Sitak blows past Smyczek for McAllen Futures title

McALLEN - Even in the best conditions, Artem Sitak's quickness was going to challenge Tim Smyczek. But combined with the extreme winds during Sunday's singles final of the USTA McAllen Futures Tournament, Smyczek never really looked like he had a chance.

Sitak eased to the tournament title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Smyczek, who grew increasingly agitated by the wind, his own occasional lapses and Sitak's exceptional court coverage. Smyczek said the combination of the wind, which strangely seemed to kick up whenever he served, and Sitak's quickness were too difficult to handle as the match progressed.

"Especially in the wind, when you feel like you have some chances and then, you feel like you hit a couple good shots and he's there," Smyczek said. "He was just too good today."

As he did Saturday during his 6-2, 6-4 semifinal win over Vladimir Obradovic, Sitak showed an ability to get to shots and frustrate his opponent. Appropriately, the final point of the tournament gave Sitak one final chance to show his agility.

 After Smyczek rushed to the net and hit a forehand to the corner, Sitak chased it down and sent a backhand down the line for the win. Unfortunately for Smyczek, that was just one of many times when Sitak showed his athleticism.

It also visibly frustrated the runner-up, which Sitak noticed.

"I can see when I play different players, I can see when they start to get fragile," Sitak said. "That's when I can really bring them down. I can see it in their movements and behavior. That really helps a lot. When I play a player who was really calm, it's tougher."

For the most part, Smyczek was calm. But, as Sitak noted, he started to try to overhit his shots during the second set. Already leading by a set, Sitak broke Smyczek's serve twice in the first three games of the second.

"I kept hoping that I could get a second wind and get some energy for the rest of the match, but he stayed on top of me," Smyczek said. "He didn't let me come up for air."

And trying to overhit through the wind is dangerous, which Smyczek learned Sunday.

"With this wind, whoever moves his feet better and sets up for the ball and just concentrated more, that person's winning," Sitak said. "It was really tough to play in this wind. You've really got to concentrate."

The wind also caused problems during the doubles final, which was played before the singles match. Like the singles final, the doubles was lopsided, with the combination of Ricardas Berankis and Siarhei Betau beating Adam El Mihdawy and Uladzimir Ignatik 6-3, 6-3.

Berankis and Betau, who said they had never met before this week's event, broke their opponents' serve six times, including a streak of three straight return games in the decisive second set.  

"We returned really well. We made a couple really important returns and that's what decided the match," Berankis said.

Brian Sandalow covers sports for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.