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USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs: December 14-16, 2012

8K views 26 replies 12 participants last post by  ciprianned 
#1 · (Edited)
http://www.australianwildcard.com/
Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs 2012
Life Time Athletic & Tennis at Peachtree Corners
Norcross, Georgia
December 14-16, 2012
8 players/single elimination


Main draw: tba

Entry deadline: December 10, 2012
Seeding: December 10, 2012


1 Smyczek, Tim
2 Kudla, Denis
3 Williams, Rhyne
4 Sandgren, Tennys
5 Klahn, Bradley
6 Kosakowski, Daniel
7 Buchanan, Chase
8 Harrison, Christian

Schedule:
Friday, December 14
First Round Matches @ 10am, 11am, 1pm & 2pm
Bryan Brothers Pro-Am @ 4pm
Taste of Tennis @ 6pm
Battle of Georgia Exhibition featuring the Bryan Brothers @ 7:30pm

Saturday, December 15
Kids day Begin @ 9am
Women's Semifinals begin @ 12pm followed by Men's Semifinals

Sunday, December 16
Women's final @ 1pm followed by Men's final

Winner will receive main draw entry into 2013 Australian Open.

Tickets:
http://life-time-tennis.ticketleap.com/
 
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#2 ·
http://www.usta.com/Pro-Tennis/Gran..._kick_off_australian_open_wild_card_playoffs/
USTA
Bryans to help kick off Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs
October 11, 2012 04:57 PM

2012 Olympic men’s doubles gold medal winners and 12-time Grand Slam doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan will play a unique exhibition to help kick off the 2012 USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs, held December 14-16 at Life Time Athletic & Tennis at Peachtree Corners in Norcross, Ga.

Five select doubles teams from Georgia, to be chosen from the state’s top players, from juniors to teaching professionals, will each take on the Bryan brothers in a first-to-four-games exhibition match in the "Battle of Georgia." The exhibition will take place on Friday, Dec. 14, the opening day of the fourth USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs at Life Time, formerly known as the Racquet Club of the South, a USTA Certified Regional Training Center.

Sixteen talented players, eight men and eight women to be announced at a later date will compete in the wild-card playoffs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with each champion earning a singles main-draw wild card into the 2013 Australian Open. The USTA secured the opportunity through a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia, where the two national tennis federations exchanged wild cards for the 2012 US Open and 2013 Australian Open.

Madison Keys, at 16 years old, and Jesse Levine won last year’s events, while current top-100 players Ryan Harrison and Lauren Davis are among previous champions. Last year’s Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs also included Jack Sock and Steve Johnson, who each advanced to the third round of the 2012 US Open, along with top-100 player Coco Vandeweghe and local favorite Taylor Townsend, currently the No. 1-ranked junior in the world.

Tickets for the Battle of Georgia exhibition and each day of the 2012 Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs are on sale at http://www.australianwildcard.com, giving fans the opportunity to purchase reserved seats for the first time. Groups of 10 or more receive a 20 percent discount on all tickets, while children age 15 and under can attend a full day of the wild-card playoffs for just $10. Additional discounts are available for purchasing three-day passes and for being a USTA member or for being a Life Time member. Fans also will have the chance to win prizes by voting for which doubles team they think will do the best against the Bryans, while Life Time will showcase several new upgrades at its suburban Atlanta facility.
 
#3 ·
http://www.australianwildcard.com/aowc-players/

The USTA will select eight of the top rising American men and women to compete in a single elimination playoff tournament with the winner receiving an automatic entry into the 2013 Australian Open main draw!

The invited players for the 2012 Australian Open Wild Card Playoff are listed below. These are the players who have been selected so far — please check back for the final list of participants.

Steve Johnson
Bradley Klahn
Daniel Kosakowski
Denis Kudla
Tennys Sandgren
Rhyne Williams
 
#7 ·
Based on rankings and what they'ved done in the past this should be the draw and how I see it playing out. Sock taking a close one against Kudla in the final. Predictions?:

Kulda 1
Harrison 8.. Kudla

Williams 4.. Williams
Klan 6 ..................Kudla
................................Sock
Johnson 3 ...............Sock
Sandgren 5 ....Johnson

Kosakowski 7 ..Sock
Sock 2
 
#9 · (Edited)
I'm thinking Kudla, Williams, or Sock. Johnson might not be 100% (shoulder injury). Too bad Williams and Johnson are not on the same side of the draw. Their rivalry is quite intense and dramatic ( a lot of trash-talking :lol:). If Williams can get past Klahn and Kudla, I like his chance against Johnson or Sock. He never lost to Johnson indoor (2-0) and I thought he was the better player against Sock in their last meeting (mental block :help:). Anyway, I'll be happy with any winner.
 
