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tennispimpess · 07-22-2006, 12:01 PM

Who are the most talented young American Players making the transition from juniors to pro?

SHB · 08-04-2006, 02:15 AM

In order of age, from oldest to youngest:

Wayne Odesnik: 20-years-old; ranked #192; in the past 10 months he's won one challenger and four futures events; comfortable on clay

Phillip Simmonds: 20-years-old; ranked #241; has won a challenger and a futures event this year

Brendan Evans: 20-years-old; ranked #332; has won a futures event this year

Scott Oudsema: 20-years-old; ranked #359; won a first round match in L.A. last week

Nikita Kryvonos: 19-years-old; ranked #513; has won a futures event this year

Scoville Jenkins: 19-years-old; ranked #255; has won a futures event this year; advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open last year, losing to Nadal.

Alex Kuznetsov: 19-years-old; ranked #277; has won a challenger this year; had a good career in juniors, ranking as high as #9 in singles; lost to Gael Monfils in the Junior French Open finals in 2004

Ryan Sweeting: 19-years-old; ranked #663; qualified for Washington this week and advanced to the second round; won the Junior U.S. Open last year; was ranked as high as #2 in juniors

Timothy Neilly: 18-years-old; ranked #1009; has struggled thus far on the pro circuit, but had a terrific junior career, ranking as high as #8

Sam Querrey: 18-years-old: ranked #182; has won two challengers this year, as well as four ATP matches; easily considered the top American prospect at the moment; 6'6" with a big serve and a big forehand

Jesse Levine: 18-years-old; ranked #546

Tim Smyczek: 18-years-old; ranked #602; has won a futures event this year

Marcus Fugate: 18-years-old; ranked #731

Donald Young: 17-years-old; ranked #574; phenomenal junior career; lost in first round of U.S. Open last year; his stock has dropped somewhat after many bad performances on the ATP circuit, but he's still a promising prospect.

I haven't seen most of these guys play, so its hard for me to rank the prospects. However, Sam Querrey is definitely #1 at the moment. Based on potential, Young and Sweeting would probably follow Querrey.

Juniors to watch:

17-year-olds: Kellen Damico

16-years-olds: Michael McClune, Wil Spencer, Ryan Thacher, Brennan Boyajian

15-year-olds: Chase Buchanan, Rhyne Williams, J.T. Sundling, James (Bo) Seal, Jarmere Jenkins

14-year-olds: Alexander Domijan, Ryan Harrison, Denis Lin, Evan King, Harry Fowler

From the juniors listed above, Buchanan and Domijan are of particular interest to me. Buchanan has been fabulous in juniors up to this point, playing above his age much of the time. Domijan isn't quite as accomplished in terms of results, but he sounds like a kid with a lot of upside. Rhyne Williams won the Boys' 14s at the prestigious Orange Bowl last year.

This list is by no means definitive or exhaustive, but those are some kids to follow if you're interested.

Deboogle!. · 08-04-2006, 02:19 AM

wow, thank you very much for that!!!!!!! Appreciate your time spent

jole · 08-04-2006, 02:19 AM

Rhyne Williams is pretty awesome.

Tyler Hochwalt, who I believe is 17, is pretty good as well.

adee-gee · 08-04-2006, 02:20 AM

Scoville

SHB · 08-04-2006, 02:48 AM

I can't figure out Scoville. After the U.S. Open last year, I thought he would make a major jump in the rankings this year. But it just hasn't happened. I wish I could see him more to find out why. He seems to have the tools to be a top 100 player. He's got plenty of time, though.

SHB · 08-04-2006, 02:57 AM

By the way, anyone interested in following the juniors should keep an eye on the National Hard Court Championships, which start tomorrow. All of the juniors I listed will be participating, except Ryan Harrison, who I didn't see listed. The winner of the 18s gets a wild card into the men's U.S. Open. The other finalist gets a WC into the qualifying draw. The winner of the 16s gets a WC into the Junior U.S. Open.

Here's a link to the official web site:

http://cgi.ustaboys.com/index.pl

Deboogle!. · 08-04-2006, 03:09 AM

Thank you again!!!

binkygirl · 08-08-2006, 06:50 AM

This will be an interesting crap shoot. I'd be happy to see all of them be able to make a living at playing tennis, they don't all have to be super stars.

SHB · 08-08-2006, 09:23 PM

On what was the match of the day on paper, Wil Spencer defeated Rhyne Williams 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 in the fourth round. Not a bad showing for Williams at all, considering that he's only 15-years-old. Spencer has a year and a half on him and is one of America's best prospects in his own right. Rhyne Williams will be among the favorites next year. I won't be surprised if he gets one of the eight WCs into the U.S. Junior Open next month.

Scotso · 08-09-2006, 02:58 AM

I think Ryan, Alex, and Sam have the most potential. Tim is a scrappy little player and I think he has the guts to do well, if his game develops a bit more.

SHB · 08-09-2006, 04:09 AM

I wouldn't write off Donald Young, no matter how bad his pro results have been thus far. Not that you are, but I get the sense that many have. He has plenty of time to develop into a player.

binkygirl · 08-09-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SHB

I wouldn't write off Donald Young, no matter how bad his pro results have been thus far. Not that you are, but I get the sense that many have. He has plenty of time to develop into a player.

How old is he now? It is not fair to write him off, but his entourage have put him in an unfortunate position by throwing him straight into the frying pan (ATP draws and Challenger draws), instead of putting him in the Futures and letting him grind it out. If he can grind it out in the Futures and win some, it would make his future look more promising. He's been brainwashed to think that he is a better player than he is in reality and that does not bode well for the future.

SHB · 08-09-2006, 07:08 PM

He just turned 17. He's still younger than the majority of guys he faces in juniors.

SHB · 08-09-2006, 09:19 PM

The 18s bracket in Kalamazoo has been very predictable. It's gone exactly as I thought it would. Young-McClune, Fugate-Spencer, Clayton-Smyczek, and Damico-Levine are the QF matchups. So far Levine has been the most dominant, followed by Young.

Another 15-year-old, Chase Buchanan, lost to Levine today in the fifth round. He's still alive in doubles, where he and Fugate have reached the QFs. All in all, an impressive showing for the youngster. There's no shame in losing to a guy who's almost four years older than you and the #2 seed in the tournament. Buchanan and Rhyne Williams will be fun to follow over the next few years.