Long Island Tennis Magazine May/June 2014 by United Sports Publications, Ltd.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

SUMMER 2014

Summer Camp 2014 FROM JUNE 30TH - AUGUST 22ND $125/DAY • $495/WEEK

he Early Hit Training Center is pleased to announce its 11th Annual Junior Summer Tennis Camp. Our comprehensive program will provide your child with all the resources necessary to reach his/her maximum tennis potential. The Early Hit Training Center incorporates all aspects of the game into our complete program. We begin each session with a nutritionally complete and balanced shake from Court 7, our on-premises restaurant and smoothie bar. After a thorough warm-up, the student will work through the core components of tennis, including stroke production, drilling and physical ﬁtness tranining, before breaking for a healthy lunch. We then move onto playing dynamics and strategy, and reinforce these lessons with focused match play. A thorough cool-down and stretching session completes a world-class day of tennis for your child. With our team of renowned tennis teaching professionals, experienced physical conditioning trainers, movement experts and on-site chef, the Early Hit Training Center offers a unique and total tennis experience.

FALL 2014

Junior Alps Program STARTS IN SEPTEMBER "ALPS" is a program for High Aptitude Learners.

he Early Hit Training Center is pleased to announce it's 12th season of group training. This comprehensive program will provide your child with all the resources necessary to reach his/her maximum tennis potential. The Early Hit Training Center incorporates all aspects of the game into our complete program. After a thorough warm-up, the student will work through the core components of tennis, including stroke production and drilling. We then move onto playing dynamics and strategy, and reinforce these lessons with focused match play. A session starts or ﬁnishes with an hour of conditioning. Come experience our team of renowned tennis teaching professionals, conditioning trainers and movement experts. TUESDAY 6:00pm - 8:30pm • 7:30pm - 10:00 pm SATURDAY 8:00am - 10:30am SUNDAY 8:00 am - 10:30am • 3:30pm - 6:00 pm

in Jo w! No

Grading Your Tennis IQ

By Luke Jensen ow is your tennis IQ? I believe smart tennis players are successful tennis players. I have always viewed myself as a tennis junkie. I can watch any level of play and really enjoy it. When I was a player, I would sit and watch players compete and learn the do’s and don’ts of how to play under pressure. Players like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors would draw me in by the way they played with such rage and passion. I also engaged in the way the “Ice Man” Bjorn Borg would never rattle and stayed so ice cold and calm under the most extreme of pressure situations. Martina Navratilova was so talented, but would become so emotional and break down from time to time, and then go on massive winning streaks and dominate the tour. I found that taking elements from all of these pros helped form the emotional approach that I used towards preparing for competition and being my best in competitive situations. So much of our sport is mental, and I stress that the more brain power you can channel towards a positive impact on your game, the more improvement you will see. I was taught at a very young age from my life coaches (my parents) and all of my mentors through the game that I should be a student of the game. I was taught to be more than just a competitor, but to learn the game inside and out. I learned how to string my own racquets as a young teenager. I learned the cause and effect of string ten-

sion and string technology on my game. I was encouraged to chart matches and understand exactly what the statistics meant. There were areas of the game I was discovering that really helped my game grow. When I began as an analyst for ESPN, and then a coach, I found even more layers to the most important approach to winning. I learned of the impact that attitude can have on growing a champion. There is a hunger that has to be included in the process to achieve great things. There needs to be a desire to work on something repeatedly until the shot works out. My advice to any player at any level is to dig deeper into your game and view the game from other angles and approaches while looking through a different lens from time to time.

Smart players win and smart players are always developing and growing! Go out and be the best you can be! Born in Grayling, Mich., Luke Jensen’s resume includes 10 ATP Tour doubles titles and singles victories against Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Jim Courier. Jensen and his brother, Murphy, won the 1993 French Open doubles title. He was also a member of the 1991 and 1992 Davis Cup Teams. His ambidextrous play, including his ability to serve the ball with either hand at 130 mph, earned him the nickname “Dual Hand Luke.” He may be reached by phone at (315) 443-3552 or e-mail lbjensen@syr.edu.

TENNIS COURT EQUIPMENT & MATERIAL

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

May/June 2014 Volume 6, Number 3 Long Island Tennis Magazine 1220 Wantagh Avenue • Wantagh, NY 11793-2202 Phone: (516) 409-4444 • Fax: (516) 409-4600 Web site: www.litennismag.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover story 10

Staff

Set for Sunday, June 1 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the Second Annual New York Tennis Expo returns for its second installment … bigger and better than the initial outing and sure to be a great time for all.

David Sickmen Publisher (516) 409-4444, ext. 309 • david@usptennis.com Joel M. Berman President (516) 409-4444, ext. 310 • joel@usptennis.com Eric C. Peck Editor-in-Chief (516) 409-4444, ext. 312 • eric@usptennis.com Joey Arendt Managing Art Director Francine Miller Advertising Coordinator (516) 409-4444, ext. 301 • francinem@usptennis.com

LITennisMag.com • March/April 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

Emilie Katz Assistant Marketing Coordinator Beverly Bolnick National Sales Manager (516) 409-4444, ext. 316 Scott Koondel Office Manager (516) 409-4444, ext. 324 Lonnie Mitchel Editorial Contributor

Michele Lehat Intern

Michael Cervantes Editorial Contributor

Sasha Lipps Intern

Gary Simeone PR Associate

Feature Stories 4

Stars Prep for Second Slam of 2014 at Roland Garros: 2014 French Open Preview We take a closer look at the men’s and women’s fields as the second Grand Slam of 2014.

24 Your 2014 Guide to Long Island’s Top Tennis Apparel Providers A closer look at the area’s top tennis equipment and apparel providers, including Grand Slam Tennis, Solow Sports, Tennis East, Topspin Tennis & Fitness, and Tennis Junction/Sportset.

David Suskin Director of Marketing and Business Development (516) 409-4444, ext. 306 • suskin@usptennis.com Brian Coleman Editorial Coordinator (516) 409-4444, ext. 314 • brianc@usptennis.com

New York’s Largest Grassroots Tennis Event Returns!

Additional Features 3 15 16 19 27 30 38 49 50 51 52 55 62

Country Club Spotlight: The Hamlet Golf & Country Club Grow Tennis New York: Long Island Tennis Magazine Expanding Its High School Coverage More Than a Tennis Club: Port Washington Tennis Academy By Miguel Cervantes III Country Club Spotlight: Lawrence Yacht & Country Club Pine Hollow Hosts Meet & Greet to Kick Off 2014 Season By Brian Coleman Red and Blue the Colors of Champions at the Big East Tennis Championships By Richard Finn NTC to Host 2014 U.S. Open National Playoffs in June Courting Questions By Tonny van de Pieterman Serving Technique and Consistency Highlights BPTC Clinic for Coaches By Gary Simeone Carefree Hosts Night Honoring George Haber By Gary Simeone Personal Responsibility to Making Change By Lonnie Mitchel The Future Surface of Tennis By Miguel Cervantes III Winning Tennis: Mind(fullness) Over Matter By Tina Greenbaum, LCSW

Advertising To receive any information regarding advertising rates, deadlines, and requirements, call (516) 409-4444 or e-mail info@usptennis.com.

Article Submissions/Press Releases To submit any material, including articles and press releases, please call (516) 409-4444 or e-mail info@usptennis.com. The deadline for submissions is the first of the month preceding the target issue.

Subscriptions To receive subscription information, contact (516) 409-4444 or e-mail info@usptennis.com or check out our Web site: www.litennismag.com. Fax subscription changes to (516) 409-1600. Statements of fact and opinion in Long Island Tennis Magazine are the responsibility of the authors alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of United Sports Publications Ltd. Long Island Tennis Magazine reserves the right to edit, reject and/or postpone the publication of any articles, information or data.

Columns 1 8 20 28 32 35 40 45 46 54 65 66 69

The Jensen Zone: Grading Your Tennis IQ By Luke Jensen Long Island Tennis Magazine’s Junior Player Spotlight: Zain Ali By Miguel Cervantes III Long Island Tennis Magazine’s Charitable Initiatives Hidden Secrets of the Greats: Novak “The Jokester” Djokovic By Dr. Tom Ferraro USTA Eastern Long Island Region Update Racket Speed and Why We Want to Play With Better Players By Steven Kaplan Imagine This … Improving Without Picking Up a Racket! By Rob Polishook, MA, CPC Adult League Wrap-Up By Kathy Miller College Tennis Spotlight: Mythbusters By Ricky Becker Fitness & Nutrition: A Look Into the Role of a Nutritionist By Irina Belfer-Lehat, RD, CDN Long Island Tennis Club Directory Long Island Rankings USTA/Long Island Region 2014 Tournament Schedule

COUNTRY CLUB SPOTLIGHT

The Hamlet Golf & Country Club 1 Clubhouse Drive • Commack, N.Y. (631) 499-5200 • www.hamletgolfandcountryclub.com f you are a tennis player on Long Island, you have probably heard of The Hamlet Golf and Country Club. A rich history and current exciting tennis programming make it one of the most popular destinations for tennis enthusiasts looking for great amenities in a private country club setting. In the past, the prestigious Hamlet Cup Tennis Tournament was hosted at The Hamlet. The Hamlet Cup was used as a warm-up for the U.S. Open for over 16 years. The eight Hamlet tennis courts have been graced by such world renowned players as Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Boris Becker and Michael Chang, just to name a few. Today, The Hamlet still boasts six immaculate hard courts, one with stadium seating, as well as two clay courts— all lit for evening play. Though The Hamlet Golf and County Club is currently celebrating it’s 20th an-

niversary, it was only recently purchased by ClubCorp, a Dallas-based company known as “The World Leader of Private Golf and Country Clubs.” This exciting procurement led to a multi-million dollar renovation, including improvements to the clubhouse, golf course, pool area and tennis courts. ClubCorp’s refreshing philosophy of what the modern Country Club looks like is drawing attention to The Hamlet from Manhattan to Montauk. The Hamlet’s General Manager Jon Cheshire feels strongly about the relationship between The Hamlet Golf and County Club and the surrounding community. ClubCorp’s and Hamlet’s motto of “Building Relationships and Enriching Lives” reaches even further than its membership. Now where the tennis legends of the past once warmed up for the U.S. Open, the stars of tomorrow are cutting their teeth as

the Hamlet hosts the boys and girls tennis teams from Huntington’s St. Anthony’s High School. With such a history and beautiful environment in which to enjoy the game, The Hamlet has put together an exciting new membership. The Tennis and Pool Club Membership offers access to tennis and the pool for the warmer months. A diverse variety of programming has been put in place to satisfy everyone, from the novice to the avid tennis player. Adult tournaments, leagues, zones and social events, as well as kid zones and family tennis fun nights, are all on the schedule for this season. If you are interested in learning more about the new, exciting Hamlet Golf and Country Club, you may contact Membership Director Hillary Epstein at the Club at (631) 499-5200 or e-mail hillary.epstein@ourclub.com.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

Stars Prep for Second Slam

2014 French O

M AY 2 5 - J U N E 8 , 2 0 1 4 • R Roland Garros facts and figures

on the Friday or Saturday before will not be scheduled to play before Monday.

Red dirt

In the city

The French Open is played on clay, which owes its red color to the crushed brick which forms the upper layer of the surface. There are three layers in all—one of limestone, one of clinker and one of stone—as well as drainage pipes. Clay is the slowest of surfaces and much revered by Spanish and South American players who grew up playing on red dirt and know all its secrets inside and out. The first ever clay courts were constructed in Cannes in the south of France in 1880 by Ernest and William Renshaw, who were top players in that era. Whilst European clay courts are red, the Americans play on (quicker) green clay, with the WTA tournament in Charleston, S.C. every April being the highlight of the green clay season. The “Sunday Start” Ever since 2006, the tournament has been spread over 15 days, rather than 14 days and started on a Sunday. May 25 will be the opening day this year, with 32 firstround singles matches scheduled for what is called the “Sunday Start.” The first round of singles competition stretches over three days, and one half of the draw plays on Sunday and Monday, the other half on Monday and Tuesday. As has always been the case, any player involved in matches at other tournaments 4

For the sixth year in a row, the “Roland Garros in the City” event will be set up on the esplanade outside Paris city hall throughout the French Open. The aim of this special event is to bring all the emotion of the tournament to the heart of the French capital. There will be all sorts of tennis-based activities offered as well as a giant screen showing all the main matches from the tournament—all free of charge, with the French Tennis Federation’s main aim being to share its love of the sport with as many people as possible. This special event is organized every spring in conjunction with Paris city hall, and will culminate with the Men’s Singles Final. Way back when …

The stadium that stages one of the world’s four major tennis tournaments was built in

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

1928, but the French men’s singles championship goes back much further than that. Originally reserved for members of French clubs, it was first held on the courts of Stade Francais Club in Paris in 1891. The women’s singles were added six years later, it was not until 1925 that the French Tennis Federation decided to open the event to the best foreign players. Thus, the French Internationals were born, and staged alternately at Stade Francais and Racing Club de France until the Roland-Garros stadium came into being in 1928. Nadal: The undisputed king Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Today, the tournament is fully deserving of its reputation as the world’s premier clay court event. It is furiously competitive each year, to such an extent that French successes have been few and far between. Since World War II, only Nelly Landry (1948), Françoise Durr (1967) and Mary Pierce (2000) among the women, together with Marcel Bernard (1946) and Yannick Noah (1983) in the men’s event, have lifted the supreme title. Will a Frenchman be able to re-write the history books? To win at Roland Garros, it almost seems to be a prerequisite for a player to speak Spanish. Most of the current clay court specialists are Spanish, including of course the current holder, Majorcan left-hander Rafael Nadal, who has won no fewer than eight times in nine appearances!

m of 2014 at Roland Garros

Open Preview

ROLAND GARROS, FRANCE Rafael Nadal: The 2014 favorite … but is he at risk? Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Rafael Nadal might be the greatest clay court player in the history of the game, but this French Open might see him at risk from both other players and himself. Nadal had trouble at the 2014 Australian Open with back problems and aside from the physical issues, there are several men ready to keep him from another trophy at Roland Garros. Nadal is always Nadal, which means

that he’ll always have issues with his body, but it also means that he’s able to fight through it and hoist numerous awards in the process. This last Australian Open though was a tough one for the Spaniard with Stanislas Wawrinka beating him in an impressive four-setter. Nadal was plagued by back problems in the match, but at the end of the day, admitted that Wawrinka deserved the win with his inspirational playing. Hot on the heels of the world’s number one is Novak Djokovic who, at the end of March, beat Nadal easily in the finals of the Sony Open. Nadal and Djokovic have created a new rivalry that is approaching the level of his previous rivalry with Roger Federer. Something that is good for both players and fans alike. Hopefully, we can see another epic clash between the top two ranked players in the finals, but there are a few others that might have something to say about that which puts Nadal at risk.

T E N N I S

Roland Garros contenders Stanislas Wawrinka Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Is Stanislas Wawrinka ready to fill the shoes of his fellow countryman Roger Federer and win a French Open? He’s got a good chance. Wawrinka has always been a great player with good decision-making and explosive power, but he has lacked confidence in himself, perhaps from playing in the shadow of arguably the greatest tennis player of all time. Confidence abounds now with recent successes, culminating in a win in the 2014 continued on page 6

R U S H

Come play where the surf applauds every shot. The Seaside Tennis Club at the legendary Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on Hawaii Island. 1.866.977.4589 I MaunaKeaBeachHotel.com

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

stars prep for second slam continued from page 5 Australian Open finals. His first major title came only after beating both Nadal and Djokovic, a feat not to be easily dismissed. While watching the French Open this year, look for Wawrinka’s tattoo, ‘’Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.’’ a quote by Irish poet Samuel Beckett. With so much of the buzz being about Nadal, Djokovic and even Andy Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka is a great contender and a breath of fresh air in a scene that is looking for new stars. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

The only Frenchman to ever win on their home turf of Roland Garros was Yannick Noah. Is this the year they have another hometown hero in Jo-Wilfred Tsonga? With four of the top 25 players being French, there is a chance. Tsonga is the best of the bunch. He was a semifinalist in 2013.

Roland Garros pretenders John Isner Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

As much as we’d like to think that American tennis is on the rebound, we might have to wait a bit longer to hear the U.S. National Anthem at the conclusion of the Men’s Singles Tournament. John Isner started the year strong by winning the Heineken Open and has, as of March, regained his career high ranking of ninth in the world. That didn’t help him against Tomas Berdych in the Round of 16 at the Sony Open in Miami, nor against Djokovic at Indian Wells. John Isner will always be in our hearts, but until he finds a way to consistently beat his peers in the top 10, we probably won’t see him get past the fourth round.

Milos Raonic Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Big serves are great, but the slow clay will neutralize Milos Raonic’s big serves at Roland Garros. Raonic is not wellrounded enough at this point to overcome his serve not being dominant. Roland Garros sleeper Alexandr Dolgopolov Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Currently ranked 22nd in the world, Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine is moving up the rankings and playing much better than he did a year ago. Clay is his best surface which gives him a chance to make another rankings jump at the French Open. He has never been past the third round at the French Open, and last year, lost in the opening round to Dimitri Tursunov, but look for him to be a player the top guys want to avoid in 2014.

CALLING ALL JUNIOR PLAYERS! The John McEnroe Tennis Academy is holding tryouts for the 2014-15 Season on June 14, 2014, 8:00am - 3:30pm at SPORTIME Randall’s Island and you could qualify for a FREE Scholarship! REGISTER FOR A CHANCE TO TRAIN WHERE THE SERIOUS PLAYERS TRAIN -

THE JOHN McENROE TENNIS ACADEMY! Interested juniors ages 6 - 16 must register by Friday, June 6, 2014, 5:00pm at www.SportimeNY.com/JMTAScholarship. Call 212/427-6150 or email JMTATryout@SportimeNY.com for more information.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Serena looks for French Open title defense Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Current world number one Serena Williams is the favorite in France. If she plays her best and is on her game mentally and physically, there is no beating her. However, that is not always the case as we learned two years ago when Serena fell to Virginie Razzano of France in the first round. Last year, she rebounded to defeat Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win the French Open title and is looking to make a big run again in 2014, while defending her title. Roland Garros contender Victoria Azarenka

falling to fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in early February, and more recently, lost again to Serena at the Sony Open in Miami. Maria has an amazing skill set and confidence, but has yet to equal her rival in terms of the mental side of the game. Serena is not the only threat that Maria faces, as Azarenka, Na Li and Agnieszka Radwanska will surely have something to say about their chances at Roland Garros.

ing on her favorite surface at the French Open. She was the runner-up in 2012, falling to Maria Sharapova in straight sets, and lost in the 2013 semifinals to Serena in dominant fashion, 6-0, 6-1. In doubles, she won the 2012 title with her partner Roberta Vinci and they were the runners-up in 2013 to the team of Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina. Maybe this year, she takes that final step in both singles and in doubles.

Venus Williams

Eugenie Bouchard Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

With Venus Williams, the name is there, but the game is no longer. While Venus has played well of late, expecting to get through six matches against top players may be too much to ask. She may win a few rounds, but the WTA’s 24th-ranked player will have trouble making it through to the second week.

Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Victoria Azarenka had her best result in the French Open at last year’s tournament, as she made the semifinals where she fell to Maria Sharapova in three sets. While the French Open has seen her worst results of the majors, she is still a major threat at any tournament and seems to be one of the very few women who can match-up with Serena’s power.

Roland Garros sleepers Sara Errani Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

While she has slipped a bit in the rankings this year, the current world number 11 will be play-

Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Who? That’s what everyone was saying, but young Canadian Eugenie Bouchard has some tennis chops. The 20year-old made it into the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open and made waves at the Family Circle Cup by beating both Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic earning her a place in the semifinals where she eventually fell to eventual winner Andrea Petkovic. Ranked 20th in the world, Bouchard would surpass fellow North American Sloane Stephens in overall points if she makes it into the finals. Keep an eye on her to upset a few familiar faces at Roland Garros.

Roland Garros pretenders Maria Sharapova Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Our favorite Russian candy magnate (Sugarpova) will probably have to wait another year as her chances to win the French dwindle amongst tough competition. The thorn in Maria Sharapova’s side, Serena Williams, has not gone away and doesn’t seem to be eying retirement just yet. This year, Maria had trouble at the Paris Open, LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

LONG ISLAND TENNIS MAGAZINE’S

JUNIOR PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Zain Ali A Family Affair brother plays tennis, his father plays tennis, his uncle plays tennis … his cousin plays tennis. That’s not unique in itself, but it is when they’re famous for it. The Ali Family’s roots are in India where they are known for tennis. His uncle Akhtar was a member of the Indian team that went to the Davis Cup finals in 1967 and he went on to coach the Indian Davis Cup team later in his life. His cousin, Zeeshan Ali, is the current Davis Cup coach, keeping the position in the family. His father, Afzal, has been playing tennis for more than 50 years and has coached in Belgium, Holland, Czechoslovakia, at the Port Washington Tennis Academy, and now, at Deer Park Tennis and Fitness where he serves as director of junior tennis and head pro. With such a strong tennis pedigree, it’s no wonder Zain is so good.

By Miguel Cervantes III ighteen-year-old Zain Ali is an incredible tennis player, and if you saw him at work, you’d remember his game for a long time. But if you take the time to sit down and speak with him and his father, you’ll remember more than just his tennis game. Zain and his father, Afzal Ali, are an example of what it takes to produce a champion and having the chance to speak with them both revealed the secrets to Zain’s success.

