New York Tennis Magazine May/June 2014 by United Sports Publications, Ltd.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

May/June 2014 Volume 4, Number 3 New York Tennis Magazine 1220 Wantagh Avenue • Wantagh, NY 11793-2202 Phone: (516) 409-4444 • Fax: (516) 409-4600 Web site: www.nytennismag.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover story 4

Staff David Sickmen Publisher (516) 409-4444, ext. 309 • david@usptennis.com

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.

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

Feature Story 20 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 is played on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

Brian Coleman Editorial Coordinator (516) 409-4444, ext. 314 • brianc@usptennis.com Emilie Katz 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 III Editorial Contributor

Sasha Lipps Intern

Gary Simeone Writing Intern/PR Associate

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

New York’s Largest Grassroots Tennis Event Returns!

Additional Features 12 14 16 18 30 32 34 35 42 43 44 46 48 49 50 53 54

Tennis Economics: A Parallel By Cosmin Cotet Three Shots in One By Juan Oscar Rios 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 Getting a Grip on Changes in the Tennis Game By Gilad Bloom New Yorkers Lim and Sun Win Big at Easter Bowl Mastering Court Coverage By Jason Zimmerman NYJTL ACES Program Hosts “Leaders of Tomorrow” Forum at Bronxwood Prep Spring Cleaning By Richard Thater Rituals and Relaxation as a Means to Improving Results By Carl Thorsen Personal Responsibility to Making Change By Lonnie Mitchel Lessons Learned From the High School Coaching Ranks By John Brennan Tennis Essentials: A Teaching Pathway By Xavier Luna Charitable Initiatives: Tennis Community Honors George Haber By Gary Simeone Robin’s Ripple Effect By Andrew Eichenholz No Man’s Land By Bill Longua Pratt Caps Undefeated HVIAC Season With Win Over St. Joe’s

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

Columns 10 24 27 28 36 38 41 56 58 59 62 64

Court Six: New York Tennis Magazine’s Gossip Column By Emilie Katz USTA Eastern Metro Region Update The Jensen Zone: Grading Your Tennis IQ By Luke Jensen Tips From the Tennis Pro: Four Warm-Ups That Can Increase Success By John W. Sherwood Imagine This … Improving Without Picking Up a Racket! By Rob Polishook, MA, CPC Metro Corporate League Recap, Presented by Advantage Tennis Clubs Adult League Wrap Recap Fitness & Nutrition: A Look Into the Role of a Nutritionist By Irina Belfer-Lehat, RD, CDN New York Tennis Club Directory New York Rankings USTA/Metropolitan Region 2014 Tournament Schedule Upcoming Tennis Events

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NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York 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

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.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)

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

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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

FREE EVENT New York’s largest grassroots tennis event is back! Join us to learn, play, shop and be part of growing the game we all love.

INTERACTIVE DISCUSSIONS STARTING AT 11 AM Session I—The Road to College Scholarships Session II—Taking Your Game To The Next Level Session lll—Ask Nick Q&A Featuring Nick Bollettieri

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

Visit 2014NYTennisExpo.Eventbrite.com for FREE event registration.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

SCENES FROM LAST YEARS

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

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

THANK YOU TO THE

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

PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

C O M I N G I N J U LY 2 0 1 4

Distribution scheduled for 07/01/14 This edition will feature: • Recap of the 2nd Annual New York Tennis Expo • Guide to New York Sports Medicine • A Look Ahead to the U.S. Open • Preview of Taste of Tennis Event Series • High School Tennis Season Recap

Distribution across New York at 300+ locations: • Indoor tennis clubs • Country clubs • Restaurants and health food stores • Tennis camps • Retail stores • Gyms • Supermarkets and • Many more!

Bonus Distribution: • U.S. Open Qualiﬁers • Taste of Tennis Events • Pre U.S. Open Events • Hamptons • Camps • City Parks

Don’t miss the advertising opportunities in the next edition of New York Tennis Magazine July/August 2014! Submissions for both advertisingNYTennisMag.com and editorial•are due2014 by •June 1, Tennis 2014Magazine 9 May/June New York For more information, please call 516-409-4444 or e-mail Advertise@NYTennisMag.com

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 leg10

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

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.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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Contact Clay Bibbee: clay@centercourtclub.com NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

Tennis Econom A modern mindset approach to By Cosmin Cotet The customers define your success In his book, The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith makes the simple statement, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” A business is more successful when the benefits or services it provides are of value to a larger customer base. In other words, there is a direct relationship between a business’ success and its customer base. If we break down a business into four main qualities, we can say that it: 1. Is bound by laws 2. Has a goal—to be profitable 3. Is influenced by uncertainty 4. Is influenced by competition Let’s take, for example, a company that sells socks. The more socks it sells to customers, the more the business will strive to continue pleasing customers. Although the goal of the sock company is to become profitable, it is really the customers who will ultimately help it achieve this goal by buying into its products. By understanding and supplying its clients’ needs, the sock company will survive and remain successful. The duality of the business-client relationship is crucial for the economy as a whole. The modern game of tennis That same principle can be applied to the game of tennis. If you (the business) can do your best to satisfy the opponent (the customer), you’re not only improving your game, but his as well. As a result, this 12

makes you a better, more valuable player. Much like a business, if we break down a tennis match into four main categories we can say that it: 1. Is bound by rules (the geometry of the court, score) 2. Has a goal—to end with a win and loss 3. Is influenced by uncertainty or luck 4. Is influenced by competition Both business and tennis are encompassed by the general definition of a game with rules and components, goals, uncertainty and competition. In my previous article, “The Percentage Game,” I discussed how to improve the probability of winning a point by using the geometry of the court to your advantage. This article is meant to complement that idea by discussing how to mentally approach a tennis match. By comparing tennis to economics, I am intending to change the winning aura of the “ruthless tennis player” to the “business-tennis player.” During the finals of the 2013 U.S. Open, the top two ranked tennis players in the world, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, had long exchanges, but one of these exchanges was particularly mind-blowing … 52 shots to win one point! It is obvious that the game of tennis transitioned from a ruthless approach fueled by John McEnroe a few decades ago when players “went for it” and attacked the net with relentless fervor to a more marathon-like approach. The technology behind today’s racquets allows players to hit the ball hard and with ease, thus eliminating the need to rush the net to finish a point. The powerful racquet sparked the need for slower surfaces at ATP tournaments, and the conditioning regimen professional players

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

now implement is a consequence of these changes. Players are more physically fit, faster and stronger than ever—a “Darwinian” adaptation that fuels the long rallies we now see on the Pro Tour. If you want to win, you have to be able to last. It is a 100-meter marathon out there. Play to make your opponents better I hear parents and coaches telling kids to go on the court and beat the other player as if it is a boxing match or another contact sport like football or fencing. It instills, in the child’s mind, the picture of a battle and the pressure switch turns on. This may have been true in the past where the exchanges needed to win a match were much shorter. It was a kill or be killed affair. But, I don’t believe this approach is valid anymore. Instead of going on the court with a mindset to beat your opponent, go in to make your opponent better, to work hard to give the other player a good match, workout or practice. Step on the court with the attitude to offer the best services you can possibly offer to the player on the other side of the net and allow yourself to get upset when you don’t make your opponent run for a ball or hit an extra shot. In other words, when you are not working towards their development, but against it. When an opportunity arises during a point (it is important to define such an opportunity), put the ball away. A short ball, an off-pace ball, a volley or whatever you can best capitalize on for a winner. Make yourself noticed, or in business terms, expensive to the other player. This is a sure way to allow for growth and to become a more “valuable” competitor. Just like the sock company works to create a product of value to their customers, aim to do the

mics: A Parallel o tennis same for your opponents. You see, the duality of tennis as an individual sport lies in the fact that you are not only playing against your opponent, but also against yourself. If you switch the focus from yourself, and instead work to make the other player better, you will see the game of tennis differently. You will relieve the pressure to win, the pressure you feel overwhelmed with when you step out on the court. The value you create through this mentality is a perception of unselfishness that projects on the other side of the net. It keeps you in check of what you are able to do and what you need to improve. The same happens for your opponent. This mentality is how you win a tennis match and reach the next level to become more … well, “profitable.” After the 2013 U.S. Open final, although he lost, Novak Djokovic told the press that playing against Rafael Nadal is always a challenge because they always push each other’s games to the limit and make

“… the duality of tennis as an individual sport lies in the fact that you are not only playing against your opponent, but also against yourself.” each other better: “Well, I mean, I played especially [well] against Rafa on different surfaces and different occasions. Points like this, where you just feel that there is the last drop of energy that you need to use in order to win the point. Sometimes I was winning those points; sometimes him. It’s what we do when we play against each other, always pushing each

T E N N I S

other to the limit.” Playing for your opponent obliterates the need to prove yourself, and instead, alleviates stress and pressure. That is not to say that if your opponent is not a good runner you need not to move them around the court, or if their forehand is better than their backhand to play more towards the forehand. On the contrary, finding your opponent’s weaknesses is at the core of this approach. By playing the ball to their weak spots, you are indeed making them better by revealing the areas where they need to improve. Again, it is a win-win situation, the most desirable outcome for a game and for the welfare of the participants. Cosmin Cotet is assistant Academy director at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York City and a former ATP player and college standout at Texas Christian University. He can be reached by phone at (214) 476-9843 or e-mail at ccotet@gmail.com.

