[SHB]

16-year-old (17 in June) Chase Buchanan won the USA F9 Futures title today, beating Venezuelan Jose De Armas 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(2) in the final. The tournament was played on clay, which I don't think is considered his strongest surface (grass is listed as his favorite). His best previous finish in a Futures event came last October, when he lost in the quarterfinals. Here's a link to the draw:

http://dps.usta.com/usta_master/usta...204:34:48%20PM

Buchanan is on a great run. In early April he was a semifinalist at the Grade 1 ITF International Spring Championships. He followed that up by winning the prestigious Easter Bowl, which is probably the second most important national tournament after the Nationals in Kalamazoo. Late last year he reached the quarterfinals of both the Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl, two major international junior tournaments. He's currently ranked 23rd in the ITF junior rankings. He gave Michael McClune a scare in a Delray Beach qualifying match, losing 2-6, 6-4, 4-6.

Buchanan has long been considered a top American prospect. He won Les Petits As, the premier 14-and-under tournament, in 2005. That after finishing second in the boys' 14 Junior Orange Bowl, the second most prestigious 14-and-under tournament.

He's a baseliner with supposedly a very good backhand. I haven't seen him personally.

Here's a brief interview with him from yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lljPX...29present.html

Here's him returning in today's match:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYQwy...29present.html

Here's championship point from his quarterfinal win over Alex Domijan in the Easter Bowl:

http://tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com/...-buchanan.html

I attached some pictures of him below. They're from the Easter Bowl.

On a side note, there were some other notable young Americans who played this event: Ryan Harrison (lost 1st rd.), Rhyne Williams (lost 1st rd.), and Alex Domijan (lost 2nd rd.).

[SHB]

Here's a recap of the match:

http://www.thetennishacker.com/2008/...t-futures.html

Apparently De Armas won this tournament in 2000 and 2004.

I like how he describes Buchanan as "charging." Players who can finish at the net are fun to watch (although it sounds like De Armas had success passing him in this match).

[Deboogle!.]

Cool, always like hearing about a promising upstart American. Thanks!

[SHB]

Here's an article that has high praise for the quality of play in the final:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/...asts-two-time/

The author writes, "Buchanan thrived off a big serve. He also had heavy topspin to help control the fast-paced, low- bouncing shots that de Armas used well on the clay courts to glide to the final."

I've read before that he hits a heavy ball. Apparently that's one of the things that stands out about him.

It says he's 6'2".

He'll be playing abother Futures event this week, followed by the Astrid Bowl in Belgium and the Junior French Open.

Pictures from yesterday are attached.

[Smoke944]

Buchanan has solid potential, well done

[SHB]

Buchanan will play Tsonga at the U.S. Open.

[T4L]

Too bad he lost hopefully we will see some results from this kid

[out_here_grindin]

He has been somewhat disappointing in college. He does not have a winning attitude and does not deliver in big matches. I dont see much for him after college due to his mentality.

[SapELee]

Congrats to Chase on his 2nd title. First since aged 16 and both on clay, interesting.

[SapELee]

A couple of games against Christian Harrison in the semifinal.

[SapELee]

def. KRAMBERGER, Paul 6-1 6-1
def. HARRISON, Christian 6-3 6-2
def. COX, Jordan 6-4 7-5
vs MARTINEZ, Luis David

Good luck.

[SapELee]

Chase withdrew from the semifinal, hope he is not injured.

[out_here_grindin]

any reason he withdrew? Probably a sickness

[SapELee]

I think he was at a family wedding from what I can dig up on twitter. Oh well, at least he is not injured.



Buchanan storms to victory

INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH — The only thing that seemed to slow Chase Buchanan on Monday was the rain.

And it made for long days for both Buchanan and Alexander Domijan. After waiting all of Sunday, the pair finally hit the court on Monday morning. But with tornado watches, heavy wind and rain all around them, they knew it would be a long day.

“You know the situation when you start. You just have to try and relax and wait,” Buchanan said. “You try to have some fun and make the most of it.”

And he did just that on Monday.

After two weather delays, Buchanan won the Florida Beer Company Pro Tennis Tournament, defeating Domijan 6-3, 6-4.

“This weather has been outrageous,” the recent Ohio State graduate said after getting the winner’s check.

It was Buchanan’s first tournament since graduation and was quite a way to start his pro career.

“You can’t ask for much more than this,” Buchanan said, looking around the court. “I know it won’t always be like this, so I have to kind of savour this one.”

And if there was one thing this tournament accomplished, was test his patience. Buchanan opened the final with Domijan in a battle. Tied at 1-1, Domijan had Buchanan in a bit of trouble, up 15-40. But Buchanan battled back, forcing deuce and then scored an ace to hold on.

Domijan had another chance to break Buchanan, but once again he rallied back with a key ace. Then Buchanan scored the break he needed, going up 4-2 before the rains stopped the match.

“It was one of those days where you just find a way,” Buchanan said.

It was resumed in the afternoon and Buchanan was sharp, winning the first set 6-3. He was holding a 3-2 lead in the second set when the rains came once again, forcing a shorter delay. When they resumed, once again Buchanan was the sharper player, scoring the 6-4 second-set victory to win the title.

“I served pretty well, which is big for me,” Buchanan said.

[SapELee]

The maindraw is out for Pittsburgh: http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/singles_draw179.PDF