by John Lumley
We had a very strong turnout for the U.S. Amateur in Philadelphia. Nineteen players arrived on Friday for a full day’s play. As with any court tennis event the first two matches took over four hours and put us two hours behind schedule. Alex Spence took down Henry Smith in a great match 6-5 5-6 6-0. Noah Motz had the win of his career to date taking down Jeremy Wintersteen 5-6 6-5 6-4 and generating some scary pace when forcing.
Jamie Giddins and Jon Crowell both made there way through to the semifinals with relative ease. With Crowell in form and on his home court he came out of the gate at blistering speed taking the first set 6-3. Giddins needing a different approach started to be a bit more aggressive and taking chances which paid off tying it up at 1 set all 6-3. With both players looking for a good start Giddins played a few good games but Crowell fought back. As they were exchanging games Giddins stepped it up with a few targets as Crowell was retrieving everything out of the corners. In the end Giddins won 3-6 6-3 6-3 to take him into the final.
On the bottom half of the draw Winthrop played a solid match against Danny McBride winning 6-4 6-1. In the match between Hopton and Motz, the first set saw some great retrieving and long points from both players. Hopton, however, was able to handle Noah’s forcing very well and controlled the match winning 6-0 6-0. The semifinal was between Winthrop and Hopton. In the first set both players were fired up and wanted the win. Hopton sneaked out the first set 6-4 looked confident and in control. In the second set, Winthrop came out swinging and took an early lead to take the set 6-2. Tied at one set all Winthrop rode the momentum to take the match 4-6 6-2 6-1. There were some fantastic rallies and play from both.
In the final Jamie Giddins played a smart game of court tennis by hitting galleries early in the game and then being aggressive from there. He took the first set 6-0 but Winthrop looked to be coming into his zone. With a few good forces he tied it up at 1 game all before Giddins knuckled down and took the second set 6-1. With momentum on his side Giddins kept the pressure on getting a 5-2 lead. Winthrop saved five match points before Giddins closed it out and took the 2018 U.S. Amateur title 6-0 6-1 6-3!
Thank you to all who came and played this year, it was fantastic to see such a strong field!