Getting to know him Zain is a senior at Half Hollow Hills East High School. He has played number one singles for his school team since the eighth grade and has been All-State since the eighth grade as well. He has won an L1 tournament in every age group, and 2013 saw him become Suffolk County Champion and he took third place in the state tournament. Watching him play is inspirational. A rare breed of young tennis player, Zain enjoys being aggressive, not just from the baseline, but also on the approach and at the net, where he plays his best. He’s always looking for opportunities to go forward. Zain displays no signs of flash or bravado, and lets his skills do the talking. Zain is not just about tennis though. His successful mindset is also reflected in his schooling as a straight-A student. Zain, like most teenagers, enjoys spending time with his friends and playing video games. XBOX is his console of choice, 8

Zain Ali and his father Afzal Ali, director of junior tennis and head pro for Deer Park Tennis and Fitness along with long bouts of NBA 2K. His love of basketball comes through if you talk to him long enough as the New York Knicks are his favorite NBA squad. A family affair When you step onto the court with Zain, you’re stepping on not just with him, but with his entire family. Zain comes from a tennis family. His

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Making a champion It’s not always easy being coached by your father. I have, in my life, been privy to several father-child coaching relationships that have gone sour, draining the joy of the game from the youth and failing to produce success. So what makes Zain and his father the exceptions to the rule? It would seem difficult not to push your child into tennis when the family has such a strong history of it, but that’s exactly what Afzal did. Zain remembers playing tennis as young as four-years-old, but at first, it was just for fun. He was never pressured to play and technique or mechanics were never really the focus. Because he was having fun, he developed a

deeper interest and desire to play competitively in a natural way. When Zain did decide to become more competitive and invest his time deeper into improving, his dad was there to help him. His father keeps an open mind and is always supportive of his son. There is a level of trust that allows Zain to ask his father anything and they work through issues together as a team. In the end, it’s a perfect union as Zain loves to play and Afzal loves to teach. Zain says he would never want another coach but his father. He attributes all of his success to their combined efforts. Getting Zain to the top means doing more than just playing tennis. He works with a fitness trainer a couple of times a week. They’ll work in the gym to get Zain stronger and work on the court to increase his agility. Zain also makes sure to eat well, although he doesn’t have a specific diet. What’s next? After graduation, Zain plans on attending Tufts University where he will also play on

the tennis team. Although he doesn’t know what he’ll end up majoring in, he’s starting out with the intention of pursuing engineering. Prom is also on the champion’s mind. Between drills, you’ll hear Zain talk about his plans to ask a girl out to prom. Tradition dictates that he do something special, he just doesn’t know what yet. A large teddy bear and a trip to MSG to watch the Knicks are under consideration. Lessons Zain Ali is a great individual and a great tennis player. Champions are hard to create, and a balance of variables has to be struck in order to produce results. The Ali Family and its strong tennis-rooted lineage certainly has a knack for finding the right formula. Miguel Cervantes III now teaches at Carefree Racquet Club and privately outdoors. Miguel specializes in teaching beginners, training juniors and coaching doubles. He may be reached by e-mail at understandingtennis@gmail.com.

RACQUET CLUB & CAMP

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

Sunday, June 1, 2014 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Brought to You by New York Tennis Magazine and Long Island Tennis Magazine AT

BILLIE JEAN KING

NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY

New York’s Largest Grassroots Tennis Event Returns! Second Annual New York Tennis Expo set for June 1 at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center ennis enthusiasts and the tennis business community have spoken loud and clear: The New York Tennis Expo is critical to the growth and livelihood of the game throughout New York and the metropolitan area! Coming off the inaugural New York Tennis Expo in 2013 that exceeded expectations on every level, as it drew close to 3,000 attendees and 60-plus local, regional and national sponsor partners, United Sports Publications is proud to once again bring tennis enthusiasts of all ages the consummate New York grassroots tennis event. Returning on June 1, 2014 to the home of the U.S. Open with significant enhancements, anyone interested in the “Sport of a Lifetime,” from the casual fan and sports enthusiast, to avid recreational and aspiring collegiate tennis players, to fans of the pro game, will find something for them at the Second Annual New York Tennis Expo. As with 2013, the free, family-friendly event will again be open to attendees of all ages and offer something for everyone. Tennis enthusiasts and their families can expect to enjoy topical discussions and interactive presentations, headlined by worldrenowned tennis coach and recent International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, Nick Bollettieri. Panel discussions will include “The

Road to College Scholarships,” featuring Nick Bollettieri and several top college coaches examining the ever-competitive recruitment process, along with “Taking Your Game to the Next Level,” a roundtable discussion comprised of tennis industry insiders and athletes discussing how to maximize performance and improve one’s game. Mr. Bollettieri will also host a special interactive Q&A sessions entitled “Ask Nick” to field a range of questions and provide his coaching insight. New features for the 2014 New York Tennis Expo are plentiful! An expanded “Kids Zone” will feature a parent-child tennis hitting area, along with face-painting, balloon animals and glitter tattoos, while our outdoor area also promises to keep all family members entertained with plenty of carnival games, challenges and prizes. For those interested in the best tennis products and services, the “Exhibitor Zone” will be expanded to two floors, and will again showcase leading tennis clubs, summer camps, tennis teaching organizations, training techniques, manufacturers, experts in the field of sports medicine, retailers, training facilities, health food and energy drinks, and tennis travel destinations, among others. In the interest of encouraging as many attendees as possible to play as part of the day’s festivities, the Second Annual New York

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Tennis Expo will have three prominent National Tennis Center indoor courts dedicated to a range of play opportunities for the entire family. Attendees can Hit for Prizes, clock their Andy Roddick-esque serves at the Speed Serve booth and get cutting edge stroke analysis via Dartfish Video software. Players will have a chance to test their skills against college tennis players in a “Beat the College Player” court as well. Last but not least, Nick Bollettieri will lead a 10 & Under tennis demo, utilizing age-appropriate equipment to encourage our next generation of New York area tennis players to get in the game! To round out the day’s activities and add yet another component to the multi-faceted slate of Expo events on the grounds of the National Tennis Center, this year’s New York Tennis Expo is proud to play host to the Unified Tennis Games Tournament in partnership with the Special Olympics of New York. The Unified Tennis Games is a friendly round-robin event representing the culmination of an outstanding grassroots instructional, mentorship and practice program pairing area

high school varsity and tournament players with intellectuallychallenged athletes. Yet another addition to the 2014 New York Tennis Expo is the United Sports Publications Broadcast Plaza, an on-site media hub where New York Tennis Magazine and Long Island Tennis Magazine will create official Expo editorial content, including reports from the show floor, video interviews with speakers and exhibitors, as well as segments for the first-ever Tennis Talk New York radio show, the newest media component in United Sports Publications’ platform, intended to serve both consumers and business partners. All told, United Sports Publications is honored to once again be able to bring together the tennis community in the interest of providing a platform to grow the sport throughout New York. We look forward to seeing you there! Don’t just take our word for it. We hosted nearly 3,000 attendees last year and here are a few comments on just how fun, exciting and beneficial the First Annual New York Tennis Expo was …

“This was the first time I have been really able to reach out to the tennis community to demo my product. To have an audience like this at the New York Tennis Expo has been incredible.” —Dave Lipetz (Tennis Balance Board)

“I really enjoyed the event and my bag of prizes. Had a great time and it was very crowded. I had a very good time at the Kids Zone and am glad I came.” —Tyler D’Alessandro (8-years-old)

“I came here all the way from Florida for this event and it has been an outstanding and high-quality event. Would definitely return for a second year and more.” —Ches Gibson (IMG Academy)

“It was a great opportunity for us to showcase what we have to offer to the tennis community.” —Sharon Rappaport (Sportime)

“I had a great time. Loved the prizes and hope to come back next year.” —Jesper D’Alessandro (11-years-old) “This Expo was different. It was well-organized, highly-promoted and professionally-executed. It was also free to the public. This was the biggest grassroots tennis event in the local area, EVER, and if that doesn’t grow the game, then what does? —Steve Kaplan (tennis coach) “I never picked up a racquet before, but was so inspired by the speeches and activities at the Expo that I can’t wait for next year’s event. I will now be playing tennis full-time thanks to my experience here today.” —Ruhima Hajang (attendee)

“I learned a lot from the drills and coaches. What a fun time for me and my family.” —Hailey Stewart (junior player) “This event was a great opportunity to get my club’s info out to the entire local tennis community. I would definitely return for another year.” —Amandine LeGoupil-Mair (Long Beach Tennis Center) “I liked hitting at the 10 & Under courts and liked the music.” —Molly D’Alessandro (6-years old) “Great crowd, lots of info gathered on some of the area’s great programs and an amazing turnout by the local tennis community.” —Neil Samuels (attendee) “This event went extremely well for us.” —Tracy Cassandro (Sportime)

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

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Exhibitors To Include: n New York and Long Island Tennis Clubs n Experts in the field of Sports Medicine n The Industry’s Top Manufacturers displaying the latest in: u Apparel u Racquets u Equipment u Tennis Courts n Tennis and Summer Camp Programs n College Scholarship Advisors and College Coaches n Tennis Travel Destinations

Activities To Include: n Indoor Three-Court Activity Zone Featuring: u Speed Serve Booth u Racquet Demos u 10 & Under Tennis u Dartfish Video Analysis u Hit For Prizes u Beat The Pro n Kid Zone Featuring: u Face Painting u Carnival Games u Balloon Animals u Prizes And More ... n Tours of Arthur Ashe Stadium Court n Parent/Child Sports Deck Play Area

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

SCENES FROM THE

First Annual New York Tennis Expo at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Credit all photos to Nicole Guglielmo

Nick Bollettieri pauses for a photo with an attendee at the First Annual New York Tennis Expo Molly D’Allesandro (left) having a great time learning on the sun deck of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Brett Bothwell of BOLT was on hand to show off his company’s product offerings

A packed room listens in on the “Road to College Tennis” panel discussion

DJCM will return this year to provide the day’s soundtrack

Attendees taking a break and reading Long Island Tennis Magazine during last year’s event

Reps from New York Tennis Academy were available at the Expo to discuss their program offerings

Fun and exciting on-court activities return this year to the Second Annual New York Tennis Expo

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

THANK YOU TO THE

Second Annual New York Tennis Expo Sponsors (as of 04/15/2014)

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

GROW TENNIS

Grow Tennis New York Long Island Tennis Magazine Expanding Its High School Coverage

Long Island Tennis Magazine is constantly adding to its platform and growing the relationship it has with the local tennis community. High school tennis is a key component to the Long Island tennis world, and we fully support the players and coaches in the high school scene. We have always covered high school tennis on the Island, but this year, we wanted to take that coverage to an even higher level. We created a form that coaches can fill out online and submit to us with match results, player information and photos. We compile the information from these forms each day and post articles/photos on our Web site www.longislandtennismagazine.com, as well as our social networks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram documenting the high school matches. Our online platform gets more than 1,000 hits per day and our print magazine has a readership over 23,500. The daily platform that is available to the area’s coaches is unmatched locally and reaches far beyond Long Island. Every coach on Long Island was sent the form prior to the season. There is equal opportunity for every school to submit their match results after each match. At the time of printing, we have received more than 125 forms this season from coaches which has garnered great publicity for the kids and the schools they play for. If you are a high school player or a parent of a high school player, please talk to your coach and urge them to take a few minutes to submit the form after matches. It’s good for the kids and good for the sport of tennis. As we head into Team Playoffs, the Nassau and Suffolk County Championships and the State Championships, Long Island Tennis Magazine looks forward to seeing you all on the courts! Visit www.longislandtennismagazine.com for daily high school recaps. LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

More Than a Tennis Club: Port

t Washington Tennis Academy By Miguel Cervantes III nything that has been around for years probably has a pretty good story behind it. Well, Port Washington Tennis Academy (PWTA) has been around since 1966, and boy did I learn a thing or two recently about it. You probably know that they’ve had some great players pass through its doors in the past, including John McEnroe and Vitas Gerulaitis just to name a few, along with some great coaches, the most famous being Harry Hopman, but did you know that the Port Washington Tennis Academy is a non-profit organization? That was just the tip of the iceberg when I sat down with Dick Zausner. My first question to Dick Zausner was, “How long have you owned the tennis club?” His response … ‘I don’t own it, the Academy does.’” PWTA was founded as a non-profit organization that has education as it’s main focus. Established in 1966 by his father, a Boy Scout, PWTA was launched as a way to give the community youth an activity. The hope was that tennis would

help them stay away from alcohol and drugs. Since then, numerous organizations have benefited from the lessons, matches and daily activity that help fund the PWTA’s philanthropic efforts. A visit to “Lion’s Field” just behind the PWTA reveals a new scoreboard. Just one of the latest examples of the Club’s raison d’etre. The humble Mr. Zausner didn’t want to go through all of their efforts, but they try to focus on youth activities and again, education. Port Washington Tennis Academy didn’t always look the way it does today though. The club started out as just a few outdoor courts. Soon, those courts were bubbled. It took some time before a permanent structure was put in place, and in 1973-1974, the construction of the front building began and in 1977, the back building went up. A tour of the facilities now would take some time. PWTA now has 17 courts (four hard courts and 13 clay courts), a full-service pro shop, a television lounge, locker rooms, meeting rooms, a quarter-mile track, and even lodging for some of the staff. PWTA proudly employs an international staff, a staff whose homelands in-

clude Jamaica, Zambia and Serbia. Having that sort of depth in staffing sometimes requires a time of transition. While pros are finding a place to stay or moving their family, they can use PWTA’s lodging, located just across the parking lot. This arrangement is especially advantageous for everyone in cases like this past winter where the weather played such a huge factor on Long Island. Some of PWTA’s more tenacious clients came in, despite the overwhelming snow, for their lessons. The Academy was able to accommodate them because their pros had only to walk a few hundred feet to work. I’m quick to learn that they don’t like to sit on their laurels though. PWTA is considering putting solar panels on the roof, and even though court lighting was done about 10 years ago, they are considering updating their lighting system as well. PWTA is a club that likes to change with the times, but there are some things that they feel strongly about that cannot be compromised. Education is at the top of that list. This was the most fascinating and exciting topic of conversation shared continued on page 18

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port washington tennis academy continued from page 17 with Mr. Zausner. I asked him to see if he thought they had any professional prospects in the ranks of their current junior players. “You can never tell,” he said. There is no formula anyone has to make a professional out of a junior player, and if anyone did they’d be making them every year. There are plenty of tennis academies out there. Juniors play tennis all day at these fancy academies. Zausner doesn’t feel that that type of environment is the best for children and after speaking to him at length, neither do I. Maybe, one or two of them will become professionals, but the rest won’t. Others may earn scholarships to play in college, but getting a scholarship to go to college doesn’t necessitate going away to play tennis six hours a day. A junior can stay at home and play locally, focus on building relationships and developing their tennis game. That’s exactly what the PWTA does. They

specialize in giving juniors the best opportunity at earning scholarships to play in college by developing their tennis and talking to college coaches. Opening doors and giving kids a chance to go to schools, they might not otherwise be able to go to, is one of the high points of Dick Zausner’s job. He is also quick to point out that players like John McEnroe are born, they’re not made. A great instructor brings out the best in you, but they cannot make you into something that you’re not. Another thing PWTA doesn’t compromise on is the way they teach young children. QuickStart has fast taken over the 10 & Under scene in tennis, but you won’t see it at Port Washington. At PWTA, they develop kids according to each individual’s ability, if a seven-yearold can play the whole court, they play the whole court. If a five-year-old can only play half-court, they play half-court.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

The pros feed regular yellow tennis balls in a way that the player can make good contact. Being able to cater to each individual’s needs is one of PWTA’s greatest strengths. Port Washington Tennis Academy is more than a tennis club and they have one heck of a story … a story rich with famous players, famous coaches, an amazing facility, alongside philanthropic endeavors with youth activities and educational achievement. Next time you stop by Port Washington Tennis Academy, look for the humble octogenarian behind it all. You’re sure to have a great conversation. Miguel Cervantes III now teaches at Carefree Racquet Club and privately outdoors. Miguel specializes in teaching beginners, training juniors and coaching doubles. He may be reached by e-mail at understandingtennis@gmail.com.

COUNTRY CLUB SPOTLIGHT

Lawrence Yacht & Country Club 101 Causeway • Lawrence, N.Y. (516) 239-1685 • www.LYCC.com he Lawrence Yacht & Country Club is located 30 miles from New York City on the picturesque South Shore of Long Island, and offers members tennis, golf and marina facilities. The Lawrence Tennis Club is a great summer experience for the entire family with its friendly atmosphere. It has had a history of popularity on Long Island as the outstanding tennis program for all levels of play. The Club features nine well-maintained Har-Tru courts. Mark Harrison, the Club pro, is USPTA-

certified with an Elite Pro Rating, number one-ranked 55 & Over Doubles, and Long Island Divisions USPTA Pro of the Year. Mark offers a new member clinic for men and women, and he is always available for lessons and to arrange games for members. With a membership comprised of a substantial number of players, there is always a game available. The Tennis Club offers even more … new member discounts, weekend brunch at the courts with soft drinks every Saturday and Sunday, social functions during

the season, Club tournaments for both men and women, local Beach Club discount, tennis leagues, golf course privileges, and the bright and airy Grill Room for dining. With all of the available facilities and amenities, the Lawrence Yacht & Country Club is the best Country Club value for the cost of membership on Long Island. For an application or more information, contact Charlene Cameron of the Membership Department by phone at (516) 239-1685 or e-mail ccameron@villageoflawrence.org.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

L O N G

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charitabl Bethpage Park Tennis Center Lends a Hand With Special Olympics Program Credit photos to Alex Lipps

he “Unified Tennis Games” were first conceived and developed by Steve Kaplan at Bethpage Park Tennis Center in 2003 as part of The Special Olympics program he and Bethpage Park Tennis Co-Director Keith Kambourian have hosted weekly since opening the facility in 1999. Eight high school varsity and tournament tennis players were paired with intellectually challenged athletes for an eight weeks instructional, mentorship and practice program. The Games culminated in a fun and competitive round-robin tournament run in conjunction with The Special Olympics of New York. “It’s a great and needed recreational and athletic opportunity since these Special Olympians cannot advocate for themselves,” said Kaplan. “This is a needed program and I’m so thankful to have had the great support of the New York State De-

partment of Parks, Bethpage State Park and the wonderful volunteers like head coach Ken Walker whose daughter Sabrina has been a participant since the start of the program.” This year’s Unified program was organized by Kaplan with help from his long-time student Hannah Camhi, now a sophomore at Brown University. “Hannah really got the program going this year,” said Kaplan. “She brought tremendous enthusiasm to the program and did most of the work.” The Unified Tennis Games Tournament will be held during the 2014 New York Tennis Expo on June 1. “I was inspired by a few of the past participants that I’ve spoken to who said that it had really been a memorable experience and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Camhi. “I cannot wait for the tournament on June 1.”

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Kenneth Walker, long-time tennis coach with the Special Olympics said, “It’s a great program that’s been held here at Bethpage State Park for the past 15 years.” Walker’s 41-year-old daughter, Sabrina, is involved with the program. “It’s held every week from the third week of September to the first week of June, with players taking part in drills and practices to prepare themselves for competition,” said Walker. Participants this year included: l l l l

Jackie Bukzin (Eastport-South Manor) Kaitlyn Byrnes (Massapequa) Lauren Bishop Aimee Manfredo (Shoreham-Wading River) l Gabby Raziel (Half Hollow Hills East) l Julia Raziel (Half Hollow Hills East) l Vanessa Scott (Half Hollow Hills East)

T E N N I S

M A G A Z I N E ’ S

le initiatives Second Annual “Ace It for Syd” Tennis Tournament Set for June 7 n Saturday, June 7, the Sydne Jacoby Foundation Inc. will be hosting the Second Annual “Ace It for Syd” Tennis Tournament at the Oceanside High School Tennis Courts. The tournament is open to teams of all ages and levels, and beings at 9:00 a.m. The Sydne Jacoby Foundation Inc. was founded less than a year ago as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in the memory of Sydne Jacoby, an Oceanside High School graduate who tragically passed away at the age of 19 while attending the University of Massachusetts. Sydne earned a scholar-

ship to the University of Massachusetts and felt fortunate to be able to pursue her education on scholarship. The goal of the Sydne Jacoby Foundation is to award a scholarship to an Oceanside High School senior in Sydne’s

honor for years to come. This will be the second year of the Ace It for Syd Tennis Tournament, and all proceeds will go to the Foundation, which raises money both for the Oceanside High School Scholarship Fund, as well as Autism Speaks. The cost is $50 per team, and you can also participate in drills with a certified pro for $25. The Foundation is seeking sponsorship for the event, and will provide a banner thanking all sponsors for their generosity and participation. For more information, please visit www.sydnejacoby.com or e-mail aceforsyd@verizon.net.

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Lights … camera … action! Tennis-loving actor Will Ferrell is set to play Bobby Riggs in a new movie called “Match Maker.” The film will be an adaptation of a 2013 ESPN.com story by Don Van Natta Jr. about the 1973 Battle of the Sexes. Riggs was 55-years-old at the time and Billie Jean King, his opponent, was 29. Ferrell himself is 46 at present.

Timeout! Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov called a timeout in his third-round match at the Sony Open in Miami. He noticed a ballgirl overcome by the 90-degree heat and escorted her off the court to get treatment. While it was very nice, unfortunately Dimitrov still lost to Kei Nishikori when the match resumed.

He got slimed! Some sports stars take themselves all too seriously. Not Andy Murray. Children’s TV channel Nickelodeon made the British tennis leg22

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KAT Z

end the victim of a slime dunking after the Sony Open at Key Biscayne in Florida. The Wimbledon champion was at a press briefing at the Crandon Park Tennis Center when buckets of sticky green goo were thrown all over him as part of a publicity stunt for the channel’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2014. “Getting slimed is definitely the most outrageous award acceptance I’ve ever done, it was pretty good fun,” said a slimecovered Murray after the dousing.