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

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

Three Shots in One By Juan Oscar Rios uring many years of teaching and coaching tennis at all levels, I have realized that having the tennis technique of “Three Shots in One” in your bag will guarantee great success at any level you compete at. I would like to share this key tennis shot that I believe is very important in developing and perfecting your tennis skills. It is a shot for all levels of play. The key to any tennis shot, whether you are a professional or a beginner is “preparation.” Preparation includes several aspects that will enable the player to execute any shot they desire. The first step for any shot comes when the mind tells the body to turn and get sideways to prepare for the ball that is coming your way while you are at the baseline. For “Three Shots in One,” you will need to prepare the following way:

l Imagine your opponent hits a ball that you can recognize will land short or near the service line. l The best way to execute the “Three Shots in One” is to have the perfect disguise. The first step is to turn early with the racquet head slightly over your head and the butt of the racquet facing straight down. Then, as you move forward towards the ball, you will have three different shots to choose from: 1.To drive the ball down the line or cross-court using all of your body weight as you strike the ball and moving forward towards the net. 2. To slice the ball (you need to change your grip to a Continental Grip as you take your racquet back) down the line or cross-court also by moving forward as you hit the ball. 3. To drop shot, also with a Continental Grip, hit the ball as you move forward giving the perfect disguise to your opponent with the possibility of eight different shot options. Remember that the key is to prepare early by taking your racquet back as soon as you recognize your opponent’s shot coming to your side landing short. If you continue working with the correct fundamentals of the game, I guarantee you will be successful at any level you decide to compete at. Juan Oscar Rios is a native of Puerto Rico, where he was ranked number one in his nation from ages 10-18. Juan holds four national titles and three doubles titles. He played five years on the ATP Tour, achieving a top 300 ranking in both singles and doubles. He was selected to the Rio Piedras Hall of Fame, along with boxing champ Felix “Tito” Trinidad in 2010. In 2011, he was selected to the Puerto Rico Tennis Hall of Fame. He won Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals at the Centro American and Caribbean Games. 14

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

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Credit all photos to Will Schneekloth

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 sundrenched 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 4-1 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). 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

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

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, 7-5 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 always 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 smoothswinging 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)

at the Big East Tennis Championships 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 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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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-

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New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.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 U.S. 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.

Get your shoes dirty. Photo: Joe Josephs

Play on red clay at this unique, public ten-court facility in Riverside Park on the Hudson River Greenway, maintained by the Riverside Clay Tennis Association. Present a NYC Parks Department tennis permit, single play ticket or pay $15 at the gate to play on these courts. The RCTA oﬀers clinics, tournaments, ladders and “speed tennis” meets throughout the season. For more information please go to www.rcta.info.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York 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 20

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

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.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.

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 22

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stars prep for second slam continued from page 21 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.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

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.

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, NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

USTA METRO REGION

Who Are Those People and Why Are They Still Competing?

By Nelson Kier There are approximately seven million Americans who self-report that they play tennis 21 or more times per year. Of those frequent participants, more than 400,000 play in the USTA Eastern Section, which includes New York State and parts of Connecticut and New Jersey. Around 50,000 of them are dues-paying members of USTA Eastern. One of the many reasons to join the USTA is to take advantage of it’s many programs for all ages and levels of play. At the top of the age, and perhaps skills, pyramid are senior adult players, where age groups are organized by five-year cohorts starting with 25 & Over and extending to 90 & Over. Men, women, singles, doubles and mixed-doubles events are held in various locations. Most USTA members today play Adult Team League Competitions, which are organized by both NTRP levels, gender and finally, by age. Our most skilled members are among the more than 7,000 individual competitors that played in a USTA Eastern Adult Competition Sanctioned Event, and almost 2,500 of these lived within the Metro New York City area. Did you know that there were about 20 of those events per month throughout the Section? Who are those people and why are they (still) competing? Many of those players compete in leagues during the week. On the weekends, they compete in tournaments. Most are 4.0+ NTRP players. Not all are world beaters. Many former ranked ATP and WTA Tour players compete in age group events around the country, but they are certainly a minority. Why do they (still) compete? It turns out that older people who are athletes from around the world in many sports still compete for 24

many of the same reasons. A study by Rylee, Baker and Horton titled, “Older Athletes’ Perceived Benefits of Competition,” conducted among competitors in the World Masters Games in Australia in 2009 found five common themes to explain what the athletes gained from continuing to compete: l “I like a challenge” depicts adult competition as an ideal context to test one’s abilities. In particular, lifelong athletes (or those who had returned to sports after a long break) enjoyed the satisfaction of knowing they “can still do it!” l “I discovered that, at this age, I could win things!” l “I’m more motivated to work harder,” describes how regular competitions provided goals for participants which structured their training. Also, the act of competing brought out their best performances. l “You know where you stand,” shows how participants liked that competition enabled them to compare themselves with others of their own age cohort. l “Travel” and “companionship,” explains how the organized, competitive structure of adult competition allowed for regular travel, the establishment of ongoing friendships and weekly social interaction. So if you are a pretty good player (for your age), you can relate to one or more of the above themes and you want to play someone new, just sign up! USTA Eastern has a local event for you, and you can find one at http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/Schedule/Search.aspx. If you do well, bigger sectional and even national events could be in your future! Nelson Kier serves as the Adult Competition Committee Chair for USTA Eastern. He may be reached by e-mail at nelson@nkier.com.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

USTA METRO REGION

USTA Metro in action!

The USTA Metro Board and volunteers at World Tennis Day at Madison Square Garden

Junior Team Tennis captains, coaches and coordinators enjoying the World Tennis Day matches at MSG USTA Eastern Metro Board Secretary Allon Lifschitz and Metro Region President Jackie Clark competing in the Section Showdown (both are USTA National Committee members)

The USTA Eastern team competing in the section showdown at the USTA Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.: Deborah Antoine, president and CEO of NYJTL; Michelle Rothstein; Captain Jenny Schnitzer, NJ Region President Lou Wiggs; Metro Region President Jackie Clark; Southern Region President Fran Osei, Metro Board Secretary Allon Lifschitz; and Sportime CEO Claude Okin

Metro Junior Team Tennis Coordinators Joani Akpan and Jonathan Williams and captain Mike Phillips

JTT kids having fun at Junior Team Tennis on Saturday night at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

The USTA Metro Board with 2013 Wimbledon Champion Marion Bartoli

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

USTA METRO REGION

The Sneaker Project

Amyas Ryan is an eighth grader at IS 318 in Brooklyn, N.Y. who organized a project through his school’s student government to collect gently used sneakers for the Tuscorora Reservation in Upstate New York. He is a USTA member, coached by USTA Metro Board member Mel Swanson, and a member of Junior Tennis Clinic (JTC), currently playing in the JTT League and a member of Brooklyn Lightning Fourteen Intermediate team. He will be attending The Beacon School in Manhattan this fall. Amyas is a bona-fide “Sneakerhead” like many boys his age. His mother suggested he do some community service and to base it around something he has a passion in—that of course is sneakers. After exploring some different ways he might be able to collect sneakers, he read a book by Eric Gansworth called If I Ever Get Out of Here. The main character suffers such extreme poverty that Amyas was moved to try to help other kids like those represented by Gansworth in his book. Amyas wrote a letter to Gansworth asking him if he thought it would be a good idea—and if kids would be okay with receiving secondhand shoes from kids in Brooklyn. The family has had an incredible correspondence with the author who shared many details of his own life. He is a thoughtful and sensitive man and was pleased to help Amyas figure out a way to help the kids on Tuscorora Rez, but also helped him to understand how challenging it can be to receive gifts and charity. He connected Amyas with a childhood friend, who is a social worker and teaches in the school system on the reservation. She is helping to find families to support (in an anonymous and un-threatening way). IS 318 supported the project, and through Ms. O’Connor (Student Government teacher), the kids at IS 318 are actively involved in collecting sneakers to send upstate. Amyas is hoping to 26

collect 100 sneakers in great shape, or like-new, to send upstate. Gansworth’s book is an inspiring read, it features an intelligent boy who attends school off the “Rez” who is bullied and teased by the local townies who dislike all Native American kids. But because the school is located near a military base, some of the military “brats” also attend the same programs. They too are “other” and the story focuses on a friendship that extends past racial and class barriers. It is very moving and the first book Gansworth has written for young readers which has been included on many great book lists. Amyas wrote up this project in his school newsletter. This was what he says: Sneaker Drive... Amyas Ryan, Class 806, tells us why … After reading Eric Gansworth’s incredible book, If I Ever Get Out of Here, about a boy growing up on the Tuscarora reservation in Upstate New York, I was really surprised to learn about the poverty of the people there. This inspired me, and along with my passion for sneakers, I decided to have a sneaker drive at I.S. 318. I contacted Mr. Gansworth to ask if he thought it was a good idea, and he went along with it. With student government, we are collecting new or gently used sneakers for kids on the reservation. The project is now underway, and if you have sneakers to donate we will be glad to accept them for this project. I highly recommend you read Eric Gansworth’s inspiring book. (And bring in those sneakers!) If anyone would like to donate sneakers, they can e-mail JTC185@aol.com or Jackiec555@aol.com.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

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.

