Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Thomas shows quiet confidence
Loud screams have been heard throughout Burns Park in North Little Rock this week as players at the USTA 12-under National Championships let out audible forms of joy, frustration or anger.
But it was mostly quiet Wednesday morning on Court No. 10 as No. 17 seed Andrew Thomas calmly completed what turned out to be the main draw’s biggest upset in the tournament’s fourth day.
Thomas, of Canal Winchester, Ohio, beat No. 2 seed Andrew Fenty of Washington, D.C., 6-3, 7-5 to advance to today’s semifinals. How did he do it? The same way he beat the fifth and ninth seeds in earlier rounds, by handling the emotional ups and downs of a two-hour match better than most in his age group.
“I just had to take deep breaths and calm down and focus,” Thomas said. “I was just thinking about the next point, and if I lost, I just had to go to the next one.”
Only once did Thomas show any obvious sign of frustration Wednesday, and that came when his return hit the net and allowed Fenty to pull within 5-4 in the second set.
Fenty took the next game to tie the set at 5-5, but Thomas won the final two games to advance and set up a semifinal match today against No. 4 seed Boris Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla.
Thomas won the first two games of the first set, but Fenty tied it at 3-3 before Thomas won the final two games to force Fenty to drop a set for the first time since the first round of the tournament.
Thomas took a 2-0 lead in the second set, too, but Fenty won three consecutive games before Thomas took a 5-3 lead. That came three weeks after Thomas lost to Fenty in the third round of the USTA National Clay Court Championships in Winston Salem, N.C.
“He already beat me,” Thomas said. “So he thought he was going to come out real confident and I just had to play.”
The victory continues the most successful tournament of the year for Thomas, whose previous best singles finish at a national tournament came in April when he lost in the round of 16.
Fenty also is the most accomplished player Thomas has beaten. Before this tournament, Fenty reached the semifinal of the clay court tournament in July and won the USTA National Open for 12s two weeks before.
“I’ve been playing pretty good,” Thomas said. “My forehand was OK. They weren’t the best, but they were good.”
In other quarterf inal matches, Kozlov beat No. 7 seed Axel Nefve of Hinsdale, Ill., 6-1, 6-3 and No. 1 seed Roscoe Bellamy of Pacific Palisades, Calif., beat No. 17 seed Trey Hilderbrand of San Antonio, 7-5, 6-0.
Bellamy will play thirdseeded Keenan Mayo of Roseville, Calif., in another semifinal after Mayo beat No. 8 seed RJ Fresen of Short Hills, N.J., 7-5, 6-3.