by Ivan Ronladson
At the end of June, the USA national junior team (Freddie Bristowe, Pete Dickinson, Erik Barker, Chase Motz, and coach Ivan Ronaldson) left for Australia to play in four major events.
The first was the Australian U26 Open, held at Hobart in Tasmania. In the final, England’s Robert Shenkman defeated Freddie Bristowe (USA) 6-0 6-5. USA took gold in the doubles, though – Erik Barker and Freddie beat Shenkman and Mullan 6-5 2-6 6-4.
A short plane ride back to the mainland, and we were off to Ballarat to defend the Van Alen trophy we’d won in Manchester back in 2019. In July, Ballarat is by far the coldest court in the world. The format in the Van Alen and Clothier Cup (vs. Australia) is four singles and five doubles. At the end of Day 1, we were down 3-2. It was a mixed bag as performances go. Notably, our #1 Freddie Bristowe lost a 1st set 6-2 to Robert Shenkman, then came back 6-1 in the 2nd, and was 5-0 up in the 3rd, playing like a handicap +7 before a miraculous comeback by Shenkman who won 6 games straight to take the match.
On Day 2, we performed better in the doubles and clawed back to tie at four matches before the UK’s seriously injured Henry Mullan did some Mr. Miyagi voodoo biz on what looked like a paralyzed arm an hour before. The UK beat the USA 5-4.
After the tough battle in frozen Ballarat, the team made their way to Melbourne to face the Australians in the Clothier Cup. Chase Motz began the matchup with a 6-4 6-1 victory over 17-year-old Alex Rackham. The success continued in the singles, where Erik Barker and Pete Dickinson impressively won 6-0 6-1 and 6-1 6-4, respectively. Freddie Bristowe beat the talented upcoming junior, Oli Pridmore, 6-0 6-0.
Now 4-0 up from the singles, Pete and Erik started by beating the Australians 6-3 6-1, which meant the Americans retained the Clothier Cup. However, the team did not stop there and continued to win their next two matches comfortably. Freddie felt under the weather in the penultimate match and had to pull out, leading to Alex Rackham joining the Americans as a reserve for one match. Alex and Erik managed to win their match 6-3 6-3 against Hillebrand and Pridmore. The final match between the Americans and the Australians was an absolute thriller, with the USA narrowly winning 6-5 2-6 6-2, which secured their 9-0 victory against the Australians.
Team USA dominated the Australian U21s. Freddie Bristowe beat Erik Barker in the singles final 6-4 6-5, and Freddie and Erik crushed Oli Pridmore and Alex Rackham 6-2 6-1.
What an experience! We’ll get the Brits next year when they play us for the Van Alen on our home turf! Many thanks to the USCTPF, the USCTA, the Grassi Family, and The Jesters for making the trip possible.
