| THE
tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, NO. 61
What's ahead for the US boys?
Donald Young: 'the best 14-year-old
in the world;" Kuznetsov: 'already Top 50 material;' Yim:
no lock to make it unless his mental game turns around; Sacks:
a US version of Henman
By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Courtsey of Easter Bowl
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| Robert Yim shows a wealth of
physical talent. |
The members of the new
US generation who were led by Andy Roddick and left the wolf pack
this year to become their own gang should be joined in five years
or so by a hot shot group of 13- to 16- year-olds led by Donald
Young of Chicago.
"It's the best group of juniors that we've had in a long
time," said US High Performance Chief Eliot Teltscher. "I'm
very encouraged. What's really exciting is we are going to see
Andy. Mardy, James and that group playing off against the likes
of Donald Young, Leo Rosenberg, Alex Kuznetsov, Gary Sacks, etc.
Our junior boys stack up against anyone in the world."
Young, the top ranked 14s in the nation, has reached the fourth
round of the Orange Bowl 16s. He has a chance to become the next
African-American male impact player. "Young is the best 14-year-old
in the world," said USTA coach Michael Sell. "He's a
special player." Teltscher added that Young has lapped the
field. "He's way ahead of everyone. He's stepped up to another
level."
Steve Johnson, the coach of another standout 14s player, Steve
Jr., noted that Young is one of the best athletes he seen. "He
covers the court incredibly well," Johnson said.
While he's not known as cocky yet, Young's stated ambition is
to "win all the Slams more than once and become the number
one player in the world."
The jury is still somewhat out on the 17- and 18-year-olds, including
Brian Baker, Robert Yim, Jamil Al-Agba, Amer Delic, Scott Oudsema,
Chris Kwon, Brendan Evans and Scoville Jenkins, among others.
It's the 16-year-old Kuzentsov who's turning heads in the 18s
at the moment. "He very cool, professional and has improved
in every department," Sell said of Alex, who's still alive
in the Orange Bowl 18s.
YIM FORSAKES COLLEGE
This year, Californian Yim won the 18s
Super National 18s with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Tarzana,
California's Al-Agba. Yim planned on going to UCLA, but in the
fall, he changed his mind and went pro. Al-Agba, who also had
a standout year, is now ensconced at USC. Al-Agba and Yim figure
to finish 2003 as the two top-ranked players in the nation.
"Robert has the talent to make it as a pro," said Sell.
"It's how he adapts to circuit that will tell the tale. He
needs a bigger serve and has to use his backhand as more of a
weapon. Not everybody has the ability of an Andy Roddick right
off the bat."
Teltscher, who has worked with Yim on and off over a number of
years, wouldn't get involved in his decision to turn pro. "It's
too big of a decision for me to get involved with. It has to come
from the player and his family," Teltscher said. "I
do think Robert has the game to make it; it's mentally where he
runs into problems. Sometimes he lets his emotions get the better
of him. I'd put him in the middle category of players where he's
not guaranteed to make it like Roddick, but he's into going to
bust immediately either."
Al-Agba is in the hands of standout coach Peter Smith at USC,
but also considered the pro route. Teltscher said he's close to
Yim in ability. "Jamil's improved his conditioning quite
a bit and fights well. It will be interesting to see how it turns
out next year with their choosing different routes."
SACKS ZOOMS TO THE TOP
Back to the 16s, where Calabasas Hills'
Gary Sacks also went to the Michigan and came away with a zookeeper's
key, beating Matt Bruch of Illinois 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the Super
Nationals 16s final. Like Kuznetsov and Young, Sacks will still
alive at the Orange Bowl as of this writing, but has jumped to
the 18s.
When Sacks arrived with his family from South Africa to Southern
California four and half years ago, he couldn't get out of the
first round of local tournament. But Sacks dropped other sports,
took up tennis full time and is now No. 1 in the nation.
"He's more of a Tim Henman," said Sell. "He's not
going to blow you off the court, but he constructs points well
enough to hurt you."
Coached by Steve McAvoy, Sacks sports an in-your-face attacking
game that unnerved may of his base lining opponents. He doesn't
come in behind everything a la Taylor Dent, but will charge in
behind his first serve and when engaged in rallies from the back,
waits for a short ball he can crunch and races ahead. "I'm
always looking to come in," Sacks said. "I cover the
net pretty well and my volley has improved. But what's really
gotten better is my serve, especially my placement. I like to
slice or kick our wide on the bog points, come in and put my opponents
under pressure."
Sacks toiled numerous hours on the practice court and also played
a lot more matches, which gave him more confidence when the big
moments arrived. His mental game improved remarkably, so much
so that he can rattle off four different occasions in 2003 when
he saved match points – at the Easter Bowl, in the CIFs,
at the Muterspaw and the Intersectionals. "I came up really
big," he said. "I'm competing a lot better and have
a lot of confidence on those points."
