Joining Together
After today I will be writing for the Times Union Tennis Blog. I look forward to joining up with Sherwin So to make an even bigger and better tennis blog. The archived articles will still be available here. I hope everyone will continue to follow Sherwin and me. Click HERE to follow the Times Union Tennis Blog.
Lopez wins 10th match as UAlbany Falls to Presbyterian, 6-1
CLINTON, SC – The University at Albany women’s tennis team dropped their first match of three in Carolina this week. They were defeated by Presbyterian College, 6-1, on Tuesday, March 19. Junior Rocio Lopez got her team-leading 10th singles win of the season at the No. 2 spot.
UAlbany (5-6) won the first match of the day at No. 1 doubles. The combination of Lopez and sophomore Kirsten Scott continued their dominance, defeating the duo of sophomore Greer Ransom and freshman Haley Elliot, 8-1. The Lopez/Scott combo have won their last four matches by a score of 32-3.
The Blue Hose swept the remainder of doubles play. They clinched the first point at the No. 3 spot. Freshman Kayla Stanford and sophomore Caroline deLoach defeated freshman Mireille Hermans and senior Sarah Iannone, 8-5.
In singles play, Lopez improved to 10-2 with a thrilling three set victory over junior Courtney Gardiner. She won the match 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (12-10). Irene Santos-Bravo was defeated due to injury at the No. 1 spot. The Spaniard graduate student was tied 2-2 before the match was called.
Elsewhere, Iannone and freshman Cat Crummey each took their singles matches to three sets. Crummey was defeated by deLoach in a back-and-forth contest, 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2). Presbyterian (7-8) clinched the match at the No. 3 singles spot as Scott lost to junior Patricia Alves, 6-4, 6-0.
Inclement weather moved today’s match from Monday to Tuesday. The schedule change gives the Great Danes less than a 24 hour turnaround as they head to the College of Charleston tomorrow. Match time is set for 2 p.m.
Presbyterian College 6, UAlbany 1
DOUBLES
1. Rocio Lopez/Kirsten Scott (UA) def. RANSOM, Greer/ELLIOTT, Haley (PCW) 8-1
2. ALVES, Patricia/GARDINER, Courtney (PCW) def. Irene Santos-Bravo/Cathryn Crummey (UA) 8-6
3. deLOACH, Caroline/STANFORD, Kayla (PCW) def. Mireille Hermans/Sarah Iannone (ALBANY) 8-5 *
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2)
* Clinched doubles point
SINGLES
1. RANSOM, Greer (PCW) def. Irene Santos-Bravo (UA) 2-2 (ret.)
2. Rocio Lopez (UA) def. GARDINER, Courtney (PCW) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (12-10)
3. ALVES, Patricia (PCW) def. Kirsten Scott (UA) 6-4, 6-0 $$
4. deLOACH, Caroline (PCW) def. Cathryn Crummey (UA) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2)
5. LEAHY, Lucia (PCW) def. Mireille Hermans (UA) 6-4, 6-0
6. STANFORD, Kayla (PCW) def. Sarah Iannone (UA) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10)
Singles (1,5,3,4,6,2)
$$ Clinched match
When they were young
An article on what men of the ATP looked like as a kid. Here are two. See the rest – HERE
Rafael Nadal
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Tennis, Shopping and Fitness?
ShopRite (United States) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Macaroni and Cheese can be made with whole milk, a stick of butter, enriched semolina elbows, and a plethora of full-fat cheeses.
This is excerpted from the USTA/Eastern website – Learn more
Rafa Tweets
Rafa’s success at Indian Wells has resulted in a lot of Twitter activity. Here are a few tweets:
Pau Gasol ✔ @paugasol4ª final consecutiva para @RafaelNadal tras su retorno! Sin palabras. 4th final in a row for Rafa since his return! Speechless. #GrandeRafa
Nadal still on court signing every last autograph request. #BNPPO13
See the whole article at “Forehand Times” – HERE
If it weren’t for Indian Wells
The Dallas Challenger is the closest thing to a tour event you can have. It comes at the same time as the Indian Wells tournament. At this years tournament the average ranking is 103rd which is the best of any challenger tournament ever, while last years event was the second best (109th). The median ranking – 90 – was also the best ever. Again, last years tournament was the second best. Next. look at the 8th seed – Lukas Rosol – ranked 62nd in the world. No challenger has ever ever had a player with a ranking that low although Lukas Lacko, last years 8th seed was 69th. According to Heavy Topspin Blog the average Challenger has 1.71 top 100 players, there are 18 top 100 players in Dallas.
