07-11-2004 Paris, France

Kecki Captures Boys Under-14 Title at NJT International Masters

Coach of the US team, Phil Cello, lobbied hard to get Mateusz Kecki one of the top two seeds in the boys under-14 draw at the Nike Junior Tour International Masters played at Club Med. His faith in Kecki was well founded as the youngster from Sacramento, California proved to be too strong for top seed, Emmanuel Rehola, of the Czech Republic.

It was a tight contest for the first two sets. Both players began slowly with Kecki having to stave off a break point in the second game. After that he was on fire, reeling off three successive games for a 4-1 lead. At that point, Rehola began to figure out Kecki's tactics and started to slice the ball deep, which did not allow the American to tee-off on his shots. The Czech lost the opening set but dominated the second to build up a 5-1 lead. Kecki got back to 5-3 but his fight back was too little too late and the match went into a third set.

After a close game at the start of the third set, Kecki took control of the match to run out a 6-4 3-6 6-1 winner in one hour and 40 minutes. Kecki was taken to deuce in the opening game of the decider but he did manage to hold his serve. "That was an important game as far as the momentum of the match was concerned," said Kecki. That comment was pretty perceptive as from that point on, the impetus swayed strongly in favour of the American. Rehola's backhand problems compounded, with 12 unforced errors of that shot alone, and soon the rest of his game - and his fight - went with it. Kecki raced to a 5-0 lead and held two match points but Rehola managed to keep the match alive for just one more game. Kecki served it out and converted his third match point.

Cello always thought Kecki had a good chance to win this tournament. "We're from the same area so I get to see him play quite a lot and I can keep track of his results. Based on the way he has improved and his ability to play on clay, I felt he was capable of winning an event like this. "Mateusz used to be just a grinder but now he has the skills to play a good, all-round game of tennis," said Cello.

Kecki will have a break and then plans to play the Orange Bowl.

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