR for Nakashima is 15.03 verses Brooksby's 14.89. Nakashima's improvement over the summer and this fall has risen with very solid results in both Futures and Challengers. Remember, if one were to pick between Jubb and Borges based on H2H and UTR at the NCAA's they would have failed. It's very difficult at elite levels of play to repeatedly beat an opponent of similar caliber over and over. Early and accurate picking of the NCAA singles champ is not easy. All that said, If given the opportunity I'd pick the field against the aformentioned.

BTW. Jubb had wins over Rubelev and Istomin this summer but I believe has since been slowed by injury. If healthy he'll be a monster.
 
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J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
andfor said:
While Brooksby has the H2H advantage over Brandon Naskashima my pick is Naskashima as the favorite for the NCAA's. Current UTR for Nakashima is 15.03 verses Brooksby's 14.89. Nakashima's improvement over the summer and this fall has risen with very solid results in both Futures and Challengers. Remember, if one were to pick between Jubb and Borges based on H2H and UTR at the NCAA's they would have failed. It's very difficult at elite levels of play to repeatedly beat an opponent of similar caliber over and over. Early and accurate picking of the NCAA singles champ is not easy. All that said, If given the opportunity I'd pick the field against the aformentioned.

BTW. Jubb had wins over Rubelev and Istomin this summer but I believe has since been slowed by injury. If healthy he'll be a monster.
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Jubb actually lost to UNC freshman Rinky Hijikata at Waco Future. Rinky won the $15K at Fayetteville. However, Rinky lost to TCU freshman Jacob Fearnley who just lost in 3 in the finals of Austin $15K to Collin Altamirano, ATP 369. Jacob is UTR 13.48 while Collin is UTR 14.30. Freshman Cannon Kingsley of OSU lost in 3rd set TB to Michael Geertz in Lansing $15K SF, won 1 MD Challenger match in Columbus earlier in fall, and lost in 3 to Thai K who is UTR 14.79. I do agree Brandon or Brooksby should be the favorites to win NCAAs if they dont go pro before spring. However, there is a lot of freshman talent, and we cant forget Ito of Texas who won 2 major fall championships. However, I think the NCAA singles winner will not be on the NCAA championship team. Players after a long spring season, finals, and playing team NCAAs to the last 2 teams are going to be tired. Hard to play and win 7 matches against tough competitors after grueling team competition plus it will be hot in mid May. While there have been NCAA champions from California and Mid west, do you think May singles favors players from South or Texas used to playing in humidity? However Brandon and Brooksby have played Kzoo with ads in August so they should be able to manage the long May team/singles competition. However Brooksby beat Brandon in 3 straight sets at Kzoo 2018, not like the almost 4.5 hour 5-setter Wolf and Kypson played in 2017. Brooksby has won all 4x he played Brandon in 2018 and 2019. Will be interesting to see who will win if they play each other in a no ad match. With the NCAAs at Big 12 site in Oklahoma, Ito or Brooksby should have the advantage playing familiar courts not far from Texas. Ito earned 2 Challenger WCs this fall-wonder if he will find success playing ads on the Circuit. Some of these guys in Challengers can fight off 4-5 break points and get back to deuce and then win 2 points for the game. It's an adjustment for college players to have to win 2 points after deuce to win. I was really impressed with Brooksby's US Open play; I have not watched Nakishima
 
J

jrstrat

Rookie
What Brooksby did at the US Open was really special for a college tennis player. He won 3 matches in the qualifying round against top 100-150 ATP ranked players. He beat Tomas Berdych in the first round and then was up a set and a break late in the 2nd against Basilashvili who was #17 in the world at the time.
BTW, No inside info but I think there is a great chance Brooksby is going to turn pro in the next month or two. He has 117k in ATP prize money this year that he will have to forfeit if he enrolls At Baylor in January. I think that is going to be too much money to pass up especially considering how well he is playing right now. As a comparison, Brandon Nakashima has 14k in ATP prize money this year.
 
J

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
ClarkC said:
Tough 3-set win for Collin Altamirano. Does that mean his UTR rating will go down? :)
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When a player has played 30+ matches, 1 match does not have much of an effect. That is why high UTR ranked juniors- 4 and 5 star- who decide to play MM or D3 for academic and/or financial reasons have a hard time maintaining their junior level UTR in college. They may play high level matches in the summer-prize $, Future Qualis or play some Power d1 players at fall events, but their UTR will be based on the level of the majority of their opponents. Another example-the top D2 player in '19 was only a UTR 13.0 this spring. Now that he has graduated and has played some prize $ and Futures, he is 13.5 because he gets to play mostly 13s and some low 14s with a few mid12s opponents too. When he played D2, he didnt have a chance to play 13+ players. A single close match vs a .75+ higher player may only bump a player up or down .05-.1 if at all. Now players with only 6 matches on UTR may see big swings with a few matches, e.g. international collegians whose countries dont report national tourneys to UTR, and the player may only have a few results from jr iTFs or Tennis Europe. Here is another big swing-Tin Chen, JUCO transfer to Louisville was a 12.37 at 10/28/19 and now is a 13.15 a month later with a top 50 ITA ranking. It wasnt one match but one great tourney-winning 6 matches to win the Ohio Valley Regional to bump up his UTR and earn himself a ranking.
 
manirban

manirban

New User
Brooksby came to the Norcal player party after his run to the B18s at Kalamazoo (gosh, a year ago now if I'm right) - my wife was there with our 8 year old getting an award (daughter, not wife) but she couldn't stop gushing over Brooksby and how shy and awkward he was on stage with all the attention. Great to see his success and rise - one can't help but root for him.
 
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