USTA News

Please Note: Whether you have signed up for Doubles online or not, Official Doubles Registration occurs on site at Markin Tennis Center. Boys 18 Doubles Registration closes on Thursday, July 31 at 5:00 pm EDT. Boys 16 Doubles Registration closes on Friday, August 1 at 4:30 pm EDT.

The Kalamazoo Nationals will be offering pre-event workouts for all participating players Wednesday, July 30. These groups will be held at historic Stowe Stadium on the campus of Kalamazoo College (the main site of the tournament). Practices will consist of live ball drills and rotating match play. Cost is $30.00 per session. Players will be rotated throughout the workout. Our staff is an outstanding mix of teaching professionals, former tour players and top collegiate talent.

Session availability as follows: Wednesday, July 30 from 11:30am-1:00pm

Participants for the 2008 Rx Optical/Greenleaf Trust & Greenleaf Hospitality Exhibition match at the Boys’ 18 & 16 National Championships in Kalamazoo were confirmed Thursday afternoon. The always-anticipated exhibition features two tournament alumni, Scott Oudsema and John Isner.

“We are honored to have two tournament alumni returning to compete in the exhibition,” said Tournament Director Mark Riley. “Oudsema is a hometown player that will rekindle memories of his exciting 2004 tournament run. Isner is a former collegiate player and an up-and-coming superstar on the tour. It will be a nice homecoming for Oudsema and an exciting match for the fans.”

Kalamazoo-area residents and tournament attendees are very familiar with Scott Oudsema, the Portage native currently competing on the ATP Tour. In 2004, Oudsema battled all the way to the 18 Singles finals before falling in three sets to Scoville Jenknis (Ga.). Oudsema became the first Kalamazoo-area player to reach the Boys’ 18 final in the entire history of the Kalamazoo-based tournament.

Following the Boys’ Nationals in 2004, Oudsema went on to win five B18 Doubles Championships (with Brendan Evans), including the US Open, the Wimbledon Junior Championships, the 45th Italian Open, the Australian Open and Uncle Toby’s Australian Hardcourt. In 2006 he was a singles finalist at the USA F7 and was the singles champion at the Binghamton Challenger. Oudsema is 6’2”, 160 lbs., and is coached by Tom Walker.

Isner, a native of Greensboro, N.C., is currently ranked 83rd on the ATP Tour, and was ranked as high as 81st in April of 2008. Isner reached the quarterfinals in San Jose in February before losing in a third set tie-break. In 2007, Isner won the Lexington Challenger and the USA F14, and was a finalist in Washington, D.C. Isner played four years (2004-07) and earned All-American honors each season at the University of Georgia. He is the school’s all-time leader in singles and doubles wins. In May 2007, Isner reached the NCAA singles final before losing in a third set tie-break, but led the Bulldogs to a national team title. Isner stands 6’9” and weighs 236 lbs. He is coached by former Georgia standout Brandon Wagner.

The 2008 Rx Optical/Greenleaf Trust & Greenleaf Hospitality Exhibition is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Stowe Stadium on the campus of Kalamazoo College. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, and are available by contacting the tournament office at 269.337.7343. The tournament runs Aug. 1-10.

For the past 65 years, the excitement of the USTA Boys 18s & 16s National Championships overtakes Kalamazoo, Michigan. This tournament is the single most important event of the tennis year for the 400 outstanding juniors who arrive from all parts of the United States. Ten days of intense, tough, inspired tennis earn for each of the ultimate winners in singles and doubles the cherished title of United States National Champion. And as a testament to the incredible tennis played here, the 18s Champions in Singles and Doubles receive an automatic bid to the main draw of the U.S. Open Tournament.

During the past 65 years, most of the great names in mens\' tennis have headed the draws in Kalamazoo - names such as Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Aaron Krickstein, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, James Blake, Andy Roddick, Bob and Mike Bryan and many more. This year\'s tournament will highlight a new generation of future stars.

Volunteers are needed for the following committees of the Nationals. Schedules vary depending on committee.

Ball Runners (kids 10 and older) may sign up until June 1, using the Ball Runner Registration Form located on the Home Page in the Bulletin Section / Ball Runners.

Teen volunteers (ages 12-19) are needed to be Tower Runners. The main job is posting names of the players on the On Court Board. You will also assist Tower Officials with various errands. Shifts begin at 7:45am and end around 7:00pm. We\'re now signing up teen volunteers to work 3-hour shifts. Sign up with a friend! Call Dee Fish at 269.382.4724; e-mail Donna James at DMJames59@aol.com; call the USTA Office at 269.337.7343 or fax the USTA office at 269.337.7385.

The Pro Shop, Ticket Sales, Usher and Registration committees are also actively seeking teen and adult volunteers. Sign up on the Home Page in the Bulletin Section / Volunteers.

The WMU Red Crew is looking for hardworking young men and women. The Red Crew is very important support staff for the Sorensen Courts at WMU and works from Thursday, July 31 - Wednesday, August 6. Contact Bart VanGiessen for further information: phone 269.668.5521 or email bartvangie@aol.com.