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Four Warm-Ups That Can Increase Success By John W. Sherwood our warm-ups for a match? I know, it does seem excessive. However, as a junior player working your way through the competitive pathway following these simple guidelines will give your body and mind the best chance of being prepared and focused from the 1st point of the match! Let’s address these in reverse order.

Match warm-up with your opponent As a result of the steps below, your heart rate is up and your mind becomes focused. The excitement of competition will have your adrenaline level up! You should have a planned and practiced set of on-court match warm-up routines that you are comfortable with. As much as your opponent allows, control how this time is spent. While working through each of your key shots (groundstrokes, volleys, overheads, etc.). Your primary goals are: l Ramp up the pre-competition intensity

l Re-enforce your pre-match confidence through positive self-talk l Test your opponent for weaknesses in movement or stroke execution l Refine your plan of attack based upon your strengths and their weaknesses l This time is short, so use it wisely Off-court dynamic warm-up In almost every tournament situation, you have a significant amount of time between your pre-match on-court warm-up and the

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match warm-up. Five to 10 minutes before your match, you should go through a dynamic warm-up (an active warm-up through movement). l Have a developed and practiced routine for this warm-up. l Every exercise you do should be familiar to you and the muscle groups being targeted. l This is not the time to try new exercises. l Get your heart rate up! l Start to build some pre-match excitement. l Remind yourself you are better trained, in better shape, and better prepared than your opponent (positive self-talk). l Like a warrior preparing for battle be confident in your upcoming victory. l Visualize the win. On-court pre-match warm-up First, if you have an early morning match, wake up at least three hours before match time. Give your body time to wake up! If possible, warm up at the match site on the same courts/surface that you will be competing on. If those courts are not available, find an alternative warm-up site.

l Go through your dynamic warm-up oncourt. l Do not take shortcuts … put in the physical and mental work. l Use this time to build focus, ensuring a productive on-court session. l Develop, a 20-30 minute on-court routine with your coach that covers all of your shots, in an order you’re comfortable with. Use this same routine for every prematch warm-up. Being comfortable with this routine helps reinforce confidence. You may adjust the time dedicated to certain shots; however, do not to use this time to make, or think about, corrections to your technique, this is a positive time to focus on what you do the best. l Always warm up with new balls. Also use the same brand/type that you will compete with during your match. Location adjustment in warm-ups Here is where inexperienced players make the biggest mistake. If you are traveling to a tournament site that differs in temperature, humidity, altitude, time zone, change in surface (that you don’t regularly play or practice

on), or requires significant travel time, my recommendation is that you arrive at least three days prior to your first match. You may wish to increase this based on the importance of the event. Arriving early allows you to have significant warm-up/practice time on location and gives your body time to adjust to all of the variables above. Arriving early and acclimating is the key to those early round wins! Taking time to plan and allot time for these key pre-match warm-ups prepares your mind and body for successful competition. Once again, know that you are in better shape, better trained, and better prepared than your opponent, for this and every match! John Sherwood is a USPTA Elite Professional and USTA High Performance Coaching Graduate. John played Division I tennis for the University of Toledo, after which, he embarked on a business career running national sales organizations, then structuring and operating small business turnarounds. John is currently the director of High Performance Tennis for Centercourt Athletic Club in Chatham, N.J. He may be reached by phone at (216) 403-1374 or e-mail j1sherwood@aol.com.

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Getting a Grip o By Gilad Bloom any things have changed in the game of tennis over the last 40 years. In many ways, it is a different sport than when I grew up in the 1970s. Growing up in the 1970s (with coaches who grew up in the 1950s), I still learned the game the “Old School Way,” but due to the quick evolution of the game, I literally lived through the changes in the game. Up until the mid-1970s, the classic way of playing tennis was to play with a Continental Grip for both ground strokes. Some players moved to an Eastern Grip on the forehand, but mostly, the ball was hit flat, with a slice or with side spin. Top-spin was rarely used, and it was hard to generate spin with the old school grips unless you were extremely strong players like Rod Laver, Illie Nastase and Tom Oker. Serving and volleying was a very popular style of play, almost a must on grass. The chip and charge was a common play as well, especially on fast surfaces. Most players competing in high levels of the sport had some kind of net game, as many of them based their careers on being strictly net rushers. Sometime in the early 1970s with the emergence of players like Bjorn Borg and Guillermo Vilas, the style began to change. Borg and Vilas introduced more extreme grips on the forehand, which allowed them to generate not only a heavy spin, but they were also able to achieve unimaginable consistency which made a five-setter against them at their prime a near-impossible mission. The beauty of top-spin is that the harder you hit, the more consistent your shot is. The extreme grips, together with the new high tech racquets that were introduced during that period, helped develop generations of players who rely heavily on a huge forehand. This became a major weapon together with a strong and powerful first serve. Today, 40 years later, most players have adopted the “Bjorn Borg Style,” which is basically to build the game around a big and consistent heavy forehand, to have a solid two-handed backhand and to be in top shape to cover the court and play defense when needed. Rafael Nadal is the purest example of this, he has taken Borg’s legacy the furthest. The serve and volley game still exists today, but only as

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

on Changes in the Tennis Game a surprise tactic. It is used rarely even on grass courts, which was unthinkable when I played on the Pro Tour. Even in men’s doubles, I am astonished to see that some players still stay back after a serve. The chip and charge is practically impossible to execute because of the speed of the second serve and the heaviness of the ball coming off a ground stroke. The backhand slice, a classic shot, is not used by too many players, and due to the fact that most players hit their backhand with two hands, we don’t see world-class volleyers with incredible hands, such as John McEnroe, Pat Cash or Stefan Edberg. What we do see are a lot of players running around their backhands looking for that big inside-out forehand (or sharp cross-court) that will allow them to open up the court and take control of the point. When I train a high performance player, my main goal after making sure that they have perfected all of the basic shots is to develop a big forehand that can be used as a weapon. Many of the drills I designed were around looking to run around the backhand. As most kids hit the forehand with a Semi-Western Grip, I had to adapt and teach the “new style,” which is a bit more free-flowing and allows different stances and swings that vary from player to player. However, there are still many things that didn’t change about the sport, and the advice I got from my mentor, past Wimbledon and Australian Open winner Dick Savitt, back when I was a teenager is still as good as gold today. The slice, the volley, the serve motion, and many of the tips he showed me are still very relevant today. In fact, many young pros who already grew up playing with extreme grips, lack the knowledge of basic tennis fundamentals that still apply today. There is no doubt that the forehand has evolved into a completely different shot

than the times of Rod Laver. He hit with a Continental Grip and flicked the wrist to create top-spin. However, there are still a few things to be said in defense of some “Old School Tricks” that still apply even in today’s ultra-modern game. Here is a short comparison of the “Old School Way vs. New School Way” of hitting a forehand. l Using an open-stance forehand as opposed to a close-stance forehand: The classic question I am asked all the time pertains to open or closed stance. Here is my answer: I teach the close-stance (some people call it neutral) early on. I like to have my students approach each shot in a sideways position, and turning the hip is a huge part of the shot. I find that when you teach a youngster to hit with an open-stance from the beginning, it encourages laziness. After they get used to the idea of a close-stance shot, I teach them the open stance, but only to be used on wide balls or when running around the backhand. In general, I ask them to prepare for every shot as if they are going to hit in a close-stance and when they get to the ball, they can hit it either open, semi-open or closed. From my experience as a player, I know that in a real match situation, most forehands will be hit either with an open or semiopen stance … that was true even back in the 1980s when I played. I also see that even players like Nadal, who grew up on clay, close the stance a bit more when they have time (which is very rare). I also take into consideration the fact that I teach in the Northeast, mostly on indoor hard courts. I assume that if I was teaching in Spain or southern Europe on red clay, I would probably teach the open stance a bit more.

l Hitting through the shot using more shoulder and following through high (Old School) versus using more wrist and elbow “window wiper style” and finishing low (New School): I see this a lot with my students. They have the extreme Western Grip, and the racquet head naturally drops down after each shot without going through the ball. This way of using so much wrist opens the door to mishits and short balls that have no pace and too much spin. In order to achieve more pace and depth, it is necessary to use the entire arm, make contact with an extended arm and follow through a bit more the “Old School Way” with the elbow above the shoulder. Once that happens, the racquet head can drop a little bit depending on the type of shot. Too many kids try to imitate the pros using too much wrist and elbow, forgetting that the pros are masters of the sport who have incredibly strong hands and they need to improvise. Great examples of the extended arm during the contact point are in Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. They both follow through perfectly and extend their arm, even though they use different grips (Federer still uses the Classic Eastern Grip, while Djokovic uses the Semi-Western). l Eastern Grip (Old School) versus Semi-Western Grip (New School): When hit the right way, the Eastern Grip can produce a perfect shot. Two examples that come to mind from the current crop of pros are Federer and Juan Martin del Potro. Both hit a big flat forehand with the Classic Grip. Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl had a huge forehand in continued on page 32

