Dein erstes Forum » , Tiafoe fell to French teenager Quentin Halys, a

From the perspective of the casual tennis fan, the Challenger series is the shadow circuit, where players generally ranked outside the top 50 scuffle for ranking position. But for many, its a stepping-stone to much bigger endeavors.Its a tough circuit, and everyone has to go through it, Frances Tiafoe said Tuesday from the Fairfield, California event. Its not as much about the money as it is the rankings points.Less than two years ago, Tiafoe was ranked No. 1,145 among ATP World Tour players, but by the end of 2015, he had zoomed up to No. 176.Now, at the age of 18, for the first time, he is a top-100 player -- No. 100 on the nose -- and part of the surging youth movement (#NextGeneration) that has come to define the ATPs 2016 season.Tiafoe is one of four teenagers ranked in the top 100.There are so many young guys coming up; its unbelievable, Tiafoe said. Youve got [Alexander] Zverev and [Nick] Kyrgios playing great tennis, and you feed on that.Its funny. Youre in juniors and looking up to the pros, and it happens so fast. Honestly, I thought it would be tougher to get up here.Ah, those impressionable teenagers. They dont always know what they dont know. Fact is, the next 50 spots will be far more difficult to scale. After that? Skill, mentality and luck will all help him become the top-10 player he envisions.Tiafoes swift ascendance, along with No. 71-ranked Californian Taylor Fritz, gives the United States two 18-year-olds in the top 100. The last time that happened?In 1990, Michael Chang and Pete Sampras were ranked among the top 100, at Nos. 10 and 14, respectively. Now, no one is predicting that Tiafoe and Fritz are going to combine for 15 Grand Slam singles titles, but that 26-year gap gets your attention.Fritz is the No. 5-ranked American man, behind Steve Johnson, Jack Sock, John Isner and Sam Querrey. Tiafoe is No. 7, behind Donald Young. Jared Donaldson, 20, is No. 10 behind Ryan Harrison.Back in February, Fritz reached the finals at Memphis and the quarterfinals in Acapulco. As a result, his last Challenger -- the Triple-A level of mens tennis -- came in April. This week, Tiafoe was playing in his 17th Challenger.The season began at Happy Valley, Australia, where the sturdily built Tiafoe lost in the first round (Fritz was the eventual winner there), then lost in the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open.Last week, Tiafoe took the title in Stockton, California, winning $14,400 but also collecting the championship share of 100 points. That vaulted him 17 spots, into the No. 100 slot.In the final, Tiafoe defeated Long Islander Noah Rubin, the 2014 Wimbledon junior champion. It was a potentially awkward match because they were both being coached by former U.S. professional?Robby Ginepri, a three-time winner on the ATP Tour and semifinalist in the 2005 US Open. Ginepri, according to Tiafoe, recently signed a 20-week coaching deal with the USTA.It was weird and pretty funny, actually, Tiafoe said. We both had a great week. Robby just told us to go out there and enjoy the battle. I was happy I played really well.Tiafoe, who also won the Challenger in Granby, Canada, was the first teenager to win multiple titles since Fritz did it last year, at Sacramento and Fairfield. Tiafoe was also a finalist in Lexington, Kentucky, Winnetka, Illinois and Tallahassee, Florida. Each of those results netted him 48 points, helping to move him up the ladder.His first-round match in Fairfield, against Blaz Rola, a 26-year-old from Slovakia, offered a glimpse of his improving game. A week earlier, in the first round at Stockton, Rola extended Tiafoe to three sets. On Tuesday, Tiafoe was down 3-1 in the second set and won the last six games to complete a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory.I definitely served better than I did last week, Tiafoe said. Hes strong from the baseline, but I stayed tough. I knew I didnt need to be too aggressive, just solid. I was lucky to break back and win the second set.In Wednesdays second round, Tiafoe fell to French teenager Quentin Halys, another #NextGeneration player ranked among the top 200. Halys, ranked No. 170, beat Tiafoe in three sets for the third time this year.That illustrates the microscopic difference between players at this level. In March, Tiafoe beat Fritz in three sets at Indian Wells, but lost to him in the first round at Winston-Salem. Tiafoes summer featured a tight loss to No. 55 Adrian Mannarino in Washington, D.C., and a first-round defeat by Isner -- in a five-set match decided by a tiebreaker.Ive played close matches with top-50 guys, Tiafoe said. Really believing you can do it is a big thing.The new ranking is a goal Ive wanted to crack since I turned pro, according to Tiafoe, and it gets him very close to automatic entry into the main draw of the Australian Open. If he can gain a few more spots, he would guarantee it. To that end, he will likely play a Challenger event in Las Vegas the following week.Thats the goal, to be in the main draw of the majors, Tiafoe said. Thats huge, moneywise and playing at that level. Hopefully, I can do well and end the year around No. 80.That would set me up, cruising along nicely. I feel like if I can get comfortable, I can get better winning a bunch of matches at the next level. Cheap Custom Sabres Jersey . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Tim Horton Jersey Large . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. http://www.customsabresjersey.com/ . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Custom Sabres T-shirts . The Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all won on Sunday meaning the Rangers will host the Rays in a play-in game on Monday. Wholesale Custom Sabres Shirts . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aaron Ekblad is fully aware that the Florida Panthers will be dealing with a new issue this season, that being the burden of preseason expectations.Hes not bothered.The Panthers reached the playoffs and won the Atlantic Division last season, two major steps for a franchise that has known almost nothing but struggle since reaching the Stanley Cup final for the first and only time in 1996. And with a young core of talent now basically locked up for years -- the 20-year-old Ekblad is under contract through 2025 -- anything less than a playoff run next spring would be a disappointment for Florida.In the end, your guys expectations and everyone elses expectations mean absolutely nothing, Ekblad said. Its our expectations. As players, on a personal level and on a team level, we have expectations that exceed all of yours times 10. In the end, were the ones who have gotten here. Were the ones who have pushed ourselves beyond measure to get into this situation.And what is this situation?We believe we can do it, Ekblad said.Ekblad has been an All-Star defenseman in each of his first two NHL seasons, and hes already one of the faces of the franchise. Hockey hasnt caught basketball -- even after Dwyane Wade left the Miami Heat this week for the Chicago Bulls -- or football in terms of popularity among the South Florida sports landscape, but the fact that these Panthers are getting attention in the summertime shows how far the franchise has come.The Panthers announced his $60 million, eight-yeaar extension (which kicks in next summer) last week, then held a news conference at their arena on Thursday to announce the deal again.dddddddddddd. Theres some offseason rebuilding projects going on in the arena, and there was some remodeling of the roster this summer as well.Theres more than two months before the start of training camp, but its hard to find a time when optimism has been this high for Florida.We put ourselves in a good position, Panthers general manager Tom Rowe said. Are we a definite Stanley Cup, going-away winner right now? I dont think you can rule us out but its not a guarantee by any stretch of the imagination. But I think weve got the horses now to have a deep run in the playoffs.Ekblad will be a big key, if or when that deep run ever comes.Hes seemed unfazed by whatever came his way in his first two seasons with the Panthers. His confession came Thursday: Hes not always as cool as he appears.I try to keep it all in my head, Ekblad said. I really try to put a face on that no one really knows whats going on inside my head and I think a lot of players from a lot of different sports have that. Obviously, every night, I go to bed and I think about all those things and all those pressures. But more or less just have to use it as motivation and thats what Ive done over the last couple years.Its working for him, and its working for the Panthers as well. ' ' '