Three’s A Charm - US Open Coverage

KARAKASEVIC CLAIMED HIS THIRD US OPEN MEN’S TITLE. THE 34 YEAR OLD SERBIAN ENTERED THE EVENT AS THE TOP SEED WITH A WORLD RANKING OF 49 AND A USATT RATING OF 2815. LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A heat wave that reached 116 degrees didn’t stop more than 950 players from making the trip to Las Vegas for the 2007 US Open. The US Open is one of the largest and most diverse events of the year with players from 25 countries competing in 58 events. This year, two companion events, the US Open Senior Masters and the National Championships for the USATT League, added even more excitement. Top seed, Aleksandar Karakasevic, defended his 2006 crown by winning the Men’s Singles event. The win was his third US Open men’s title (his first was in 2003). Karakasevic is the sixth man to win at least three men’s titles at the US Open -- placing him in elite company with Dick Miles, Dal Joon Lee, Lou Pagliaro, Erwin Klein, and Bernie Bukiet. Though Karakasevic dominated the final with a 4-0 win, the two semifinals were more closely contested. Karakasevic played Wilson Peng Zhang of Canada, winning in four straight games. Though the match was never at risk, many of the rallies were thrilling with both players digging balls out from just above the floor and covering every corner of the arena. The other semifinal matched Yosuke Kurashima of Japan with crowd favorite Stefan Feth (the transplanted German now living in the U.S.). Feth won the first two games, jumping to early leads and then trading points. There were many great rallies with both players exchanging mid-range forehand loops. Feth won a majority of the long rallies, but Kurashima’s lightning quick third ball attacks and flip/smash return combinations gave him most of the short points. Game three went to Kurashima. Game four may have been the best game of the whole tournament. The game was defined by great individual shot-making: a jumping backhand winner by Feth, a long lob rally ending with a Feth counter-smash, a sidespining loop kill from Kurashima that left the table at an almost 90 degree angle, and at least a 10 shot all-out counter looping rally. After all of those exchanges, the score was tied 10-10. At 11-11, Feth returned a ball that Kurashima (and most of the crowd) felt had missed. With the umpire calling the score 12-11 Feth, Feth purposefully missed his next ball to even the score. The battle continued all the way to 21-19. Kurashima won the game to even the game score, and then held on to close out the match by winning the next two games. (photo by Steve Hopkins ©2007)

MEN'S FINAL

In truth, one only had to watch the first half of the first game to see the patterns that would decide this match. Alexandar Karakasevic was precise and smooth and his strong shots were overpowering. For Yosuke Kurashima, the quick flip/step-around loop combinations and the third ball step-around kill loop combinations that had been so successful in his earlier matches did not create easy points. Instead, Karakasavic was able to control Kurashima’s best shots, leaving Kurashima out of position and unable to continue his attacks.
Karakasavic, a left-handed player, was often content to exchange loops between his backhand and Kurashima’s forehand. When he did maneuver to use his forehand, his long strokes usually resulted in winners.
Many of the rallies were entertaining, but often, Karakasevic looked so comfortable that it almost appeared that he could end the rally at any time from either his forehand or backhand side. Among the weapons in the Karakasevic arsenal: a high-arcing forehand loop, a devastating backhand loop-kill, a forehand smash that seemed to be reserved to return his opponent’s best forehand loops, sidespin touch loops that jumped wide in both directions, and an array of lobs and chops.
Kurashima had a great run in the tournament. He upset Longcan Chen and Thomas Keinath in addition to defeating crowd favorites Eric Owens and Stefan Feth. The impressive run ended in the finals. Karakasevic won 4-0.
For Karakasevic, this is a continuation of a two-year run at the US Open where he is 11-0 in matches and where he has won 44 of 52 total games played. He also won the US Open in 2003. He is the sixth man to repeat as champion (behind Laszlo Bellak, Lou Pagliaro, Dick Miles, Erwin Klein, Dal Joon Lee, and Kjell Johansson). He is also the sixth man to win three or more total men’s open titles (see chart on previous page).

This was a great tournament from a great champion.

WOMEN'S FINAL

Yuka Shiosara of Japan and Tanja Hain-Hofmann of Germany play with contrasting styles. Shiosara is reserved and precise, playing balls immediately after the bounce, quickly driving the ball into the corners. Hain-Hofmann is the polar-opposite, playing with emotion and power— using big round loops from both sides mixed with spinny touch shots and an occasional lob— all this with an animated personality showing through.
Shiosara started fast, jumping out to an 8-2 lead. Hain-Hofmann visibly struggled to get into the match— rolling her eyes, shaking her head, and talking to herself between points. After a Hain-Hoffman error gave Shiosara the eleventh point, Hain-Hoffman picked up the ball and smashed it into the net before walking to the edge of the court to regroup.
In the second game, they traded points with Hain-Hofmann winning a majority of the long rallies but Shiosara winning many points quickly. Hain-Hofman varied her tactics mixing in drop-shots and occasionally lobbing. One Shiosara serve in particular gave Hain-Hofmann trouble. Shiosara executed that serve from a typical forehand, high-toss position, but instead of striking the ball on the left, she struck the ball on the right— leading with the top of the paddle creating a light right-to-left movement and a variety of spins. Twice after missing the serve, Hain-Hofmann imitated her opponent’s uncommon service motion. Shiosara pulled ahead by two points (7-5) and maintained the margin for an 11-9 win.
Hain-Hofmann began the third game pressing the pace, aggressively looping every long ball. Shiosara continued her careful, precise placement of her shots. They traded points to deuce. The final two points were a Hain-Hofmann service winner, and an aggressive chop return of Shiosara’s final serve.
Hain-Hofmann easily controlled the fourth game and it looked like she was firmly back in control. However, Shiosara opened the fifth game with a flurry of perfectly executed points. The early lead turned into an 11-4 win.
With Shiosara ahead three games to two, she began the sixth game with the same game plan of careful pushes and blocks. Hain-Hofmann varied her tactics playing some points very aggressively with strong rolling loops while pressing the pace, but other points were played with passive shots and a mixture of chops.
Hain-Hofmann led 9-6 following a few unforced errors by Shiosara. Shiosara, down 10 to 8 played a slow and spinny forehand loop crosscourt followed by a block of Hain-Hofmann’s return that went to the opposite corner, followed by quick footwork to step around and loop down the line for a winner. Now down by one point, Shiosara played the exact same point to the opposite sides— a slow loop to Hain-Hofmann’s backhand, then an aggressive block to Hain-Hoffman’s forehand, then a forehand strong loop down the line past Hain-Hofmann’s backhand for a winner. The score was now tied at 10.
Two quick points, and the match was over— Shiosara gained the advantage with a third-ball attack that caused Hain-Hofmann to miss a block, and Hain-Hofmann missed her third shot in the final rally into the net.

Shiosara won the match, four games to two, to take the women’s title.