Ahn says it's college for her

During the U.S. Open, I was quite impressed by Kristie Ahn, who played Dinara Safina in the first round. McCarton Ackerman, writing for TennisGrandstand, talks about Ahn in "Hitting the Books or the Courts: Top American Players Weigh In." Ahn says she is going to college for four years: "I don’t see the big rush to turn pro right away. Rather than focusing on the pros, I’m just glad to have the honor of being of the top junior players in the country.”

If we're going to keep our eyes on a young American player....

Then let's keep our eyes on Kristie Ahn. Ahn played an almost nerve-less first round match against Dinara Safina, keeping her head and providing Safina all the trouble she needed to get match-tough at the U.S. Open. (Safina helped a bit by double-faulting ten times.) In the second set, it took Ahn five break points to get the job done, but she hung in. And she managed to save a match point at the end. Well done.

Ahn has a 10-1 record on the ITF circuit, and--in juniors and in pro play--she has yet to lose a tiebreaker.

Safina needs to fix the service problem. Only Justine Henin can double-fault ten times in a match and continue to get away with it most of the time.

Safina def. Ahn, 6-3, 6-4