Results - Monday August 10, 2009

Strode Makes Strides

by Jeffrey Dunham
Aug 10, 10:04 pm EDT

Wild card and former University of Arkansas men’s tennis standout Blake Strode, 22, won his first round match in the LG&T Tennis Challenger today when his opponent, Marinko Matosevic of Australia, was forced to retire with a back problem. Strode, a native of St. Louis, is a part of the 2009 USTA Summer Collegiate Team, having graduated from Arkansas this past May. Strode has taken full advantage of his opportunity, reaching the finals of a Futures event in Pittsburgh and winning the Joplin, Missouri Futures this past July. Currently ranked No. 763, Strode has made a smooth transition from playing college tennis to competing on the pro tour.

"The level of college tennis is similar [to that of a Challenger event]," according to Strode.

Aware that his opponent was injured, Strode shrewdly kept Matosevic off balance with a variety of shots. "I tried to mix it up and make him play a lot of balls," Strode remarked about his winning strategy.

Strode says that he enjoys playing at the Challenger level and is appreciative of his wild card into the LG&T. Asked what he considered to be his best shot, Strode replied that it was "definitely the serve."

Indeed, Strode proved to be versatile and aggressive, never afraid to finish points off at the net or to change the pace of the ball to frustrate his opponent.

In a battle of Americans, wild card Lester Cook defeated Michael Yani, 6-3, 6-4. Cook, ranked No. 284, qualified for last week’s Vancouver Open, where he defeated Carsten Ball, who had reached the finals of the main tour event in Los Angeles the week before, en route to a quarterfinal finish. Incidentally, Ball is entered in both the singles and doubles of the LG&T this week, also.

In the final singles match that was completed today, Japan’s Go Soeda defeated qualifier Luigi D’Agord of Italy, 6-4, 7-5. D’Agord, who qualified and reached the quarterfinals of last year’s LG&T (falling to Carsten Ball), could not keep pace with the consistency of his opponent’s strokes, despite possessing a big serve and a powerful forehand. D’Agord became increasingly frustrated with each successive unforced error and appeared to lose energy towards the end of the second set. Temperatures in the mid-80’s and extremely high humidity must have further complicated matters for the young Bahamas-born Italian citizen.

Local favorites and Binghamton Tennis Center teaching pros William Mendler and Jordon Smith entertained the crowd on Stadium Court by giving it all they had in a 3-6, 4-6 defeat to the USA’s Anthony Assal and Craig Schwartz. While hotly contested, the match was played in the best of spirits, as Mendler and Smith had the opportunity to express their emotions as well as their games. The duo will have another crack at Challenger success, as they have benefited from the withdrawal of the team of Todd Widom and Michael Yani, and will now get a spot in the main draw of the doubles.

The evening singles match between 17 year old American qualifier Ryan Harrison and the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Dennis Istomin of Uzbekistan, was postponed due to a thunderstorm. The downpour lasted for approximately 30 minutes, soaking the Recreation Park courts and causing the spectators, officials, and players to run for cover.

On the way to qualifying, Harrison defeated top Australian prospect Bernard Tomic. Harrison is also receiving some friendly advice this week from none other than Paul Annacone, the former ATP tour player and coach of both Pete Sampras and Tim Henman. Annacone is currently the British Lawn Tennis Association’s head coach of men’s tennis and is working with young British players in Binghamton this week.

Tuesday’s evening match will feature No. 4 seed and former world number 8 Marcos Baghdatis. Baghdatis is fresh off from a victory in last week’s Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, so he will be eager to continue his run of good form ahead of the U.S. Open. Baghdatis is famous for his gregarious, crowd-pleasing personality, so this match should be a crowd pleaser!