A weak under 18 event has Ryan Peniston, Samm Butler, Peter Ashley and Callum Poland-Smith as the top 4 seeds. Also in Nottingham are the under 16s and under 14s Sam Rice and Jay Clarke are the top seeds in the under 16s, with current under 14 champion Marcus Walters in the draw as a wildcard. Max Stewart and Finn Bass starred in the under 14s passage to the World Juniors, and they are the top seeds in their event, while Jack Draper tops the draw in the under 12s. Draws:
Ryan has an ATP ranking which trumps ITF rankings, except top 20. Fourth seed Callum Poland-Smith was comprehensively beaten by Andrew Watson.
Some upsets in the under 12s and under 16s today. In the latter top seed Sam Rice lost to Jack MacFarlane whilst Daniel Little took out third seed Alexis Canter
Big match in the under 12s between two members of the European Winter Cup winners ended with a straight-sets win for Jacob Fearnley over Jack Draper. Jay Clarke was a casualty today in the under 16s, edged out 6-4 in the third by Thomas Wright
Under 12 semis
(9) Jacob Fearnley v (6) Vincent Chen
(4) Michael Owen v (16) Jed Alexander
Under 16 semis
(14) Jack Macfarlane v Daniel Little
(4) Enrique Vidal v (11) Thomas Wright
Max Stewart and Finn Bass, who played the singles in the World Junior Tennis finals, remain on course for a final showdown in the under 14s, though third seed Will Davies has not dropped many games so far. A heavyweight clash in the top half of the under 18s between Ryan Peniston and Peter Ashley. They and Samm Butler have yet to be troubled.
Under 14 SF
(1) Max Stewart v (11) Louis Newman
(3) Will Davies v (2) Finn Bass
Under 18 SF
(10 Ryan Peniston v (3) Peter Ashley
Andrew Watson v (2) Samm Butler
Ryan won his semi with Pete surprisingly easily to set up a number 1 v 2 seed clash for the under 18 title, whilst Jacob and Enrique earned titles in the under 12s/ under 16s
Under 12 F
(9) Jacob Fearnley d. (4) Michael Owen 6-1 6-0
Under 16 F
(4) Enrique Vidal d. Daniel Little 7-6(4) 6-1
Under 14 SF
(1) Max Stewart d. (11) Louis Newman 6-1 6-0
(3) Will Davies d. (2) Finn Bass 6-4 6-1
F
(1) Max Stewart v (3) Will Davies
Under 18 SF
(1) Ryan Peniston d. (3) Peter Ashley 6-0 6-3
(2) Samm Butler d. Andrew Watson 6-4 7-5
As mentioned elsewhere, I went to Paddington (British Tour event) today and, although most of the players don't really feature in the events in this forum (though great to see some good tennis and put faces to names) a couple of our best juniors were playing and deserve mention.
Enrique Vidal is the man. You heard it here first. Age 16, and our national U-16 champion, he's a tall, skinny boy, long arms, with amazing acceleration and a beautiful FH and serve, and aggressive attacking play. He rather puts you in mind of Marin Cilic, not THAT tall obviously, but a bit gangly and looks like he'll have a problem getting his limbs organised for his shots but actually has surprisingly good footwork, athletic, fully-hit shots - a real pleasure.
And he was playing Isaac Stoute, age 17, who is a natural ball-player, very athletic, beautiful on the backhand side, slighlty lacking on the FH.
It was a superb match - far better than that of a lot of the others. ANd played is a very good spirit, fair line-calling, pleasant manner between the two. As I say, a real pleasure.
And Enrique (who won, just, but overall deserved to win) is really a name to watch - it's rare to see juniors who stand out, and hit clean winners against a guy with excellent defense - often the best juniors are simply very solid. I heard that he also has a very good attitude, serious and not work-shy.
Sam Price, who did well in the U-18 nationals, (quarters, I think) wasn't particularly impressive.
Beth Askew, u-18 champion, was playing a very easy match so difficult to say but she has an attractive, athletic, all-round game but nothing that really made you stand up and take notice (although, as I say, she wasn't really pushed).
Emily Gibbens is off to the US to do the college route in a few weeks time and it is wonderful to see a girl hit the ball with 100% commitment and venom - some cracking tennis. She was playing Savannah Simon, another 18 year-old, with a nice game but Emily is a crowd pleaser and her tennis is great to watch. I wish her well; I think she's going to enjoy the US.
Thanks very much for the write up, will definitely watch out for Enrique from now on.
Just one thing stands out from the write up. Did I miss something? When did Cilic start playing aggressive attacking tennis?
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