Split open Speaking of Andy Murray, he and coach Ivan Lendl have mutually agreed to end their two-year partnership. In a joint statement on Murray’s Web site, it appeared the Czech-born Lendl had been the instigator of the split. “Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience for me”, said Lendl. “He is a first-class guy. Having helped him achieve his goal of winning major titles, I feel like it is time for me to concentrate on some of my own projects moving forward, including playing more events around the world which I am really enjoying.” Murray, who under Lendl’s guidance won an Olympic gold medal, the 2012 U.S. Open and the 2013 Wimbledon title, added, “I’m eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far. “I’ll take some time with the team to consider the next steps and how we progress from here,” added Murray

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Tweets from the pros l Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal): Congrats to my friend @BubbaWatson for winning the #MastersAugusta and to #MiguelAngelJimenez for his great tournament. l Roger Federer (@RogerFederer): Had a great time in Miami and Indian Wells. I love driving myself whenever I can like the last month! #openwindows l Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert): Watching #Blacklist with #JamesSpader ... he’s got it … l Bob Bryan (@BryanBros): Congrats to my big bro, Mike, on triple digits. #100 @MCROLEXMASTERS l Gael Monfils (@Gael_Monfils): I will take some time for myself, need to fix a few things. I hope to be back soon stronger. l John Isner (@JohnIsner): Who else agrees with me that the officiating in this Tampa-Montreal series has been horrible? l Caroline Wozniacki (@Carowozniacki): Had an amazing time in Augusta! Time to go home, see you next year! Won’t forget that 30 foot putt any time soon! l Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania): Be kind to unkind people ... they need it the most. l Sabine Lisicki (@SabineLisicki): Done with practice with @SaraErrani & now watching Champions League :-) l Andy Murray (@Andy_Murray): Lightning just struck twice ... the plane I was

l l

l l l l

on from Paris to London! Been a rough few days travel #sweatypalms #whiteknuckles Eugenie Bouchard (@GenieBouchard): Still fight my brother to sit in the front seat of the car #somethingsneverchange Victoria Azarenka (@Vika7): Go #bulls over time let’s go! Andy Roddick (@AndyRoddick): RT@darrenrovell: Yanks spell Jacoby Ellsbury’s name wrong at his 1st home game … Yes ! Hahahahaha Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76): Watching Angels play opening day w/my son. Angels get a homer from Trout second at bat. Go Halos! Serena Williams (@SerenaWilliams): Dinner: Coco Puffs. Too tired to go out ... Sloane Stephens (@SloaneTweets): I snuck into my Easter basket early! #Easter #bunny Mardy Fish (@MardyFish): What’s more stressful? Fantasy baseball or just normal everyday life? Maria Kirilenko (@MKirilenko): Not easy to be the best of all!!! Proud of my

baby!!! #RussianMachineNeverBreak l Justin Gimelstob (@JustinGimelstob): If you get a chance try to check out an excellent book “Facing Federer” by @scoopmalinowski fun read l Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing): I've been nominated by the @shortyawards—how cool and unexpected! Social media is a great way to connect and learn from each other. l Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska): They call me a 'ninja' in press. Hehe … Very tough match and congrats to Simona for top five … Nice to have a new name in there! l Jimmy Connors (@JimmyConnors): Bubba—no back-up in you. Two-time Masters Champion. Puts you in some very special company. Wear that 2nd green jacket with pride. SPECIAL!!! l Tomas Berdych (@tomasberdych): Back to @PortugalOpen after long long time!!!! Happy to be back and SEE YOU guys next week #Portugal #portugalopen l Ana Ivanovic (@AnaIvanovic): Thank u so much for amazing time in Stuttgart and for making me feel so welcomed!

l l l

Sad to finish in that manner but can't wait to be back! Milos Raonic (@milosraonic): Don't drop your phone taking a selfie #AntSizedPeople Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys): Waking up and realizing I'm going to Europe tomorrow!!! Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka): Wahouuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a day!!!!!! First Masters 1000!!!!!!!!! #HAPPY!!!!! #ReallyHAPPY!! Venus Williams (@Venuseswilliams): Had a great morning with @extratv and @mariamenounos talking about @JambaJuice and drinking smoothies Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan): Happy Easter everyone! Hope you have a great Sunday with your loved ones! Christina McHale (@ChristinaMcHale): Excited to be in St. Louis for fed cup. Go USA!!!!!! Kevin Anderson (@kevinanderson18): @SethMacFarlane & @neiltyson show the #Cosmos is a must watch for any enquiring mind. So well articulated, explaining life & space #science

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Grand Slam Tennis Solow Sports 214 Commack Road 347a Main Street Commack, N.Y. Huntington, N.Y. (631) 499-6444 (631) 629-4940 What are specialty stores? Specialty stores are a place to go and www.solowsports.com receive extensive, dedicated, and welcoming services that do not Solow Sports is not your typical racquet shop! The experience include the click of a mouse. begins with its staff which consists solely of players, coaches Jim Donnelly has been a proud owner and operator of Tennis and tour stringers to help you find exactly what you are looking Emporium & Grand Slam Tennis for more than 39 years. Grand for. A vast array of racquets are available from all leading brands, Slam Tennis opened in 1986, after the birth of Jim’s youngest son as well as some rare manufacturers that you wont find anywhere Chase, who currently manages the store. Jim and his three sons else. You can even test the racquets in the on-site serving cage have worked in the business for the past 15 years and have as they have the largest demo selection on Long Island. reached out to service Long Island and the tennis community. With When it comes to racquet stringing, gripping and customizathe help of Jim’s son Chase managing Grand Slam, Jim has had tion, Solow Sports is your go-to place. Racquets are always the opportunity to expand his interest in growing the game. strung on the world’s most advanced machines with knowlGrand Slam Tennis is not just a tennis specialty store—it is a edgeable stringers who have strung for the pros on tour. Have welcoming environment to any tennis player, whether you’re a your grips meticulously installed, racquets weighted and balrecreational, club or tournament level player. Their services proanced, grommets replaced, and more. Racquet drop-off is availvide an array of different possibilities: Tennis racquet, badminton, able 24/7 for your convenience, as well as on-the-spot stringing squash and racquetball restringing, tennis attire, tennis tutor ball within an hour or less. Get the same professional service as your machines (sales, services and trials), tennis nets, ball hoppers, tenfavorite tour player. nis bags, tennis racquet sales, tennis sneakers, accessories, and Shop the numerous racks of apparel for men, women, boys a whole lot more. Grand Slam Tennis is 1,800-square feet of tenand girls. Find your favorite brand or try a new local manufacturer. nis equipment, with one side dedicated to tennis attire, and the Complete your on-court look with huge selections of bags, hats, other to tennis racquets, sneakers and five stringing machines. footwear and more. As a premier racquet sport destination, you Your experience at Grand Slam Tennis is guaranteed to be difwill find full equipment lines for platform tennis, racquetball, ferent from any other store. The staff is very experienced, knowlsquash, paddle and even table tennis. The store features a touredgeable and willing to help. When looking to buy a tennis racquet nament ping-pong table for customers to play. or ball machine, you are able to demo the equipment through the If that wasn’t enough, Solow Grand Slam demo program. The demo program is geared toward Sports enhances the customer exthe player, and is based on your feedback; therefore, you can be perience with racquet pickup and guided in the right direcdelivery, on-court equipment consultion in purchasing the right tations, custom racquet painting, a racquet for you. At the full racquet diagnostic center. Get point of purchase, all of what you are looking for to take your your information is stored game to the next level in-store and in the computer database online at www.solowsports.com. for future reference. See you on the court! Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 24

Tennis East 73 Main Street Southampton, N.Y. (631) 283-9535 TennisEast@optonline.net Tennis East 47 ½ Main Street East Hampton, N.Y. (631) 324-5881 TennisEast@optonline.net For more than 42 years, Tennis East has been the year-round, full-service tennis store of choice for East End racquet sport enthusiasts. Tennis East offers an extensive selection of men’s, women’s and junior’s racquets, apparel, sneakers and accessories for players of all ages and skill levels. More so, Tennis East carries a complete line of 10 & Under Tennis equipment. Although we have retained our traditional heritage and roots, Tennis East has become more fashion-forward and now carries the most popular and latest product arrivals so that its customers can wear and use the gear that the top tennis professionals are using. In addition, we have expanded our women’s apparel offering to include new fashion designers that have been featured in the pages of Vogue and Town & Country magazines. Tennis East continues to string all customer and demo racquets on the Wilson Baiardo, the most state-of-the-art stringing machine on the market. The Baiardo delivers unmatched speed, accuracy and consistency. Tennis East is committed to providing personalized service, professional advice and a high-quality shopping experience. Please look for special offers on Tennis East’s social network sites. For more information, contact Tennis East by phone at 631-2839535 (Southampton), 631324-5881 (East Hampton).

Topspin Tennis & Fitness 218 Jericho Turnpike Syosset, N.Y. (516) 364-9470 TopSpinTennisLI.com New additional location at Christopher Morley Tennis 500 Searingtown Road Roslyn, N.Y. (516) 484-4200 TopSpinTennisLI.com Topspin Tennis & Fitness is Nassau County’s top tennis specialty shop. Topspin moved to its new state-of-the-art location two years ago, now centrally located at 218 Jericho Turnpike, directly across from Syosset Hospital. Known as the home of “Clothes for the Pros,” Topspin has been serving Long Island tennis pros and players with equipment and the top fashion in the sport for more than 30 years. Topspin’s staff is known for its expertise and high-quality service. You will find all the premier tennis brands of equipment, apparel and shoes at Topspin for the whole family. Topspin carries the actual outfits and footwear worn at the U.S. Open. Topspin carries a full line of fitness and workout apparel and running shoes, so you can go from the court to the gym in style. Their racket wall contains a large selection of frames, bags and accessories at great prices. Your racket can be strung while you wait by Topspin’s professional staff. Topspin is a great destination for tennis and Father’s Day gifts as well. Topspin’s staff will ensure that, with the right equipment, you will reach your highest potential as a player and just as importantly, with the right fashion, will look great too! Topspin has recently expanded operations by opening a pro shop at the new tennis facility at Christopher Morley Tennis. They will carry all the new racquets, apparel and shoes for the whole family. LITennisMag.com • May/June 25

Tennis Junction/Sportset TENNIS 43 Middle Neck Road JUNCTION/SPORTSET Great Neck, N.Y. (516) 487-1515 This year, Tennis Junction of Great Neck, N.Y. is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The first store of 900-square-feet was across from the Great Neck Train Station. The store’s name was derived from the popular TV program, “Tuxedo Junction”. After several years, the store was bursting at its seams. At that time, a 4,000-square-foot store became available on the Main Street and Middle Neck Road. Store Owners Rachel and Norman Lee jumped at the opportunity to have the space for their booming business. Tennis Junction offers a huge selection of apparel for adults and youth, with many of the most popular brands. When it comes to tennis footwear, you will find the largest selection in the world with more than 120 styles. The racquet selection is also very impressive, with 400-plus racquets in stock. The success at Tennis Junction comes from the following: Knowledgeable and courteous sales associates; a huge selection of brand name equipment; and substantial discounts in all categories. Tennis Junction is located at 43 Middle Neck Road in Great Neck, N.Y. For more information, call them at (516) 487-1515.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Pine Hollow Hosts Meet & Greet to Kick off 2014 Season BY BRIAN COLEMAN

ine Hollow Country Club in East Norwich, N.Y. kicked off its 2014 tennis season with a Meet & Greet event on April 28 on the beautiful grounds of its club. The day’s events featured tennis clinics for all ages, as well as open play matches. The event was geared to get Pine Hollow members and their guests out on the courts for the first time this season, and to have them interact with each other as the Country Club Season is upon us on Long Island. “This is one of the best events we have had here,” said Lisa Cooper, a seven-year member of Pine Hollow. “The grounds are beautiful, and it is just good to be back outside playing.” The afternoon event had a very nice turnout, despite the sunny but windy conditions. “I’m excited about improving my game,” said Susan Singer, a four-year Pine Hollow Country Club member. “There are events each weekend such as clinics, free play, 10 at 10, doubles matches, and just something for players of every level.” Pine Hollow has eight championship Har-Tru courts on the premises and the courts are surrounded by the beautiful grounds of the Country Club. The Club’s events provide activities for people of all ages. Dr. Bob Trager, who has been a member at Pine Hollow for nearly 50 years,

says he still gets great enjoyment out of coming to the Club, even after so many years. “After a cold winter, there is nothing better than coming here and playing outdoors,” said Dr. Trager. “There is such good camaraderie between the members here. Everybody seems to be in a good mood here, and it really does serve as an oasis from the real world.” The day’s events were coordinated by Ricky Becker, director of tennis at Pine Hollow. Becker was extremely pleased with the turnout, and is looking forward to the tennis

season this summer. “There are fun events taking place during the week, as well as ones on the weekend,” said Becker. “My favorite part is being able to see everybody again. During the winter, the members don’t get to see each other very often, so it is nice to get to interact with everybody again. We have a really nice group here.” Brian Coleman is editorial coordinator for Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by phone at (516) 409-4444, ext. 314 or e-mail brianc@usptennis.com.

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Hidden Secrets of the Novak “The Jokester” Djokovic By Tom Ferraro, Ph.D. his is the third article in a series on the hidden traits of the top tennis players in the modern era. Thus far I have talked about Roger Federer’s perfectionism and Rafael Nadal’s incredible family support as keys to their success. This month, we will take a crack at Novak “The Jokester” Djokovic and how he rose to the top of the tennis world. In an era that has been dominated by the incredible talents of Federer and Nadal, Djokovic did the impossible. He surpassed them both to achieve the number one spot in the ATP rankings for 101 weeks running. How in the world did he do this? To find out, I called on the critical knowledge of Steven Kaplan, director of Bethpage Park Tennis Center. Steven has one of the most intuitive and brightest minds in tennis, and I will tell you what he said later. First, let us describe Novak Djokovic in more detail.

I have written about Novak for many years. My first piece on him was titled “It Is Now the Return of the Ugly” where I described how he smirked, snarled and cursed his way on to center court at the U.S. Open many years ago. We all knew he was a force to be reckoned with, but his demeanor was appalling when contrasted with the elegance of Roger Federer. Since then, he clawed his way to the top and at the age of 26, he has won 43 career titles, six Grand Slams and amassed $60,271,921 in earnings. He has a career record of 560-134 (80.66 percent) to date. He was considered a prodigy by the age of six. He was well-coached and eventually shipped off to the Pilic Tennis Academy in Germany by the time he was 12. He is known as a flamboyant and funny character with a cutting sense of humor. In addition, he is very religious and has been awarded the Order of St. Sava I from the Serbian Orthodox Church. He is extremely disciplined and lives by a strict glutenfree diet. But these character traits and experiences do not fully account for his amazing rise. There is always an X Factor that all the greatest players possess. And this is when I make my call to Steven Kaplan. Steven told me in an instant that what gives Novak the edge is his early childhood experience in Serbia. Novak Djokovic grew up during the Serbian War. He lived through a blitzkrieg of 78 days and nights of bombing where he and his family barely survived. On

e Greats: the “60 Minutes” piece on Novak, Charlie Rose commented that the reason Novak is on top is because he clearly has a mental edge over his opponents. He lived through and survived real life trauma. This reminded me of Tiger Woods’ early childhood. A little known fact about Tiger is that he was a victim of severe racial discrimination by growing up in an all-white neighborhood. As a youngster, he was tied to trees and had the N-word painted on his chest. And this is where his incredible desire to compete and win comes from. Novak’s case is the same. It is only out of the crucible of trauma and pain that a champion will be formed. Novak Djokovic has many talents and natural gifts. But if I were to guess the X Factor that has set him above the rest, I would agree with Mr. Kaplan and say that his passion and drive were born from living through a war which was traumatizing enough to give him a lifelong desire to survive and win. What can we learn from the rise of Novak Djokovic? The fire to excel comes from pain. But this does not mean that a parent should manufacture pain, fear, deprivation and suffering in order to create a winner. This would be unethical and even criminal. But what it does mean is that if you are a tennis player with high aspirations and great drive, this comes from a dark place in your past. It is good to know that and accept it, so that as you ride the wave to success, you can find the time to enjoy the process rather than suffer your way to the top. Take pride in your past, in your talent and in the fact that you survived your past to become who you are right now. For consultations, treatment or on-site visits, contact Dr. Tom Ferraro Ph.D., sport psychologist, by phone at (516) 248-7189, e-mail drtferraro@aol.com or visit www.drtomferraro.com.

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Red and Blue the Colors of Champions BY RICHARD FINN ed and blue were the colors of the day at the Big East Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships presented by New York Life. At a sun-drenched USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the top seeded St. John’s men (16-7) claimed its first conference crown since 1991 with a 41 win over number three DePaul (11-14). The women’s title went to the top-seeded Blue Demons (22-3) with a resounding 4-0 win over number three Xavier (19-6). Now, the champions wait to hear their fate in the NCAA Tournament when the draw for the 64-team fields will be announced. “So emotional, tremendous for St. John’s tennis and the guys fought so hard this year and they deserve it,” said St. John’s Red Storm Coach Eric Rebhuhn soaking in a victory Gatorade shower moments after junior Erick Reyes zipped a backhand passing shot winner to claim

number two singles and the title. “It’s a great feeling.” Reyes was too sharp for DePaul sophomore Sten Leusink from the ground and got plenty of support from the home fans to take a 6-2, 6-2 win in just more than 90 minutes. “It’s awesome, I tried to be focus on every point because if you think too much you will probably miss,” said Reyes. “I was just calm and I just played my game at the end.” Reyes was also instrumental in grabbing a hard earned doubles point. After splitting first and third doubles, the Red Storm’s number two tandem of Reyes & R.J. Del Nunzio held off a furious comeback from Leusink & Kyle Johnson to win 8-6 on a service winner from Reyes. St. John’s led 7-3 and had two match points at 7-4. Red Storm singles victories went to sophomore Vaidik Munshaw (number four) and freshman Robert Livi (number five).

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

The DePaul women were strong favorites coming into the tournament after a sparkling regular season and a top-50 national ranking. The victory set off an impromptu on-court celebration after sophomore Zaina Sufi clinched the victory at number five singles with an uneven 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over senior Andrea Wolf. “Being the number one seed, there is always a little added pressure. We tried to embrace it,” said Sufi. “It’s a celebration and relief to be able to win it.” “I am just so happy for them, it’s a great feeling,” DePaul coach Mark Ardizzone said of his team’s return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010. It was a gritty effort by the Musketeers who had been stretched to the limit and beyond in a six-hour-plus marathon semifinal win against Marquette on Saturday. “Hats off to DePaul,” said Xavier Coach Eric Toth. “We have a goal every year to win this and we got to the day. That’s a huge day for us. Only one team can go home happy and that was DePaul today.” The Blue Demons women got off to a blistering start, sweeping the doubles point in under an hour. Sophomore Ana Vladutu put the exclamation point on DePaul’s domination with a booming service winner to wrap up No. 1, 8-1 in just 34 minutes. DePaul’s strength has been its depth and the play of senior Kelly Lawson, Sufi and junior Rebeca Mitrea and once again that proved to be the decisive advantage. Mitrea beat junior Lizzie Oosterbann 6-2, 75 and when junior Patricia Fargas beat sophomore Alex Brinker at number two singles, it set the stage for Sufi’s win to book a trip to the NCAAs. Sufi’s victory was not textbook nor al-

at the Big East Tennis Championships ways pretty, but it got the job done. “I can’t say it was my best match, the other girl made me work for it,” Sufi said of the one hour 25 minute match. “At the end I started hitting my shots and pulled through.” The Musketeers’ standout freshman Sydney Liggins continued to put the conference on notice. The smooth-swinging southpaw was knotted at a set apiece with Vladutu at No. 1 singles when play was stopped. “Xavier and the Big East will have to deal with her for three more years, she is a special player,” said Toth. “She is arguably the best player in the conference.”

Big East Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships Results Men’s Championship St. John’s 4-DePaul 1 Doubles l Vaidik Munshaw & Lucas Hejhal (SJU) defeated Filip Dzanko & David Vieyra (DPU), 8-5 l Erick Reyes & R.J. Del Nunzio (SJU) defeated Sten Leusink & Kyle Johnson (DPU), 8-6 l Adam Reinhart & Jan-Willem Feilzer (DPU) defeated M.J. Every & Robert Livi (SJU), 8-3 Singles l Filip Dzanko (DPU) leading R.J. Del Nunzio (SJU), 6-4, 3-5 l Erick Reyes (SJU) defeated Sten Leusink (DPU), 6-2, 6-2 l David Vieyra (DPU) defeated Lucas

Hejhal (SJU), 6-3, 6-2 l Vaidik Munshaw (SJU) defeated Joshua Schramm (DPU), 6-0, 6-2 l Robert Livi (SJU) defeated Paul John (DPU), 6-0, 6-2 l Freddy Ruiz-Acevado (SJU) leading Kyle Johnson (DPU), 7-6 (6), 5-1 Men’s Tournament Most Outstanding Player l Erick Reyes, St. John’s Women’s Championship DePaul 4-Xavier 0 Doubles l Ana Vladutu & Patricia Fargas (DPU) defeated Alexandra Brinker & Sydney Liggins (XU), 8-1 l Jasmin Kling & Kelsey Lawson (DPU) leading Cristina DiLorenzo & Daniella Patton (XU), 7-3

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l Zaina Sufi & Rebeca Mitrea (DPU) defeated Ally Westling & Andrea Wolf (XU), 8-3 Singles l Ana Vladutu (DPU) tied with Sydney Liggins (XU), 3-6, 7-5 l Patricia Fargas (DPU) defeated Alexandra Brinker (XU), 6-1, 6-3 l Jasmin Kling (DPU) leading Cristina DiLorenzo (XU), 6-1, 5-5 l Kelsey Lawson (DPU) leading Daniella Patton (XU), 6-3, 5-6 l Zaina Sufi (DPU) defeated Andrea Wolf (XU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 l Rebeca Mitrea (DPU) defeated Lizzie Oosterbaan (XU), 6-2, 7-5 Women’s Tournament Most Outstanding Player l Patricia Fargas, DePaul

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www.tenniseast.com LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

USTA EASTERN LONG ISLAND REGION

USTA League Appreciation

USTA League players from the Long Island Region enjoyed a weekend of tennis together at the Region’s Second Annual USTA League Appreciation Weekend in upstate New York.

Junior Team Tennis Junior tournament players, high school tennis team members and ranked juniors seeking competition and added court time are invited to try Junior Team Tennis, where you’ll play against other ranked players and have the opportunity to represent Long Island at Regional, Sectional and even National events. Juniors up to the age of 18 train at and play for local clubs, with matches played on weekends. For more information, please contact ustaonlongisland@gmail.com or call your local tennis club.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

USTA EASTERN LONG ISLAND REGION

LI Region Newsletter The latest issue of “On the Ball: News from LI,” the Long Island Region’s quarterly newsletter, is now available online at www.longisland.usta.com. This month’s issue is chock full of news and information about tennis goings-on across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Stories include: l A look at the USTA LI Region’s 24th Annual Awards Dinner; l A profile of King Van Nostrand, first winner, in 1997, of the Hy Zausner Lifetime Achievement Award; l A piece about Mr. Zausner and his influence on Long Island tennis; l A calendar of upcoming events around the Region; l Information about grants available to Long Island member organizations and a look at a recent grantee, Girls Inc. of Long Island; l Information about high-achieving high school seniors who will be taking their tennis on the road next year when they play for college teams; l And much more. To see a copy of the newsletter, please visit www.long-island.usta.com, or, to join the subscription list, please e-mail ustaonlongisland@gmail.com.

