Trueman defeats Smart in US National Open first round
Chisholm overcomes Motz in three, remaining seeds progress untroubled
Rising star Max Trueman has defeated world number 7 Leon Smart in the first round of the US National Open, with the opening matches kicking off at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia on Thursday and Friday.
The tournament began with a small preview on Thursday evening with one of the two round of 32 matches, played between Adrian Kemp and Ross Bolling. Kemp took the early lead, pushing out to a 3/0 lead. Bolling had the local crowd behind him though, cheering him back into contention. From then on, the match was fairly even with the next twelve games shared evenly, though Kemp took the first set owing to his early lead. From 3-all in the second, Kemp pushed for home, hitting the ball more forcefully and drawing more errors from Bolling. He won the following three games to push into the round of 16.
The only other round of 32 match was played on Friday morning between Erik Barker and Jon Crowell. Barker was the stronger player in the first set, chasing everything down easily as Crowell was searching for winners with little success. Barker won the first set easily and held a four-game lead in the second before Crowell started to find his form. He saved match point in the 5/2 game — hitting second gallery for chase off — before marching towards a deciding game all whilst Barker was searching for the final few points he needed. Once in the deciding game, Barker dug in, scraping everything back and generating enough errors from Crowell to win the match.
The tournament then entered the round of 16 with Eli Segal taking on Barney Tanfield. Segal looked off the pace in the first set, with a high unforced error count as all Tanfield had to do was put the ball in play and wait for the error, especially on the backhand. As a result, Tanfield was never put under pressure, instead able to ease his way into each shot and place it where he liked. Tanfield bagelled Segal in the first set, but Segal started to show more resistance in the second. He took advantage of the fact that Tanfield had taken his foot of the accelerator, fighting back from 2/5 down to force a 5-all deciding game. However, some weak returns of serve from Segal in the final game gave the match to Tanfield.
New York’s Josh Dodgson took on local amateur Mike Noll in his first match of the event. Dodgson was playing a heavy ball, driving at the back wall from both ends with Noll maintaining a high court position to cover more easily. Even so, Dodgson was too often able to find the dedans or a jamming ball against the side wall that was too much for Noll. When Noll did find an advantage in the rally, Dodgson was able to absorb the pressure easily until the mistake came. Noll took his only game of the match at 0/4 in the second set, while Dodgson marched on untroubled.
Nick Howell was a relaxed figure in his round of 16 match against Pete Dickinson. The world number 3 easily pushed the ball around the court, sending his opponent scrambling around the court at will. Though Dickinson had moments of pulling off spectacular-looking shots, he was doing so under pressure over and over again, while Howell calmly batted away any dangerous shots coming his way. He hardly needed to put on so much as a jog as he cruised through to the quarter-finals.
Adrian Kemp had the better start against an initially sluggish Ben Taylor-Matthews, willing to play his attacking shots and pick off galleries where possible. Taylor-Matthews’s goal was to absorb as much as possible, and as a consequence barely reached into his bag of weapons. After dropping the first two games, Taylor-Matthews established his control of the match, hitting more penetrating shots and reducing his errors. As a result, Kemp’s all-out attack faded, retiring from the match after he lost the first set.
The most anticipated match of the day was between Max Trueman and Leon Smart, separated by less than 2 handicap points. Both players were testing out their high serves, though neither was fully utilising the height available at the Racquet Club. Each player’s preferred response was to volley, and with their similar play styles the rallies took on a familiar pattern. After exchanging the first four games evenly, Trueman broke ahead by two before Smart pulled it back. Another pair of games exchanged evenly set up a deciding game finish to the first set. But Trueman began at the service end, nailing a series of high serves tight to the back wall to win the game to love.
Smart took a short break ahead of the second set, but Trueman quickly got on top thereafter. He was striking the ball clean and Smart was getting increasingly resigned to defeat. Trueman extended a 5/1 lead before stalling out, unable to find the last few points he needed to secure victory. As he pulled back each game on the scoreboard, Smart’s confidence was slowly restored, threatening to take the set as Trueman’s error count racked up. Smart came within two points of evening up the set until Trueman finally found a couple of short chases to win the match.
John Lumley had a much easier time in his match against Erik Barker. The first seed hardly needed to get out of first gear, playing neat and tidy tennis throughout. Despite Barker searching for points wherever he could get them, Lumley exhibited his mastery of absorbing pressure, with the accuracy of his strokemaking always putting Barker on the back foot. Lumley’s progression was never in doubt.
Next, Tim Chisholm took on another budding amateur, Noah Motz. Chisholm was searching for just his second singles match win since October 2023. The match was a clash of styles between a youthful, quick, powerful yet brash Motz and an efficient, wily, wizened and clinical Chisholm. It was Chisholm’s superior control that won the day, punishing any inaccuracies from Motz with devastating effect, all while absorbing Motz’s high paced forces with dead-weight volleys. Chisholm got on a roll through the end of the first set, picking up four straight games to go from 2/3 to 6/3.
Into the second set, Motz’s force grew more accurate, often choosing to slide down the main wall rather than fire straight at Chisholm’s backhand. He also found more success getting the ball deep into the corners to lay short chases, while limiting his unforced errors. In the second set, it was Motz’s turn to go on a run, winning seven straight games from 1/2 in the second to 2/0 in the third. However, after winning a short chase to win the third game of the third set, Chisholm reignited. He struck targets at will, taking control of the match once again. He took the final six games unchallenged to progress.
The final match of the early rounds was between Freddie Bristowe and Henry Smith, the top two ranked amateurs in Philadelphia. Though both players exhibited entertaining tennis showing off plenty of high-class skill, Bristowe’s ability to absorb Smith’s attacking shots was the deciding factor. He was able to sit in for long enough before launching an attack of his own. Bristowe led the match from start to finish, with Smith accumulating three games along the way.
Play continues on Saturday with four quarter-final matches, followed by the two semi-finals. The final will take place on Sunday.
Match results (all times EST):
6:15 PM (Thursday): Adrian Kemp def Ross Bolling 6/3 6/3
9:00 AM: Erik Barker def Jon Crowell 6/2 6/5
10:15 AM: Eli Segal lost to Barney Tanfield 0/6 5/6
11:15 AM: Josh Dodgson def Mike Noll 6/0 6/1
12:15 PM: Nick Howell def Pete Dickinson 6/0 6/1
1:15 PM: Adrian Kemp lost to Ben Taylor-Matthews 2/6 ret.
2:15 PM: Leon Smart lost to Max Trueman 5/6 4/6
3:30 PM: Erik Barker lost to John Lumley 1/6 0/6
4:45 PM: Tim Chisholm def Noah Motz 6/3 2/6 6/2
6:00 PM: Henry Smith lost to Freddie Bristowe 1/6 2/6