#24 Clemson Visits Davidson to Open 2015 Season

The #24 ranked Clemson Tigers visited Davidson College on January 17 to open their season with matches against Winthrop and Davidson. As you would expect with a ranked ACC team, Clemson had no trouble in picking up two wins, taking each match 7-0.

The Davidson Wildcat statue is located outside the indoor tennis center.

Clemson defeated Davidson 6-1 at #3 doubles, while Davidson won at #2, 6-3. The Davidson duo of Evan Watkins and Jack Riazzi stayed with the #1 Clemson team the entire match.

Alejandro Augusto returns a Davidson serve here. Augusto and Hunter Harrington won the doubles point for Clemson in a dramatic 7-6 tiebreak win at #1.

Plenty of Clemson fans turned out for the match.

Shamael Chaudhry played at #1 singles for Davidson. He performed with a lot of emotion and intensity, especially in the second set when he looked over to his teammates after every point for motivation. It may have also turned out to be a distraction for him at times, as he wasn't able to convert any big points when he needed them.

Clemson #1, Hunter Harrington played a great match. He won the first set 6-4.

Chaudhry has an outstanding one-handed backhand. He used it with success throughout the match.

Harrington, ranked #69, played the big points well throughout the match and used his slice backhand effectively. He won the second set 7-5, after Chaudhry made his only double fault of the match on his final service attempt.

Rock Hill Rocks Challenger 2014

The City of Rock Hill, SC hosted the Rock Hill Rocks $25K USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in early October 2014 at the Rock Hill Tennis Center. The featured player at the tournament this year was CiCi Bellis. Bellis, the 15 year-old from the U.S., made headlines all over the world when she upset #12 Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the US Open. She ended up winning the tournament when she defeated Lauren Embree, a former Florida Gator who was part of two University of Florida national championships, 6-4, 6-0. This is a great location for a challenger tournament and the tennis center personnel do a great job at hosting the event.

A great day for tennis on semi-final Saturday.

Bellis defeated Despina Papamichail of Greece 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the finals.

Papamichail played well in the second set, but in the end did not have enough to beat the US Open first round winner.

In the second match of the day, Lauren Embree played Nina Zander from Germany. Embree, hitting a backhand here, beat the four seed and the seven seed (Zander) on the way to the final.

Zander had a good tournament, but was no match for Embree, who won it in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.

In the doubles final on Sunday, the second seeded team of Cindy Burger and Sharon Fichman defeated the team of Janina Toljan and Despina Papamichail 4-6, 6-1 (10-6).

In the singles final, Embree was very consistent in the first set and forced Bellis into numerous long rallies.

Bellis hustled all over the court and wore Embree out. That was really the difference in the second set.

Overall, a nice win for the number one ranked junior in the world (18-and-under).

US Open 2014

The US Open is always a special time of the year. This was my 18th consecutive year attending matches at the USTA National Tennis Center. We enjoyed great weather all week, and the highlight for me was watching matches at the new configuration of courts 4, 5 and 6. Those courts really enable the fans to get close to the action and shuffle between matches easily. I am already looking ahead to the 2015 event.

Daniela Hantuchova from Slovakia during a warm up session on court four on day one of the Open.

Andreas Seppi of Italy digging for a backhand against Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine.

Sergiy Stakhovsky with the nice backhand form.

Daniela Hantuchova struggled with Romina Oprandi of Switzerland early but came back to win in three, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Vasek Pospisil of Canada watches a serve miss the mark.

Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany wins in straight sets in his first round match against Facundo Bagnis.

The view above court five.

Former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany won her first match against Francoise Abanda of Canada.

Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia lost in a third set tiebreak to Marina Erakovic of New Zealand on day two.

Fabio Fognini of Italy prepares to serve on his way to a straight set win over Andrey Golubev.

Arthur Ashe Stadium lit up for the night match with Roger Federer.

The Unisphere.

Alize Cornet of France defeated Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets on day three.

Ernests Gulbis of Latvia won in straight sets over Kenny De Schepper of France.

Wimbledon doubles champions Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock during a changeover on day four.

Elena Vesnina of Russia defeated Marina Erakovic in three sets on day four.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia shows off his big game against Andreas Seppi on day four. Kyrgios advanced in straight sets.

Current Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic warms up for her match on day five.

Kei Nishikori of Japan was working his way to the finals of the 2014 US Open.

Feliciano Lopez of Spain with a chip and charge. Lopez defeated Tatsuma Ito of Japan in four sets.

Richard Gasquet of France his a big backhand on his way to a straight sets victory over Paolo Lorenzi of Italy.

The Williams sisters warming up for their doubles match on Armstrong on day five.

1981 US Open Memory - Guillermo Vilas and the Can

This photo of Guillermo Vilas was taken by a good friend of mine, Harry Owanesian, at the 1981 US Open. Harry has a great collection of tennis photography. This is one of his many great images.

This was taken at an outer court during a changeover in a first or second round match. In the first round, Vilas, the #6 seed, played Drew Gillin from Encino, CA. In the second round, Vilas faced Raul Ramirez of Mexico.

What stands out to me is Vilas drinking out of a tennis ball can. You would never see that on the main tour today. Love the photo and hope you do too.

Winston Salem Open 2014

At the 2014 Winston-Salem Open, Lukas Rosol defeated Jerzy Janowicz 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 to claim his first WSO title. Rosol's career highlight is when he beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in the second round in 2012. This was the third year I have attended the event, and if you ever have the opportunity to come to this event, don't pass it up. It is a great stop.

Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in second round action vs. Joao Sousa from Portugal on court two on August 19.

Sousa getting a big serve back.

Sousa arguing with Janowicz after the match regarding a call that Sousa did not agree with. Janowicz won 6-1, 3-6, 7-6.

Andreas Seppi of Italy in second round action versus Federico Delbonis from Argentina.

Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic waiting for the serve from Ryan Harrison of the U.S. Rosol advanced when Harrison retired in the second set.

Janowicz in action on Center Court on August 20 versus Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.

David Goffin of Belgium in action against Jarkko Niemimen from Finland. Goffin would win the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Nieminen hitting the forehand.

Nicolas Mahut of France in action versus Andreas Seppi.

Seppi with a backhand return on his way to a 6-4, 7-6 win over Mahut.

Rosol with the forehand return of serve against Pablo Andujar of Spain.