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2002
U.S. Nationals
By Larry Hodges
As most expected, the top seeds in the "premier" senior and youth events dominated, with neither losing a game. Cheng, who defaulted out of the event last year to focus on Men's Singles (where he lost in the final), this time played it through. The scores? 3,5,4,4,5,6,3,3,3,4,5,4! In the semifinals, Avishy Schmidt - rated 2276 - got his schedule mixed up, and didn't show for the match, and so was defaulted. "I wouldn't have beaten him," Schmidt said, "but I wanted to play him." In the other semifinal, Attila Malek - the 1979 U.S. Men's Singles Champion - defeated Ramin Samari in a long 6,-4,7,-9,7 battle. In the final, however, it was all Cheng.
Hazinski similarly dominated Under 22, and defended his title from last year. Like Cheng, he didn't lose a game. The scores? 8,7,8,6,3,3,5,6,7,7,6,6. He dominated the final (against Han Xiao) mostly with a strong serve return, and by getting the first attack most of the time. It was a battle of two-winged loopers, yet Hazinski won many points by staying right at the table and punch-blocking Xiao's loops, and picking out shots to counterloop. In the semifinals, Hazinski defeated Adam Hugh, 5,6,7, while Xiao defeated David Wang, -8,6,8,10.
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