NYTennisMag.com • March/April 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

getting a grip continued from page 31 their time with the less extreme grip, while Andre Agassi, who had one of the cleanest and most dominating and accurate forehands ever, didn’t need an extreme grip to produce heavy spin. Agassi had incredible racquet speed and used pace and spin better than anyone I ever saw or played against. On the other hand, the Semi-Western Grip gives players much more safety, spin and variety and is easier to master at a young age. This is why 90 percent of young players use it. There have been many examples of players with big forehands who use the Semi-Western Grip over the past few decades, Aaron Krickstein, Andres Gomez, Sergi Bruguera, Thomas Muster and Jim Courier just to name a few. It is a huge weapon on the red clay, and is very difficult to

deal with because of the crazy spin and high bounce. The Semi-Western Grip on the forehand is the primary grip used in today’s game. It is rare to find someone using an Eastern Grip anymore. Having a less extreme grip will help the backhand (less distance for the grip change) and the volley, and will come in handy when playing on fast surfaces and when dealing with a low slice. I usually let the students dictate what grip to use on the forehand. When they use an Eastern Grip, I will ask them to cock the wrist up and slightly close the face of the racquet in order to cover the ball, while rolling the wrist and getting under the ball to create spin. If they cannot get enough spin, I will gently try to move the grip towards the Semi-Western Grip. There is also the problem of kids

using a too extreme Semi-Western Grip. This generally happens when kids start at a very young age and develop a bad habit. I find that the toughest change is when they have too much of a Western Grip … that is not an easy change to the less extreme grip. The balls will be flying long for a while until the student learns to use the wrist to keep the ball in play. Early detection is required to prevent what could potentially be a life-long flaw in their game. Gilad Bloom is a former ATP touring professional who, at his peak, was ranked 61st in singles and 62nd in doubles in the world. Five times an Israel’s Men’s Champion, three times in singles and twice in doubles, Gilad is currently the director of tennis at The Club of Riverdale. He was the director of tennis at John McEnroe Tennis Academy for two years, and before, that ran Gilad Bloom Tennis for nine years. He may be reached by phone at (914) 907-0041 or email bloom.gilad@gmail.com.

New Yorkers Lim and Sun Win Big 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. “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 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, 62. 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.” The win marked the second straight ASICS Easter Bowl title for Bellis, as she won the 16s last year. New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

Mastering Court Coverage By Jason Zimmerman hat do Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic all have in common besides a plethora of Grand Slam titles? They were all fantastic movers! Movement has always been the key to being a great tennis player. As rackets and strings allow us to hit the ball harder and heavier, we find ourselves with increasingly less time to react and set up. And while not all of us are as quick, powerful or nimble as the aforementioned greats whom have played this game, we still have to find a way to move to the ball. I know that many of us were taught to side-shuffle and take as many steps as possible to get set up to the ball, but that just doesn’t fly anymore. The ball is coming so fast these days, many players have adopted and learned how to hit open-stance forehands and backhands. And while I know that there are a great number of articles and demonstrations on how to hit these shots, very few of them actually teach you how to move efficiently to get there. So … how do we get more range on the court? How can we cover half a court in less than two seconds? How do we ensure

that we will be in position to hit the ball effectively and balanced? The simple answer … Walk to the ball. Yes, you heard me right, walk to the ball. And the best part of this is that you should only need three steps to cover half a court. If you don’t believe me, go out on a court stand on the singles hash mark and push off your left leg so that your right leg takes the first step. Then, take two more big steps with your toes always parallel with the baseline, swing your racket and see if the tip of your racket is across the singles side line. I know I can usually get midway to the alley with this, but used to have more range when I was playing. The reason I always encourage people to move like this is because when you are constantly taking smaller steps, your head is always moving and it becomes more difficult for your eyes to adjust to the ball. The second reason I encourage people to do this is because you always end up with your outside foot anchored to the court, which allows you to either hit an openstance shot or transition your weight from your outside foot into the shot. Either way, your weight remains evenly distributed or moving forward. One of my favorite drills to learn this is to

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

have a friend or instructor stand on the other side of the court at the service line and hit a relatively high arching ball at 10 miles per hour out toward one side of the court and see if you can time your movement to get there in only three steps. The goal here is to see if you can develop a rhythm and balance moving to the ball. The key is to wait and see where the ball is going to bounce, as this will determine whether you have to move forward or backward from the baseline as well. Try this for a few days and I guarantee you will notice a difference in your balance and ability to recover and hit a more effective shot. Jason Zimmerman is assistant manager at Midtown Tennis Club. He played four years at Duke University and was an All-American in 2004. Jason won an NCAA National Indoors Title Doubles in 2003 and was AllACC for two years. He was ranked as high as 30th in the country for NCAA singles and second in doubles. He played on the ATP Tour and reached a high of 850th in singles rankings and 250th in doubles, with five Futures Doubles Titles. He may be reached by phone at (212) 989-8572, ext. 104 or e-mail mtcprograms@gmail.com.

NYJTL ACES Program Hosts “Leaders of Tomorrow” Forum at Bronxwood Prep

Stephen A. Smith poses a question to the rest of the panelists

Bronxwood Preparatory Academy Principal Janet Gallardo (left) with Site Director Tawana Butler (right) and NYJTL CEO Deborah Antoine (center)

Stephen A. Smith fields questions from the audience

Stephen A. Smith with NYJTL CEO Deborah Antoine

State Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson and Bronxwood Prep Site Director Tawana Butler

Producer Alonzo Brown leads a workshop with aspiring young filmmakers

YJTL hosted more than 200 students at the inaugural “Leaders of Tomorrow” event at Bronxwood Preparatory Academy High School to promote student achievement and college and career readiness. The forum included workshops, a panel discussion, and keynote remarks from sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith whose opening remarks enlightened many to the reality of the business world. Smith’s message to the students was direct: “The person sitting next to you is not your friend, they are your acquaintance, someone you grew up with, but in the business world, they are your competition.” In addition to Smith, the panel included author Fila Antwine, educator and artist

Aiesha Turman, actor Otis Winston, producer Alonzo Brown and fashion designer Alicia Appleton. The panelists spoke about their professional experiences and answered questions from the students. The forum began with workshops led by Antwine and film producer Brown who worked in small groups with participants from the ACES program. One of the features of the workshops was that students were able to ask advice of professionals in the specific fields which interested them. Following the workshops, moderator Sheila Carpenter, a veteran gospel singer and producer, sang a stirring rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” before introducing each panelist to the audience of

students, teachers and local government officials, including State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson. NYJTL plans to schedule additional workshops throughout the year. NYJTL’s ACES program operates weekdays during the school year at Bronxwood Preparatory Academy serving 192 students, ages 13-18. NYJTL’s ACES program provides free year-round tennis instruction and afterschool activities to underserved New York City school children on 26 campuses, offering academic enrichment, including daily homework help, and teaching valuable life skills, integrating healthy living and wellness education to promote the benefits of physical fitness.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York 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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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.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

he Metro Corporate Tennis League, presented by Advantage Tennis Clubs, is a joint initiative of the Metrotennis Community Tennis Association (MCTA) and the USTA/Eastern–Metro Region. The League is divided into three levels of play, Intermediate (3.0-3.5), Advanced Intermediate (4.0) and Advanced (4.5+). Also offered is an Advanced Beginner Clinic program for teams not yet ready to compete. The Winter 2013 Season has concluded and below are the final playoff brackets:

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continued on page 40 NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

metro corporate league continued from page 39

Advanced Intermediate Division Champions Bloomberg, with Captain Amit Nema, celebrate their victory

The 2014 Winter Metro Corporate Tennis League Advanced Champions from NYJTL (captained by Pam Glick), with their trophy

Metro Corporate Tennis League Intermediate Division Champions Deutsche Bank, captained by Tony He, pause for a photo

ongratulations to the Advanced Division Champions, NYJTL, for their victory in a hard-fought match against Credit Agricole. The Advanced Division Champions, Bloomberg, defeated Credit Suisse to take the trophy back to their offices. Intermediate Division Champions, Deutsche Bank defeated newcomers, MSCI, to claim their first Championship after many seasons contending for the number one spot. The Intermediate Division Finals and end-of-season party took place April 22 at Roosevelt Island Racquet Club (RIRC), and two days later, the Advanced and Advanced Intermediate Finals and end-of-season party also took place at RIRC. All guests enjoyed a night of round-robin tennis, an open bar and great company! The MCTA is now taking teams for the Summer 2014 season. The season is scheduled to run from June through August. If you are interested in signing up, please contact Luis Espinoza at luis@metrotennis.com. For more information, please visit www.metrotennis.com/corporate/main.html.

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USTA Leagues Update he Mixed-Doubles League is currently wrapping up, and Regional Championships will be held outdoors on Saturday, May 17 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Teams participating include:

Bronx Manhattan Queens

6.0

7.0

Kates/Tang Jewell/Legaspi

Shimon/Ticol Ragione/Washington

8.0 Bricker/Ford Minatodani Chee/Zhou

The Adult 40 & Over Playoffs will be held Saturday, June 14 at Roosevelt Island Racquet Club. Teams participating include: l 3.5 Women: Ventura vs. Chin/Creighton l 4.0 Women: Schaffer vs. Bricker/Ford l 3.5 Men: Winner Tarlow/Derman (no playoff) l 4.0 Men: Tratenberg/Holtz vs. Johnson/Freed l 4.5 Men: Katz vs. Doane The Metro Adult 18 & Over Leagues are now underway in Manhattan and began Monday, May 5 in Queens. There is still time to join a Queens area team if you’re looking to play! Please visit www.metrotennis.com for more information! See you on the courts!

