14 or 16, Kypson just wins

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --06/19/14--
Patrick Kypson defeated Nick Stachowiak 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 in the semifinal match of the Southern Closed 16s tennis tournament on Thursday at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Little Rock.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --06/19/14-- Patrick Kypson defeated Nick Stachowiak 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 in the semifinal match of the Southern Closed 16s tennis tournament on Thursday at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Little Rock.

A step up in class has yet to slow a young tennis star from North Carolina.

Patrick Kypson, 14, of Cary, N.C., is ranked No. 1 among 14-year-olds in the United States by the USTA, but he will play for the boys championship of the USTA Southern Closed 16s Championships at Little Rock's Rebseman Tennis Center today.

The top seed, Kypson also is ranked No. 4 among 16-year-olds, and advanced with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 semifinal victory Thursday over Nick Stachowiak, 15, of Greenville, N.C.

"Not to sound like I'm better than the other kids in the 14s, but most of my competition is in 16s," Kypson said.

Kypson will face Trent Bryde of Suwanee, Ga., today for the championship. Bryde advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Oliver Crawford of Charleston, W.Va.

In the girls championship match, Nami Otsuka of Norcross, Ga., a 7-5, 7-6 winner over Hannah Lairmore on Thursday, will play Makenna Jones of Greenville, S.C.

The boys and girls finals are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. today.

Kypson at first seemed geared for a quick advancement past Stachowiak, after he won five consecutive games to start the first set.

"The first set, I was playing really good tennis," Kypson said.

Stachowiak, seeded fifth, was playing in his first tournament since he was sidelined by two stress fractures in his lower back three months ago. But he said his limited fitness and lack of recent play did not affect him until late against Kypson. He said his early failure was merely a matter of poor play.

"I wasn't making any of my first serves," Stachowiak said. "I couldn't hit the simple shots on the court, and you can't win if you can't hit the simple shots. I just tried to get myself going."

Stachowiak did. He began the second set with the serve, trailed 0-40, but won the next four points to go up, 1-0.

"I had three break points, and I didn't' break him," Kypson said. "I thought if I would've broken him there, he would've kind of gone a way a little bit, and I would've been able to finish it off pretty quickly. But I didn't break him, and he held."

Stachowiak won the second set, and led 5-2 in the third, but Kypson held serve, and won the next three games to grab momentum.

Before his comeback, Kypson spoke out loud to himself for a few seconds in Czech, the first language of his father, a native of the Czech Republic.

"I was just telling myself that I felt I kind of went away for a little bit there, for a couple of games, and I was pretty disappointed in my intensity," Kypson said. "I kept telling myself that at 5-2 in the third, I was only behind one break."

"It's really only one break," Stachowiak said. "If I have one bad service game, then he's back in it, which I did."

Kypson dominated the third-set tiebreaker, outscoring Stachowiak, 7-2.

"I had a bad start," Stachowiak said. "I missed an easy backhand, down the line long, and that set the tone."

Sports on 06/20/2014

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