Commack to host MS Fundraiser A Mixed-Doubles for Multiple Sclerosis Fundraiser will take place on Saturday, June 7 at noon at Commack High School. For more information, please e-mail jgtennis4ms@gmail.com. LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

College-Bound Long Islanders Make Their Commitments ong Island’s top high schoolers and junior players have their eyes set on big things, with senior graduation right around the corner. Many have already chosen, and have been accepted to universities across the country, where they

PLAYER ZAIN ALI KYLE ALPER DYLAN APPEL MATT BAHAR ROSS BINDER JAMES BLASTCHLY BRIDGET CONNORS PATRICK FARRELL DANIELLE GIANETTI DANIEL GRUNBERGER BRIDGET HARDING NICOLE KOSKOVOLIS COOPER LACERTA LAUREN LIVINGSTON RHEA MALHOTRA ALEKSANDRA MALLY AIMEE MANFREDO CONOR MULLINS JONATHAN PARIS JUSTIN PARKS LAMAR REMY BENJAMIN ROSEN CLAUDIA RUIZ CORY SELTMAN JOSH SILVERSTEIN PAULINA TAFLER SUNAINA VOHRA

will continue their careers on the court. Congratulations to the following on their accomplishments over their high school careers, and best of luck as they begin the next chapter in their lives:

COLLEGE TUFTS QUINNIPIAC FAIRFIELD SUNY ONEONTA SUNY ONEONTA SUNY ONEONTA SALISBURY CONNECTICUT COLLEGE SKIDMORE COLUMBIA EMORY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS COLLEGE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LOUISVILLE BRADLEY BOSTON COLLEGE JOHN HOPKINS STONY BROOK WISCONSIN BATES SACRED HEART SACRED HEART IOWA SUNY BINGHAMTON

HOMETOWN DIX HILLS DIX HILLS LOCUST VALLEY SYOSSET MERRICK LOCUST VALLEY EAST QUOGUE SMITHTOWN OYSTER BAY GREAT NECK NORTHPORT MANHASSET SPEONK SANDS POINT SYOSSET FRANKLIN SQUARE SHOREHAM LLOYD HARBOR COLD SPRING HARBOR HUNTINGTON ROSLYN PORT WASHINGTON GLEN HEAD DIX HILLS GREAT NECK OCEANSIDE

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List compiled by the USTA/Eastern LI Region Board.

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

18 GOODFRIEND DRIVE E A S T H A M P TO N , N Y

Racket Speed and Why We Want to Play With Better Players By Steve Kaplan e love to hit with better players because we play better. It’s a universal tennis experience and it’s more than just ego and motivation that makes us feel this way. We hit harder, crisper and crush the ball effortlessly, while sparring with a bigger hitter. While you may take comfort in knowing the benefits of “hitting up” are not just in your head, they don’t reflect an improvement in your abilities. Unfortunately, that wonderful feeling of hitting better goes away against lesser players. It’s the laws of physics just messing with you. To understand why hitting up is so alluring, let’s examine the effects of racket speed on ball speed. Generally, the faster you swing the racket, the faster the hit travels, all other things being equal (racket weight, string tension, racket strike point, etc.) with two very important exceptions. First, the relationship between racket

speed and the velocity a struck ball travels is not direct. It plateaus at modest speeds before rising again at faster speeds. This is because greater flexing of the racket strings causes the ball to speed up in a direct relationship to swing speed, while ball compression, which slows the ball down, is non-linear to increasing racket speed. At a moderate swing speed, you can hit pretty hard with a great deal of control. Most players notice that if they try to swing just a bit faster, they don’t gain power, but lose some control. To make the ball travel faster, you must swing a good deal faster. The bottom line is that it’s difficult to supply your own power to hit harder and maintain control. Of course, you could hit with a bigger hitter, because they supply the power to make your strings flex more and speed the ball up. It’s Newton’s Third Law of Motion at work and it states that “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” As your opponent hits at greater speeds, the ball maintains speed when it collides

with your strings and you feel like you’re a pro. Imagine riding a bike that’s going slightly downhill. You’re not a stronger rider because you move faster, it’s just gravity helping you which is a wonderful feeling until the road goes up and you must do all the work. Similarly, hitting with a better player is great fun, but it’s not a shortcut to improved play. Steve Kaplan is the owner of Bethpage Park Tennis Center, as well as the director of Lacoste Academy for New York City Parks Foundation. Over the last 34 years, Steve has been the longtime coach of more than 600 nationally-ranked junior players, 16 state high school champions, two NCAA Division 1 Singles Champions, and numerous touring professionals and prominent coaches. Steve’s students have been awarded in excess of $8 million in college scholarship money. He may be reached by e-mail at stevenjkaplan@aol.com.

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LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

NTC to Host 2014 U.S. Ope Photo credit: Eric C. Peck

he USTA has announced that the U.S. Open National Playoffs will be held for the fifth season this year, expanding the footprint of the U.S. Open to cities nation-

wide by providing the opportunity for all players 14 years of age and older to earn a berth into the U.S. Open. The USTA Eastern Section will host their Playoffs from

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

June 8-14 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. The U.S. Open National Playoffs include both men’s and women’s singles, as well as mixed doubles. The U.S. Open National Playoffs men’s and women’s singles champions earn a wild card into the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament, held the week prior to the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open National Playoffs mixed-doubles champions receive a wild card into the main draw of the 2014 U.S. Open. “The US Open National Playoffs is all about connecting people to the US Open and giving everyone the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of playing on tennis’ biggest stage” said Dave Haggerty, USTA chairman, CEO and president. “We’re thrilled to be holding this event for the fifth straight year. It truly is one of a kind, and we look forward to another exciting year of watching top junior players, collegians,

n National Playoffs in June teaching pros, ‘weekend warriors,’ and recreational players earn their way into the U.S. Open.” Registration is now open at www.USOpen.org/NationalPlayoffs. The entry fee for each of the sectional qualifying tournaments varies this year, with men’s and women’s singles entries ranging from $75-$100 per player and mixed-doubles entries ranging from $45-$60 per player. All players competing must have a current USTA membership valid through Aug. 25, 2014. The U.S. Open National Playoffs begin as a series of 13 sectional qualifying tournaments held in different USTA Sections across the country. The 13 men’s, women’s and mixed-doubles champions or top available finishers from each sectional qualifying tournament will advance

to the U.S. Open National Playoffs–Men’s and Women’s Singles Championship, held Aug. 15-18, and the Mixed Doubles Championship, held Aug. 20-23. All three tournaments will take place in conjunction with the New Haven Open at Yale, an Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series event. A player may only compete in singles and/or mixed-doubles at one sectional qualifying tournament during a calendar year. Players competing in singles and mixed doubles may opt to compete at different sectional qualifying tournaments for each event (one for singles and one for mixed-doubles). Participants can be of any playing level, giving everyone an opportunity to advance. More than 1,100 players competed in the 2013 U.S. Open National Playoffs, ranging

from experienced professionals who were once ranked in the Top 50, to junior players and current/ former college standouts, to recreational players of all playing abilities and walks of life. Participants included those competing for charity, as well as pastors and rabbis, musicians, lawyers, reporters, former athletes, and stay-at-home mothers. Previous notable participants include Olympic skier Bode Miller, rapper Redfoo of the music group LMFAO, and ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, who teamed with six-time U.S. Open champion Chris Evert in mixed-doubles. The U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament will be held Aug. 19-22 and the U.S. Open Mixed-Doubles Championship begins Aug. 27 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The 2014 U.S. Open begins Aug. 25.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

Imagine This ... Improving Without Picking Up a Racket! By Rob Polishook, Mental Training Coach MA, CPC hat images come to mind when you hear the phrases “Once upon a time,” “Imagine this” or “Remember the time?” For most, these words kick-start a sense of relaxation, almost as if a movie begins to play through our mind about something that once happened. If you are really in tune with yourself, the movie may play in full-color, quadraphonic sound, and you might even remember the smells. The concept of visualization is similar. Athletes use it all of the time to create a mental picture of how they want a situation to unfold. Jack Nicklaus once said, “I never hit a shot, even in practice without having a sharp picture of it in my head. First, I see the ball, where I want to finish … and then see the ball going there.” Studies show that 90 percent of Olympic athletes use some kind of imagery in their training. Many feel it is one

of the most effective methods of preparation for competition. I feel it can be extremely effective, especially when the athlete performs the imagery in real-time, incorporating sight, feel, emotions and smell. The most important component is that the athlete is relaxed and in a calm

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

state of awareness. This will facilitate relaxation and a fertile ground for the imagination to flourish. What is imagery? Imagery is the purposeful act of rehearsing a task mentally with the intent to learn it. It incorporates all of the senses from visual, kinesthetic, auditory, tactile and olfactory. Additionally, it involves imagination, emotion, feelings and moods. Essentially, the idea is to use your imagination to create or recreate a situation in the future, which will help you to have exposure and prepare for the possible scenario which may unfold. Alternatively it is often used to practice a skill or sequence of skills such as a serve, a dive or gymnastics routine. What’s important is that if you can imagine it or see it, you then have the opportunity to execute the skill or more calmly react to the given situation. Who uses imagery? Successful athletes use imagery. I suspect you have even used imagery without even knowing it—it’s almost impossible not

to have done so at some point. Have you ever imagined receiving a present, eating your favorite food, or going out with a friend? Have you ever studied for a test where you ran scenarios through your mind regarding the sequence to solving a problem? Most people use imagery in their dayto-day life without even knowing it. Imagine what would happen if you incorporated it into your day-to-day athletics practice with intention. If you’re like most athletes, it will be beneficial. When can imagery be used? Imagery can be used to practice a skill that the body is unable to perform yet, such as a complex movement like serving or a sequence of shots. It can be used to prepare for a situation that is likely to happen, such as 10,000 Davis Cup fans screaming against you. Imagery can be used when you’re unable to practice due to downtime or injury. In fact, studies suggest that those who practice imagery when they cannot practice succeed more at a skill than those who don’t. Further, those who practice the skill and imagery get the best results.

How can imagery be properly used? Imagery can be used in a variety of ways. Cue words are often effective, for example, often when working with an athlete, we will discuss what animal they would like to play like, specifically identifying the characteristics and attributes of an animal and what the athlete would look like playing with these attributes. Because this comes from the client, they are empowered to imagine it in a way that it holds much power, feeling and attitude. Other times, we will work with a situation, imagining the feelings of what a given situation would look and feel like. Then we imagine the steps for a positive outcome to occur. Additionally, imagery can be used to help unravel a sequence which didn’t work out, and recreate and reframe it in a positive way. How will imagery improve your performance? Imagery can help all athletes in either learning a skill or adapting to a situation. By practicing imagery five minutes a day,

you will become more comfortable with the skill or situation. So remember … imagine performing a skill or an outcome … what would it look like? How would you experience it? What would performing the skill feel like? Where in your body would you feel it? What would you smell or taste as you are performing the skill? Congratulations … you did it! Now go do it! Rob Polishook, MA, CPC is the founder and director of Inside the Zone Sports Performance Group. As a mental training coach, he works with athletes and teams in all sports and levels, helping them to gain the mental edge. He has spoken nationally and internationally and has been quoted by ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and other major media publications. His book, Tennis Inside the Zone has just been released. He may be reached by phone at (973) 723-0314, email rob@insidethezone or visit www.insidethezone.com.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

CONGRATULATIONS to All Award Winners From The USTA Eastern Long Island Region’s 24th Annual Awards Dinner

Congratulations to Stephanie Nakash for earning the #1 rank in Women’s Eastern Section Open Doubles

Congratulations to the 2014 winner Steven C. Brill, President - Clear Point Advisors, Inc.

Congratulations to Point Set for winning the Club of the Year Award! Keep up the good work! Sincerely, Long Island Tennis Magazine

Congratulations to Dean Nogrady for being awarded the prestigious Vitas Gerulaitis for the Love of Tennis Award. To all who have been privileged to know him he’s been an Award Winner all his life and we value our friendship and association with him!

Shelter Rock Tennis & Country Club is honored to be the recipient of this year’s PRIVATE CLUB OF THE YEAR AWARD.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Award Winners From The USTA Eastern Long Island Region’s 24th Annual Awards Dinner

Congratulations to Patrick Lombardi on a great season! - Ray & Mary Lombardi

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Congratulations to SPORTIME CEO, CLAUDE OKIN, on receiving the USTA Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you for your leadership, and for your unwavering dedication to the game of tennis. -Your SPORTIME and the John McEnroe Tennis Academy family.

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Carefree Racquet Club congratulates the Kolenberg Family, Adam, Bonnie, Matthew & Jake for being named the 2013 Family of the Year! Well deserved!

Congratulations to Claude Okin for winning the Hy Zausner Lifetime Achievement Award. Your support of the growth in local tennis participation and the sport as a whole is very much appreciated. This award is well deserved! Sincerely, Long Island Tennis Magazine

Sunday, June 1, 2014 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Brought to You by New York Tennis Magazine and Long Island Tennis Magazine

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Award Winners From The USTA Eastern Long Island Region’s 24th Annual Awards Dinner

St. Joseph's Golden Eagles would like to wish Coach Glenn Nathan congratulations on overcoming adversity. You are a true winner! - St. Joseph’s College

Congratulations to all the winners! See you on the courts soon! Sincerely, Long Island Tennis Magazine

Carefree Racquet Club congratulates Tara Ofsink for being awarded the Charles Karp Award. Tara, your selﬂessness is unmatched and no one is more deserving of this award than you!

Point Set Tennis would like to thank the USTA Eastern Long Island Region for the honor of being named Tennis Club of the Year. The Staff at Point Set share this award with the ownership and all of our customers who make our club what it is. 44

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

B Y K AT H Y M I L L E R

t the time of this article submission, the mixed-doubles season was coming to an end. The 6.0 and 9.0 Divisions finished up recently with the Hempstead Lake team, captained by Darlene Sotomayor and Adam Moramarco, advancing to the Section Championship in Albany the weekend of May 30-June 1. The 9.0 Division winning team to represent Long Island will be the team from Sportime Lynbrook, captained by Chris Colesanti. The 7.0 and 8.0 Divisions have to play a three-team round-robin Region Championship before advancing to the Section Championship. Playing the weekend of April 25 for the 7.0 Division will be Eastern Athletic Melville, captained by Jamie Stickney; Sportime Massapequa, captained by Ann Reid; and Sportime Syosset, captained by Dawn Schosberg. Playing the same weekend for the 8.0 Division is the Long Beach team, captained by Andrew Camacho; the World Gym Setauket team, captained by Wayne Freeman; and another team from Long Beach, captained by

Anthony Cristi. Good luck to all the teams! The 40 & Over Men’s and Women’s League begins play the first week of May. The 18 & Over has most levels beginning the first week in June and the 55 & Over Levels starting at the end of June. We are hoping with a little less overlap, things will be more manageable for both the captains and players. The 18 & Over League has teams at the 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0+ Levels. The 2.5 and 5.0+ matches consist of one court of singles and two courts of doubles. The 5.0+ Level may have two players with a 5.5 rating on their team, although only one can play in each match and must play the singles court or on the first doubles court. The other levels matches are two courts of singles and three courts of doubles. The 40 & Over League has teams at the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5+ Levels. All levels are also two courts of singles and three courts of doubles. The 4.5+ teams can have two players on their team with a 5.0 rating. Both can play

in the same match, but must play first singles, or first doubles. New this year is the point system on the USTA TennisLink site. The standings Web site of www.litennisscores.com will no longer be in existence. The standings on TennisLink will be accurate and will be followed in determining playoffs and/or advancement. The Long Island rules, as well as grievance information and forms, can be found on www.longisland.usta.com. Anyone looking for a team should contact me (Kathy Miller, USTA Eastern Long Island Region League Coordinator) by e-mail at kathym65@aol.com. When inquiring, please include your level of play and the town you live in. Looking forward to a good season of great matches, new tennis friends, and above all, good sportsmanship! Kathy Miller is the manager at Carefree Racquet Club and is also the Adult League Coordinator for USTA/Long Island. She may be reached at kathym65@aol.com.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

MYTHBUSTERS:

Making a College Recruiting Video Is Easy and the Same as a Few Years Ago By Ricky Becker Most high-school aged kids who are thinking about playing collegiate tennis have heard about the hyped college video. Who needs the video? What should be on the video? When should prospective schools be sent? These are always amongst the first questions people ask me when I meet with them. Hopefully, this article will clarify some of the information. Myth: Everyone college prospect needs a college video. Fact: With almost everything online

now, most coaches do ask for a video of almost anyone who they have not seen play. If they think the prospect is a potential candidate and have yet to see them play, they will request some sort of video. Only a couple of years ago, if you were in the top 100-175 in the country and playing in national tournaments where D1 college coaches were attending, you did not necessarily need a video. Myth: Videos should be sent out as soon as possible or as late as possible. Fact: Even though many of the D1 schools are trying to get kids to commit early, you should really hold off on

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

sending your video until the first six months of your junior year of high school and by the end of your junior year at the latest. You do not want a long period of time to elapse after a coach requests the video before he/she actually receives it. The lapse comes off as being unmotivated in attending the school, and the coach may not remember much about your correspondence. You also don’t want to shoot the video too far in advance because you will probably improve after the making of it. Don’t plan on doing the video after being asked for one. They take longer to put together than expected!

Myth: When playing points, you should dominate! Fact: Losing an intense 15-shot rally is more impressive than an opponent dumping a second serve return into the net. What I recommend is to film an hour of points and take the two best serve games and two best return games “as is.” This will be a positive and realistic portrayal of you as a player. Never make it look like the other person is trying to make you look good. If you can edit professionally, I recommend playing with someone who you would lose 6-2, 6-2 to on an average day. Myth: Play in the video with your coach. They know you best. Fact: This is a half-myth. I see no problem hitting with your coach during the “hitting segment.” A coach will probably be better at keeping the ball in your strike-zone and making rallies cleaner. However, college coaches want to see points against a peer in a situation where it looks like the other player is trying to beat you. Play points with someone who is slightly better than you and not looking at the same schools. Anyone who fits this category, is the same gender and is also in high school or college, is okay.

Myth: Post the video on TennisRecruiting.net. Fact: As a junior coach, I do not love doing this. A future opponent who is looking you up can get a full scouting report this way! If you do the college search correctly, the coaches who see your video are the ones who you are interested in. Not the other way around. Post your video on a private YouTube page and send a link to the video to those you contact. If time and money allows, I would also suggest getting your video on CD. First, sending the video directly, gives a personal touch and shows interest to a college coach. Second, the quality of a CD is always going to be better than what appears on YouTube. Don’t forget to include your contact information on the video as well! Myth: Just send a video of a match. Fact: A coach will be too busy to watch an entire match. Chances are, they will just watch the first 10 to 15 minutes. Instead, send a video that is about 15-minutes long. The first five to seven minutes should be of you hitting, volleying and taking serves. The last eight to 10 minutes should be of you playing points against another high school-aged child of the same gender.

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Myth: Time your video the best by filming and editing the video after one is requested. Fact: Trust me … it takes longer than you think to organize court time, arrange for practice partners, coordinate a videographer, etc. Then, you have to edit your video. After this is done, you may want to re-edit a portion. If you are going to make DVDs, this takes time as well. The whole process will take you longer than expected (at least two-weeks.) At this point, the coach may either forget your correspondence, see you as unorganized or see you as unmotivated. Myth: Music and sound effects can really make my video stand out. Fact: Remember, this is a video to impress college coaches. Not a video to show your children when you are older. Music and sound effects are distracting, and I’ve been told by a couple of college coaches that they are actually a turn-off. Ricky Becker is the founder of JuniorTennisConsulting LLC, director of Tennis at Pine Hollow Country Club and high-performance manager at Glen Head Racquet Club. Ricky was named the Most Valuable Player for the 1996 NCAA Championship Stanford Tennis Team and was a top-five nationally-ranked junior. He can be reached by e-mail at rbecker06@yahoo.com, by phone at (516) 605-0420 or via JuniorTennisConsulting.com.

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LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

Glen Cove’s Steven Sun Captures Boys 14s Title at Easter Bowl t the 2014 ASICS Easter Bowl at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was the Boys’ 14s top-seeded player, 13-year-old Steven Sun of Glen Cove, N.Y., defeating Keenan Mayo, the second-seeded player from Roseville, Calif., 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, to capture his second Super National, previously having won the 12s Clays. “This was a lot tougher and I played better opponents,” said Sun, who overcame a semifinal match on Saturday where he was down 6-1, 3-1, but came back to win. Another New Yorker, the third seeded Rachel Lim of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., took out unseeded Ashley Yeah of Los Gatos, Calif., 6-1, 7-6 (2) to win the Girls’ 14s. Lim trains at the USTA National Tennis Center– East in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. “It’s amazing to win the Easter Bowl,” said Lim, who lost in the Round of 16 last year. “It’s been a tiring week, but it’s a good kind of tiring.” With his ultimate goal of winning an ASICS Easter Bowl finally complete, 16-year-old Francis Tiafoe said his focus will now turn to the junior Grand Slam events in the coming months, including the French Open and Wimbledon. Tiafoe joined the fourth-seeded CiCi

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Bellis of Atherton, Calif., as the big ITF 18s winners as the 47th annual event ended with rave reviews from players, parents and coaches being played for the first time in Indian Wells. The top-seeded Tiafoe of College Park, Md., nearly let an early 5-2 first-set lead slip away, and needed three sets to beat Nathan Ponwith of Scottsdale, Ariz., 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2. Bellis had an easier time beating good friend Katie Swan of Wichita, Kan., 6-3, 6-1. “I definitely could have made that a little easier,” Tiafoe said. “I was up in the first set and we were both playing ugly tennis.” After dropping the second set, Tiafoe was able to pull out two long games to open the third and deciding set. “The first game of the third set is always huge. Always,” Tiafoe said. “I could have easily been down 0-2, but I was up 2-0. Where would you rather be?” Tiafoe was told by his traveling coach Frank Salazar after the match that he would move up from seventh in the ITF world junior rankings to number two, becoming the highest ranked U.S. junior in the world. “That would be huge if I’m number two in the world,” Tiafoe said. “If I am I’d be very happy.” Tiafoe wore a silver crown necklace a parent in College Park gave him after he won the Orange Bowl International in December, and it’s become a good luck charm. “Some people think I’m getting a big head for it,” Tiafoe explained. “But he said ‘you’re the king now,’ and I wasn’t going to say no to it.” Tiafoe can’t wait to get on the red clay in Paris once the French Open starts May 25. Girls’ 16s top-seeded player Katerina Stewart of Coral Gables, Fla., did not drop a set in the tournament, beating unseeded Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks, Calif., 6-3, 63, in the final. “It feels good,” Stewart said. “This is my last 16s tournament. I’ll play the 18s National Clay Courts and Hardcourts and try to get the wild card into the U.S. Open.”

Courting Questions By Tonny van de Pieterman Question: Tonny … I am just not playing well today and don’t know why” In my ongoing quest to teach my students about one-on-one competition I have to deal with this statement all the time. My first response is always: “Compared to who?” The moment you are comparing yourself to an imaginary standard or level, you have taken yourself out of the reality of competition. Your opponent has presented a problem for you, and instead of finding a way to combat him/her more successfully, your mind is wondering. Why? Why can’t I hit the shots I was hitting last week? Why is my forehand not working? Why is my back-

hand slice not effective today? Why? Who cares! Give your opponent some credit (do what?), and accept that you have to play today with the shots that you are in control of. When you accept the truth, the challenge in front of you should give you great motivation. Remember … l It is not all in your control (your opponent is not a stiff) l Stop searching for your shots, you just might find them l Don’t try to escape the challenge … deal, persevere and overcome Question: Tonny … I can never find my rhythm when I play with a particular partner. What should I do? Stop looking! Your rhythm does not exist. You are probably asking why you can-

not hit your nice strong drives against this player who hits these weak, loopy floaters into the back court. It is very likely that you prefer to play certain players that hit you your “favorite ball.” However, all is fair in love and tennis. Deal with the challenge in front of you and get in sync with the tennis of the day. “Waiter, what is the soup du jour?” “The soup of the day!” Today’s soup equals today’s tennis. Tonny van de Pieterman is director of tennis at Point Set Indoor Racquet Club. He was recently named USTA Tennis Professional of the Year for the USTA/EasternLong Island Region and helped the Eastern Section win this year’s Talbert Cup. He may be reached by phone at (516) 536-2323 or e-mail tonny@pointsettennis.com.