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

Spring Cleaning By Richard Thater espite many New Yorkers’ refusal to believe that this winter would end, spring has indeed sprung. After removing autumn’s leaves and winter debris from your rain gutters, you might want to do a spring cleanup of your tennis. Are you hoping to get one more season from a pair of threadbare socks because they sport your favorite logo? Lose them and your feet will thank you. Today’s sturdy performance shoes require an adequate cushioning layer between your feet and shoes, and new socks may turn blisters into a memory Has your default tennis outfit become the old shirt and shorts you wear doing household chores? Changing to an outfit similar to those worn by touring pros might add a boost to your step and encourage you to make even more changes. Will 2014 be the year you finally add spin to your second serve? Will your springcleaning list include changing to one hand on your backhand volley? How efficient is your conditioning program? Is your racket doing everything you hoped it would when you bought it? You might want to ask yourself if you are playing with a racket that is too heavy for you. I am not one of the big boys, so I don’t play with a racket that is appropriate for them. My frames tend to weigh in at 10.4 ounces,

with a 4-¼ grip. I simply don’t have the arm or hand strength I used to have. Playing with a 12-ounce racket strung with Kevlar would guarantee me holding my fork in my non-dominant hand for months. I am not advocating making thoughtless changes just because it is a new season. You know your game, your equipment, and what you want from the time you spend playing tennis. I am also examining some of the routines I have fallen into in my teaching. I have creaky knees and a one-handed backhand. I sometimes like to feed with my backhand, alternating high balls with low and varying the spin. Modern educators tell us that most students learn best by watching and copying, and they gain very little from what they hear. So, how effective is my teaching if I describe the key points of a two-hand backhand to a group of six-year-olds while I demonstrate with more than 200 one-hand strokes? Spring cleaning requires a change for me—switch to a two-hander when feeding red and yellow balls to young children. I have been slow to incorporate technology into my classes, since the thought of carrying a large, heavy camcorder around never appealed to me. A 2014 spring wakeup is the realization that every one of my students carries an iPhone around with them. I find they enjoy videotaping themselves and their practice partners, and they get to keep the recordings on their own devices for future viewing and sharing. One change I will make this spring is to

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

expand the range of subjects I discuss with students. During a recent conversation about restringing with two siblings I teach, I mentioned that I once owned a steel racket with wire strings. Since they are bright and intellectually curious 15-year olds, when I follow up I will tell them that the Dayton Steel Tennis Racket was the invention of William A. Larned—American tennis champion for seven years during the early 1900s. The racket was basically a metal hoop inserted into a wooden handle and strung with piano wire. Larned was an Ivy Leaguer who soldiered with Teddy Roosevelt as a Rough Rider in the Spanish American War. He was partially paralyzed and suffered for many years from rheumatoid arthritis and spinal meningitis. Shortly before Christmas in 1926, he took his own life in New York City. As this season changes and we celebrate another spring, I think it is important to occasionally pause and remember past champions, and to remember that they were more than just backhands and forehands. Richard Thater is a long-time teacher and player on New York City courts. He is PTR-certified in both Junior and Adult Development, and has played in senior tournaments in the Greater New York area. Richard currently teaches at the West Side Tennis Club. He may be reached by phone at (917) 749-3255 or e-mail richthater@aol.com.

RITUALS AND RELAXATION AS A

MEANS TO IMPROVING RESULTS By Carl Thorsen In order for an athlete to compete at their very best in competitive tennis, the development of rituals is critical. Rituals are routines that athletes use to prepare for and process competition. Since the pros do their pre-match preparations “off camera,” we don’t always see what rituals they have before or after their matches. But, we do see what goes on during the match and in between points. Let’s analyze this piece of competition. The average tennis point is five to eight seconds, after which, you have around 25 seconds to process that point, relax and prepare for the next point. This means that the majority of time on the court is spent in between points, making it just as important, if not more important, than how well you hit the ball during the point. In order to truly improve your between point rituals, a great deal of work needs to be done off the court. As a coach, I have found that most people are not willing to put the time in to improving these areas. Let’s break it down like this: Being able to relax is a specific skill within your “between point ritual,” just like working on your forehand is a specific skill within your skill of “being able to play an entire point.” Practice in exercises like yoga, Tai Chi and

meditation can go a very long way toward getting the body to efficiently relax. In an everyday setting, one deep breath might get you to relax, but most often, it won’t do the trick at 6-6 in a third set tie-breaker. The more often you do it, the more likely you are to be able to do it in any situation. As a competitor, I worked hard on my game to improve as quickly as I could. My game steadily rose, but like most players, the majority of my training was on the court. Around the same time I realized I needed to find a way to get an edge on everyone else, I saw an advertisement for a martial arts studio that offered Tai Chi classes. I remembered reading about its benefits in The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Galaway, and I got started right away. After six months of really committing to Tai Chi, and ultimately yoga and meditation, my game didn’t only steadily rise, but began to take noticeably bigger jumps. The awareness I was gaining of myself and my game was unlocking a better competitor! Now why is this important and how does it apply to between point rituals? My ability to relax was improving, and clearly making me more capable of enjoying the challenges faced on court. I reacted to points in a more positive manner, which helped me learn from what had happened during that point, and learn more about my opponent instead of judging myself. Because of

this understanding and its benefits, I also began practicing my routines more on court. For example, I realized that the serve actually starts 10 seconds before I hit the ball, and involves thinking about patterns I wanted to use to start the point with, as well as breathing patterns. Ultimately, rituals are the glue that holds your entire game together. We often don’t realize how many stresses, distractions, desires and inhibitions we are fighting while we are on the court … forces that pull us in different directions, and ultimately, hold our games back. To combat this, we need to develop habits that keep us grounded as often as possible. Solid and well-developed rituals are proven to make a huge difference. Carl Thorsen is a director of Gotham Tennis Academy’s Elite High Performance Program at Stadium Tennis Center. He brings more than 18 years of experience, coaching a wide range of students from beginners to elite juniors to world-class professionals. A graduate of Cornell University, Carl spent three years on the professional circuit, winning several titles along the way. Carl currently coaches some of the top juniors in the New York metro region and nationally and internationally ranked juniors. He may be reached by e-mail at carl@gothamtennis.com or by phone at (718) 665-4684.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York 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

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

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.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

Lessons Learned From the High School Coaching Ranks

By John Brennan nfortunately, very few certified tennis professionals coach high school tennis. If they committed to coaching at the high school level and recognized the privilege it truly is, I believe they would become better tennis instructors. When you coach a team, you have a variety of levels to develop, a limited amount of time to do it in, and a test on just how you are doing every couple of days. That sort of pressure forces you to prioritize your efforts and focus on activities that will develop your players as fast and effectively as possible. Your students don’t have to just ‘feel’ they are improving, there is a match tomorrow and they

will be keeping score! Having coached a varsity girl’s tennis team to 15 consecutive state championships with a record of 223-1, I know something about effective junior development. As a USPTA professional of 32 years, what I have learned coaching a team also applies to junior development on an individual or small group setting. I have put together five significant lessons I have learned that will guarantee consistent and often dramatic progress by your students or tennis team. 1. Concentrate on the fundamentals The way the modern game has evolved, matches are basically determined by groundstrokes and serves. We work on cross-court/down the line forehand and backhand drills and games for at least 45

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

minutes every practice. A minimum of 3050 serves are practiced as well. I put an emphasis on consistency, then depth, and then power. So often, I see teaching pros spending inordinate amounts of lesson time on shots that will have little bearing on the outcome of a match. This is not the 1970s and the slice backhand is not making a comeback! The days when net play would decide the outcome of a match are also gone. Although a slice backhand or a drop volley may win some points, they are only a small fraction of the winning game profile and should be practiced accordingly. Consistent strokes will beat most players, consistent depth will win even more, while consistent depth and power will save your parents from paying for college.