Sacks would like to play in the style of vintage all-courter Roger
Federer and between January and October, actually switched to
a one-handed backhand. While that backhand won him the Super Nationals,
Sacks wasn't getting enough stick on his returns and was getting
flummoxed by high balls, so he went back to the two-hander.
But the experiment did have one benefit: He can now mix in a one-handed
slice.
That shot and a number of other served him well when he entered
the Torrance pro Challenger and was up a set and 5-4 on Canada's
Simon Larose, who beat three-time Roland Garros champ Gustavo
Kuerten this year. Sacks lost, but after the match, knew he could
play. "I was disappointed I lost, but I played my best,"
he said. "I tend to play much better when the competition
gets tougher."
Another Souhern Californian, Sam Querry, is still alive in the
Orange Bowl 16s. Querry had a decent spring and won Santa Barbara,
but then lost early to Carsten Ball at Nationals. Singer won a
winter event, took Sacks deep into three sets in the spring and
then reached the fourth round of Super Nationals. Ball won Quicksilver
and Sectionals before slipping up at Nationals but according to
Sell, is bringing the heat. "He's got a big first serve and
likes to stay back, run around his backhand and crush his forehand,"
Sell said. "He comes in occasionally, but could come in more."
FOREMAN FLEXES HIS MUSCLES
Courtsey of Easter Bowl |
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Steve Foreman
continues his strong rise in junior play.
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With Young and Rosenberg
off playing the World Youth Cup, San Diego's Steven Forman had
an excellent run at the 14s Super Nationals in San Antonio, beating
Mateusz Kecki 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
Not to put the 16s in the back seat, but it's the "'89s"
(players born in 1989) and younger that the USTA is really honing
in on, hoping to mold championship style games before kids get
their on-court driver's licenses and roar away with transmission
problems in their groundies.
"They are great friends," said Steve Sr., a pro at Rancho
Clemente Tennis and Fitness. "It would be great to see them
stay friends and end up playing the pros together. I think more
tennis parents should allow their kids to form friendships in
the juniors. That way, they learn to like the culture more."
Foreman, who is coached by Jack Broudy, has been a force since
he was 10, but instead of backsliding like so many of his peers
do when they find success at a very early age, he stepped up again
in 2003. "He's very fast, has a great backhand and an improving
serve," said Sell.
Johnson is likely to finish the year in the Top 3 nationally.
He won the Long Beach 16s and the SoCal Sectionals over Foreman.
"Johnson is very athletic with great hands and feet,"
said Teltscher. "He and Foreman both have a lot of potential,
but their emotions can get the better of them and sometimes that
get a little lazy and sloppy. They need to step up their intensity."
Steve Sr. said that next year his son might have to drop football,
basketball and golf. "The other kids are living and breathing
tennis but I didn't want to see Steve burn out early," Johnson
said. "He's a little guy now, but I'm 6-foot-4 and my wife
comes from a family of big Mater Dei sports stars. Stevie can
hit me off the court off the ground right now. He's as strong
as an ox."
With all this uplifting talk going around, it's important to note
that if you won a Super Nationals title back in the 1980s, you
stood a better than fifthy-fifty chance at a long and prosperous
pro career. Not so today.
The bar has now been raised so high in international play that
it is no longer good enough to hone your game at the local club,
bag a prestigious national crown, kick back and start counting
your future Benjamins.
Just look at the list of winners of the 18s Super Nationals Boys
Championships in Kalamazoo over the past decade: not one trophy
holder has managed to become a permanent fixture in main singles
draws on the ATP Tour. All the titlists are either still bouncing
between Challengers and the tour, or are still sweating it out
in college.
So when USTA National coaches talk about the future of the nation's
top prospects, they point to how all top US players must now not
only stick their chins out on the public courts down the street,
but in the highly competitive Intentional Tennis Federation tournaments.
"The ITFs are vital," said Sell. "That's where
out kids can test their games against the rest of the world. They
are now a huge indicator of how good a player is."
However, Teltscher cautions that kids must first prove themselves
at home before they venture out into the ITFs. "I want to
see someone beating players in his own backyard with the type
of pressure you have to deal with at home before they go the international
route," he said. "In some ways, the ITFs are overemphasized
because you can hide out there losing to players who you don't
grow up around. It's easier to shrug off the loss. It's the same
thing with kids who play up too much and don't learn to win in
their own age group. That's not dealing with pressure; it's bailing
out. Most matches come down to three to five points where you
are feeling pressure. It's critical to players' development to
learn how to win those matches. ITFs are important, but there
is a critical balance between playing sectional, national and
international tournaments."
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