Misha’s an excellent player, and stylistically not so different from Stefan. Misha wants to bring that powerful forehand to bear, the big pinwheeling one. Feth may favor the backhand more frequently. The points played here figure to be spectacular, and they are! But Stefan holds too many advantages. His service game is too much for Kazantsev, especially early in the match, for one. He has that little extra in every aspect of the game. On one point, I see Stefan launch a Loop return that breaks a serious three and half feet after the bounce, leaving Misha with a paddle full of air. Wow! There’s no shame in losing to Stefan, and Misha, well, Misha’s been a different player at this tournament than I have seen him be before. Dare I say…mature? I think with the poise and calmness he exuded this weekend, the skills I saw him display in his matches, and his one loss coming at the hands of an International player, that Misha Kazantsev is going to be a force at the 2005 US Nationals. Feth advances 3,8,7,9 and Misha gets $320 as a semi-finalist.

Gabriel comes charging out, 5-1 in the first game and the rout is on. Or is it? Barney isn’t slapping his thigh with his racket, screaming at the fates, he’s…hey! He’s focused! and what a great comeback he mounts to win 11-9 in game one. There’s no posse here, no girlfriend, no parent…and Barney isn’t interacting with the spectators, he’s playing the match, focused like grim death! In Game two it’s a death dance, tied at 4, tied at 5, Barney leading 9-8, deuce. No one is giving any ground here. Freddie wins, 15-13. It’s no different in game three, as they are tied at 4 apiece…this has got to be draining for both of them! Barney leads 10-9 and holds serve and makes an absolute beauty. It takes a high first bounce, Freddie reaches in and forms for a flip, but, its’ Oh-so-short’ oh so much shorter than it looked like it would be! Freddie misses the flip completely and it’s 2-1 for Reed. In game four, Freddie is plagued with service errors and poor service return. That throbbing thumb injury that we only learned about after the tournament, and not from Freddie, has to be a factor here. 11-6 and Barney leads 3-1. Barney really pours it on in Game five, and Gabriel is eliminated, 11-4. This is the first time I’ve seen Mr. Gabriel in action, and I can tell you, I now understand the high praise you hear about him. No less an authority than YiYong Fan has stated that Freddie has the potential of being a World Class player. Here, he was Western Open semi-finalist. Not bad!