The top seed in the Dallas Challenger is Marcos Baghdatis (35th in the world) who retired in his opening round match to Igor Sijsling of Netherlands. Tennis Abstract picks the winner, out of the remaining quarter finalists as #5 seed Jurgen Meltzer. Tennis Abstract lists the probability for every player left in the draw. Meltzer comes in at a 22.8% chance of winning. Interesting enough, there are 3 qualifiers and 2 wild cards left out of the 8 quarter finalists.
Read more about the tournament – HERE
Follow the results – HERE
DANES ARE BROKEN BY THE ‘ HEART’, 4-3
(Latham, NY). The UAlbany women’s tennis team let victory slip through their fingers today, dropping a 4-3 decision to Sacred Heart at Tri-City Tennis and Fitness. Sarah Iannone just ‘refused to lose’ and was the only double winner for the Danes, taking #5 singles in straight sets, then teaming with co-captain Fran White to clinch the doubles point for the Danes at #3. Cat Crummey continued to compete well, pulling out a three-set win at #4. And the #1 doubles team of Rocio Lopez and Kirsten Scott steamrolled their opponents, 8-1.
The match was played in reverse order due to court availability, with singles going first, followed by doubles. The Danes grabbed early leads with Lopez (#1), Scott (#2), Crummey (#4) and Iannone (#5), and things were looking up for awhile. But the Pioneers top two singles players fought back strong and both earned key wins to put them over the top in singles, making the doubles matches a mere formality.
The Danes now turn their focus to their spring break trip where they play three teams in 10 days in South Carolina. The College of Charleston, nationally ranked as high as #61 earlier this season, will be a big challenge, and the other two teams (Presbyterian and Coastal Carolina) won’t be much easier. So, this promises to be a good test for the Danes as they prepare for April and what they hope will be a run at the AmericaEast championship.
Coach Graham: “This was a tough loss. Even though we were missing two starters, this was a winnable match.
Wish we had a ‘do-over’.
We will take a lesson from this and get better in practice, coach smarter, and compete tougher next time.”
UALBANY 3 SACRED HEART 4
Singles:
1. Gabi Kaldan (SH) def. Rocio Lopez (UA) 6-3,6-4
2. Katie DeRienzo (SH) def. Kirsten Scott (UA) 1-6,6-1,6-3 $
3. Nicole Rydzewski (SH) def. Mireille Hermans (UA) 6-3,6-4
4. Cat Crummey (UA) def. Paige Olson (SH) 6-1,3-6,6-4
5. Sarah Iannone (UA) def. Lindsey Post (SH) 6-4,6-4
6. Alyssa Migliorini (SH) def. Fran White (UA) 6-0,6-1
Order of finish: 6,1,3,5,4,2
$=Clinched match for Sacred Heart
Doubles:
1. Lopez-Scott (UA) def. Kaldan-Olson (SH) 8-1
2. DeRienzo-Post (SH) def. Crummey-Hermans (UA) 8-5
3. Iannone-White (UA) def. Rydzewski-Migliorini (SH) 8-5**
Order of finish: 1,3,2
**Clinched doubles point for UAlbany
UALBANY RECORDS: 5-6 (overall); 1-0 (America East)
NEXT MATCH: Monday, March 18, 2:30pm vs. PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE, Clinton, SC
NEXT HOME MATCH: Friday, April 5, 2:00 p.m. vs. BINGHAMTON @ Dutch Quad courts
Ivan Lendl Interview
Why not interview the man. Ivan Lendl International Junior Tennis Academy used it’s blog to interview Lendl. Good interview. Here are some excerpts:
What bring you the most joy in the process of working with these kids?
“I really enjoyed to see the kids and how much they improve. When they are working on something, and I could give a bunch of examples…when they are working on something and then I see them a month or two months later and they have improved also having results, having good results; going to tournaments and winning some trophies and beating players they were not beating before they came to our academy. That’s what I really like.”
What is the biggest challenge in working with Andy for you and/or Andy?
