By Dr. Don Brosseau also known as 10sChiro
The Southern California USTA Pro Futures rolled into the semifinal round today as they ousted the final 16 year-old from the tournament, … but not without a fight. And youth may yet be served…
Rancho Santa Fe native Taylor Fritz knocked out the current Orange Bowl junior champion Stefan Kozlov 6-4, 6-4 with a sharp display of touch and power, balancing drop-shots with aces and brilliant passing shots that had the Pembroke Pines, Florida resident shaking his head and clearly at a loss for what to do. Kozlov may have been disappointed with his inability to read some of Fritz’s passing shots, but you had to hand it to Taylor for taking the agressor’s role most of the match. One 16-year old gone.
Click on the link below to watch video clips from Fritz vs Kozlov match:
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Fritz and Kozlov were followed on court one by Nathan Ponwith and Mitchell Krueger. Native Texan Krueger will celebrate his 21st birthday on Monday and he’s trying to make it a big weekend with his second Futures Singles title. But the 16-year-old Arizonan and Easter Bowl 18s finalist last April had other plans. Ponwith took the first set 7-6(4), but the more seasoned Krueger settled in and took the next two sets 6-4, 6-1. Still, you had to be impressed by the way Ponwith took the ball early and stayed in the match with aggressive play that kept Krueger working to the very end. And thus, the last 16 year-old was gone.
In the other two quarters, Dimitar Kutrovsky from Sofia, Bulgaria ousted 2012 Wimbledon doubles champ Frederik Nielsen 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. And there was some serious shot-making going on on that court, you can be sure. Finally, Torrance’s own Jason Jung scored a victory over Great Britain’s Alexander Ward 7-6, 6-4.
The day finished off with a doubles victory as Kutrovsky and Dennis Novikov came back after losing the first set 6-4 to Irishman James Kluskey and Frederik Nielsen. Kitrosky/Novikov won the second set 6-1 and took the super tie-breaker 10-4. Any finals victory is good, but when it is over a Wimbledon champion just 2 years after he held the title, it tastes just that much sweeter.
There’s still plenty of tennis to be seen this weekend. The semis start at 10:00 AM tomorrow with Taylor Fritz taking on Jason Jung, followed by Dimitar Kutrovsky vs Mitchell Krueger- not before 11:00. As I said, youth may yet be served…Krueger is still just 20 years old and Fritz only turned 17 10 weeks back. They don’t call these tournaments Futures for nothing!
10sChiro
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Topics: Stefan Kozlov, Taylor Fritz, Tennis, USC, Usta
TAYLOR FRITZ INTO SEMI’S @ SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA @usta PRO FUTURES FROM #USC IN LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA- http://t.co/OAPaFB8x8V @taylor_fritz97
RT @10sBalls_com: TAYLOR FRITZ INTO SEMI’S @ SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA @usta PRO FUTURES FROM #USC IN LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA- http://t.co/OAPaFB8…