"Over the NET" with Ben Elliott

You’ve stumbled upon the June/July edition of “Over the Net.” Bundled into this article are three Pacific Northwest tournaments: the Tualatin Hills Dual Level 5, Bally Summer Champs, and Central Park Champs along with a public question to the end of the article to stimulate some discussion. Just added: an interview with top-ranked junior player Reid Delaubenfels of Seattle.
 Let’s start with the Tualatin Hills Dual Level 5 spanning from June 23-26. They, the celebrated entity known as the USTA/PNW, deem these tournaments “Level 5” because they give you points to your national ranking. Consequently, these tournaments are generally harder and more competitive. In Boys’ 10U, Mateo Fuenmayor split sets with Matthew Hagerty, wresting victory 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. In Boys’ 12U, Thomas Yu defeated Joe Hardwicke 6-2, 6-0. In Boys’ 14U, Ty Gentry defeated Andrew Newell 6-0, 6-1. Moving on to Boys’ 16U, Spencer Furman beat Nikolas Cable 6-0, 6-2. In Boys’ 18U, Michael Chamerski defeated Kent Andreasen 6-2, 7-6. In the Girls’ 10U draw, Amelia Vu beat Colette Beauvais 6-1, 6-3. In Girls’ 12U, Emily Rees defeated Hannah Gianan 6-0, 6-0. In Girls’ 14U, Madisyn Bryant beat Charlie Naddeo 7-5, 6-2, and in Girls’ 16U, Alexis Prokopuik beat Michelle Lui 6-3, 6-2. Lastly, Maya Jansen defeated Erin Larner 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Congrats to all the players participating in the Dual!
Two weeks later in Tacoma, Bally hosted a Champs tournament from July 8-10. In Boys’ 12U, Chris Elliott defeated James Yu 6-3, 6-4. In Boys’ 14U, Noah Schachter beat Ethan Romney 6-3, 6-3. Boys’ 16U was closed out by the Kwiatkowski brothers, with Joe Kwiatkowski beating his brother Alan Kwiatkowski 6-1, 6-4. In Boys’ 18U, Kainoa Rosa beat Vicente Varas in a nail-biter 6-2, 1-6, 11-9. Moving on to Girls’ 12U, Eva Goncharova defeated Crystal Xu 7-5, 6-1. In Girls’ 14U, Catherine Allen beat Samantha Weeks 6-2, 6-2. In Girls’ 16U, Catherine Allen (yes the same one) beat Monica Greene 7-5, 6-1. Lastly, in Girls’ 18U, Kara Ikeda beat Cora Byers 6-4, 7-6. Congrats to all the competitors!
Central Park Tennis Club in Kirkland hosted their annual Champs tournament from the 15-17. In Boys’ 12U, James Yu beat Nikita Larichev 6-2, 6-3. In Boys’ 14U, Brian Hou beat Wyatt Demulling 6-0, 7-6. In Boys’ 16U, Jamie Thorp defeated Luat Le 6-2, 6-3. In Boys’ 18U, Riley Newman beat Vicente Varas 6-4, 1-6, 10-7. On the girls’ side, starting in 12U, Nina Erdevicki beat Ivana Ilic 6-0, 6-1. In Girls’ 14U, Paiton Wagner beat Charlie Naddeo 6-4, 6-7, 10-5. In Girls’ 16U, Ivana Erdevicki beat Vivian Glozman 3-6, 7-5, 14-12. Lastly, in Girls’ 18U, Angela Chen beat Saroop Dhatt 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Throughout the tournament scene this summer, there has been discussion of the lack of regular scoring until the semifinals or finals in many of the USTA/PNW tournaments. After much pondering, I decided to ask for your opinion on the subject. What do you believe the policy for regular scoring in tournaments should be? Email replies to hubridnoxx@gmail.com.

Over the Net Interview:  Reid Delabubfels – Seattle, WA

As I neared completion of this article, I once again confronted my usual last-minute dilemma of finding someone to interview. I decided to interview a senior, a top tier player, and one that would be going off to play tennis at college. Luckily, I found someone who met all the criteria: Reid Delaubenfels. Reid is going off to play college at Fresno State and also won the 3A State Championships in Washington.
Zack Elliott: When did you first start playing tennis?
Reid Delaubenfels: I started playing when I was about 8. I played my first tournament when I was 10.

ZE: How did you feel after winning the 3A state title?
RD: I felt really relieved. When I won it the first time, it was more of a surprise to me because I had gone into state as a huge underdog. This year, however, I had been the favorite all year and it would have been a disappointment to do anything but repeat.

ZE: What are your plans for tennis in college?
RD: I can't wait for college tennis. My goals are to improve myself as much as possible and do everything I can to help the Fresno State Bulldogs to a national title. An NCAA doubles title would be nice too.

ZE: What is your best memory of USTA tennis?
RD: Probably just all of the people. I have made so many friends through tennis and have grown a lot as a person because of my experiences in tournaments. Overall the community it creates is wonderful.

ZE: What is your worst memory of USTA tennis?
RD: I don't know if this counts but last year coming back from the Junior Davis cup, our team was delayed around 12 hours in the Chicago airport. Not really my idea of a party.

ZE: How would you improve the way USTA?PNW tournaments are run, if at all?
RD: I believe that for the most part tournaments are run very well. The one thing I would change is seeding. In many tournaments, people get seeded or unseeded undeservedly due to the fact that we only pull from the 12 month rankings in our section. For example, two years ago at Sectionals, Emmett Egger went unseeded in the tournament because he never plays tournaments around here. Everyone at that tournament knew he was the best one there and because he was unseeded guys like Michel Hukwo and David Schuster went out in the early rounds. I believe that they would have gone deeper if not for having Emmett in the quarters.

ZE: Who do you think is going to win the Men's and Women's singles at the US Open?
RD: Nadal for the men. He had a broken foot and still made the final of Wimbledon. That's sick. For the women, I'm stuck between Li Na and Maria Sharapova. Na is having a great year and I think she will continue that but Sharapova just looks focused and hungry and she has so much Grand Slam experience I think I will pick Maria.

Thanks to Reid for the interview!