“When you coach a team, you have a variety of levels to develop, a limited amount of time to do it in, and a test on just how you are doing every couple of days.” 2. Try to correct serious technical errors Of course with practice that involves constant repetitions, you will want to be reinforcing good form. Some technical differences must be corrected, while others are simply idiosyncratic and acceptable. For example, if someone was using a continental grip on the forehand or did not change to continental on the backhand, that grip has to be corrected as you drill these strokes. Some differences on technique are legitimate, as even Rafael Nadal does not play exactly like Roger Federer, but obviously their differences work for them both. Many pros insist on changing strokes to bring in line with how they played 20-30 years ago or their view of how the game must be played. A coach must be more flexible and understand that the game has changed. A coach must also adapt to the personality and style of the player. If a player’s personality inclines toward caution, there is not point asking them to go for broke as often as possible. Changing an aggressive player into a pusher has as much chance of success as changing their height or the color of their eyes as the saying goes, “One size does not fit all.” A good coach must fit the development process to the player profile: Abilities, goals, personality and commitment. 3. Know your opponents In high school tennis, there is a difference between what skills a number one singles player needs to win and the skills a number four doubles team needs. A number one singles player needs to have some weapons that can force errors. Power is more important when trying to beat a top player. At number four doubles, simple consistency, regardless of power, will suffice. As a result, a coach must adapt the practice to accommodate the varying levels of play. Drills to emphasize aggressive play are necessary for your top

players, whereas lesser developed players must continue to work on consistency before they can play aggressive without becoming reckless (see unforced errors). In private lessons, it is also important to note the goals and level of commitment of your student. If their goal is to make the high school team and tryouts are just a month away, you had better get the essentials down, whereas if they want to excel in tournament play and play in college, you can take a more expansive, long-term approach and start developing a more complete game. 4. Practice is not a lecture I am a big believer in the method of teaching called “Guided Discovery.” With this method, you simply suggest certain possible solutions to a problem, continue to work the process and allow the player to figure out the solution. All too often, I see tennis pros give lessons that consist largely of them talking ad nauseam about some technical correction, while hitting very few balls. I feel like telling them there is no written test in tennis, you have to be able to perform and not recite. It is entirely possible to be hitting balls while you are working on technical changes. Every teaching pro has had the experience of trying to get a player to make a certain change until one day the player suddenly “gets it” and tells you what you have said a thousand times as if they are hearing it for the first time. That moment will happen a lot sooner if you continue to hit while trying to move the changes from a cognitive/mind knowledge to kinesthetic/performance knowledge. 5. Make it fun During my third year of coaching a girl’s team, I learned a lesson I have tried to remember. We were doing our groundstroke drilling and I, for some reason, was particularly insistent that we concentrate and cut down on dumb errors. After

about a half-hour while we were picking up balls, I asked one of my leaders on the team, “Why was practice so sloppy today?” She gave me an answer I did not expect, saying, “Coach, we are just not having fun.” I was dumbfounded and did not know what to say. Am I supposed to tell jokes or do impressions? After I put aside my defensiveness, I realized that I had to find a way to improve the team and do it without it becoming just another homework assignment. It is an art rather than a science, and you have to become more in tune to the dynamics of each individual team and ask them what drills and games they enjoy. Try to find activities that can be fun, yet still prepare them to play their best. It can be done, but it takes a willingness to change what is not working and find what will. Make the team your partner in developing them, they also want to play well, but it’s a sport and the process should be fun and must be fun. There are so many dimensions to this great game—physical, strategic and mental—that I could have mentioned many more lessons that have served me well in team coaching. But I believe if you follow these five points, you and your students will have considerable success and a lot more fun. John Brennan has been a USPTA teaching professional for 34 years. He was a head professional at the Mountain Gate Country Club in Los Angeles from 1980-1990, before moving back to New York where he has coached the varsity boys team at St. Francis Prep for 22 years, as well as the girls varsity tennis team for 15 years, where has won numerous state championships. He was a player at St. John’s University from 1972-74, and has been a teaching professional at the North Shore Tennis Club for last 20 years. He may be reached by email at bjohntennis@aol.com.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

Tennis Essential: A Teaching Pathway By Xavier Luna “Hey kids … how was your day? How was tennis?” you ask. “Good,” they reply. “Just good?” you inquire. “Yep.” And that’s all you get. Parents know that sometimes, getting any kind of information out of their children is like pulling teeth. Luckily, there’s help. Parent-teacher conferences, progress reports and report cards allow parents to see how their child is doing, where he or she needs additional work, and whether they are ready to move to the next grade. You would never send your kids to a school that didn’t offer report cards … so why would you send your kids to a tennis camp that didn’t offer the same type of grading and performance feedback? Here’s where teaching pathways come into effect. They offer a proven system to help your young tennis player identify and work on his/her game to get to that next level of play. A structured approach to progress A teaching pathway is a cohesive system for coaches, students and parents. It sets goals for students, pinpointing milestones and accomplishments they must master before they can move up to a higher level of play. For teachers, a pathway helps establish a guideline as to what to cover during instruction. Think of them as progress reports and report cards, but for tennis. Pathways may also be called “systems progressions.” This means instructors place students into groups based upon their skill level (i.e. novice, intermediate, ex48

pert) and coach them accordingly. It’s challenging at first, yet designed to help players grow over time. For example, novice students may play with smaller racquets so they can focus on making contact with the ball and achieving accuracy. Development pathways While each tennis institution has its own way of handling development pathways, here is a look at the four most common levels of development found at tennis clubs across the country. l Level 1: Players begin with a net height of two-feet, nine-inches, a width of 36 x 18-feet and use racquets of 19, 21 and 23 inches to hone accuracy at an early developmental age. Level 1 players are required to commit to playing twice a week—a pace proven to help players develop four times faster—and also receive fitness training. l Level 2: Players move to a 60 x 21-foot net (singles) with a height of three-feet at the center and three-feet, six-inches at the posts. Racquets are 23- to 25inches. l Level 3: Net width is 78 x 27-feet (singles) and the height remains the same as Level 2. Racquets are 25 to 27inches and further tactics and training is required. l Level 4: Nets are the same as in Level 3 and players use 27-inch racquets. They must also commit to playing three times a week. As you can see, there is a general progression on this tennis pathway. Players begin with small racquets to learn the ABCs of the game and graduate to larger

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

racquets, so they can hone shot placement, strategy, psychological and emotional states and more. Each level is accompanied by an evaluation and a progress report, essential information to help the player and coach understand what needs to be done to reach the next level. Students also wear color-coded wristbands to indicate their level of play—giving them incentive to work harder toward the next level and allowing coaches to match similarly-skilled players. A win for players, parents and coaches Just as important, development pathways clearly demonstrate players’ progress and skill levels. Coaches evaluate students and give them progress reports, to determine what level they are at and to decide what needs to be done to reach the next stage. Evaluations also protect coaches from second guessing by parents about their child’s level. But parents are encouraged to interact with coaches so they can understand what is necessary for their child to advance. The pathways are a win for students who know exactly where they stand. Pathways are also a win for coaches and for parents who know exactly what is needed for moving up. In tennis, you have to start somewhere. And a teaching pathway will help take a player from “somewhere” to a place of skill, enjoyment and even lifelong passion for the game! Xavier Luna is director of Advantage AllCity Junior Programs (Roosevelt Island Racquet Club, Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club and New York Tennis Club). He may be reached by phone at (917) 570-9650 or visit www.advantagetennisny.com.

CHARITABLE INITIATIVES

Tennis Community Honors 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.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

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

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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

BILLIE JEAN KING NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY

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New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.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 52

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robin’s ripple effect continued from page 51 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

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.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.

NO MAN’S LAND

be in NML is to return a weaker-paced serve. When playing singles, you will hit the return and immediately go to the center hash mark in the middle of the baseline if you are not moving into net. After the return in doubles, the options are backing up to the baseline or moving in towards the service line … better yet, moving all the way forward to the net. But in either scenario, singles or doubles, you must get out of No Man’s Land (see below).

By Bill Longua

am asked all the time what is the most common mistake I see from club and recreational players that cause errors. The answer is not in their strokes, but in their court positioning. Even if the player’s strokes are not textbook perfect, many flaws can be overcome when you are in the right position on the court during a point, so there is a reasonable shot to keep the ball in play. “No Man’s Land” (NML) is the area of the court between the baseline and the service line. Players do not want to be in that area when playing the point in singles or doubles, too many balls coming toward you will be landing around your feet or continually backing you up, causing errors or a weak return, either way a losing proposition. There are two other important reasons to stay out of NML, one-unless you are at the service line or net you do not want to be playing a point from a spot where the ball can bounce behind you and still land in the court, two-when the opponent hits a wide shot you have very little angle to chase the ball down with (see above right). There are three stations on the court you want to be when playing, the baseline/service line, or at the net. In doubles, you will be at all three many times, depending on the action during points. In singles, you will

be playing at the baseline or net, and the service line will come into play when approaching the net during the point. If you are a baseline singles player, you will want to play points about a foot behind the baseline. If you are a more accomplished player, you will be playing points on the baseline. Remember, it is easier to move in than to move back for shots. Playing from where you move forward often keeps you in an offensive position, while backing up leaves you on the defense (see below). In doubles or singles, the only time you will

Stick to those three court locations and watch your game improve. Good luck and have fun! Bill Longua is the tennis director/head pro at Palm Island Resort in Cape Haze, Fla. Bill is a member of the USPTA, has been teaching tennis for more than 35 years, and is the author of Winning Tennis Strokes. Bill also enjoys teaching tennis on his Web site, http://onlinetennistraining.com. To purchase Bill’s book, visit http://onlinetennistraining.com. He may be reached by e-mail at bill@onlinetennistraining.com.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

Pratt Caps Undefeated HVIAC Season With Win Over St. Joe’s

egular season champions Pratt Institute successfully defended their title with a dominating performance producing all nine flight champions to repeat as Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) men’s tennis champions at the USTA Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. Pratt assembled an unblemished regular season and won the maximum 27 points for their second straight title. The Cannoneers also captured the women’s tennis

championship this past fall and have won the past three women’s titles. The Cannoneers were led by overall singles champion junior Sergio Yarritu (The Woodlands, Texas) who capped an undefeated season in conference play at both singles and doubles. Yarritu teamed up with No. 4 singles champion John Imamoglu (Istanbul, Turkey) to take the top doubles championship with an 8-0 shutout. Senior Moritz Petre (Middle Village, N.Y.)