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Serving Technique and Consistency Highlights BPTC Clinic for Coaches BY GARY SIMEONE

Credit all photos to Alex Lipps

Bethpage Park Tennis Center Director Steven Kaplan demonstrates proper serve technique

Attendees left the clinic with several new skills and drills to share with their team

High school coaches from across Long Island came together for a day of learning on the courts of Bethpage Park Tennis Center

Steven Kaplan shares some tips with the coaches in attendance

igh School tennis coaches from both Nassau and Suffolk Counties were on hand for the Annual Coaches Clinic at Bethpage Park Tennis Center. Bethpage Park Tennis Directors Steve Kaplan and Keith Kambourian offered several tips for the coaches in attendance, with an emphasis on

serving techniques and helping players improve consistency in their game. Frank Dolan, owner of Sports & Fitness Performance in Islip, N.Y., was on hand to demonstrate flexibility exercises that the coaches can pass on to their players to help them during their match and practice warm-ups.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Proper stretching methods were discussed for pre-match warm-ups “Consistency is such an important part of the game at the high school level,” said Kambourian. “There are four basic things that players need to do to be consistent on the court: Simple strokes, constant movement, shot selection and concentration throughout the match. Kaplan showed coaches how they can correct their players’ serving techniques to help maximize their velocity and accuracy. “I want to give coaches guidelines on how they can correct their players’ serving techniques, helping them to improve their mechanics and simplifying their overall motion,” said Kaplan. The day was full of activities, but most importantly, it was good to see the coaches, many of them rivals on the court as they lead their respective teams during the high school season, working together for tips on how to improve their teams. It was not a day focused on competition, but instruction on how to improve all facets of the high school tennis game. Gary Simeone is writing intern/public relations associate for Long Island Tennis Magazine.

Carefree Hosts Night Honoring George Haber BY GARY SIMEONE Lori Jenis (sister of Valerie Rifkin) Simone Haber (wife of George Haber), Phyllis Bard (mother of Valerie Rifkin) and Valerie Rifkin, daughter of George Haber and organizer of event, pause for a photo at Carefree Racquet Club

arefree Racquet Club in Merrick recently hosted a night to remember as players got together to honor the life of George Haber. Mr. Haber, who was the president and owner of Carefree, died last November after battling heart disease at the age of 75. Participants hit for prizes, played competitive doubles, enjoyed great food and entered raffles with all of the proceeds from the

Participants taking part in drills during the First Annual George Haber Memorial Night of Tennis at Carefree

event going to the American Heart Association. “This is our first annual event in the

honor of my dad who absolutely loved the game of tennis,” said Valerie Rifkin, George’s daughter who assisted in organizing the event. “We wanted to put together a nice event in his memory and what better way than to have people come down and play some tennis.” Seventy people participated in the fourhour event, which consisted of organized doubles and practice drills with Carefree pros Ronny D’Alessandro and Louis Vallejo providing instruction. After some competitive tennis play, attendees enjoyed a great buffet which included salad dishes, steamed pasta and bottles of wine donated by Guy Anthony’s of Merrick and Tennis Escapes International LLC. Gary Simeone is writing intern/public relations associate for Long Island Tennis Magazine.

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LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKING CHANGE “Perseverance is great, but change with that quality of determination is what you need.”

By Lonnie Mitchel f you have been following my columns, you should know by now that you have to advocate for yourself in life and on the tennis court. Recently at SUNY Oneonta where I serve as head tennis coach, I was asked to lecture on the topic of “Personal Responsibility and Making Change.” So let’s transform, transition and transcend to better tennis players, better people and take on more responsibility. The secret of change, as the philosopher Socrates said, “Is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but, on building the new.” As tennis players you are transforming and transitioning all the time. You ever hear the expression, “Life can throw you a curveball?” I use tennis to illustrate this theme. While observing a highlight of a recent

match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, there were 54 exchanges for just one point. Curveballs spin as do shots of varying speeds. How much change can you handle in a day, a week, a month or even a year? Tennis players of all levels have to immediately react to the change on every shot. However, why in life are you sometimes afraid to make change? Whereas our game is predicated to reacting to change with every shot hit back and forth across the net. “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be” as said by John Wooden (the great UCLA basketball coach). Tennis is a game of change at every second, and you must adapt or failure is imminent. You might be getting ready for your next social match, going off to play collegiate tennis or getting ready to compete in the USTA Leagues this summer. Transformation begins now as you encounter life’s curveballs when you go off to work

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or school. Moods are constantly changing, such as the mood of your boss, the mood even of your teacher, coach or yourself. What changes are in store for you the next moment of your life? Embrace all of these changes and to borrow another quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste the experience to the utmost. To reach out eagerly without fear for newer and richer experiences.” I personally still carry with me the discipline for change and time management skills necessary to perform at my highest level because of the adaptation and transition learned from the tennis court. The life skills incorporated in being a college athlete is difficult to replicate on the college campus. Our game of tennis can teach this and can make transition from college a smoother one. Tennis is a microcosm of life isn’t it? So you are losing to the same person over and over, you know you can beat that person, but it is just not happening on the court with the results you are getting. I have watched club level players and my collegiate players compete and sometimes the essence of their game changes very little. They then wonder why they are getting similar results. The answer I give is this, what did you do to change the outcome? Doing the same things repetitively rarely gives you a different outcome. Perseverance is great, but change with that quality of determination is what you need. It might get worse before it gets better, but change! So, here I am in Upstate New York coaching a team. The women’s team has not won a conference title in over 30 years. Okay, I get it … that bit of news will not be broadcast on ESPN tonight and Di-

vision III women’s tennis does not even make it to the editing room before a broadcast. None of that matters though. Why? Because very few people care except the players, friends, family, alumni and coaches. That does not make it any less worthwhile to take on the project which I undertook two years ago by coming to Oneonta and leaving my roots on Long Island and realized that things were always done the same way. Why would we win a Conference Title doing it that way? I have thrown the book out the window and made change on how we practice, how we promote the program, how we present ourselves and what we do around campus and how we perform in the classroom. It might not always work, but doing it the old way certainly was not working, so change comes … some painful changes for me and my players. Recruits who come here will see the change and the recruits who don’t come here will have missed out. I am not 100 percent confident that it will work, but I am 1,000 percent confident that what was going on

prior was not working. My players have and WILL continue to succeed in the classroom, but now they will find ways to win on the court beyond what they did before, not just get good jobs after graduation, but to improve spiritually and be more secure in life. They will now learn the skill of change which is the hardest to discover. I worked for the Disney Company for many years, a company known as the leader in innovation. Shame on me if I do not synergize my thoughts and experiences combined with the tools available to me to take chances by asking my players to change and exceed expectations in everything they do! I took my team to Florida a few weeks ago, and we had a private audience with one of the greatest tennis coaches in the world while we were training at the IMG Tennis Academy. Nick Bollettieri came and spoke to our tennis student-athletes and motivated them to perform better in everything they do, not just on the tennis court. I soon realized that that very few teams, whether it be Division I, II or III and cer-

tainly not a small SUNY school like Oneonta State, have the opportunity to meet one of the most world renowned coaches. It took a lot of work and budget scrutiny to make change a reality and to make the IMG Nick Bollettieri training academy a reality. The point being that making change and adapting to change is necessary to improve both on the tennis court and in life. Dare to be different! Make change happen when change is the last thing many people want. I will boast and brag, “I made a change,” and If I can, you can too. Tomorrow, look at your choices, scrutinize them to improve your life and your tennis game. Follow your heart and adapt to real change to make things happen. Lonnie Mitchel is head men’s and women’s tennis coach at SUNY Oneonta. Lonnie was named an assistant coach to Team USA for the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel for the Grand Master Tennis Division. Lonnie may be reached by phone at (516) 414-7202 or e-mail lonniemitchel@yahoo.com.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

A Look Into the Role of a Nutritionist By Irina Belfer-Lehat RD, CDN We all know that tennis is a unique sport that requires intense physical activity for a prolonged period of time. Especially with the high school boys tennis season currently in play, it is important to focus on proper nutrition both off and on the court to maximize performance (and of course, wins)! Therefore, preparation for a match must begin days in advance, including proper fueling and hydration. It’s no secret that most of the professional tennis players on the tour have their own nutritionists working as part of their team. As a

registered dietitian for almost 15 years, and a parent of a tennis player and a swimmer, I realize that without a solid nutrition foundation, my daughters cannot achieve peak performance. Some common symptoms young athletes complain of are fatigue, cramps, nausea and dehydration. As parents, we must learn to recognize these symptoms, and look to nutrition to alleviate these symptoms. Many parents approach me with questions: “What do I feed my child before and after the match?” “How much fluids are appropriate?” “My kid is too skinny, what should I give him or her to bulk up?” or “My child plays all the time, but keeps gaining too much weight.”

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Unfortunately, the answer is not that simple and one does not apply to all kids. In fact, nutrition needs are very individualized and must be approached as such. The most common mistake made by parents is to assume that they know how to properly fuel and prep their young athletes, solely from hearing about nutrition fads, popular meal plans, and diets that professional athletes partake in. However, for an athlete, this is not the case as each body is different. For example, although it worked well for Novak Djokovic, a gluten-free diet does not suit all body types. So what do nutritionists do that parents cannot do at home? First, it is important to assess how many calories from carbohydrates, proteins and fats are needed for an individual’s intake. This information requires very specific calculations based on an individual’s age, height, weight and level of activity. Fluid needs must be calculated as well following very specific formulas and calculations. No two kids are alike. Second, a diet plan is designed to meet a specific need. Family style, eating habits and cultural preferences are all taken into consideration. Finally, a registered dietitian will teach and follow up on progress. This is not a quick or easy fix, however, working closely with a dietitian will maximize the results and will catalyze optimum performance on the court. Irina Belfer-Lehat of Nutrition Solution Co. is a New York State-licensed dietitian and certified dietitian-nutritionist. She may be reached by phone at (917) 769-8031 or email irinalehat@gmail.com.

THE FUTURE SURFACE OF TENNIS By Miguel Cervantes III hate clay; I really really hate it. It gets my clothes dirty. I can’t get a good grip on the ground to accelerate to the ball. I slip everywhere … and I can completely forget about wearing my beautiful white sneakers. Everyone has their preferred surfaces. Mine is a hard court, but when playing in USTA, you have to be ready to play on anything. No one knows where the future of tennis might go in terms of surface. We do know where racquet technology is going. We are even better informed on the biomechanics of the game as well, but surface hasn’t really been explored yet. Here are a few options.

Ice Ice seems like a natural progression of the sport. We have clay, which is already slippery, so why not take that a step further. We’d need special shoes, aka skates, but that does not differ too much from the current necessities of clay. To play competitively on clay, you can purchase special sneakers that help you grip the ground. There is precedence with the sport of hockey. What is hockey if not soccer on ice and with a hand held instrument to help control the ball (read puck). Tennis on ice doesn’t seem to far-fetched now, especially considering that hockey rinks would just be repurposed to serve another function. Although I have never played tennis on ice, I’m thinking the ball will probably bounce lower and skid even more than clay. Come to think of it, isn’t ice is just Clay 2.0? Wood Hardwood floors doesn’t seem like such a bad option either. You can find hardwood

floors in several places: A gym, an apartment, a business. Playing on wood makes sense and increases the number of places tennis can be enjoyed. Anyone who wants a tennis court would only have to go to Home Depot and maybe watch a few YouTube videos on how to lie down and connect the pieces. Upkeep would be minimal, and replacing potentially worn or broken pieces would literally be a snap. Adjustments might need to be made to the ball in order to prevent the game from being as fast as it probably would, but that seems like an easy fix. Steel Steel makes even more sense than the previous two options. It’s cheaper and exceptionally durable. Tennis courts could be built to last for 100 years. Play on the surface would be similar to a hard court, although it might be a bit tougher on the body. Grip on steel would also not be an issue the way it is

on clay. The fun part about steel is that they could also be customized to play differently. Consider this, large sheets of steel making up a tennis court. On one side it plays fast, but flip the sheet over and it plays slow. Steel sheets could be spray painted easily and quickly for special events or just for a change of season. We should consider doing away with the dreadful surface of clay. With so many other potential solutions to where we can take our game, there is no reason to dwell on the past. All of these options would spread tennis and provide youngsters with greater opportunities. Miguel Cervantes III now teaches at Carefree Racquet Club and privately outdoors. Miguel specializes in teaching beginners, training juniors and coaching doubles. He may be reached by e-mail at understandingtennis@gmail.com.

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Robin’s Ripple Effect How Soderling’s presence could have changed the face of the men’s game By Andrew Eichenholz t was 2011, in the tunnels connecting Louis Armstrong Stadium and the Grandstand at the U.S. Open on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Leaving a quick practice session, Robin Soderling, perhaps the most dangerous player in the draw at any event he competed in, left the tunnel to head back to his hotel in New York City for the night. The Swede would pull out of the tournament, deciding that his bout with mononucleosis was not quite over just yet. Nearly three years later, the

towering righty with a career high ranking of fourth in the world has yet to play a professional match again. With his absence, the game has not been the same. Just five years ago, on the terre battue of the French Open’s Court Philippe Chatrier, history was made when Soderling completed arguably the biggest upset in the history of tennis. It was supposed to be a match like any other for Rafael Nadal. The now eight-time French Open champion had never lost a match at Roland Garros, and had cruised through the first three rounds of what looked like would be his fifth straight title there. Enter Robin Soderling. Going into the

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

2009 French Open, the big-serving, hardhitting Swede had never advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam. The likelihood that he would beat the best clay courter to ever live in the fourth round of a Grand Slam? Slim to none. Three-and-a-half hours after the pair took the court, a ball landing in the far doubles alley off the racket of Nadal sealed Soderling’s fate in tennis lore for years to come. For argument’s sake, the 29-yearold could end up being the one and only player to ever solve the Nadal puzzle on the red clay of the French Open. The Spaniard won his first four titles there, and the last four since his loss to Soderling. Will he ever lose there again? Don’t doubt Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. The real question is, what has happened to Soderling? He ran through the rest of the draw that year to reach his first Grand Slam final, falling to the greatest player to ever live in Roger Federer. The very next year, he disappeared off of the planet and was ousted early, right? Not a chance. After cruising through the first four rounds of the 2010 French Open, Soderling showed that his run the year before was anything but a fluke. Blasting his way through the slow red clay of Paris, Soderling beat defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals on his way to a repeat championship round appearance. Although he fell to Nadal, the Swede cemented his reputation in the top tier of the tennis world, always a threat to beat any

player on any given day. Without a hitch, Soderling maintained a ranking in the top five in the world through 2011, falling once again to Nadal at the French Open. A surprisingly early exit to the ever-confusing young Aussie Bernard Tomic, Soderling would never be the same. After blitzing the field at his home tournament, the 2011 Swedish Open, Soderling succumbed to mononucleosis. According to the Mayo Clinic, mononucleosis is a disease that causes many symptoms, including fatigue, sore throat and fever. For a tennis player that depends on their physical fitness to make a living, mono is not the friendliest disease to catch. Other great players in the game including Federer and American Andy Roddick have had mono, but have not suffered quite the same consequences as Soderling. After suffering setbacks in attempts to get back to his normal practice routine according to ESPN, Soderling still has not played a match. My question is â&#x20AC;Ś what if Robin Soderling never got mononucleosis, and continued where he left off in the middle of the 2011 season? At some points, one could argue that nobody could strike the ball harder than Soderling. A massive first serve, coupled with two of the hardest hit groundstrokes in the entire game, nobody would want a piece of the Swedish star. Coached by Magnus Norman, who has since taken Stanislas Wawrinka to his first Grand Slam title, the relatively quiet giant left no doubt: Matches

would be won and lost on his terms. Without any hesitation, nobody hit a bigger, flatter ball on either the forehand or backhand wing. Nobody. Nadal may have had the bigger weapon in his forehand, and Novak Djokovic may have had the steadiest counter-punching tool in his backhand, but when a hittable ball sat up, Soderling consistently put the hammer down. Although he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t technically the best in the footwork department, and lacked the foot speed of some other top players, Soderling made up for it with his brute force. An underrated volleyer, nobody would give Soderling a short ball and have an easy passing shot. Would Andy Murray have won two Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold Medal? Would Wawrinka have gone on his Cinderella run at the 2014 Australian Open to win his first Grand Slam? Consider the scenario of Wawrinka having to play Soderling instead of Tomas Berdych in the semifinals. Does he win that match or have enough energy to take Nadal out in the finals? Every time Soderling was in a draw, he had the ability to take anybody out. Without him, a top-level player is missing from the top of the game. His absence may be good for the players, but the entertainment he provided has been sorely missed. How many Grand Slams would the Swede have won? Who would he have dethroned? Could he have reached the pinnacle of the game? Unfortunately, five years after the biggest upset in our gameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never know.

The first thing to think about is if Soderling would have maintained his residence in the top five, who would have fallen? It is hard to ignore the correlation between the disappearance of the big-serving Swede and the rise of David Ferrer. From the start of his career until the 2011 U.S. Open, Ferrer made the quarterfinals of a major four times. Since the moment Soderling was off the ATP Tour, Ferrer has never failed to make the quarters. In the 10 Grand Slams from the 2011 U.S. Open, until the recently completed 2014 Australian Open, Ferrer has made four quarterfinals, five semifinals and a championship round appearance at last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s French Open. However, much of that upswing has to do with the tremendous work ethic and competitive fire of Ferrer on the court, it is really hard to peak in a career near its end. If Soderling were still playing, taking swings at the ball with his tremendous windmill forehand, Ferrer may very well be out of the top 10 at this point. Every year, analysts discuss how the former clay-court grinder in Ferrer has to start falling back in the rankings, and that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gotten the most he could out of his game. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to argue that behind Soderling and the Big Four, nobody else can beat Ferrer when he is on his game, which is almost all of the time. At Grand Slams, being the top seed in your quarter of the draw makes life so much easier, compared to having to continued on page 58

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robin’s ripple effect continued from page 57 play a Djokovic or Nadal in the first week. As much respect as Ferrer has earned, Soderling simply had more game, and take away his relatively easy draws into the second week, and Ferrer might have been a consistent low teens player compared to the top five ranked star that he has become. Having that extra player at the top of the game creates so many theoretical situations, but could have truly had even a bigger impact on the game. So much in this sport can change in a moment’s notice based on one tournament, and missing a huge threat for the last few years could have really given some players big opportunities. For argument’s sake, Jerzy Janowicz, one of the up-and-coming stars of our game, may have never gotten his start without Soderling’s absence. At the Masters 1000 event in Paris in 2012, the Polish superstar, now ranked 20th in the world,

announced himself to the tennis world with a Cinderella run to the finals, beating the likes of Andy Murray and Janko Tipsarevic. For all intents and purposes, if Soderling, arguably a more consistent, slightly biggerhitting form of Janowicz, was in the draw, he could have only won a match or two before playing the Swede. Janowicz is the same guy who lost to UCLA player Dennis Novikov, ranked 614th in the world at the 2012 U.S. Open. Without the confidence booster that was his Cinderella run in Paris, who knows where he would be. Even dropping one or two spots in the rankings when you’re at the top of the game changes the whole dynamic of a tournament for players. Take the 2013 Australian Open for example. Wawrinka played Djokovic in the Round of 16, losing a classic match. If he won that match, would he have been able to go all the way? Probably not. This year, Wawrinka played Djokovic in the quarters, won, and went all the way to

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

win the Aussie Open. Having to play an extra elite player in a Grand Slam by dropping out of the top eight seeds makes life a whole lot more difficult. Missing a journeyman from the lower rungs of the ATP World Tour may not impact the game. Nobody is going to miss the entertainment, and no Grand Slam results would have been any different. Robin Soderling has been gone for almost three years now, and it is more than likely that some players would not be where they are today without his absence. Andrew Eichenholz is a journalism student at Stony Brook University, where he currently is a staff writer for The Statesman, covering tennis amongst many sports. He grew up playing tennis at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where he learned to love the game, eventually becoming a part time tennis instructor, working for the most part with the QuickStart 10 & Under Program. Andrew has also served as a ballperson at the U.S. Open. He may be reached by e-mail at andrew.eichenholz@stonybrook.edu.

SCTCA Hosts Autism Awareness Event at The Hamlet

Participants in the Play for Autism event gather for a group photo SCTCA President and Commack High School Tennis Coach Shane Helfner with Hamlet Head Tennis Pro Bruce Moodnik

The first place team of Cory Seltman & Nick Fox from Commack High School with the second place team of Kol Seidman & Michael Molitor from Patchogue-Medford High School

Connor Burke, Nick Fox, Cory Seltman, Eric Bass, Gabe Green and Sol Yoon came out to show their support for a worthy cause

he SCTCA (Suffolk County Tennis Coaches Association) ran a very successful charity event titled “Play for Autism” at the Hamlet Golf & Country Club in Commack, N.Y. The event was a roundrobin doubles tournament for all Suffolk County school tennis players, as 20 doubles teams participated and everyone had a great time! “The Suffolk County Tennis Coaches Association is teaching their young play-

ers the importance of giving back to the community and the impact each participant made by playing in today’s event,” said Shane Helfner, president of the SCTCA and Commack High School tennis coach). “While we always try to be as competitive on the court as possible, everyone who played today left a winner! Suffolk County tennis should be very proud!” All the money raised on the day went

toward autism awareness, and this year, $605 was donated to the NSSA (Nassau Suffolk School for Autism). Special thanks to Bruce Moodnik, head tennis pro at The Hamlet, for letting SCTCA use the facility. Also, special thanks to Bob Davis, Harborfields varsity tennis coach; Seth Novick, Walt Whitman High School varsity tennis coach; and Rob Raeihle, Commack junior varsity tennis coach, for volunteering their time to run the event.

