Clay champion

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

Jason Kubler knocked off the top seed en route to winning the $10,000 purse at the Palm Coast USTA Futures tournament Sunday, Feb. 5, at the Palm Coast Tennis Center.

Approximately 9,200 miles away from his home town of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 18-year-old Jason Kubler felt right at home this week at the Palm Coast Tennis Center.

Kubler defeated American player Rhyne Williams in two straight sets, 6-2 and 6-3, to claim his third USTA Futures title since October 2011. The purse for the third-annual Palm Coast tourney was $10,000.

Through the first five weeks of 2012, Kubler has played in four Florida-based Futures tournaments; he has reached the finals in three and won in Palm Coast. All four tournaments were played on clay.

“Clay is definitely my favorite,” Kubler said after the match Sunday.

Earlier in his career, when Kubler was about 14, he had to get surgeries on his knees. Playing on the harder courts in his home country of Australia can trigger pain in his knees.

“The blue hard courts in Australia play a bit grippy and sticky,” Kubler said. “But it seems if I play on (clay), it’s perfect.”

Kubler didn’t suffer any knee flare-ups this week.

In the semifinals, Kubler knocked off No. 1-seeded Pedro Sousa, of Portugal, who happened to win the doubles finals.

Kubler won the first set, 6-3, but found himself in a hole in the second set. He fought back from deficits of 0-3 and 2-5, and won five straight games to win the second set, 7-5, advancing to the finals.

Williams, 20, who was All-America at the University of Tennessee, knocked off No. 6-seeded Gabriel Moraru, of Romania, on two straight sets, 6-2 and 6-4.

Williams, who comes from a tennis family, turned pro last season after winning a USTA Futures tournament in Innisbrook. His father played tennis at Duke, and his mother was a professional player. While playing for the Volunteers, Williams won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Collegiate Championship and also reached the finals of the 2011 NCAA tournament. He has been ranked as high as No. 8 in the world junior rankings.

In 2009, Kubler went undefeated during his Junior Davis Cup campaign. The only other professional tennis player to accomplish that feat is Rafael Nadal, who is currently the No. 2 player in the world.

At one point in 2009, Kubler was the No. 3-ranked junior in the world.

“He was playing lights out, and he wasn’t going to be denied,” Williams said of Kubler.

Kubler said he was leaving Palm Coast to head home to Australia Sunday night, where he plans to continue developing his game in Australian futures tournaments. He hopes his clay dominance can continue up the ranks in professional tennis, whether that’s in the United States or elsewhere.