"Unstrung," Jim Courier and Rob Klug's movie chronicling several tennis players on the road to Kalamazoo, will make its broadcast premier on Saturday night, May 3, on ESPNClassic.  Yes, the movie is an instant classic! There will be many repeats, please check the web for other days and times.

Darrell Davies will be conducting two Umpire Schools in Kalamazoo this year.

There will be a RE-Certification School (for umps previously certified for 5 years) on Saturday May 17, 8am-5pm. This school includes: standard USTA (which everyone needs regardless), ITA (collegiate), and USTA Referee in that order throughout the day. Lunch will be catered in.

There will be a "Rookie" School (for those uncertified or previously certified for less than 5 years) on Sunday May 18, 8am-1pm. This will not include ITA or Referee portions, just the mandatory USTA portion. No lunch will be provided in this school.

Darrell needs a head count for the materials and lunches as soon as possible. These are the only schools he will do in Kalamazoo. Others will be offered in Lansing and Ann Arbor later this summer.

Tennys Sandgren and Michael McClune arrived in Kalamazoo as the targets, and after ten days and seven matches both top seeds emerged with the coveted title of National Junior Champions.

On a hot but not unbearable day, Sandgren defeated Tennessee rival James (Bo) Seal 6-3, 6-2, in a routine match that ended strangely, while McClune lost his first set of the tournament, but regrouped to outlast fellow Southern Californian Ryan Thacher 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The usual match point eruption from both the audience of nearly 2000 and Sandgren was absent when the chair umpire ended the match with a point penalty for racquet abuse after Seal flipped it toward the net.

At 5-2, Sandgren, who had had trouble closing out matches all week, was serving for the match but was down 30-40 when Seal let a defensive lob from Sandgren go, only to see it nestle in the corner. His mood already dark from that misjudgment, Seal got no luck on the next point when a clip of the net cord caused his ball to ricochet wide. Almost casually he tossed his racquet toward the net, and seemed almost expecting the penalty, which he got.

"I don\'t think he did it in anger," said Sandgren, who has now won back-to-back National championships. "He didn\'t even seem that mad, and maybe on match point he didn\'t think the umpire would call it. It seemed a little harsh. It would have been nicer to end with a forehand winner, but I\'m sure he feels worse about it than I do, because I won."

Sandgren cited his tough path to the final, which included four three-set victories, as instrumental in his win.

"If you go through a tournament not having any tough matches and you get to a point where you\'re playing someone really good and it\'s really close, you don\'t really have that edge, " said Sandgren, of Gallatin, Tenn.

"Today I felt like I had a little bit of an edge mentally because of all those tough matches I had before. Had he lost a set?" Sandgren asked. When the negative reply came, Sandgren continued.

"I don\'t think that helped him. All those tough matches were tiring, but I think it helped me out in the long run."

The long run for McClune and Thacher was a best-of-five-set match, a tradition in Kalamazoo that helps prepare the winner for their U.S. Open main draw contest in a few weeks.

Neither had ever played a match of that length, but the points were often short in Sunday afternoon\'s final, which took a little over two and a half hours to complete.

McClune started quickly, and afterwards, both players mentioned his serving as a key to his dominance in the first set.

"My served really worked well," said McClune who reached the 120s on the radar gun several times. "Especially in the beginning of the first set. It got me off to a good rhythm--I think I got four first serves in right then. Second set I didn\'t serve so well, but third and fourth I got a better first serve percentage."

Countering an athletic left-hander presents some special challenges, and McClune prepared for the different spins and angles by warming up with the 16s third place winner.

"I warmed up with Evan King this morning," McClune revealed. "So I could get that lefty serve down." But he also had to readjust his expectations on what constituted a winner.

"I knew every ball was going to come back," McClune said. "I knew most balls that most kids wouldn\'t get back, he would get back and get back with a lot of force. So I had to be patient and not go for it too early."

The third set was pivotal and despite an early break, McClune couldn\'t hold it, with Thacher pulling even at 4-4.

"I was pretty comfortable in the third set," Thacher said. "I got broken, but then I broke back and felt like I was playing pretty well. But I missed a couple of volleys today that I wish I had back. It\'s a little bit disappointing when you set up the point the way you want it and dump an easy ball like I did a couple of times. But all in all, I\'m fairly pleased with the way I played."

McClune, who turns 18 in ten days and has been a professional since April, now heads home for some rest before journeying to the US Open, where his win has earned him a place in the main draw. Thacher receives a men\'s qualifying wild card, while Sandgren has assured himself a spot in the US Open Junior draw. But despite those prizes, all three boys will leave Kalamazoo with many of the same memories as the other competitors who didn\'t win quite as often as they did.

"It\'s all about living the dream that very few people get," said Mickey McClune, Michael\'s father, in his remarks to the crowd following the match. "Whether they lose in the first round of the main draw and the first round of the consolation, or whether they get to the quarters, the semis, the finals, they\'re all able to say, I lived the dream, I played at Kalamazoo."