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T E N N I S H A L L O F FA M E A N N O U N C E S I T S

CLASS OF 2014

ormer world number one and six-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport has been elected to receive the highest honor in the sport of tennis— enshrinement in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Joining Davenport in the Class of 2014 will be five-time Paralympic medalist Chantal Vandierendonck, who was the first ITF World Champion for wheelchair tennis. Additionally, three individuals have been elected in recognition of their tremendous dedication toward the growth and development of the sport—legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, who has guided 10 players to world number one status; Jane Brown Grimes, who has held executive leadership roles with the WTA, USTA, and the

International Tennis Hall of Fame; and British tennis broadcaster and author John Barrett. The 2014 enshrinees were announced as part of World Tennis Day, which is being marked by tennis events and celebrations around the globe. Complementing the announcement, the newly elected enshrinees are participating in the tennis festivities around the world today as well. Bollettieri and Brown Grimes were honored at the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden, while Barrett and Vandierendonck participated in the World Tennis Day Showdown at Earl’s Court in London, where tennis legends Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl and Pat Cash played in an exhibition match. Mean-

while, Davenport took part in Tennis Channel’s coverage of the festivities. “I’m so honored by this incredible recognition. I feel very blessed to have had a wonderful tennis career, and now, to be recognized in the Hall of Fame alongside the great champions who have always inspired me is just a tremendous honor,” commented Davenport. “I look forward to celebrating with the other members of the Class of 2014 in Newport this summer.” Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2014, the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of tennis and honoring its greatest champions and leaders. The Hall of Fame offers an extensive museum that chronicles the history of the

Congratulations to

The Future of Tennis NEXT LEVEL... NEXT CHALLENGE... WHO’S NEXT? 60

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

sport and honors the game’s greatest legends. Over the past 60 years, the honor of enshrinement in the International Tennis Hall of Fame has been presented to just 235 people representing 20 countries. “Lindsay Davenport had a lengthy, successful career in which she reached the pinnacle of our sport as a competitor— world number one and a Grand Slam champion. This summer, we look forward to celebrating her many accomplishments and contributions to tennis by presenting her with the sport’s highest honor—enshrinement in the International Tennis Hall of Fame,” said Hall of Fame President Stan Smith. “At the Hall of Fame, our goal is to celebrate the history of tennis and to honor those individuals who have built that storied history, and so this year we are proud to honor three of the sport’s greatest contributors.” The Class of 2014 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony will be held Saturday, July 12. The Ceremony will be a highlight of the Rolex Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend, which will also fea-

Photo credit: Dave Suskin

International Tennis Hall of Fame President Stan Smith introduces two members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2014, Nick Bollettieri and Jane Brown Grimes, to the New York media

ture the unveiling of museum tribute exhibits for the new Hall of Famers, celebratory parties and special events, and an exhibition match featuring great tennis leg-

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Winning Tennis: Mind(fullness) Over Matter By Tina Greenbaum, LCSW veryone wants to win. It’s much more fun than losing. But learning lessons from losing can be the key to turning the percentages in your favor. I once heard the saying, “There is no failure, there’s just feedback.” In other words, when we don’t succeed at a task, there’s always a reason. And if we can be objective in our analysis as to why we lost, we can correct our mistakes and do better the next time. So the big questions are:

l How can I learn to be objective when I have so much invested in winning? l How can I learn to control my emotions when the game of tennis is like a roller coaster ride? l How can I stay calm when my insides are jumping? The answer is “Mindfulness.” What is that you might ask? Mindfulness has its roots in Eastern meditational practices, wherein we direct our attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis in a non-judgmental way. In other words, we notice our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations without judging them. For example, I have a student who noticed, after the first set of a challenging match, that she had said to herself, “I only have to win the next three games and I’ve got the match.” And then she proceeded to lose the next three games. She realized, in retrospect, that by placing her thoughts on the outcome of the match, she took her 62

attention away from the moment-to-moment, point-by-point laser focus she needed to actually win. By non-judgmentally reviewing her thought process, she was able to identify her fatal mistake and correct it the next time she played the same player, with a much more positive result. Mindfulness is a practice, just like practicing your strokes, over and over again. When we get into the habit of noticing how we are thinking, how we are feeling and what messages our body is giving us in the present moment without judging whether they are good or bad, the calmer we are on the court and the greater the possibility of finding ourselves “in the flow.” Here are three tips to get you into the habit of being mindful: 1. Prior to a match, take a few minutes in a quiet place and observe, without judgment and without changing anything, your thoughts about the upcoming match, your feelings (are you feeling happy, excited, scared, etc) and your bodily sensations (is your stomach jumpy, are your muscles tight, your palms sweaty or warm?) 2. Now that you have a sense of how you are thinking and feeling on both an emotional and physical level, you have an awareness of your “pre-match” state. The task now is to allow yourself to play your best by focusing on the aspects of the match that are in your control, such as your strategy or that point-by-point laser focus. You will learn, over time, that you do not have to succumb to your emotions. You can actually play brilliantly if you do not allow yourself to believe those random thoughts that you may or may not be able to control.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

3. If you are really serious about becoming mentally tough, you will need to commit yourself to a practice. Mindfulness is a skill that develops over time. Begin by spending five minutes every day in a quiet place where you begin to just notice what is occurring both internally and externally, without changing anything. You may observe your stomach is rumbling, or you have an itch or you are feeling sad. Your thoughts may be jumping around or there may be the sound of a lawnmower outside, or any number of distractions. This practice will begin to get you into the habit of separating your thoughts from your actions. And it will translate on to the court by you recognizing that you have a choice as to where you focus your attention, which is paramount if you want to win a challenging match. Mindfulness and acceptance of “what is” are on the cutting-edge of mental training. The top athletes in all sports spend a good part of their training schedule developing this aspect of their arsenal. I have watched and listened to many recreational tennis players bemoan their plight as they commit unforced errors or double fault. I want to secretly tell them that with some effort, they could dramatically improve their game. Hopefully, you will be inspired to do so! Tina Greenbaum, LCSW is a sport psychology consultant. She, along with her partner Fred Sperber is co-owner of Tennis to the Max, a program that combines the technical elements of the game with the allimportant mental side to ensure maximum performance. She may be reached by email at tina@tennistothemax.com or visit www.tennistothemax.com.

U.S. Falls to France in Fed Cup World Group Playoff he final day of competition in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff between the U.S. and France at Chaifetz Arena on the campus of Saint Louis University had a dramatic ending, as the tie came down to a fifth-and-decisive doubles match for the ninth time for the U.S. (since the World Group format was instituted in 1995). In the end, France defeated the United States, 3-2, after Caroline Garcia won three points for France this weekend (two singles matches and the doubles match) to launch France into the World Group in 2015. The U.S. is now 37-6 all-time in Fed Cup ties played at home and holds an overall 134-35 record. The U.S. is 5-4 in the fifthand-decisive doubles match. In the first match of the day, Sloane Stephens, the top-ranked U.S. player, faced Virginie Razzano, who replaced Alize Cornet in singles after Cornet suffered a leg

injury. Stephens won her first-ever Fed Cup singles match, defeating Razzano, 6-2, 6-4, in one hour and seven minutes. Stephens and Razzano had never played each other before this tie. Stephens is now 1-2 in singles play in Fed Cup competition and Razzano is 10-5. The second singles match featured two promising young players in 19-year-old Madison Keys and 20-year-old Caroline Garcia, where Garcia won her second singles match, defeating Keys, 6-4, 6-3. Garcia won her first WTA singles title recently in Bogota, Colombia, as well as the doubles title. Keys is now 1-2 in Fed Cup singles play. The tie was then decided by the decisive doubles match, in which the singles players again took to the court when the United States’ top players Stephens & Keys faced Garcia & Razzano. After just under 90 minutes, the team of Garcia & Razzano pre-

vailed, defeating Stephens & Keys, 6-2, 7-5. After the French swept the first set, 6-2, the U.S. fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to even the match at 5-5. However, the French team broke in the next game and took the match. The U.S. will compete in World Group II in 2015 for just the second time since the World Group format was instituted in 1995 (the U.S. competed in the World Group II in 2012). France will compete in the World Group next year for a chance to win the 2015 Fed Cup. With the loss, the U.S. will be relegated to the World Group II in 2015 for just the second time since the World Group format was instituted in 1995 (the U.S. competed in the World Group II in 2012). The U.S. will join seven other countries— Argentina, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Romania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland—in the World Group II next year.

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LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

Upcoming Tennis Events MAY 2014 Saturday-Monday, May 10-12 Suffolk County High School Boys Tennis Section Individual Tournament The Suffolk County High School Boys Tennis Section Individual Tournament is set for May 10 and May 12 at a time and location to be determined. Saturday-Sunday, May 10-11 Nassau County Individual Tournament The Nassau County High School Boys Tennis Section Individual Tournament is set for the weekend of May 10-11 at Oceanside High School. Saturday, May 17 City Parks Foundation 2014 JD Program Tryouts On Saturday, May 17, City Parks Foundation will host its 2014 JD Program Tryouts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Thursday, May 22 Say Yes to Tennis, No to Violence 2014 On Thursday, May 22, nearly 800 children are expected to be on hand for the 2014 “Say Yes to Tennis, No to Violence” event at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

Thursday-Saturday, May 29-31 2014 New York State Boys High School State Championships From Thursday-Saturday, May 29-31, the 2014 New York State Boys High School State Championships will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Saturday-Sunday, May 31-June 8 2014 Mayor’s Cup Tennis Championships The 2014 Mayor’s Cup Tennis Championships are set for Saturday-Sunday, May 31-June 8 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. JUNE 2014 Sunday, June 1 Second Annual New York Tennis Expo The Second Annual New York Tennis Expo is set for Sunday, June 1 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Thursday-Sunday, June 5-8 2014 Jana Hunsaker Memorial Tournament The 2014 Jana Hunsaker Memorial Tournament is set for June 5-8 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Saturday, June 7 Ace It for Syd Second Annual Tennis Tournament The Ace It for Syd Second Annual Tennis Tournament will take place Saturday, June 7 at the Oceanside High School Tennis Courts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, June 7 Mixed-Doubles for Multiple Sclerosis Fundraiser A Mixed-Doubles for Multiple Sclerosis Fundraiser will take place on Saturday, June 7 at noon at Commack High School. Sunday-Sunday, June 8-15 2014 U.S. Open National Playoffs The 2014 U.S. Open National Playoffs will take place June 8-15 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Thursday, June 19 2014 U.S. Open Ballpersons Tryouts The 2014 U.S. Open Ballpersons Tryouts are set for Thursday, June 19 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

LONG ISLAND TENNIS CLUB

directory Bethpage Park Tennis Center Andrea Pappas—Manager 99 Quaker Meeting House Road #1 Farmingdale, NY 11735 (516) 777-1358 • bptcenter@aol.com Butch Seewagen Tennis Academy @ Rockville Centre CATS Jami Madison—Director 188 Maple Avenue • Rockville Centre, NY 11570 (516) 763-1299, ext. 10 • catsrvc@gmail.com Carefree Racquet Club Kathy Miller—Manager 1414 Jerusalem Avenue • Merrick, NY 11566 (516) 489-9005 • carefreetennis@aol.com Deer Park Tennis Club Afzal Ali—Director of Tennis 30 Burt Drive • Deer Park, NY 11729 (631) 667-3476 • www.deerparktennis.com Eastern Athletic Club Betsy Johnson—Manager 854 Jericho Turnpike Huntington Station, NY 11746 (631) 271-6616 • www.easternathleticclubs.com Early Hit Training Center at Glen Head Racquet Club 95 Glen Head Road • Glen Head, NY 11545 Carl Barnett: (516) 455-1225 • earlyhit@optonline.net Glen Head Racquet Club 95 Glen Head Road Glen Head, NY 11545 Stephanie Leo: (516) 676-9849 glenheadrc@verizon.net Huntington Indoor Tennis Club Richard Rottkamp—Manager/Owner 100 Broadway Huntington Station, NY 11746 (631) 421-0040 hitennis@myway.com New York Tennis Academy at Great Neck Estates Howie Arons—Director of Junior Tennis Program 12 Shore Drive Great Neck, NY 11021 (516) 233-2790 • bightennis@aol.com Point Set Indoor Tennis Tonny vandePieterman—Director of Tennis 3065 New Street • Oceanside, NY 11572 (516) 536-2323 tonny@pointsettennis.com www.pointsettennis.com

Port Washington Tennis Academy Manny Iqbal—Director of Tennis 100 Harbor Road • Port Washington, NY 11050 (516) 883-6425 • tennis@pwta.com • www.pwta.com Robbie Wagner’s Tournament Training Center @ Glen Cove Stephen Alcala—Managing Partner 60 Sea Cliff Avenue • Glen Cove, NY 11542 (516) 759-0505 • www.rwtt.com

SPORTIME Kings Park Jeff Morys—Director of Tennis 275 Old Indian Head Road • Kings Park, NY 11754 (631) 269-6300 • jmorys@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/kings-park SPORTIME Lynbrook Danny Caseas—Director of Tennis 175 Merrick Road • Lynbrook, NY 11563 (516) 887-1330 • dcaseas@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/lynbrook

Robbie Wagner’s Tournament Training Center @ Glenwood Landing Adrian Chirici—Director of Tennis 142 Glenwood Landing Road Glenwood Landing, NY 11547 (516) 676-9107 • www.rwtt.com

SPORTIME Massapequa Chris Leahy—General Manager 5600 Old Sunrise Highway • Massapequa, NY 11758 (516) 799-3550 • cleahy@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/massapequa

Ross School Holly Li—Manager 18 Goodfriend Drive • East Hampton, NY 11937 (631) 907-5162 • hli@ross.org • www.ross.org/tennis

SPORTIME Quogue Greg Bolitsky—Director of Tennis 2571 Quogue-Riverhead • East Quogue, NY 11959 (631) 653-6767 • gbolitsky@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/quogue

Shinnecock Tennis Club 125 Sandy Hollow Road • Southhampton, NY 11968 (631) 283-3422 • www.shinnecocktennisclub.com Southampton Racquet Club & Camp 665 Majors Path • Southampton, N.Y. 11968 (516) 953-5176 www.southamptonrcc.com SPORTIME Amagansett Sue de Lara—General Manager 320 Abrahams Path • Amagansett, NY 11930 (631) 267-3460 • amagansett@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/amagansett Eric Scoppetta-Camp Director (631) 267-2267 (CAMP) • ehsc@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/ehsc SPORTIME Amagansett Multi-Sport Mike Ritsi—General Manager 385 Abrahams Path • Amagansett, NY 11930 (631) 267-3460 • mritsi@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/amagansett-multi-sport

SPORTIME Randall’s Island Manhattan Home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy Allison Hodgkins—Director of Tennis Central One Randall’s Island • New York, NY 10035 (212) 427-6150 • ahodgkins@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/manhattan SPORTIME Roslyn Jay Harris—General Manager Landing Road, PO Box 1 • Roslyn, NY 11576 (516) 484-9222 • jharris@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/roslyn SPORTIME Syosset Tennis & Multi-Sport Wendi Enright—General Manager 75 Haskett Drive • Syosset, NY 11791 (516) 364-2727 • wenright@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/syosset-tennis SPORTIME Lake Isle Westchester Home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy Harel Srugo—General Manager 660 White Plains Road • Eastchester, NY 10709 (914) 777-5151 • hsrugo@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/lake-isle

SPORTIME Bethpage Tennis Long Island Home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy Mike Kossoff—General Manager 101 Norcross Avenue • Bethpage, NY 11714 (516) 933-8500 • mkossoff@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/bethpage-tennis

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Whitney Kraft—Director of Tennis Flushing Meadows Corona Park • Flushing, NY 11568 (718) 760-6200 • www.usta.com

SPORTIME Bethpage Multi-Sport Randy Louie—General Manager 4105 Hempstead Turnpike • Bethpage, NY 11714 (516) 731-4432 • rlouie@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/bethpage-multi-sport

World Gym Bay Shore Tracie Forsythe—Director of Tennis 225 Howells Road • Bay Shore, NY 11706 (631) 456-0994 • tracieforsythe@yahoo.com www.worldgymbayshore.com

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

LONG Boys & Girls Long Island Rankings (as of 04/01/14)

BOYS Long Island Boys 12 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Luke Karniewich ................Glen Head, N.Y. 2 ........Aryan Kumar Sethi ............Dix Hills, N.Y. 3 ........Timothy Lewis Chiu............Holtsville, N.Y. 4 ........Robert Steven Bellino ........Huntington, N.Y. 5 ........Adrian Kristofer Tsui ..........Roslyn Heights, N. Y. 6 ........Mark Ryan Taranov ............Valley Stream, N.Y. 7 ........Max Daniel Safir ................Old Westbury, N. Y. 8 ........Sohrob Yavari ....................Syosset, N.Y. 9 ........Gunnar S. Overstrom ........Locust Valley, N.Y. 10......Brandon Zhu ......................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 11......Brandon Lee ......................Valley Stream, N.Y 12......Joseph Monticciolo............Coram, N.Y. 13......Alexander Hom ..................Manhasset, N.Y. 14......Bradford J. Lin....................Great Neck, N.Y. 15......Brandon Lin ........................Great Neck, N.Y 16......Amani Siddiqui ..................West Babylon, N.Y. 17......Justin McMackin................North Baldwin, N.Y. 18......Arin Siriamonthep ..............Greenvale, N.Y. 19......Justin Benjamin Oresky ....Syosset, N.Y. 20......Michael Hayden Singer......Greenlawn, N.Y. 21......Daniel Chikvashvili ............Melville, N.Y. 22......Kian Louis Ghazvini............Glen Head, N.Y. 23......Cameron Levchuck............Greenlawn, N.Y. 24......Valentine LeGoupil-Maier ..Oceanside, N.Y. 25......Joshua Elenowitz ..............Syosset, N.Y. 26......Maximillian Wreidt..............Locust Valley, N.Y. 27......Ethan Sims ........................Roslyn, N.Y. 28......Ravi MacGurn ....................Amagansett, N.Y. 29......Sujay Alluri ..........................Old Westbury, N.Y. 30......Ian Schunk..........................Westhampton Beach, N.Y. 31......Alexander Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y. 32......Peter Lau ............................Great Neck, N.Y. 33......Anthony Casale..................Old Bethpage, N.Y. 34......Peter Albert Bukary............Jericho, N.Y. 35......Justin Shen ........................Glen Head, N.Y. 36......Torin Suner Bograd ............Huntington, N.Y. 37......Christopher Lall ..................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 38......Alex Eli Vinsky ....................Westbury, N.Y. 39......Yoel Andre Yamus ..............Deer Park, N.Y. 40......Jacob Buchbinder..............Roslyn, N.Y

Long Island Boys 14 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Justin Ullman......................Huntington Station, N.Y. 2 ........Matthew Kolkhorst ............Sea Cliff, N.Y. 3 ........Rohan Mathur ....................Dix Hills, N.Y. 4 ........Sol Yoon..............................Commack, N.Y. 5 ........Alexander Roti....................Locust Valley, N.Y. 6 ........Tyler London ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 7 ........Jagger Gillman ..................Glen Head, N.Y. 8 ........Avi Anand............................Dix Hills, N.Y. 9 ........Samir Singh ........................Syosset, N.Y. 10......Michael Kaydin ..................Valley Stream, N.Y. 11......Nicholas Gajda ..................Smithtown, N.Y. 12......Mark Julian Baker ..............North Baldwin, N.Y. 13......Adam M. Canarick ............Woodbury, N.Y. 14......Matthew T. Roberts............Setauket, N.Y. 15......George Kaslow ..................Port Washington, N.Y. 16......Christopher Grisham..........Huntington, N.Y. 17......Matthew Reid Zapken ......Roslyn, N.Y.

ISLAND

18......Jack Cameron Goldman ..Old Westbury, N.Y. 19......Julian Thomas MacGurn ..Amagansett, N.Y. 20......David Ammendola ............Massapequa, N.Y. 21......Connor Leaf........................Dix Hills, N.Y. 22......Matthew Terlovsky ............Merrick, N.Y. 23......Adam Bradley Wilck ..........Dix Hills, N.Y. 24......Peter Leonard Fahy............Huntington, N.Y. 25......Evan Kirsh ..........................Roslyn, N.Y. 26......Yash Samantaray ..............Syosset, N.Y. 27......Ethan Bradford ..................Sea Cliff, N.Y. 28......Aditya Dave ........................Syosset, N.Y. 29......Niles Ghaffar ......................Massapequa, N.Y. 30......Justin Lempert....................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 31......Preet Rajpal ........................Syosset, N.Y. 32......Andrew Marc Nakhjavan ..Dix Hills, N.Y. 33......Jeffrey M. McDonnell ........Glen Cove, N.Y. 34......Adrian Kristofer Tsui ..........Roslyn Heights, N. Y. 35......Luke Karniewich ................Glen Head, N.Y. 36......George Rettaliata ..............Bay Shore, N.Y. 37......Josh A. Antell......................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 38......Sanford Greenberg ............Dix Hills, N.Y. 39......Sohrob Yavari ....................Syosset, N.Y. 40......Cameron Klepper ..............Dix Hills, N.Y.

Long Island Boys 16 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Matthew Kolkhorst ............Sea Cliff, N.Y. 2 ........Faran Nazir ........................Deer Park, N.Y. 3 ........Evan Lander........................Old Bethpage, N.Y. 4 ........Christopher McGorty ........Bellmore, N.Y. 5 ........Patrick Sean Lombardi ......Halesite, N.Y. 6 ........Simar Deep Sawhney ........New Hyde Park, N.Y. 7 ........Saiteja Damineni ................Albertson, N.Y. 8 ........Marco Ammirati..................Halesite, N.Y. 9 ........Jason Gerber......................Commack, N.Y. 10......Drew Greenberg ................Dix Hills, N.Y. 11......Kenneth Francis Chiu ........Holtsville, N.Y. 12......Nicholas Gajda ..................Smithtown, N.Y. 13......Joshua Samuel Simoncic..Glen Head, N.Y. 14......Jack Cameron Goldman ..Old Westbury, N.Y. 15......Julian Thomas MacGurn ..Amagansett, N.Y. 16......Mark Julian Baker ..............North Baldwin, N.Y. 17......George Kaslow ..................Port Washington, N.Y. 18......Aaron Askowitz ..................Great Neck, N.Y. 19......Benjamin Craddock ..........Stony Brook, N.Y. 20......Spencer Kirschman ..........Dix Hills, N.Y. 21......Jay Burkett..........................Syosset, N.Y. 22......David Seth Zuckerman......Valley Stream, N.Y. 23......Evan Lowitt ........................Syosset, N.Y. 24......Zane Siddiqui ....................Long Beach, N.Y. 25......Jordan Michael Bennett ....Valley Stream, N.Y. 26......Jonathan Eisenson ............Saint James, N.Y. 27......Kyle Hudson Gower ..........Oceanside, N.Y. 28......Connor Wright ....................Commack, N.Y. 29......Kenneth Michael Wang......Manhasset, N.Y. 30......Austin Egna ........................Port Washington, N.Y. 31......Jake Parker Cohen ............Oceanside, N.Y. 32......Vincent Tozzi ......................North Babylon, N.Y. 33......Curran Varma ....................Manhasset, N.Y. 34......Kevin Kucharczyk ..............Rocky Point, N.Y. 35......Derek Menker ....................Great Neck, N.Y. 36......Jordan Diamond ................Mount Sinai, N.Y. 37......Timothy Nacca ..................Garden City, N.Y. 38......Robert Sangirardi ..............Lynbrook, N.Y. 39......Brandon Nomberg ............Deer Park, N.Y. 40......Ian Blank ............................Old Westbury, N.Y.

