I would like to start a thread to keep track of some upcoming juniors.
Name: Noah Rubin
Birthday: 02-21-1996 (15 years old)
Junior Ranking: 42
ATP Ranking: N/A
Description: Noah recently captured his first G1 title (Copa Del Cafe 2012, hardcourt) two weeks ago and is currently at a career high junior ranking of 42 with only 5 itf starts . His ranking will continue to rise b/c of this week's play at G1 Copa Barranquilla (clay); will play in the quarterfinal. He was a finalist at the Les Petits As a couple of years ago. Noah seems to have a solid game, but he seems kinda short though when standing next to Farren Connor at the Copa Del Cafe final (Connor is listed at 5'11"). However, Noah is two years younger so let's hope that he can add some inches.
Name: Thai-Son Kwiatkowski
Birthday: 02-13-1995 (16 years old)
Junior Ranking: 84
ATP Ranking: N/A
Description: Despite the name, he is not a Thai descendent :lol: :shrug:. He is actually 1/4 Polish and 3/4 Vietnamese (from local paper). He is close to his career high in junior ranking but the last couple of weeks had him focusing on futures qualifying (not very successful thus far). He has a nice forehand. Here is an old video of him from the local news: Link
Doubt it. Tomorrow's tie will decide who advances to the semi, the coaches will probably go with the No.1 and No.2 single players. Great job by Noah on saving two match points.
Great to see Connor get the win over Devin in 3 sets @ Irvine Futures. He has had a rough year with the wrist injury, missing many months of junior action (his itf ranking has plummeted). Mitch also advances, 63 60.
Where is spencer papa!? Since his strong Latin American swing showing on ITF circuit, he has been kind of slowing down, it seems. Great win for Farren, way to come back from the injury
SapELee, what do you think the boys chances are at beating Australia?
I think Kozlov has the ability to beat whoever Australia plays at #2. But I really don't see Rubin beating Kokkinakis at this time. So in my opinion our best chance is a win at 2 and doubles, which we might be too physically exhausted to win after so many 3 set doubles matches this week.
Not very good. Like you said, the best scenario is a win @ 2 and doubles. But Stefan has been playing a lot, he's kinda be exhausted. I'm afraid all the three-set doubles matches will catch up to them.
USA boys team in trouble. Kozlov loses 6-1 3-6 5-7
He was up 5-2 in the third and served for it twice before his Australian opponent came all the way back. That's definitely going to be a tough one fore him to swallow.
Noah lost 3 & 2. His opponent was just too tough (and probably a lot bigger than him)
But they played pretty well all week, getting 3 wins a piece in singles of round robin. A good experience in general.
On a side note, Francis Tiafoe almost beat Quinzi for a second time in team events this year. Maybe there's something in his game that gives Quinzi a hard time that most people just don't have.
Edit: :lol: I meant France's Tatlot... can't believe I got them confused.
Noah lost 3 & 2. His opponent was just too tough (and probably a lot bigger than him)
But they played pretty well all week, getting 3 wins a piece in singles of round robin. A good experience in general.
On a side note, Francis Tiafoe almost beat Quinzi for a second time in team events this year. Maybe there's something in his game that gives Quinzi a hard time that most people just don't have.
Good try . Despite the loss, I'm very pleased with the effort especially with Stefan's. Overall, I'm pleased with the 98' boys this year and will not be surprised if next year's team consists of all players from this class.
Stefan d. Quentin Halys 67 64 64
Noah d. Johan Tatlot 64 63
Another 3rd place finish for Stefan maybe next year will be better. I read somewhere that Noah doesn't play well under pressure, this does not bode well for his development.
In my opinion, it seems more like that only happens when he has people relying on him that he doesn't want to let down, like after Kozlov lost against Australia and the team needed him to win. Or when all his friends and family came to the us open and he didn't want to disappoint. I think he also lost a surprising match at the USA vs UK juniors event before Wimbledon. But I've never seen him crack under pressure when he's just playing for himself.
It's still something he needs to overcome though.
(also, we should keep in mind that during these instances where he plays bad under pressure, he is playing guys just as good or better than him like Kokkinakis here and Kyle Edmund at the US Open)
Really promising stuff from Stefan this week. Lost only one match that he shouldn't have while beating some very good players that can play on clay. It seems like he is really improving on clay. Also, hopefully Nicolas Todero has been making sure they know how to slide correctly :lol:
One thing I know for sure is Kozlov definitely knows how to slide. There's a video on youtube from Groundspass.net that shows him sliding like 3 feet in a really controlled manor towards the ball (which was too far out of reach). Also there's an unique instructional video by his dad teaching players to slide. I say unique because he splashes waterall over the court to make it easier... I'm not convinced that's a safe idea though. :lol:
On the boys’ front, I see the Italian players here — Gianluigi Quinzi and Filippo Baldi — showing promise. Quinzi was a given, but after the incredible battle Baldi had on Sunday with Harry Bourchier of Australia — losing the 3 hour, 6 minute match 4-6, 7-6 (2), 10-8 — you have to think he has the heart to keep on inserting himself into the junior game.
The Baldi and Bourchier match was better than many pro matches I’ve watched. These guys left it all out on the court and played with incredible passion.
Bourchier and Thanasi Kokkinakis — the Australian contingent — also look to be advancing. I really liked Bourchier’s serve. He hails from Tasmania, and his serve might be dubbed the Tasmanian Devil one day.
Kokkinakis has passed the Goran Ivanisevic or Marat Safin school of smashing rackets. When Kokkinakis and Bourchier lost their serve to go down 2-4 in the decisive third set of the doubles, Kokkinakis battered his poor racket.
The U.S. were the top seeds in the Davis Cup and placed third after beating France on the final day of action. Noah Rubin and Stefan Kozlov showed themselves to be solid, but not quite at the level of the four guys listed right above. I do like the maturity Kozlov’s shown in a couple of matches to rebound to take three-set wins. For a 14-year-old he’s quite poised, maybe a bit too self-assured. However, from a maturity point of view he seems to fit in well with the older boys.
As for Rubin, he’s made amazing progress in this first year of being totally on the junior international scene. However, he’s still short on experience and would probably be well-served if he didn’t jump ahead of himself in where he thinks he currently stands amongst his peers. He went into his match against Kokkinakis on Friday with strong self-belief, but as the Australian started to pick apart his game Rubin wore his frustration. As he gains more experience he’ll learn that it’s best not to show your opponent that he’s getting to you.
I can't believe the Pan American Championships is coming up already (next week). Krueger will drop out of the top 10 since he won't be defending his title and Noah has finalist points to defend. Let's hope he and Stefan can make a quick turnaround from clay. Great opportunities for the younger juniors since many 94s won't be competing.
Rubin, papa, Kozlov and Thai top four seeds. Is there a winner amongst those four or will it be someone outside the top four seeds
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