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

captured the number two singles and joined number five singles champion Andrew Barkett (Mansfield, Ohio) to win the number two doubles title. The duo endured a scare from Sarah Lawrence in the semifinals, winning in a tie-breaker to advance to the finals. Rounding the flight champions for the Cannoneers was Eli Eskenazi (Aventura, Fla.) at number three singles and Fan Mo (Beijing, China) at number six singles who paired up at number three doubles.

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. Meanwhile, 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

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

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 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 feature the unveiling of museum tribute exhibits for the new Hall of Famers, celebratory parties and special events, and an exhibition match featuring great tennis legends. The ceremony and festivities will be held in conjunction with the annual Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, an ATP World Tour event.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

A Look Into the Role of a Nutritionist By Irina Belfer-Lehat RD, CDN e 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.” 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 calcula-

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

tions 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.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

NEW YORK TENNIS CLUB

DIRECTORY Centercourt Performance Tennis Center Clay Bibbee—Managing Partner and Academy Founder 65 Columbia Road Morristown, NJ 07960 (973) 635-1222 clay@centercourtclub.com www.centercourtclub.com

Go! Tennis at North Shore Tennis & Racquet Club George Garland—Director of Tennis 34-28 214th Place Flushing, NY 11361-1720 (718) 224-6303 george@gotennisprograms.com www.gotennisprograms.com

Gotham Tennis Academy Eric Faro—Director of Tennis 358 W. End Ave #3A New York, NY 10024 (646) 524-7069 info@gothamtennis.com www.gothamtennis.com

Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club Gertrud Wilhelm—General Manager 450 West 43rd Stree New York, NY 10036 (212) 594-0554 gwilhelm@advantagetennisclubs.com www.advantagetennisclubs.com

Midtown Tennis Club Jennifer Brown—Director 341 8th Avenue New York, NY 10001 (212) 989-8572 midtowntennisnyc@gmail.com www.midtowntennis.com

Roosevelt Island Racquet Club

Stadium Tennis Center at Mill Pond

Tom Manhart—Membership Director 281 Main Street • Roosevelt Island, NY 10044 (212) 935-0250 tmanhart@rirctennis.com www.advantagetennisclubs.com

Joel Kassan—Executive Director 725 Gateway Center Boulevard Bronx, NY 10451 (718) 665-4684 joel@gothamtennis.com www.stadiumtennisnyc.com

New Rochelle Tennis Club

SPORTIME Harbor Island

Juan Rios—Tennis Director 114 Valley Road New Rochelle, NY (914) 633-3388 www.newrochelletennisclub.com

Tennis Courts in Harbor Island Park Carlos Campo—General Manager Mamaroneck, NY 10543 (914) 777-5050 ccampo@sportimeny.com www.sportime.com/harbor-island

New York Tennis Club Lauren Hartman—General Manager 3081 Harding Avenue Bronx, NY 10465 (718) 239-7916 lhartman.nytci@gmail.com www.advantagetennisclubs.com

Prospect Park Tennis Center Paul Campbell—Director of Tennis 50 Parkside Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11226 (718) 436-2500, ext. 300 pcampbell@prospectpark.org www.prospectpark.org/visit/activities/tennis

Queens College Tennis Club 65-30 Kissena Boulevard Queens, NY 11367 (718) 997-2795 athleticsinfo@qc.cuny.edu www.athletics.qc.cuny.edu/communityrec/tennis

SPORTIME Randall’s Island Manhattan Home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy Felix Alvarado—Assistant Director of Tennis One Randall’s Island • New York, NY 10035 (212) 427-6150 falvarado@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/manhattan

Tennis Innovators NYC Juan Andrade—Executive Director 520 2nd Avenue (Kips Bay Court) 899 10th Avenue (John Jay Court) New York, NY (646) 476-5811 www.tennisinnovators.com

The Country Club of Riverdale (TCR) Gilad Bloom—Director of Tennis 2600 Netherland Avenue Riverdale, NY 10463 (718) 796-9099 bloom.gilad@gmail.com www.tcr-nyc.com

SPORTIME Lake Isle Westchester Home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy Brian Inglis—General Manager 660 White Plains Road Eastchester, NY 10709 (914) 777-5151 binglis@sportimeny.com www.sportimeny.com/lake-isle

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Whitney Kraft—Director of Tennis Flushing Meadows Corona Park Flushing, NY 11368 (718) 760-6200 kraft@usta.com www.usta.com

West Side Tennis Club Bob Ingersole—Director of Tennis 1 Tennis Place Forest Hills, NY 11375 (718) 268-2300 tennisdirector@foresthillstennis.com www.foresthillstennis.com/index.html

NEW Boys & Girls Metro Rankings (as of 04/01/14)

BOYS Metro Boys 12 Singles Rank..Name................................City 1 ........David Krasner ................ Staten Island, N.Y. 2 ........Blake Frank ....................New York, N.Y. 3 ........Jonathan Glinsky............Brooklyn, N.Y. 4 ........Anthony Cataldo ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 5 ........Daniel Leon Maseyev ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 6 ........Michael Gechka ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 7 ........Joakim Duffy ..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 8 ........Sachin Palta....................Forest Hills, N.Y. 9 ........Bradley Bennett..............New York, N.Y. 10 ......Jasper August Hunt ......New York, N.Y. 11 ......Donald James Smith......Roosevelt Island, N.Y. 12 ......Brandon Torres ..............Bronx, N.Y. 13 ......Kemal Aziz ......................Staten Island, N.Y. 14 ......Nicholas Pustilnik ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 15 ......Paul Elghouayel..............New York, N.Y. 16 ......Ty Switzer........................New York, N.Y. 17 ......Rudolph Merlin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 18 ......Daniel Galisteo Gordon..New York, N.Y. 19 ......David Alan Khaimov ......Jamaica, N.Y. 20 ......Igor Maslov ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 21 ......Noah Eisenberg..............New York, N.Y. 22 ......Donovan Spigner ..........New York, N.Y. 23 ......Dylan Lachmanen ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 24 ......Jeffrey Yu ........................Forest Hills, N.Y. 25 ......Oliver Tockman ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 26 ......Donovan Brown..............New York, N.Y. 27 ......Cooper Williams ............New York, N.Y. 28 ......Matthias Frijs-Djurhuus..New York, N.Y. 29 ......Eitan Trantz ....................Bronx, N.Y. 30 ......Evan Friedmann ............New York, N.Y. 31 ......Noah Kaye ......................New York, N.Y. 32 ......James Adamini ..............New York, N.Y. 33 ......Charles William Phillips..New York, N.Y. 34 ......Gabriel Rissman ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 35 ......Michael Glazomitskiy ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 36 ......Milan Jain........................New York, N.Y. 37 ......Matthew Mosejczuk ......East Elmhurst, N.Y. 38 ......Kevin Daniel Golub ........New York, N.Y. 39 ......Joshua Jackson ............Staten Island, N.Y. 40 ......Marcos Souza Lee ........New York, N.Y.

Metro Boys 14 Singles Rank..Name................................City 1 ........Derek Lung ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 2 ........Wiley Schubert Reed ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 3 ........Jonathan Glinsky............Brooklyn, N.Y. 4 ........Christopher Tham ..........Flushing, N.Y. 5 ........Max Schindel..................New York, N.Y. 6 ........Daniel Davis....................New York, N.Y. 7 ........Daniel Leon-Maseyev ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 8 ........Tanner Ross Bhonslay ..New York, N.Y. 9 ........Nicholas Pustilnik ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 10 ......David Krasner ................Staten Island, N.Y. 11 ......Donald James Smith......Roosevelt Island, N.Y. 12 ......Peter Frelinghuysen ......New York, N.Y. 13 ......Jeffrey McCready ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 14 ......Igor Maslov ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 15 ......Henry Hochfelder ..........New York, N.Y. 16 ......Blake Frank ....................New York, N.Y. 17 ......Alex Portnoy ..................New York, N.Y. 18 ......Robbie F. Werdiger ........New York, N.Y. 19 ......Kermal Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y.

YORK

20 ......Ethan Finley ....................New York, N.Y. 21 ......Teddy Friedman..............New York, N.Y. 22 ......Dominick Pajor ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 23 ......Julian Szuper..................New York, N.Y. 24 ......Leaf Fagerberg ..............New York, N.Y. 25 ......Shawn Jackson..............Staten Island, N.Y. 26 ......Neil Agarwal....................New York, N.Y. 27 ......Wesley Zhang ................Staten Island, N.Y. 28 ......Richard Wickman ..........Bayside, N.Y. 29 ......David Moldovan ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 30 ......Teddy Brodsky................New York, N.Y. 31 ......Leonidas Vrailas ............New York, N.Y. 32 ......Michael Lee Jozoff ........New York, N.Y. 33 ......Tyler Kats ........................New York, N.Y. 34 ......Eliot Stein........................New York, N.Y. 35 ......James Baumann ............New York, N.Y. 36 ......Kevin Li............................Long Island City, N.Y. 37 ......Mizel Stevens ................New York, N.Y. 38 ......Joakim Duffy ..................Brookly, N.Y. 39 ......Harry Portnoy ................New York, N.Y. 40 ......David Dylan Pines ..........New York, N.Y.

