Rosen runs out to victory by Martin Heath

During this past weekend in New York there was a little event running concurrent to the inaugural US U23 National Championships.  They call it the US Open, and seemed to attract a few interested spectators. 
Whatever distraction this event offered, it couldn’t take the limelight away from the U23 National Championships, played out at the Harvard Club and Sports Club LA in Manhattan.  Many current college players and top junior players took time away from their studies to compete for the title, and pleasingly the tournament also managed to draw some committed college graduates.

Fittingly, the Men’s U23 draw comprised of 23 players, with the seeded players dominating their respective rounds.  The toughest match of the first round was Franklin Cohen against the talented junior Tyler Smith.  After a devastating first game, Smith had chances to go 2-0, though some strong resistance and patience from Cohen saw him deny his younger opponent, and saw Cohen through to the last 16 to play top seed Lee Rosen.  At this stage, Cohen performed solidly to take the second game against Rosen, though ultimately the top seed went through to the quarters. 

At the same stage, Robbie Berner didn’t have it all his own way against Dartmouth senior Edward Newhouse, though Berner’s physical style helped him come through for an impressive 3-1 victory. 

Arguably the man of the tournament, Graham Bassett, took on the talented Ryan Dowd in the last 16.  A see-saw struggle eventually led to a very entertaining 5th game, where the relentless pressure and desire of Bassett eventually overcame the all-court game of Dowd.  Dowd is learning some new tricks from old dog Jonathon Power in Toronto, and is surely a force to be reckoned with in the future, though this time it was Bassett that secured his place in the quarters with the only seeded upset.

At this stage the more senior college players realized they had some stiff opposition from their younger counterparts.  Alex Domenick of Germantown Cricket Club put on a fabulous display against Tufts No.1 Jake Gross, losing in 5 games.  As with many matches, it was the winner of the crucial tight 3rd game that handed Gross the momentum and eventually the win, though not without noticing the talent of his younger opponent.  Alex’s elder brother Matt (by about 5 minutes) also showed promising signs against the very strong Todd Ruth of UPenn, a 3-0 score-line not reflecting the intense tussle between the two.

Chris Callis, another very promising talent from the Philly brethren, showed signs of class in his dismantling of a competitive Brian O’Toole, and then backed this up by a somewhat tired though eventually successful 5-gamer against an ailing Graham Bassett.  Chris is one of the US juniors with serious talent, though is still maturing into the player he would like to be.  Devastating in some rallies and wayward in others, time, effort and the right advice could see Chris become a top flight US senior player very shortly.

John Fulham, the second seed, recently matriculated into the Yale set, moved into the semi finals with an entertaining 5-game win over Todd Ruth.  From 2-1 down, Fulham made his opponent do a little more work than he would have liked, his experience of training with some top pros showing through in the crucial stages. 

This win would set up Fulham against Callis in the semis as the seedings suggested.  Callis took a 2-0 lead with his dominating style, though eventually ran into a brick wall.  Fulham hung on in the 3rd, and faced match balls in the 4th before turning in a solid win over his younger opponent.  Callis seemed to slow remarkably towards the end of the match, and Fulhams relentless pace set him apart to give him a final berth, and supposedly his only win ever after facing match balls.
The other semi was a fairly straightforward win for Lee Rosen against Jake Gross.  Gross can put his opponent under pressure, though lacked the consistency and patience to do any real damage to a highly motivated and incredibly fleet-footed Rosen.

Rosen’s pace and retrieving ability was to prove to be his competitive advantage through the whole event.  In the final, Fulham’s previous two consecutive 5-game matches against Ruth and Callis showed in his legs.  Fulham played some wonderful pressure rallies, though Rosen’s retrieving a la Michael Chang/Rafael Nadal eventually made Fulham run out of ideas, with Rosen literally running out the winner.
Rosen collected the inaugural US U23 National Championships, a title he will proudly carry into his post-college years.

For the event as a whole, the success was in its attendance.  Hopefully the event will be able to attract all the top college players next season to compete for what is surely a very prestigious title.  For the program as a whole, this event builds on the U23 Can-Ams in August, and will be followed by a U23 Open next Spring and an international trip next July.  Watch this space!