By Larry Hodges
The players were down to the Final Eight in the Qualifier, with only three spots available. There would be four quarterfinal matches, with the losers eliminated. Then there would be a semifinals, with the winners advancing to the Final Twelve. The two losing semifinalists would then have a playoff for the final spot in the Final Twelve.
Tahl Leibovitz d. John Beaumont, 0(def),8,5,3
There was a small controversy at the start of the match. John's racket had a 1/2-inch tear near the middle of the playing area, and was ruled illegal by Referee Larry Kesler. John had a backup racket, but with very old sponge that he didn't want to use. Given the choice of playing with the spare racket, or putting on new sponge on the spare racket - but thereby showing up late for the match, and so defaulting the first game - John chose to default the first game. (Referee Kesler had told the players in advance that the policy for players who show up late would be that if they were not there on time, they would default the first game, and every five minutes after that they would default another game until the match was over or the player showed up.) Once the match got started, however, Tahl's ball control and two-winged attack dominated over John's forehand attack.
Brian Pace d. Courtney Roberts, 2,6,11,6
Brian dominated this match almost from start to finish with his forehand. Courtney, who has great ball control, had to deal with finding a way of getting Brian's forehand out of play, but couldn't in this match.
Ashu Jain d. Auria Malek, -11,9,8,8,11
This was the only really contested match in the quarterfinals, yet Ashu won 4-1. "His forehand is like 2900," Ashu said afterwards. Auria stayed with him each match, but Ashu pulled out the last four games in the end. (Auria was yellow-carded for bad language at one point.)
Misha Kazantsev d. Jiachen "David" Wang, 8,9,7,7
15-year-old Misha (U.S. #1 Under 16) dominated the serve and receive game, and took control of the points with his forehand. "Misha's serves have really improved," noted USA Men's Coach Dan Seemiller. David never seemed comfortable returning serves, and wasn't able to really follow up his serves effectively. Misha's strength is his forehand, but his backhand change-of-paces and punch-block were also effective, and he returned serves like a veteran. "David didn't seem to have touch at the start of the match," Misha said. "I kept attacking, and tried to keep his confidence down."
Ashu Jain d. Misha Kazantsev, 8,7,7,7
Ashu controlled the match, and while there were wild points, he always seemed to have a lead. "Ashu was able to return my serves really well - drops and flips," said Misha. "He never let me play my game - he dictated the points." There were a lot of crazy points as both seemed able to get balls back where the crowd was already starting to cheer the point they thought was ended. The craziest - Misha got caught out of position, and scooped the ball off the floor with sidespin and threw it in the air. The ball went way up in the air (10 feet?), and Ashu went around to the side of the table to smack it away. The ball landed perhaps a foot from the net, and bounce straight sideways, away from Ashu - who couldn't even come close to touching the "ace"!
Brian Pace d. Tahl Leibovitz, 7,-8,7,-8,9,-8,8
It was a strange match as the two alternated games. Brian's dominated with his forehand, but his backhand, which is effective when it hits, was inconsistent. Tahl is a ball-control player who attacks from both sides at all speeds. In the last game, Brian led 10-6, and played just about the only two "passive" points he'd played the entire match - weakly blocking a forehand (against Tahl's backhand loop) into the net (a ball he'd counterlooped essentially every time before), and a weak forehand loop into the net. But a serve and backhand kill ended it. "That was a tough match, basically even," Brian said. "He's good. Every game I served first, he would win, but I'd win all the games he served first." He then added, "I'm now officially in the Lion's Pit."
So Ashu Jain and Brian Pace move into the Final Twelve, and Misha Kazantsev and Tahl Leibovitz will play off for the final spot.
Tahl Leibovitz d. Misha Kazantsev, -4,-8,10,8,6,-4,4
It was a battle of Misha's "Cho's!" and Tahl's "Si's!". It was a battle of the only players in the qualifier who regularly would throw in backhand sidespin- or chop-blocks, throwing off the opponent's timing. It was a battle of Tahl's steady ball control (and constant fishing) versus Misha's all-out forehand looping attack.
Misha led 7-3 in the first, and Tahl hit a ball that apparently went long. The umpire flipped the score to 8-3, and Tahl didn't complain - but Misha told the umpire the ball hit, so the score went to 7-4. (So Misha wins today's sportsmanship award.) Misha went on to win that game and the next, but Tahl seemed to zone in on a working strategy from there on - he'd serve short to the middle, and follow with an attack (usually with his backhand) to Misha's wide backhand. Misha mostly pushed the serves back - either short or long - but didn't seem aggressive. In the third, at both 7-8 and 10-11, Misha served off the side of the table - a major turning point. Tahl would win that game and the next two.
Yet, with Tahl now up 3-2, there was an aura of inevitableness that this match, the final, deciding match, would go seven. Tahl and Misha quickly obliged, and on to the seventh game it was.
In the seventh (with Tahl's "Si's!" evolving into barely decipherable primal screams), Tahl quickly led 4-1, and Misha called a timeout. He came back, and seemed rejuvenated, attacking all-out the next three points. He won the first, lost the second (2-5), and then had Tahl back lobbing - but missed an easy one! 2-6. This was the turning point - Misha wouldn't score another point until 2-9, making a series of mistakes while Tahl completely controlled play - nothing flashy, just solid, well-placed and well-chosen shots. So Tahl joined Brian and Ashu in the Final Twelve for the next four days.
To Be Continued ... The Final Twelve ... Tomorrow!
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