All Hail the Qualifying Heroes

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:44:03 +0000

Not nearly enough is made of the players like Melanie Oudin or Jesse Levine who qualify for the Grand Slam events and go deep into the tournaments. Both had to win three matches just to get into Wimbledon’s main draw.

Oudin, who upset Jankovic in a tough and courageous match in which she lost multiple set points in the first set tiebreaker but still came back to win, has now won six matches in a row and on Monday begins her third week of Wimbledon competition. And she almost didn’t get past round one of the qualifiers, coming back after losing her first set of the first qualies match 6-2.

Levine, ranked 133 in the world and the 13th highest ranked American, also fought his way into the tournament and hung tough into the third round of the main draw until he lost a four-set match against No. 18 Stanislas Wawrinka.

Tennis fans obsess over Federer and Nadal and the Williams sisters, and those are great stories. But there are also many marvelous players fighting tooth and nail at the 100-plus ranking levels who deserve our attention.

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Americans 4-8: Roddick, Blake and Jesse Levine Move Into Round Two

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:16:54 +0000

Of the dozen American men on the London lawns, only four have moved onto the second round of Wimbledon. Andy Roddick, the sixth-seeded American in Wimbledon, won in straight sets on Tuesday. Ninth seeded James Blake started slow against Belgian qualifier Chrisophe Rochus, but ultimately started up his game and won easily in the closing sets. Qualifier Jesse Levine, ranked 137 in the world, upset No. 88 ranked American Donald Young in four sets, losing the first before ripping off three in a row. It was the first Wimbledon win ever for the lefty Levine, a Canada-born 20-year-old who played one year of college tennis at the University of Florida before turning pro.

Roddick, Blake and Levine join Bobby Reynolds as the only American man to win in the first round, making the American men a collective 4-8 in the first round. Joining Young in the American first-round losers category on Tuesday were Mardy Fish, who lost in straight sets to eight-seeded Richard Gasquet; Wayne Odesnik, who retired after losing the first set to 24th seeded Jarkko Nieminen; and John Isner, who lost to Ernests Gulbis in four very tight sets, including an 8-6 tiebreaker in the fourth.

On Wednesday, Acworth, Ga.-resident and former Vanderbilt University star Bobby Reynolds goes up against Frank Dancevic, the Candian wildcard who upset David Nalbandian on Monday. It will be the first match of the day scheduled for noon London time on court 18.

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Top Spin Blog » Jesse Levine

All Hail the Qualifying Heroes

Americans 4-8: Roddick, Blake and Jesse Levine Move Into Round Two