RANKINGS

Long Island Boys 18 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Matthew Bahar ..................Woodbury, N.Y. 2 ........Christopher McGorty ........Bellmore, N.Y. 3 ........Evan Kober ........................Wantagh, N.Y. 4 ........Steven Kucharczyk ............Rocky Point, N.Y. 5 ........Faran Nazir ........................Deer Park, N.Y. 6 ........Sebastian Alvarez ..............Mastic Beach, N.Y. 7 ........Marco Ammirati..................Halesite, N.Y. 8 ........Luke Douglas Johnston ....Port Washington, N.Y. 9 ........Kenneth Michael Wang......Manhasset, N.Y. 10......Florimond Le Goupil ..........Oceanside, N.Y. 11......Jordan Diamond ................Mt. Sinai, N.Y. 12......Vincent Thompson ............Massapequa, N.Y. 13......David Henry Reinharz ........Rockville Centre, N.Y. 14......Tyler Grosse........................Bayport, N.Y. 15......Evan Lowitt ........................Syosset, N.Y. 16......Cole Laffitte ........................East Setauket, N.Y. 17......Jason Gerber......................Commack, N.Y. 18......Chirag A. Doshi ..................Sands Point, N.Y. 19......Cameron Posillico ..............Bayville, N.Y. 20......Ankur Kejriwal ....................Hewlett, N.Y. 21......Connor Gould ....................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 22......Cory Seltman......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 23......Timothy Sorenson..............Glen Cove, N.Y. 24......Chris Buckley ....................Bohemia, N.Y. 25......Troy Michael Haas..............Huntington Station, N.Y. 26......Christopher Kramer............Valley Stream, N.Y. 27......Vinny Sciortino....................Merrick, N.Y.

GIRLS Long Island Girls 12 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Julia Gentile ........................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 2 ........Alexis Madison Huber........Melville, N.Y. 3 ........Julia Kielan..........................Valley Stream, N.Y. 4 ........Madelyn Kay Germano......Islip, N.Y. 5 ........Hannah Vinod Abraham ....Syosset, N.Y. 6 ........Alina Rebeca Lyakhov ......Great Neck, N.Y. 7 ........Jill Olga Lawrence..............Hauppauge, N.Y. 8 ........Lauren Zola ........................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 9 ........Daniela J. Benigno ............Shoreham, N.Y. 10......Janelle Chen ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 11......Julianna Marie Romeo ......Massapequa, N.Y. 12......Janae Fouche ....................Freeport, N.Y. 13......Denise Lai ..........................Setauket, N.Y. 14......Gabriela Sciarrotta ............Woodmere, N.Y. 15......Ida Nicole Poulos ..............Manhasset, N.Y. 16......Ally Friedman......................East Hampton, N.Y. 17......Lauren Hutton ....................Huntington, N.Y. 18......Ivanna Nikolic ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 19......Kavina Amin........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 20......Annaliese Zola....................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 21......Madeline Richmond ..........Syosset, N.Y. 22......Sofia Rose Anzalone..........Center Moriches, N.Y. 23......Margaret Esther Haykin ....Great Neck, N.Y. 24......Morena DeVito....................Syosset, N.Y. 25......Grace Isabel Riviezzo ........Syosset, N.Y. 26......Sarah Gabrielle Faber ........Roslyn, N.Y. 27......Olivia Broder ......................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 28......Daniela Victoria Paikin ......Valley Stream, N.Y. 29......Anna Vanessa Malin ..........Oceanside, N.Y. 30......Sophia Elizabeth Schutte ..Great Neck, N.Y. 31......Kaya Amin ..........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 32......Kristina Pali ........................Great Neck, N.Y. 33......Lauren Jordana Druz ........Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 34......Jolie Nemshin ....................Syosset, N.Y.

Long Island Tennis Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ May/June 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ LITennisMag.com

35......Andrea Irta Brazyte ............Ronkonkoma, N.Y. 36......Remi Berlent ......................Huntington, N.Y. 37......Bianca Rose Lorich............Southampton, N.Y. 38......Sarah Gunasekera ............Mt. Sinai, N.Y. 39......Rebecca Suarez ................Huntington, N.Y. 40......Sarah Jayne Lubow ..........Locust Valley, N.Y.

Long Island Girls 14 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Michelle Roitgarts ..............Roslyn, N.Y. 2 ........Hannah Vinod Abraham ....Syosset, N.Y. 3 ........Madeline A. Clinton............Manhasset, N.Y. 4 ........Julia Kielan..........................Valley Stream, N.Y. 5 ........Jill Olga Lawrence..............Hauppague, N.Y. 6 ........Kaitlyn Byrnes ....................Massapequa, N.Y. 7 ........Lucia Hu..............................Roslyn, N.Y. 8 ........Evangelia Maria Frankis ....Manhasset, N.Y. 9 ........Carly Menker ......................Great Neck, N.Y. 10......Samantha Lena Galu ........Jericho, N.Y. 11......Brooke Ann Fernandez......Shirley, N.Y. 12......Ann Sophia Kogosov ........Syosset, N.Y. 13......Emily Rose Fernandez ......Shirley, N.Y. 14......Haley Raphael ....................Great Neck, N.Y. 15......Morgan A. Wilkins ..............Huntington, N.Y. 16......Daniela J. Benigno ............Shoreham, N.Y. 17......Jade Fixon-Owoo ..............Lynbrook, N.Y. 18......Riley Elizabeth Katzman ....Halesite, N.Y. 19......Rachel Flynn Collins ..........Port Jefferson, N.Y. 20......Denise Lai ..........................Setauket, N.Y. 21......Isabelle Policarpio ..............Rocky Point, N.Y. 22......Ariana Lynn Fixon-Owoo ..Lynbrook, N.Y. 23......Ivanna Nikolic ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 24......Elena Artemis Vlamakis ....Garden City, N.Y. 25......Madeline Lane....................Port Washington, N.Y. 26......Stephanie Margaret Cole ..Manhasset, N.Y. 27......Bryn Schlussler ..................Bay Shore, N.Y. 28......Kaitlyn Schwarz..................Oceanside, N.Y. 29......Victoria Anna Bialczak ......New Hyde Park, N.Y. 30......Rachel Bernstein................Plainview, N.Y. 31......Joelle Ann Benigno ............Shoreham, N.Y. 32......Christina Lorraine Jud........Glen Head, N.Y. 33......Lauren Gold........................Old Westbury, N.Y. 34......Danah Han..........................Dix Hills, N.Y. 35......Ariana Malik........................Melville, N.Y. 36......Stephanie Zelenetz ............Sea Cliff, N.Y. 37......Janae Fouche ....................Freeport, N.Y. 38......Fallon Berger ......................Syosset, N.Y. 39......Julia Gentile ........................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 40......Olivia Faulhaber..................Saint James, N.Y.

Long Island Girls 16 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Nicole Kielan ......................Valley Stream, N.Y. 2 ........Danielle Mirabella ..............Wantagh, N.Y. 3 ........Sabrina Ferretti ..................Setauket, N.Y. 4 ........Elena Nitsa Maria Nastasi..Bayville, N.Y. 5 ........Rebecca Elizabeth Stern ..Dix Hills, N.Y. 6 ........Emily Kate Shutman ..........Huntington, N.Y. 7 ........Ann Sophia Kogosov ........Syosset, N.Y. 8 ........Michelle Carnovale ............Massapequa, N.Y. 9 ........Rachel Weiss......................Great Neck, N.Y. 10......Brooke Emily Digia ............Manhasset, N.Y. 11......Rini Halder ..........................Huntington, N.Y. 12......Nicole Lin Chin ..................Selden, N.Y. 13......Laura Jean Halsey..............Westhampton, N.Y. 14......Courtney Connors..............Manhasset, N.Y. 15......Olivia Rose Scordo ............Glen Head, N.Y. 16......Michelle Roitgarts ..............Roslyn, N.Y. 17......Lindsay Jane Haley............Hicksville, N.Y.

LONG 18......Emily Rose Fernandez ......Shirley, N.Y. 19......Emma Kate Rosenberg ....Port Washington, N.Y. 20......Taylor Bradford ..................Sea Cliff, N.Y. 21......Ellen Huhulea......................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 22......Montaine LeGoupil-Maier..Oceanside, N.Y. 23......Grace Graham....................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 24......Juliana Shenker..................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 25......Nia Gilliam ..........................Central Islip, N.Y. 26......Victoria Evelyn Villalba ......Oyster Bay, N.Y. 27......Gabrielle Raziel ..................Melville, N.Y. 28......Rachel Flynn Collins ..........Port Jefferson, N.Y. 29......Lakshmi Babureddy ..........Dix Hills, N.Y. 30......Amanda Ress-Liere ..........Yaphank, N.Y. 31......Mara Danielle Stewart........Oceanside, N.Y. 32......Morgan A. Wilkins ..............Huntington, N.Y. 33......Hannah Vimod Abraham ..Syosset, N.Y. 34......Sophie Grace Wilson ........Oyster Bay, N.Y. 35......Sarah Seeman....................Port Washington, N.Y. 36......Mina Sarcevic ....................Dix Hills, N.Y. 37......Elinor Simek........................Glen Head, N.Y. 38......Fiona Stocks-Lyon ............Glen Cove, N.Y. 39......Adele Sukhov ....................Westbury, N.Y. 40......Kendall Julia Kutner ..........Rockville Centre, N.Y.

Long Island Girls 18 Singles Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Rebecca Elizabeth Stern ..Dix Hills, N.Y. 2 ........Bridget Connors ................East Quogue, N.Y. 3 ........Julia Khan ..........................Port Washington, N.Y. 4 ........Suzanne C. Silecchia ........Rockville Centre, N.Y. 5 ........Cameron Leigh Moskol ....Wantagh, N.Y. 6 ........Tayler Bradford ..................Sea Cliff, N.Y. 7 ........Elena Nastasi......................Bayville, N.Y. 8 ........Ellen Huhulea......................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 9 ........Claudia Ruiz........................Glen Head, N.Y. 10......Eirini Margarita Kontaki......West Islip, N.Y.

Boys & Girls Sectional Rankings (as of 04/21/14)

BOYS

Sectional Boys 12 Singles— Long Island Region Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Billy G. Suarez ....................Huntington, N.Y. 4 ........Cannon Kingsley................Northport, N.Y. 6 ........Spencer Brachman............Commack, N.Y. 10......Ronald P. Hohmann ..........Oyster Bay, N.Y. 11......Sujay Sharma ....................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 12......Jack Flores ........................Huntington, N.Y. 14......Kabir Rajpal ........................Syosset, N.Y. 16......Maxwell Moadel ................Brookville, N.Y. 17......Niles Ghaffar ......................Massapequa, N.Y. 23......Logan Paik Chang..............Old Westbury, N.Y. 28......Oliver Worth........................Locust Valley, N.Y. 34......Sam Reichbach..................Syosset, N.Y. 43......Rohan Gaddam Reddy......Glen Head, N.Y. 45......Aman K. Sharma................Glen Head, N.Y. 47......Alexander Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y. 49......Richard James Kelly ..........Manhasset, N.Y 62......Isaac Smith ........................Glen Cove, N.Y. 63......Justin Benjamin Oresky ....Syosset, N.Y. 69......Daniel Chikvashvili ............Melville, N.Y. 70......Amani Siddiqui ..................West Babylon, N.Y. 76......Tommy George Srisuro......Garden City, N.Y. 83......Jack Louchheim ................Sagaponack, N.Y. 87......Luke Torel Karniewich........Glen Head, N.Y. 89......Aryan Kumar Sethi ............Dix Hills, N.Y.

ISLAND

92......Ravi MacGurn ....................Amagansett, N.Y. 104....Kian Louis Ghazvini............Glen Head, N.Y. 105....Sohrob Yavari ....................Syosset, N.Y. 106....Luke Louchheim ................Sagaponack, N.Y. 107....Brandon Lee ......................Valley Stream, N.Y. 119....Adam Lammers..................Central Islip, N.Y. 123 ..Michael Weitz ....................Roslyn, N.Y. 129....Brandon Zhu ......................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 134....Gunner Overstrom ............Locust Valley, N.Y. 136 ..Mark Ryan Taranov ............Valley Stream, N.Y. 137....Ian Schunk..........................Westhampton Beach, N.Y. 145....Cameron Levchuck............Greenlawn, N.Y. 148....Anthony Casale..................Old Bethpage, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 14 Singles— Long Island Region Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Steven Well Sun ................Glen Cove, N.Y. 5 ........Ryan Goetz ........................Greenlawn, N.Y. 11......Cannon Kingsley................Northport, N.Y. 12......Daniel Eric Pellerito ............Syosset, N.Y. 13......Neel Raj ..............................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 14......Pete Siozios........................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 15......Brian Shi..............................Jericho, N.Y. 16......Yuval Solomon ..................Plainview, N.Y. 18......Ronald Hohmann ..............Oyster Bay, N.Y. 25......Alan Delman ......................Great Neck, N.Y. 29......Patrick Maloney..................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 34......Michael Medvedev ............Oceanside, N.Y. 39......Gardner Howe....................Locust Valley, N.Y. 42......Daniel Weitz ........................Roslyn, N.Y. 58......Matthew Porges ................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 61......Abinhav Srivastava ............Melville, N.Y. 65......Benjamin Cole Grossman..Sands Point, N.Y. 73......Jack Flores ........................Huntington, N.Y. 86......Spencer Brachman............Commack, N.Y. 88......Zachary Ian Khazzam ........Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 91......Justin Ullman......................Huntington Station, N.Y. 98......Nicolas Demaria ................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 105....Daniel Meinster ..................South Setauket, N.Y. 107....Matthew Terlovsky ............Merrick, N.Y. 112....Logan Paik Chang..............Old Westbury, N.Y. 113....Alexander Roti....................Locust Valley, N.Y. 114....Karan Amin ........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 117....Maxwell Moadel ................Brookville, N.Y. 122....Jeffrey McDonnell ..............Glen Cove, N.Y. 123....Avi Anand............................Dix Hills, N.Y. 124....Michael Kaydin ..................Valley Stream, N.Y. 143....Timothy Hayden Nacca ....Garden City, N.Y. 145....David Ammendola ............Massapequa, N.Y. 147....Sangjin Song ......................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 150....Niles Ghaffar ......................Massapequa, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 16 Singles— Long Island Region Rank Name..................................City 3 ........Brenden Volk ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 5 ........Athell Patrick Bennett ........Valley Stream, N.Y. 7 ........Lubomir Cuba ....................Massapequa Park, N.Y. 12......Sean Mullins ......................Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. 18......Finbar Talcott......................Sea Cliff, N.Y. 27......Daniel Shleimovich ............Syosset, N.Y. 31......Yuval Solomon ..................Plainview, N.Y. 32......Sean Patrick ......................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 33......Colin Francis Sacco ..........Brightwaters, N.Y. 36......Brian Shi..............................Jericho, N.Y. 41......Travis Leaf ..........................Dix Hills, N.Y. 42......Brian Hoffarth ....................Fort Salonga, N.Y. 45......Stephen Gruppuso ............Bayport, N.Y. 47......Chris Kuhnle ......................Shoreham, N.Y.

RANKINGS

48......Tyler Ng ..............................Great Neck, N.Y. 52......Mark Julian Baker ..............North Baldwin, N.Y. 53......Aziz Rashidzada ................Dix Hills, N.Y. 55......Alan Delman ......................Great Neck, N.Y. 58......Dylan Granat ......................Woodbury, N.Y. 61......David Henry Reinharz ........Rockville Centre, N.Y. 64......Ryan Goetz ........................Greenlawn, N.Y. 66......Palmer Clare ......................North Bellmore, N.Y. 67......Daniel Weitz ........................Roslyn, N.Y. 72......Alex Grossman ..................Sands Point, N.Y. 79......Rajan Vohra ........................Glen Head, N.Y. 88......Ross Reiffman ....................Melville, N.Y. 89......Kyle Hudson Gower ..........Oceanside, N.Y. 92......Nasser Abdel Ghaffar ........Massapequa, N.Y. 93......Pete Siozios........................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 99......Del Schunk ........................Westhampton Beach, N.Y. 102....Keegan James Morris........Franklin Square, N.Y. 105....Duane Davis ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 113....Andy Zhou ..........................Commack, N.Y. 118....Noah Reisch ......................Floral Park, N.Y. 119....Daniel Khodosh..................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 125....Matthew Holweger ............Manhasset, N.Y. 126....Dylan Davis ........................Dix Hills, N.Y. 130....Michael Medvedev ............Albertson, N.Y. 141....Connor Dove ......................Baldwin, N.Y. 145....Jake Parker Cohen ............Oceanside, N.Y. 148....Julian Thomas MacGurn ..Amagansett, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 18 Singles— Long Island Region Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Daniel Grunberger..............Great Neck, N.Y. 12......Josh Silverstein ..................Great Neck, N.Y. 13......Lubomir Cuba ....................Massapequa Park, N.Y. 22......Alexander Lebedev............Island Park, N.Y. 24......Bryant J. Born ....................Manhasset, N.Y. 25......Brendan Volk ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 26......Phillip Antohi ......................Glen Head, N.Y. 35......Conor Mullins ....................Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. 39......Dylan Appel ........................Locust Valley, N.Y. 44......Jesse M. Levitin..................Manhasset, N.Y. 46......Kyle Alper............................Dix Hills, N.Y. 52......Brian Shi..............................Jericho, N.Y. 59......Eric Wagner ........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 62......Justin Park..........................Huntington, N.Y. 63......Noah Rubin ........................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 65......Zain Ali ................................Dix Hills, N.Y. 66......Julian Zlobinsky..................Greenvale, N.Y. 68......Benjamin Rosen ................Port Washington, N.Y. 72......Jonathan Paris....................Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 75......Cooper Francis Lacertera..Speonk, N.Y. 77......Brian Hoffarth ....................Fort Salonga, N.Y 80......Cory Seltman......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 83......Pete Siozios........................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 85......Fernando Filho ..................East Hampton, N.Y. 95......Kevin Cino ..........................East Quogue, N.Y. 96......William Bader ....................Water Mill, N.Y. 98......Mike Nelson........................Manhassett, N.Y. 100....Henry Tell ............................Woodbury, N.Y. 102....Jared R. Halstrom ..............Bellmore, N.Y. 103....Ross Reiffman ....................Melville, N.Y. 104....Athell Bennett ....................Valley Stream, N.Y. 109....Matthew Bahar ..................Woodbury, N.Y. 111....Joseph James D’Orazio ....Saint James, N.Y. 120....Sean Mullins ......................Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. 134....Alex Brebenel ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 135....Florimond Le Goupil ..........Oceanside, N.Y. 141....Duane Davis ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 142....Daniel Shleimovich ............Syosset, N.Y. 144....Luke Douglas Johnston ....Port Washington, N.Y.

GIRLS

Sectional Girls 12 Singles— Long Island Region Rank Name..................................City 5 ........Rachel Arbitman ................Hewlett, N.Y. 6 ........Maryam Beshir Ahmad......Albertson, N.Y. 9 ........Merri Kelly ..........................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 11......Steffi Antao ........................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 22......Alexa Susan Goetz ............Greenlawn, N.Y. 27......Amy Delman ......................Great Neck, N.Y. 29......Madison Jane Williams......Glen Cove, N.Y. 30......Francesca Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y. 39......Ivanna Nikolic ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 54......Kimberly Liao......................Commack, N.Y. 58......Calista Sha..........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 71......Janae Fouche ....................Freeport 79......Gabriela Sciarrotta ............Woodmere, N.Y. 82......Madeline Richmond ..........Syosset, N.Y. 85......Alexis Madison Huber........Melville, N.Y. 95......Julia Gentile ........................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 101....Alina Rebeca Lyakhov ......Great Neck, N.Y. 103....Ida Nicole Poulos ..............Manhasset, N.Y. 104....Sofia Rose Anzalone..........Center Moriches, N.Y. 105....Madelyn Kay Germano......Islip, N.Y. 108....Julianna Romeo ................Massapequa, N.Y. 112....Kaya Amin ..........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 119....Lauren Hutton ....................Huntington, N.Y. 120....Ally Friedman......................East Hampton, N.Y. 131....Janelle Chen ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 141....Lauren Zola ........................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 142....Kavina Amin........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 14 Singles— Long Island Region Rank Name..................................City 2 ........Lea Ma ................................Dix Hills, N.Y. 12......Jacqueline Rae Bukzin ......Manorville, N.Y. 21......Ashley Lessen ....................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 27......Jasmine Olivia Abidi ..........Glen Head, N.Y. 35......Merri Kelly ..........................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 40......Olivia Rose Scordo ............Glen Head, N.Y. 47......Stephanie Chikvashvili ......Melville, N.Y. 49......Francesca Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y. 60......Julia Kielan..........................Valley Stream, N.Y. 70......Samantha Lena Galu ........Jericho, N.Y. 77......Trinity Chow........................Glen Cove, N.Y. 78......Julieta Eulau ......................Oceanside, N.Y. 83......Evangelina Maria Frankis ..Manhasset, N.Y. 88......Risha Malhotra ..................Syosset, N.Y. 89......Denise Lai ..........................Setauket, N.Y. 92......Alexa Susan Goetz ............Greenlawn, N.Y. 101....Kaitlyn Byrnes ....................Massapequa, N.Y. 105....Ariana Lynn Fixon-Owoo ..Lynbrook, N.Y. 112....Hannah Vinod Abraham ....Syosset, N.Y. 115....Nicole Rezak ......................Merrick, N.Y. 116....Madeline Clinton ................Manhasset, N.Y. 117....Lucia Hu..............................Roslyn, N.Y. 122....Jill Lawrence ......................Hauppauge, N.Y. 124....Cara Becker........................Great Neck, N.Y. 129....Jade Fixon-Owoo ..............Lynbrook, N.Y. 131....Kaitlyn Schwarz..................Oceanside, N.Y. 144....Mina Sarcevic ....................Dix Hills, N.Y. 145....Steffi Antao ........................New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 16 Singles— Long Island Region Rank Name..................................City 1 ........Madison Battaglia ..............Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 3 ........Alexa Graham ....................Garden City, N.Y. 6 ........Taylor Cosme......................New Hyde Park, N.Y.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

LONG

ISLAND

Boys & Girls National Rankings

14......Claire Handa ......................Point Lookout, N.Y. 19......Celeste Rose Matute ........Oyster Bay, N.Y. 24......Ashley Lessen ....................Old Westbury, N.Y. 47......Jacqueline Rae Bukzin ......Manorville, N.Y. 48......Jasmine Olivia Abidi ..........Glen Head, N.Y. 49......Esther Chikvashvili ............Melville, N.Y. 55......Lea Ma ................................Dix Hills, N.Y. 56......Michele Sheila Lehat..........Great Neck, N.Y. 64......Stephanie Nakash..............Great Neck, N.Y. 66......Vanessa Scott ....................Dix Hills, N.Y. 67......Madison Courtney Appel ..Locust Valley, N.Y. 75......Nicole Kielan ......................Valley Stream, N.Y. 86......Amanda Allison Foo ..........Manhasset, N.Y. 88......Sarah Seeman....................Port Washington, N.Y. 89......Courtney B. Kowalsky ......Oyster Bay, N.Y. 91......Dominique Woinarowski....Syosset, N.Y. 100....Danielle Mirabella ..............Wantagh, N.Y. 108....Ellen Nicole Huhulea..........Rockville Centre, N.Y. 115....Stephanie Chikvashvili ......Melville, N.Y. 119....Rachel Weiss......................Great Neck, N.Y. 120....Michelle Carnovale ............Massapequa, N.Y. 122....Francesca Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y. 125....Julia Kielan..........................Valley Stream, N.Y. 137....Emily Shutman ..................Huntington, N.Y. 141....Brynn Maris April................Dix Hill, N.Y. 149....Olivia Faulhaber..................Saint James, N.Y. 150....Michelle Roitgarts ..............Roslyn, N.Y.

