by Harvey Fialkov
Wild card entrants Jack Kennedy and Keaton Hance, two of America’s best junior players, led 5-4 in the second set of their doubles final before nerves and lack of experience kicked, leading to a 6-2, 7-5 loss to the veteran tandem of Jesse Flores and Peter Bertran, the third seeds from Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic respectively.
Hance, 17, who grew up in Torrance, Calif., where his parents, Courtney and Ken, have owned a tennis academy at the South Bay Tennis Center since he was born, had displayed amazing hands at the net all week, but at 5-5, butchered two short overheads.
Kennedy, 16, followed that with a rare double fault before smacking a forehand into the net for the critical break.
Flores, 30, who won his fourth ITF doubles title, including a $25K in D.R., last month, then served out the match but not before frittering away three match points. However, his trademark 140-mph serve induced a return error by Kennedy to wrap up Bertran’s fourth ITF pro title, and second in Vero Beach (2023).
The 30-year-old Bertran, who’s ranked 535th in doubles and trains in Tampa at Saddlebrook Academy, is one of three players to win two doubles titles here, joining David Witt, the former coach of Serena Williams and currently Frances Tiafoe’s coach, and Junior Ore.
“It was our first time playing together and the chemistry was effortless,’’ Flores said. “Keaton and Jack are studs and have a bright future together and I wish them the best in the upcoming European tour and even Orange Park [next week].”
After the trophy ceremony Kennedy, a resident of Long Island, N.Y., and Hance went to an adjacent court to practice overheads.
“It was me, rough points for me; it was just me,’’ admitted Hance, who earned his first ATP ranking points in singles and doubles. “I wasn’t feeling it during warmup but thought it would come around in the match which it did sometimes but those two moments it didn’t come through.”
Hance’s older sister Kimmi, a former standout at UCLA, was ranked 1138 in the WTA.
Kennedy said they were both proud of themselves.
“We can’t get down on ourselves,’’ Kennedy said. “We had a great week. We came in this tournament as wild cards and a lot of people weren’t expecting us to get this far. It’s only our first pro event so we’re trying to see the level, just play our game and play free, having fun out there.”
Leave a Reply