There’s a great story brewing in Mexico, friends, so dial in your browsers right now.
Here’s the background: Things were so hectic here for a few weeks that I completely neglected to cover the big year-end junior events that took place on the West and East coasts of Florida in recent weeks, the Eddie Herr International (Bradenton) and the granddaddy of them all, junior tennis’s fifth Grand Slam and unofficial world championship, the Orange Bowl (Miami).
But it appears that the USTA, perhaps driven by its desperation to find good news for U.S. tennis fans, had prematurely—and unbelievably—declared Donald Young the official ITF World Junior Champion in a release issued on Dec. 8th. Here's the money quote:
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Then, Donald Young celebrates this distinction by losing his quarterfinal singles match the next day to the eventual Orange Bowl champ, Switzerland’s Robin Roshardt. (Could it be that the USTA’s announcement dimmed Young’s own focus after a year in which, he admitted, he felt “like I have a big target on my back”?)
So then some rocket scientist puts pen to paper and determines that Cilic actually still has a shot at the top spot (the ITF’s champ is determined by a transparent, points-based system—if he does well enough in the last event of the year, Mexico’s Yucatan Cup. But neither Cilic nor Young was entered in the YC.
Whoops—change of plan. Now Cilic—and Young—both put in last-minute requests for wild cards into the YC, and both were granted. So we have one of those rare situations in Mexico where an enormous amount is riding on the outcome for two players, who may even get a chance to decide the matter in a final match. Read the full details here, and then bookmark one of TennisWorld’s favorite websites, Colette Lewis’s Zoo Tennis.
Lewis, you may remember, is an indefatigable and incorrigible junior tennis nut and evangelist—and a great amiga of TennisWorld. She will get you up to speed and squared away, and quick, when it comes to the junior game, and her comprehensive coverage of the EHI and OB should keep you plenty busy.
The Young cock-up overshadows all else for now, but U.S. fans should also know that Tampa's Timothy Neilly, the defending boys' champion and fifth seed, lost early in Miami.
And for those of you who think that that the world needs one more celebrity named Paris, Colette tracks the impressive run of Paris Gemouchidis (ranked 168th by the ITF going into the OB). Gemouchidis, is Greek and doesn’t even know Nicole Richie (here's a picture of Richie walking her dogs, in case you care, which I threw in because I'm having trouble figuring out which one's the dog . . .)
But boy Paris qualified for the big show and slashed and blasted his way to the final, where he crumpled against the young Swiss who upset Young (as well as Ryan Sweeting), Robin Roshardt.
Just what we need—another Roger Federer from a nation that makes Rhode Island look the size of Australia!
You bet we’re going to follow this Young-Cilic story, and closely!