15......Billy G. Suarez ....................Huntington, N.Y. 22......Cannon Kingsley................Northport, N.Y. 36......Spencer Brachman............Commack, N.Y. 42......Ronald P. Hohmann ..........Oyster Bay, N.Y. 109....Logan Paik Chang..............Old Westbury, N.Y. 116....Sujay Sharma ....................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 122....Kabir Rajpal ........................Syosset, N.Y. 127....Jack Flores ........................Huntington, N.Y. 205....Niles Ghaffar ......................Massapequa, N.Y. 343....Oliver Worth........................Locust Valley, N.Y. 352....Sam Reichbach..................Syosset, N.Y. 370....Maxwell Moadel ................Brookville, N.Y. 377....Rohan Reddy ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 708....Richard James Kelly ..........Manhasset, N.Y. 726....Isaac Smith ........................Glen Cove, N.Y. 853....Alexander Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y. 940....Aman Sharma ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 1108..Daniel Chikvashvili ............Melville, N.Y. 1197..Tommy George Srisuro......Garden City, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 18 Singles— Long Island Region

National Boys 14 Singles— Long Island Players

(as of 04/24/14)

BOYS

National Boys 12 Singles— Long Island Players

937....Daniel Weitz ........................Roslyn, N.Y. 945....Chris Kuhnle ......................Shoreham, N.Y. 1031..Alan Delman ......................Great Neck, N.Y. 1079..Palmer Clare ......................North Bellmore, N.Y. 1351..Alex Grossman ..................Sands Point, N.Y. 1369..Jai Rajan Vohra ..................Glen Head, N.Y. 1490..David Henry Reinharz ........Rockville Centre, N.Y.

Rank Name ............................City

Rank Name..................................City

Rank Name ............................City

3 ........Alexa Graham ....................Garden City, N.Y. 4 ........Aleksandra Mally................Franklin Square, N.Y. 13......Madison Battaglia ..............Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 24......Nicole Koskovolis ..............Manhasset, N.Y. 30......Mia M. Vecchio ..................Manhasset, N.Y. 33......Aimee Manfredo ................Shoreham, N.Y. 38......Eirini Margarita Kontaki......West Islip, N.Y. 40......Sunaina Vohra ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 51......Taylor S. Cosme ................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 57......Lauren Ann Livingston ......Sands Points, N.Y. 64......Bridget Elaine Harding ......Northport, N.Y. 66......Claire Handa ......................Point Lookout, N.Y. 78......Claudia Ruiz........................Glen Head, N.Y. 88......Katie Jane Cirella................Woodbury, N.Y. 89......Stephanie Nakash..............Great Neck, N.Y. 90......Alexandra Linder ................Sands Point, N.Y. 94......Bridget Connors ................East Quogue, N.Y. 95......Allison Gabrielle Huber ......Melville, N.Y. 98......Nicole Kielan ......................Valley Stream, N.Y. 103....Madison Courtney Appel ..Locust Valley, N.Y. 104....Cameron Leigh Moskol ....Wantagh, N.Y. 107....Julia Khan ..........................Port Washington, N.Y. 109....Rebecca Elizabeth Stern ..Dix Hills, N.Y. 115....Michele Sheila Lehat..........Great Neck, N.Y. 131....Rachel Arbitman ................Hewlett, N.Y. 133....Emma Brezel ......................Port Washington, N.Y. 135....Lauren Elizabeth DiFazio ..Greenlawn, N.Y. 139....Paulina Tafler ......................Oceanside, N.Y. 144....Elena Nitsa Maria Nastasi..Bayville, N.Y. 146....Montaine Le Goupil............Oceanside, N.Y.

2 ........Steven Well Sun ................Glen Cove, N.Y. 29......Ryan Goetz ........................Greenlawn, N.Y. 73......Brian Shi..............................Jericho, N.Y. 117....Cannon Kingsley................Northport, N.Y. 138....Patrick Maloney..................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 139....Daniel Eric Pellerito ............Syosset, N.Y. 160....Neel Raj ..............................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 163....Ronald P. Hohmann ..........Oyster Bay, N.Y. 244....Alan Delman ......................Great Neck, N.Y. 261....Pete Siozios........................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 284....Michael Medvedev ............Oceanside, N.Y. 298....Yuval Solomon ..................Plainview, N.Y. 401....Daniel Weitz ........................Roslyn, N.Y. 477....Gardner Howe....................Locust Valley, N.Y. 581....Billy Suarez ........................Huntington, N.Y. 636....Matthew Franklin Porges ..Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 978....Nicolas Demaria ................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 1117..Daniel Meinster ..................South Setauket, N.Y. 1225..Benjamin Cole Grossman..Sands Point, N.Y. 1320..Abhinav Raj Srivastava ......Melville, N.Y. 1406..Lazar Ivan Markovic ..........Lattingtown, N.Y.

RANKINGS

National Boys 16 Singles— Long Island Players

National Boys 18 Singles— Long Island Players Rank Name ............................City 9 ........Daniel Grundberger............Great Neck, N.Y. 34......Josh Silverstein ..................Great Neck, N.Y. 80......Alexander Lebedev............Island Park, N.Y. 122....Noah B. Rubin....................Rockville Centre, N.Y. 188....Julian Zlobinski ..................Greenvale, N.Y. 315....Brenden Volk ......................Dix Hills, N.Y. 352....Lubomir Cuba ....................Massapequa Park, N.Y. 410....Bryant Born ........................Manhasset, N.Y. 518....Dylan Hobbs Appel............Locust Valley, N.Y. 537....Lamar Remy ......................Roslyn, N.Y. 557....Steven Well Sun ................Glen Cove, N.Y. 684....Ryan Goetz ........................Greenlawn, N.Y. 702....Zain Ali ................................Dix Hills, N.Y. 709....Billy Suarez ........................Huntington, N.Y. 717....Conor Mullins ....................Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. 791....Eric Wagner ........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 792....Philip Daniel Antohi ............Glen Head, N.Y. 809....Sean M. Mullins..................Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. 923....Jesse Levitin ......................Manhasset, N.Y. 1097..Jonathan Paris....................Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 1132..Benjamin Rosen ................Port Washington, N.Y. 1144..Kyle Alper............................Dix Hills, N.Y. 1167..Brian Hoffarth ....................Fort Salonga, N.Y.

GIRLS

National Girls 12 Singles— Long Island Players Rank Name ............................City 60......Rachel Arbitman ................Hewlett, N.Y. 63......Maryam Beshir Ahmad......Albertson, N.Y. 94......Alexa Goetz ........................Greenlawn, N.Y. 110....Merri Kelly ..........................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 128....Francesca Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y. 245....Amy Delman ......................Great Neck, N.Y. 271....Steffi Antao ........................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 283....Madison Jane Williams......Glen Cove, N.Y. 640....Rebecca Suarez ................Huntington, N.Y. 708....Ivanna Nikolic ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 763....Calista Sha..........................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 999....Madison Smith ..................Glen Cove, N.Y. 1036..Kimberly Liao......................Commack, N.Y.

National Girls 14 Singles— Long Island Players

Rank Name ............................City

39......Brenden Andrew Volk ........Dix Hills, N.Y. 103....Lubomir Cuba ....................Massapequa Park, N.Y. 112....Patrick Athell Bennett ........Valley Stream, N.Y. 115....Sean Mullins ......................Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. 149....Finbar Talcott......................Sea Cliff, N.Y. 304....Sean Patrick ......................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 428....Travis Leaf ..........................Dix Hills, N.Y. 449....Brian Shi..............................Jericho, N.Y. 479....Yuval Solomon ..................Plainview, N.Y. 482....Brian Hoffarth ....................Fort Salonga, N.Y. 585....Ryan Goetz ........................Greenlawn, N.Y. 647....Daniel Shleimovich ............Syosset, N.Y. 655....Stephen Grappusso ..........Bayport, N.Y. 683....Colin Francis Sacco ..........Brightwaters, N.Y. 928....Dylan Granat ......................Woodbury, N.Y.

18......Lea Ma ................................Dix Hills, N.Y. 237....Ashley Lessen ....................Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 246....Jasmine Olivia Abidi ..........Glen Head, N.Y. 296....Jacqueline Rae Bukzin ......Manorville, N.Y. 358....Merri Kelly ..........................Oyster Bay, N.Y. 650....Stephanie Chikvashvili ......Melville, N.Y. 727....Olivia Rose Scordo ............Glen Head, N.Y.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

National Girls 16 Singles— Long Island Players Rank Name ............................City 48......Madison Battaglia ..............Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 55......Alexa Graham ....................Garden City, N.Y. 124....Taylor S. Cosme ................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 239....Madison Courtney Appel ..Locust Valley, N.Y. 246....Claire Handa ......................Point Lookout, N.Y. 494....Celeste Rose Matute ........Oyster Bay, N.Y. 589....Vanessa L. Scott ................Dix Hills, N.Y. 681....Ashley Lessen ....................Old Westbury, N.Y. 719....Michele Sheila Lehat..........Great Neck, N.Y. 748....Lea Ma ................................Dix Hills, N.Y. 921....Jasmine Abidi ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 1074..Esther Chikvashvili ............Melville, N.Y. 1102..Stephanie Nakash..............Great Neck, N.Y. 1199..Dominique Woinarowski....Syosset, N.Y.

National Girls 18 Singles— Long Island Players Rank Name ............................City 99......Alexa Graham ....................Garden City, N.Y. 133....Aleksandra Mally................Franklin Square, N.Y. 237....Madison Battaglia ..............Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 453....Nicole Koskovolis ..............Manhasset, N.Y. 514....Sunaina Vohra ....................Glen Head, N.Y. 587....Rachel Arbitman ................Hewlett, N.Y. 612....Mia Vecchio ........................Manhasset Hills, N.Y. 797....Aimee Manfredo ................Shoreham, N.Y. 823....Maryam Beshir Ahmad......Albertson, N.Y. 980....Taylor S. Cosme ................New Hyde Park, N.Y. 997....Claudia Ruiz........................Glen Head, N.Y. 1033..Lea Ma ................................Dix Hills, N.Y. 1061..Madison Courtney Appel ..Locust Valley, N.Y. 1083..Alexa Goetz ........................Greenlawn, N.Y. 1085..Francesca Karman ............Port Washington, N.Y.

USTA/Long Island Region 2014

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE For detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments. MAY 2014 Friday-Sunday, May 16-18 L2R Sportime Syosset’s May LI Regional Sportime Syosset 75 Haskett Drive • Syosset, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 16-18 (FMLC) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Tuesday, May 6 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentssyt@sportimeny.com or call (516) 364-2727. Friday-Sunday, May 16-18 L1B CMTC May Challenger Christopher Morley Tennis Center 500 Searingtown Road Roslyn, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Girls Singles & Doubles 12, 18 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, May 4 at 5:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail ruiz.clark@yahoo.com or call (917) 991-0088. Friday-Sunday, May 16-18 L1B Sportime Bethpage Challenger Sportime Bethpage 101 Norcross Avenue • Bethpage, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tdbethpageten@sportimeny.com or call (516) 933-8500.

Friday-Sunday, May 16-18 L1 Anuj Agarwal Memorial Championships at Deer Park Deer Park Tennis Center 30 Burt Drive • Deer Park, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Boys & Girls Singles 14 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 8 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail deerparktennis@optimum.net or call (631) 667-3476. Friday-Sunday, May 16-18 L1 PWTA Summer Championships Port Washington Tennis Academy 100 Harbor Road • Port Washington, N.Y. Divisions: Grand Prix Girls Singles & Doubles 16 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles and $28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 8 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tennis@pwta.com or call (631) 667-3476. Friday-Sunday, May 23-25 L1B LBTC Late Spring Challenger Long Beach Tennis Center 899 Monroe Boulevard • Long Beach, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles & Doubles 16-18 (SE) & Quick Start Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [78’ Green Ball 10] Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles and $28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Monday, May 19 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail sid@longbeachtenniscenter.com or call (516) 432-6060.

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Friday-Monday, May 23-26 L2R May Regional at Huntington Huntington Indoor Tennis 100 Broadway • Huntington Station, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles [78’ Yellow Ball 12,16 (FMLC)] & Quick Start Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [60’ Orange Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Clay Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Tuesday, May 13 at 5:00 p.m.) For more information, call (631) 421-0040. Friday-Monday, May 23-26 L2O Glen Head Racquet Club Memorial Day Open Glen Head Racquet Club 95 Glen Head Road • Glen Head, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 14,18 (FRLC) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 16 at 11:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail rbecker06@yahoo.com or call (516) 676-9849. Friday-Monday, May 23-26 L1B EAC Memorial Weekend Challenge Eastern Athletic Clubs 9 Montauk Highway, Unit A • Blue Point, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 16-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Saturday, May 17 at noon) For more information, e-mail mbhoffner@gmail.com or call (631) 363-2882. Friday-Monday, May 23-26 L1B Sportime Kings Park May Challenger Sportime-Kings Park 275 Old Indianhead Road • Kings Park, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 12-14 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, May 18 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tvanepps@sportimeny.com or call (631) 269-6300. Saturday-Monday, May 24-26 L1 RSTA May Championships Ross School Tennis Academy 18 Goodfriend Drive • East Hampton, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Girls Singles 18 (SE) Surface Type: Clay Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 16 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail pstankevich@ross.org or call (631) 907-5162.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

USTA/Long Island Region 2014

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE For detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments. Saturday, May 24 L3 10U UPS & 8U Playday at Sportime Syosset Sportime Syosset 75 Haskett Drive • Syosset, N.Y. Divisions: QuickStart Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [6’ Red Ball 8 & 60’ Orange Ball 10 (RR)] Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Wednesday, May 21 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentssyt@sportimeny.com or call (516) 364-2727. Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1 L1B Sportime Lynbrook June Challenger Sportime Tennis Lynbrook 175 Merrick Road • Lynbrook, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles: 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, May 26 at 9:00 a.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentslyb@sportimeny.com or call (516) 887-1330. Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1 L2O Christopher Morley May Open Christopher Morley Tennis Center 500 Searingtown Road • Roslyn, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 14,18 (FMLC) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, May 25 at 5:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail ruiz.clark@yahoo.com or call (917) 991-0088. Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1 L1B Sportime Bethpage May Challenger Sportime Bethpage 101 Norcross Avenue • Bethpage, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 12 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 22 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tdbethpageten@sportimeny.com or call (516) 933-8500. Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1 L1B Sportime Syosset May Challenger Sportime Syosset 75 Haskett Drive • Syosset, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 16 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 22 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentssyt@sportimeny.com or call (516) 364-2727.

Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1 & June 6-8 L2O Glen Head Racquet Club Open Glen Head Racquet Club • 95 Glen Head Road • Glen Head, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 12, 16 (FRLC) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 23 at 11:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail rbecker06@yahoo.com or call (516) 676-9849.

Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L1B Sportime Syosset June Challenger Sportime Syosset 75 Haskett Drive • Syosset, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 12 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 29 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentssyt@sportimeny.com or call (516) 364-2727.

JUNE 2014 Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L1B Sportime Lynbrook June Open Sportime Tennis Lynbrook • 175 Merrick Road • Lynbrook, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [78’ Green Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 2 at 9:00 a.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentslyb@sportimeny.com or call (516) 887-1330.

Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L3 Huntington June UPS Huntington Indoor Tennis 100 Broadway • Huntington Station, N.Y. Divisions: Novice Boys & Girls Singles 12-18 (RR) & Novice Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [60’ Orange Ball 10 (RR)] Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 2 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, call (631) 421-0040.

Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L1B Sportime Bethpage June Challenger Sportime Bethpage • 101 Norcross Avenue • Bethpage, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 16 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Tuesday, May 27 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tdbethpageten@sportimeny.com or call (516) 933-8500. Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L1B CMTC June Challenger Christopher Morley Tennis Center 500 Searingtown Road • Roslyn, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles: 14 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 1 at 5:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail ruiz.clark@yahoo.com or call (917) 991-0088. Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L2O Sportime Kings Park June Open Sportime-Kings Park 275 Old Indianhead Road • Kings Park, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 14-18 (SE), Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 12 (FMLC) & Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles: 14-18 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles, $28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 1 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tvanepps@sportimeny.com or call (631) 269-6300.

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 & June 13-15 L2O Glen Head Racquet Club June Open Glen Head Racquet Club 95 Glen Head Road • Glen Head, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [78’ Green Ball 10 (FRLC)] Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 29 at 11:59 p.m.) For more information, e-mail rbecker06@yahoo.com or call (516) 676-9849. Friday-Monday, June 13-15 L1B Old Westbury June Challenger Racquet Club at Old Westbury 24 Quail Run • Old Westbury, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 12-14 (SE) Surface Type: Clay Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 9 at 11:00 p.m.) For more information, call (516) 626-1625. Friday-Monday, June 13-15 L3 Sportime Lynbrook June UPS Sportime Tennis Lynbrook 175 Merrick Road Lynbrook, N.Y. Divisions: Novice Boys & Girls Singles 12 (RR) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 9 at 9:00 a.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentslyb@sportimeny.com or call (516) 887-1330.

USTA/Long Island Region 2014

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE For detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments. Friday-Monday, June 13-15 L2O Sportime Syosset June Open Sportime Syosset 75 Haskett Drive Syosset, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 14 (SE), Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12 (FMLC) & Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 14 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles and $28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Tuesday, June 3 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentssyt@sportimeny.com or call (516) 364-2727. Friday-Monday, June 13-15 L1B 10U World Gym Spring Challenger World Gym Racquet & Sports Arena 384 Mark Tree Road East Setauket, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [78’ Green Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail TJakl@verizon.net or call (631) 751-6100. Friday-Monday, June 13-15 L1B CMTC Father’s Day Challenger Christopher Morley Tennis Center 500 Searingtown Road Roslyn, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles: 16-18 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 8 at 5:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail ruiz.clark@yahoo.com or call (917) 991-0088. Friday-Monday, June 13-15 & June 20-22 L2O Glen Head Racquet Club Open Glen Head Racquet Club 95 Glen Head Road Glen Head, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 16-18 (SE), Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 12 (FRLC) & Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles: 16-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles and $28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Thursday, June 5 at 11:59 p.m.) For more information, e-mail rbecker06@yahoo.com or call (516) 676-9849.

Monday-Sunday, June 16-22 L1B Gotham at Napeague June Challenger Gotham Tennis Academy at Napeague 2155 Montauk Highway • Amaganesett, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys Singles: 14 (SE) & Challenger Girls Singles: 14-16 (SE) Surface Type: Clay Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 6 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail andy@gothamtennis.com or call (917) 723-5064. riday-Monday, June 20-22 L1B CMTC Summer Challanger Christopher Morley Tennis Center 500 Searingtown Road • Roslyn, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles: 12 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 15 at 5:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail ruiz.clark@yahoo.com or call (917) 991-0088. Friday-Monday, June 20-22 L1B Sportime Kings Park June Challenger Sportime-Kings Park 275 Old Indianhead Road • Kings Park, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [78’ Green Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 15 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tvanepps@sportimeny.com or call (631) 269-6300. Friday-Monday, June 20-22 L1B Sportime Bethpage June Challenger Sportime Bethpage 101 Norcross Avenue • Bethpage, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles: 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, June 12 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tdbethpageten@sportimeny.com or call (516) 933-8500. Monday-Thursday, June 23-26 L1B Glen Head Racquet Club June Championships Glen Head Racquet Club 95 Glen Head Road Glen Head, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles: 16-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 15 at 1:00 p.m.)

For more information, e-mail rbecker06@yahoo.com or call (516) 676-9849. Monday-Sunday, June 23-29 L1B Gotham at Napeague June Challenger Gotham Tennis Academy at Napeague 2155 Montauk Highway Amaganesett, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles: 12 (SE) Surface Type: Clay Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 16 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail andy@gothamtennis.com or call (917) 723-5064. Friday-Sunday, June 27-29 L2O Sportime Syosset June Open Sportime Syosset 75 Haskett Drive Syosset, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 18 (SE), Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 12 (FMLC) & Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles: 18 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles and $28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Friday, June 20 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentssyt@sportimeny.com or call (516) 364-2727. Friday-Sunday, June 27-29 L1B Sportime Kings Park June Open Sportime-Kings Park 275 Old Indianhead Road Kings Park, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles: 12 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 22 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tvanepps@sportimeny.com or call (631) 269-6300. Friday-Tuesday, June 27-July 1 L1B Port Washington June Classic Port Washington Tennis Academy 100 Harbor Road Port Washington, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Boys & Girls Singles: 12-18 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 13 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tennis@pwta.com or call (631) 667-3476.

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

C O M I N G

I N

J U L Y

Distribution scheduled for 07/01/14

This edition will feature: • Recap of the 2nd Annual New York Tennis Expo • LITM Guide to Sports Medicine • A Look Ahead to the U.S. Open • Summer Events Preview

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LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com

LITennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • Long Island Tennis Magazine

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Long Island Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • LITennisMag.com