#10 ·
Sock and Johnson out of the Australian WC Playoffs :sad: but I'm happy to see Buchanan get in though.


Douglas Robson ‏@dougrobson

Smyczek & C. Buchanan replace S. Johnson & Sock in USTA wild card playoff for Australia….#usta
Douglas Robson ‏@dougrobson

….Hearing Sock didn't want to break offseason training to play and Johnson due to minor shoulder surgery. #usta
Re: Steve Johnson… RT @samduvall: @BenRothenberg @dougrobson he is resting his shoulder but he did not have surgery
 
#11 ·
My preview and predictions for the quarterfinals:

(1) Tim Smyczek vs (8) Christian Harrison
(3) Rhyne Williams vs (6) Daniel Kosakowski
(4) Tennys Sandgren vs (5) Bradley Klahn
(2) Denis Kudla vs (7) Chase Buchanan


(1) Tim Smyczek vs (8) Christian Harrison
The 18 y.o. is up against Tim Smyczek who is coming off the best year of his career winning two challenger titles (Champaign, def. Sock; Tallahassee, def. Dancevic) to end the year with a career high of 128. Harrison, who is not blessed with power and size at this age, relies on his defensive skill and backhand to draw errors from his opponents. Against Smyczek, he will have to do more b/c the speedy veteran is very consistent and rarely makes mistakes. Smyczek has good defense and strong backhand himself. He is the more aggressor of the two, likes to play inside the baseline, and will jump on every short ball. At this time, Harrison's forehand has the tendency to land short, advantage Smyczek.


(3) Rhyne Williams vs (6) Daniel Kosakowski
Two players with similar game. Both have good serve, decent backhand but favor the forehand. Unlike Johnson and Sock, Williams and Kosakowski are reluctant to step into the forecourt. They prefer to play close to the baseline, though impatient at times. There are some differences though: Williams' random drop-shots and Kosakowski's one-handed backhand. Kosakowski is the more composed of the two (too calm though, show some emotions boy!). Not sure what to expect, but Williams seemed like a better indoor player and I think his bigger serve will lead him to a victory (Kosakowski tends to stay too far behind the baseline to return serve).


(4) Tennys Sandgren vs (5) Bradley Klahn
Klahn is a bad match-up for Sandgren IMO. Sandgren likes to control rallies with his backhand, particularly the backhand cross-court. The problem: his opponent is a lefty with an aggressive forehand. If he keeps hitting the ball to that side, he will be in for a long day. However, Sandgren had some pretty good wins during the USTA Pro Circuit indoor season beating Jesse Levine and Alex Kuznetsov. Could be a good match, but I think Klahn will come out victorious.


(2) Denis Kudla vs (7) Chase Buchanan
Battle of the former Junior USO Finalists (Kudla 2010, Buchanan 2009). One of the matches I'm most looking forward to (if it does happen). Haven't seen too much of Buchanan, but I liked him the first time I saw him back in June (1st tournament as a pro). Similar to Kudla, he seemed solid from both wings unlike most of their American peers who like to run around the backhand (*cough* Sock, Johnson, Williams, Klahn, Kosakowski *cough*). Both players like to dictate points with the backhand. However, Kudla is more of a clean ball striker/flat hitter whereas Buchanan hits with a lot of topspin. Like Smyczek, Kudla will play inside the court if you let him while the latter likes to grind from the baseline. Buchanan is a very streaky player; can win 5 games in the row and can also lose 5 games in the row (concentration lapses). He is a slow starter (tends to get broken early in sets). He can get away with it at the futures level, but it will be a lot tougher on this stage. If Buchanan can keep his unforced errors under control (something that he really needs to work on), the match could be close. Otherwise, Kudla will run away with it quickly. Despite being a year younger, the more experienced Kudla will have the upper hand.
 
#12 ·
Thanks a lot for all of your descriptions SapELee, I think your contributions have been a great addition to this forum in recent months and come at a moment when there are indeed a lot of good American prospects emerging.

But calling Slyczek a "veteran" is only because you compare with very young players, in modern tennis, barely 25 years old is still quite young :lol:
 
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