“I can not speak for Andy so I am not going to. For me, the travel. I don’t like the travel. I have traveled so much in my life that whenever I have to go somewhere, it’s the worst part of what we do together. The best parts are when we are on the court and we are preparing and practicing. I like the practice weeks a lot more than the tournament weeks because it’s more fun. You get to interact more and also you see how much better he can get or how much he is getting.”
Read the whole interview – HERE
Related articles
Summer Camp
Summer is coming and so is summer camp season. Lots of kids go to summer camp programs at tennis clubs, country clubs as well as town and park programs. Some kids go to overnight tennis camps for a week or two such as the Nike Tennis Camp at nearby Williams College. Still others go to overnight camps for the summer or for one month. Between the Adirondacks, the Catskills, the Berkshires and the Helderbergs we have a lot of overnight camps within a few hours drive. Many of them have good tennis programs and lots of fun activities for their campers – from Baseball and Basketball to Rock Climbing; from Swimming and Boating to Dance and Arts & Crafts – the kids have loads of fun at these camps.
I recently toured one such camp – Camp Eagle Hill in Elizaville, New York. From my door it took me one hour and ten minutes to get to Eagle Hill so it is fairly close by. Eagle Hill is a family run, coed, 200 acre facility which features a lake, 2 swimming pools along with 8 tennis courts. There are all types of sporting activities and activities for the mind and soul. I will be working with Eagle Hill providing referrals from the Capital District area so if you want more information, feel free to contact me.
Through the years I have worked with a lot of kids who have attended various overnight camps. Their experiences have always been positive. I have also had hundreds of camp kids at my tournaments and have done intercamps with several overnight camps. The kids all love it at camp and have a great time. Not all of the overnight camps have the same commitment to tennis but there are a lot of camps with good tennis programs in our region. If you are looking for a great experience for your child this summer, look into one of the great overnight camps in our region.
Related article
- 5 Tips to Choosing the Best Summer Camp Programs for Kids (activityhero.com)
UAlbany Tennis Wins First Conference Match of 2013 in Weekend Sweep
ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at women’s tennis team won two matches in 14 hours to raise their record to 5-5 on Saturday, March 9. First they defeated crosstown rival Siena, 4-3, before winning their first America East Conference dual match against Hartford, 6-1. Junior Rocio Lopez and sophomore team co-captain Kirsten Scott went undefeated on the day, teaming up for two doubles victories and winning both of their singles matches. The No. 1 doubles duo has now won three straight.
Siena: The Great Danes quickly dealt fatal blows to the Saints (2-3) No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams to take the doubles point. Three of the singles matches were tough battles. Graduate student Irene Santos fought off multiple set points and came back to win the first set. The Spaniard, Santos, led 2-1, in the second when Lopez clinched the match and Santos was pulled off for health reasons.
Co-captain and sophomore Fran White nearly got her first win of the spring as she turned in a stellar performance at No. 6. White played a solid first set, narrowly losing.
The Great Danes proceeded to romp Siena in the three singles matches needed to clinch the win. Scott got the win first, followed by freshman standout Cat Crummey and lastly was Lopez winning easily.
Hartford: UAlbany (5-5, 1-0 AE) turned around after match one to battle Hartford at Tri-City Fitness. In their first America East dual match of 2013, the Great Danes were victorious. Their only losses were No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles due to default.
UAlbany went into doubles play with a default loss, therefore needing to win both matches to take the first point of the night. UAlbany took care of business as Lopez and Scott showed veteran leadership at the top spot. They shutout their opponent, 8-0. Crummey returned to the court from injury with freshman teammate Mireille Hermans defeated Jessica Galik and Hannah Goldman, 8-3, to clinch the first point.
In singles play, the Great Danes won their matches in order to cruise to victory. Lopez advanced to 9-1 in singles play on the season with a 6-2,6-2 win over Katina Zampas. Scott and Crummey, both recently off injury, also had strong performances. They won 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1 respectively. Crummey clinched the match with the win.
“It was a long day, starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 10:30 p.m. It was a bit of a mental gut-check for everyone.” said coach Gordon Graham. “The team responded well with lots of positive energy. We will be fighting hard to keep that rolling.”
The next match for the Great Danes is Wednesday, March 13 as they host the Sacred Heart Pioneers at Tri-City Fitness in Latham. Match time is set for 2 p.m.
UALBANY 4 SIENA 3 (9:00 a.m. at Sportime, Schenectady, NY)
