| Top Seed @ USTAs |
|
|
|
McClune top seed at USTAsMonday, July 30, 2007 By Pam Shebest (Kalamazoo Gazette) He recently turned pro, agreed to an endorsement contract with Nike and signed on with sports representative IMG. He has also been the top-ranked junior player in the nation in each division -- Boys' 12s, 16s, and now 18s. It's no surprise that McClune is the top seed in the USTA Boys' 18 Nationals Championships that begin on Friday in Kalamazoo. The 10-day tournament, featuring more than 400 of the top young American male tennis players in boys' 18s and 16s, ends with the singles championships on Aug. 12. The first six days, play is at both Kalamazoo College's Stowe Stadium and Western Michigan's Sorensen Complex. The final four days, all matches are at Stowe. Last year, McClune, of Irvine, Calif., was seeded sixth and made it to the quarterfinals before losing to top-seeded and eventual champ Donald Young, 7-6(3), 6-1. Young, the two-time defending champ at the Nationals, is not returning to try for the hat trick of 18s titles. Earlier this month, Young won Junior Wimbledon and, last week, won his first pro Challenger tournament. He appears headed for a wild card into the main draw of the U.S. Open. That's also the big prize that goes to the winner of the Boys' 18s championship, in both singles and doubles. Rhyne Williams, of Knoxville, Tenn., is the second seed in Boys' 18s. He was seeded 29th last year in Kalamazoo, and lost in the fourth round to 15th-seeded Wil Spencer, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3. In 16s, Tennys Sandgren, of Gallaatin, Tenn., who was unseeded last year, has made the leap to top seed this year. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
