The King of Illinois tennis has moved to Coral Gables, Fla. Long live the King?
The news that defending state singles champion Evan King of Chicago’s Payton Prep had enrolled in the prestigious new USTA Junior Academy last fall — after saying publicly he really wasn’t interested in that sort of thing — hit Warren junior Denis Bogatov like a forehand smash.
“It came as a shock to me,” he said. “I never thought he’d leave.”
What won’t be a shock, however, is if Bogatov succeeds to the throne. Having King out of the way makes Bogatov, who finished third a year ago, the favorite for the 2008 state crown.
Payton coach Walt Kinderman said the offer King received to spend his junior year in Florida playing elite competition proved too alluring for the budding star but that King “probably” would be back at Payton for his senior year.
That could mean that the window of opportunity is narrow for Bogatov, whose only two losses in 36 matches last season were to King. With or without King, he predicts the road to the top won’t be easy.
“I don’t think about [King’s absence] too much,” Bogatov said. “The competition is pretty tough all the time.”
Still, Bogatov looms as a worthy possible successor to King.
Ranked 83rd nationally in boys-18 singles, he’s being recruited by Michigan, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin, and he took third in the USTA National Open. A top-flight junior almost since his father introduced the game to him at age 5, Bogatov advanced quickly, thanks to his never-give-up-a-point demeanor and catlike court coverage. Those qualities make up for a lack of power and, until recently, his diminutive stature.
Bogatov’s growth spurt since last spring — from 5 feet 5 inches all the way to 5-101/2 — has done wonders for his serve and forehand.
“I’m very competitive,” he said. “I like to win. Being 5-10 helps with handling the pace of players who are bigger than me.”
Unlike King, however, Bogatov’s big plans won’t include a trip to a tennis academy. Actually, he already has done that. At 14, he spent a year at an academy in Ojai, Calif. For Bogatov, that was enough.
“The weather was 75 every day, which was great, and we had school till noon and three hours of tennis every weekday with one hour of fitness. But high school there was not too good. And the tennis academy was more competitive, more like work. High school tennis last year was more fun.
“I’m just going to go to college. I want to play at a Division I school that’s also top 25 academically. I’ll see how tennis is in college, but I probably won’t go pro.”
