SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA USTA PRO FUTURES AT USC . ADMISSION IS FREE. COME SEE TAYLOR FRITZ PLAY TENNIS BY DR. DON BROSSEAU

Written by: Staff on 7th January 2015

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA USTA PRO FUTURES AT USC . ADMISSION IS FREE. COME SEE TAYLOR FRITZ PLAY TENNIS BY DR. DON BROSSEAU |

“Champion at the 2014 Yucatan Cup had such a great week in Merida. #feelingthedirt #not #clay #copayucatan #greatweek #tennis” – Photo by @taylor_fritz via Instagram

Pro tennis is back in the Southland this month. Thanks to the efforts of USC Trojans tennis coach, Peter Smith, we have two $15,000 USTA men’s Futures events this week and next week. Today at the Marks Tennis Stadium on the USC campus you could actually see, side by side, two of the current “hopes” for the future of US Tennis.

Stefan Kozlov just won the Orange Bowl in Miami and reached the finals at both Wimbledon and Australian Open junior championships earlier in the year. Stefan will not turn 17 until the first of next month so he could actually pursue those Grand Slam junior championships for another two years, but he is likely to focus more and more of his attention on pro events as he makes his way up the pro ladder. Thanks primarily to a finals appearance at the Sacramento Challenger last fall where he beat a number of Americans ranked well above him, he is currently ranked 466 in the world. Remember, he is just 16 years old! His balance and poise set him apart as he defeated the seventh seed, Joshua Milton from Great Britain in straight sets with the loss of just one game.

“Champion at the 2014 Osaka Mayor’s Cup ~ World Super Junior Tennis Championships #Osaka #Japan #TitleTown #GradeA” – Photo by @taylor_fritz

On the adjacent court, Southern California’s own Taylor Fritz was battling the 2012 US 18’s champion and first seed in the tournament, UCLA player Dennis Novikov. So in reality, you had 3 of the top US future hopefuls, playing side by side. Taylor reached the semis of Wimbledon Juniors last summer and is currently the number 5 ranking junior in the ITF junior rankings. Novikov has won 5 of these Futures events and is ranked 288 on the ATP computer compared to 1149 for Taylor. Things looked doubtful for the native Californian when he failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the third set, but he broke again and served out the match with a pair of aces. Tough day for the 21-year-old number one seed, but very encouraging for young Taylor. He just turned 17 about 10 weeks ago.

You can find these and many more exciting players at USC the next few days and next week at El Dorado Park in Long Beach beginning with qualifying there this weekend. The Marks Stadium is a terrific place to watch a tennis match. There is comfortable seating above and behind the court so you have a wonderful vantage point. If you don’t want to venture into the USC parking structures ($10 last time I tried it), you can park on Vermont Avenue just a hundred yards or so from the courts as you walk around and you can park for 4 hours for just $4. Admission to the matches is free. There are tons of local players from UCLA as well as USC still in the tournament; and plenty of other “hopes” from around the world as well. USC senior Eric Johnson and UCLA alum Clay Thomson also scored victories today.

You can find all the information about the match schedule and the draw at the

tournament website:

http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men%27s-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100033900

“Doubles Champions at Mexico City grade A @andreyrublev #tennis #mexico #fila #doubles” – Photo by @taylor_fritz

For a quick glimpse of Fritz and Kozlov:

Taylor Fritz serving:

http://youtu.be/uu58lDVKy-U

Stefan Kozlov serving:

http://youtu.be/DXnvu6nOd3Q

10sChiro

to see other articles by 10sChiro, go to

https://archive.10sballs.com/category/columnists/dr-chiro/

https://archive.10sballs.com/author/don/

For more information about about lessons with TennisChiro at Griffith Park or his videotaping and analysis service, just dial **tennispro on your cell phone. You will get a text with his email and phone number

Editors note : this is a great start to bringing professional Mens Tennis Back To Los Angeles. Congrats to all the visionaries

Topics: Stefan Kozlov, Taylor Fritz, Tennis, USC, Usta

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10sBalls_com says:

January 7, 2015 at 6:36 pm

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA @usta PRO FUTURES AT #USC. ADMISSION IS FREE. COME SEE @taylor_fritz97 PLAY #TENNIS… http://t.co/qS9pbs0gIg #USTA