Seeds Denis Kudla, Steve Johnson, and Tennys Sandgren advance to the semifinals of the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs on Friday in Atlanta, GA. They are joined in the last four by Chase Buchanan, who upset Rhyne Williams.
No. 1 seed Denis Kudla rolled through the first round of the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jarmere Jenkins on Friday afternoon. Jenkins, playing near his hometown in Atlanta, GA, got off to a quick start and broke for a 3-2 lead in the first set. Kudla, however, quickly took control and won eight of the match’s last 10 games.
“He’s like (Gael) Monfils,” Kudla said of his opponent. “He’s so fast. It’s insane. He’s an incredible athlete. I tried to just wear him down; tried to move him left and right. I kind of executed my game plan really well.
“Being No. 1, everyone knows it’s kind of just a number. There’s no real pressure for me. A lot of these guys have winning records on me. I’m just coming out here trying to play my best tennis and hopefully I can get three matches. I always lose in the semis (at this event); that’s my roadblock. To be able to get the wild card would start my year off really well. Less pressure going into Australia.”
Steve Johnson, who–like Jenkins–took the college route to the professional ranks, got past Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 7-6(2). Johnson, who was a late withdrawal from this event in 2012, could not convert any of multiple break chances in the second set but he made up for it by dominating the tiebreaker.
“There’s really no pressure here,” Johnson assured. “There’s nothing to lose coming here. Just trying to play some matches with the year starting in a week or two. It’s eight good guys; all good friends…. I thought I served really well. I put in a lot of work on the serve during the offseason. I was getting a lot of free points, using my serve to get out of trouble.”
The only seed to tumble out on the first day was defending champion Rhyne Williams, who succumbed to Chase Buchanan 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2. Williams served for the match at 6-5 in the second set and had not been broken all day. That, however, is when a monumental meltdown began. Buchanan broke back immediately before his opponent fell apart in the tiebreaker and throughout the third set. Williams both entertained and frustrated the crowd with arguments, expletives, and one destroyed racket. To Buchanan’s credit, though, the former Ohio State Buckeye earned his win and finished several amazing baseline rallies with ridiculous shot-making.
Most of this eight-man field played Challengers in the United States throughout this fall, some of them playing against each other multiple times. Buchanan, on the other hand, worked on his game elsewhere, winning Futures titles in Bolivia and Ecuador while also competing in tournaments in South America, Japan, and Thailand.
“I think it’s really good to get away from playing the same people every single week in the same places,” this week’s No. 7 seed explained. “I think it’s good to get away, change things up. It gives you a new perspective on kind of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”
That RCS wild card event is always a lot of fun…you get plenty of tennis for only $10, and the venue is very fan family. My $ is on Steve Johnson.