Jefta Kecic of Serbia will be playing not only for the inaugural U.S. Grass Court Championships Presented by Doner singles title Saturday, but also to fight being deported from the United. States.
Kecic, a former standout player from Western Michigan University and the University of North Florida, will play Evan Song of Henderson, Nevada in the championship match of this open $10,000 prize money tournament at the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club in Pontiac, Michigan. The $3,000 first prize could allow him to stay in the United States as it is the exact amount of money he needs to pay tuition to continue his studies at the University of North Florida. He needs to pay his tuition by the middle of August to register for Fall classes or else he will not be classified as a student and will be forced to leave the country or be deported when his visa expires at the end of August.
Kecic, who just finished his senior year at North Florida. He defeated former Michigan State All-American John Mullane 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1 in Friday’s semifinals, aided by two smoking breaks – one after losing the first set and the second after rain moved the match to an indoor hard court when him serving at 4-1, 30-30 in the final set.
“It relaxes me,” said the affable Kecic.
Born and raised in Mokrin, a tiny village of approximately 7,000 in northern Serbia, Kecic has a rocket serve that has been clocked as high as 140 miles per hour.
Song, ranked No. 440 in the ATP World Tour singles rankings, advanced to the final by losing only six games in four matches.
This first-year created event is branded the U.S. Grass Court Championships to reflect the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club’s future ambitions to one day host a bigger event, potentially an ITF Transition Tour event, ATP Challenger or ATP World Tour event leading into Wimbledon.
The Wessen Lawn Club is located just 30 minutes from downtown Detroit and features 24 perennial-rye grass courts, the exact type of specific grass courts as Wimbledon. The latitude and climate of Pontiac is also very close to that of London, sitting at 42 degree latitude vs. 51 degrees latitude for London allowing for the perennial rye grass to be in the same condition as at the All England Club and providing for an excellent North American training stop for any player planning to play in Wimbledon, Wimbledon qualifying or in the Wimbledon junior championships. Many tennis observers have called the facility, including an immaculately decorated clubhouse, as one of the best tennis clubs in the country, if not the world. It was featured in the New York Times in 2014 here: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/sports/tennis/a-touch-of-wimbledon-in-pontiac-michigan.html
A video of the club can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjxMgFMOtg
“We’d like to be a stop for player who want to get a few days under our immaculate grass courts before taking off on a direct flight out of Detroit to Britain,” said Bill Massie, the owner and architect of the club.
