It was a bad day for U.S. juniors; the last boys bombed out in the quarterfinals today. Korea’s Sun-Young Kim stunned top-seeded Donald Young; unseeded Tim Smyczek finally came back to earth after putting together a good run.
So it looks like the only American kid who has a chance to win the American title is Alexa Glatch, the No. 7 seed, who’s now through to the semis. The U.S. still has a shot at the doubles title, too, with Glatch and Vania King in the hunt (they’re the No. 2 seeds).
Our intrepid den mother Colette Lewis (that’s her Zootennis blog I linked to above) was pretty severely bummed out by the results, but she’s vowed to soldier on "Out of the four boys in the semis," she told me. "Three don't even speak any English. It's hard to get information about them,"
Marcia Frost also dropped by TennisWorld HQ. She reported that Glatch doesn’t allow her parents to attend tournaments, because their presence makes her nervous. Glatch’s parents very cleverly thought they might come in to New York (from their home in Newport Beach, Ca.) this week anyway, as tomorrow is Alexa's 16th birthday . . .
But Alexa nipped that plot in the bud, too. It's a wise child . . .
So mom, Lisa Glatch, will have to be content to track Alexa's progress just like you and me, via the internet. Frost has been keeping her up to date via email. Sounds like an interesting family, don't you think? I hope Alexa wins the tournament,
If you want the skinny on the junior and collegiate games, you need to three sources: Colette, who’s strong on American junior boys; Frost (check out her website here who’s good on the college game and the junior girls, and Annie Paton (click here), whose strength is the international game (she also posts draws).