Metro Boys 16 Singles Rank..Name................................City 1 ........Oliver Jaskowski ............Bayside, N.Y. 2 ........Andrew Zucker ..............New York, N.Y. 3 ........Leonardo Escudero........Ozone Park, N.Y. 4 ........Leonard Margolis............Brooklyn, N.Y. 5 ........Adam Lane Bernstein ....New York, N.Y. 6 ........Steven Serras ................Queens Village, N.Y. 7 ........Oliver Mai........................Flushing, N.Y. 8 ........Horia Negru ....................Middle Village, N.Y. 9 ........Jonathan L. Molfetta ......Howard Beach, N.Y. 10 ......Tanner Ross Bhonslay ..New York, N.Y. 11 ......Dan Ion Negru ................Middle Village, N.Y. 12 ......Jacob Daly......................Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 13 ......Kevin Yan ........................Brooklyn, N.Y. 14 ......Justin Belnavis................Jamaica, N.Y. 15 ......Gabriel Sifuentes............Flushing, N.Y. 16 ......Jordan Rey-Anatole ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 17 ......Arthur Elghouayel ..........New York, N.Y. 18 ......Kyran Luke Somar ........Bronx, N.Y. 19 ......Nicholas Pustilnik ..........Brooklyn, N.Y 20 ......Stephen Mai ..................Flushing, N.Y. 21 ......Daniel Enrique Corona ..Fresh Meadows, N.Y. 22 ......Daniel Ertel......................New York, N.Y. 23 ......Douglas Nover................Bayside, N.Y. 24 ......Oliver Jevtovic ................Astoria, N.Y. 25 ......Derek Lung ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 26 ......Neil Agarwal....................New York, N.Y. 27 ......Jonathan Coden ............Bronx, N.Y. 28 ......Benjamin Thier................New York, N.Y. 29 ......Bojidar Todorov ..............Rego Park, N.Y. 30 ......Adam Borak....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 31 ......Igor Maslov ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 32 ......Shawn Jackson..............Staten Island, N.Y. 33 ......Avery Bicks ....................New York, N.Y. 34 ......Dylan Friedman ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 35 ......Lantis Wang....................New York, N.Y. 36 ......Nate Newhouse..............New York, N.Y. 37 ......Michael Dozortsev..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 38 ......Marco Vonderheide........New York, N.Y. 39 ......Barak Harari....................Hollis, N.Y. 40 ......Lamar Hurt......................New York, N.Y.

Metro Boys 18 Singles Rank..Name................................City 1 ........William J. Trang ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 2 ........Stephen William Fields ..Bronx, N.Y. 3 ........Sam Krevlin ....................New York, N.Y.

RANKINGS 4 ........Kumeil Hosain ................New York, N.Y. 5 ........Anthony Santino ............Douglaston, N.Y. 6 ........Marco Vonderheide........New York, N.Y. 7 ........Arthur Elghouayel ..........New York, N.Y.

GIRLS Metro Girls 12 Singles Rank..Name................................City 1 ........Karolina Lankamer ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 2 ........Natalie Eordekian ..........Woodside, N.Y. 3 ........Amy Kaplan ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 4 ........Shakima Hotaki ..............Flushing, N.Y. 5 ........Maryna Bohdanovska....Brooklyn, N.Y. 6 ........Rachel Zhang ................Forest Hills, N.Y. 7 ........Nadejda Maslova ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 8 ........Alyssa An ........................New York, N.Y. 9 ........Daniella Benabraham ....New York, N.Y. 10 ......Nathalie Williams ............New York, N.Y. 11 ......Masha Serjantov ............New York, N.Y. 12 ......Rachel Rubenzahl ..........New York, N.Y. 13 ......Isabella Hartman ............New York, N.Y. 14 ......Katherine Krieger............New York, N.Y. 15 ......Naomi Park ....................New York, N.Y. 16 ......Miriam Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 17 ......Khyanna Singh ..............Queens Village, N.Y. 18 ......Julia Dementyev ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 19 ......Sarah Lucy Youngberg ..New York, N.Y. 20 ......Rebecca Sitkovetsky ....Staten Island, N.Y. 21 ......Ksenia Kulakova ............New York, N.Y. 22 ......Michelle Kleynerman......Staten Island, N.Y. 23 ......Nicolette Fundator..........Brooklyn, N.Y 24 ......Emily Moczulski..............Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 25 ......Medina Garunja..............Bronx, N.Y. 26 ......Rebecca Izyayeva ..........Staten Island, N.Y. 27 ......Josephine Kimball..........New York, N.Y. 28 ......Nadzeya Fliaha ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 29 ......Elizabeth Serjantov ........New York, N.Y. 30 ......Emma Abels Eisenberg..New York, N.Y. 31 ......Shawnte Beale ..............Bronx, N.Y. 32 ......Lena Kovacevic..............New York, N.Y. 33 ......Taylor Simone Williams..New York, N.Y. 34 ......Isabel Mays Stern ..........New York, N.Y. 35 ......Rebecca Fisch................New York, N.Y. 36 ......Anna Regina Kroner ......Forest Hills, N.Y. 37 ......Sofia Allinson ..................New York, N.Y. 38 ......Lara Rose Berliner..........New York, N.Y. 39 ......Gabriella Eitkis................Brooklyn, N.Y. 40 ......Madeline Kozower ........New York, N.Y.

Metro Girls 14 Singles

19 ......Nicole Mika ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 20 ......Isabella Sinclair Cooper Brooklyn, N.Y. 21 ......Sofie Kate Levine ..........New York, N.Y. 22 ......Mia Simone Parrish........Queens Village, N.Y. 23 ......Tiana Fernandez ............Bronx, N.Y. 24 ......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 25 ......Kayla Schumacher ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 26 ......Johnniesha Joy Breiten Bronx, N.Y. 27 ......Grace Caroline Feagin ..New York, N.Y. 28 ......Giuliana Rose Gibson ....Bayside, N.Y. 29 ......Olivia Simone Morris......Floral Park, N.Y. 30 ......Karolina Lankamer ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 31 ......Autumn Greco ................Staten Island, N.Y. 32 ......Amy Kaplan ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 33 ......Michelle Gao ..................Sunnyside, N.Y. 34 ......Bri’Yonna Porterfield ......Bronx, N.Y. 35 ......Makenzie Udell ..............Long Island City, N.Y. 36 ......Gabriella Eitkis................Brooklyn, N.Y. 37 ......Carolyn Brodsky ............New York, N.Y. 38 ......Emma Montana Wrazej New York, N.Y. 39 ......Nadejda Maslova ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 40 ......Bella Kaplan....................New York, N.Y.

Metro Girls 16 Singles Rank..Name................................City 1 ........Alesssandra Ricciardi ....Howard Beach, N.Y. 2 ........Electra Frelinghuysen ....New York, N.Y. 3 ........Liana I. Weitzman ..........Whitestone, N.Y. 4 ........Sarah Hirschfield ............New York, N.Y. 5 ........Alexandra Sanford..........New York, N.Y. 6 ........Jenna Borenstein ..........New York, N.Y. 7 ........Lindsay Shan Jadow......New York, N.Y. 8 ........Kiara Rose ......................New York, N.Y. 9 ........Ashley DelMissier ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 10 ......Keri Anne Picciochi ........Flushing, N.Y. 11 ......Anna Maite Kaplan ........New York, N.Y. 12 ......Victoria Zezula ................Ridgewood, N.Y. 13 ......Amanda Solecki ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 14 ......Gianna Gaudio ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 15 ......Jennifer Reiss ................New York, N.Y. 16 ......Katie Pazz ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 17 ......Annie Reiner ..................New York, N.Y. 18 ......Maria Kogarova..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 19 ......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 20 ......Anu Alalade ....................Rosedale, N.Y. 21 ......Isabella Rendon..............Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 22 ......Kayla Schumacher ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 23 ......Stefana Vujinovic............Brooklyn, N.Y. 24 ......Liza Levison....................New York, N.Y.

Metro Girls 18 Singles

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

1 ........Elizabeth Khusid ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 2 ........Veronika Semenova ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 3 ........Maryna Bohdanovska....Brooklyn, N.Y. 4 ........Jenelle Downer ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 5 ........Amalia Parrish ................Queens Village, N.Y. 6 ........Liana Weitzman..............Whitestone, N.Y. 7 ........Kiara Rose ......................New York, N.Y. 8 ........Sarah Anne Fassberg ....New York, N.Y. 9 ........Gianna Gaudio ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 10 ......Diana Sosonkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 11 ......Maxine Zaretsky ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 12 ......Tomi Alalade ..................Rosedale, N.Y. 13 ......Caroline Paige Kantor ....New York, N.Y. 14 ......Marie Ivantechenko........Brooklyn, N.Y. 15 ......Theodora Vrailas ............New York, N.Y. 16 ......Miriam Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 17 ......Yuhan Wang ..................Little Neck, N.Y. 18 ......Anastasya Menshikova..Brooklyn, N.Y.

1 ........Gaelle Conille..................New York, N.Y. 2 ........Emily Sham ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 3 ........Briel Biggs ......................Bronx, N.Y. 4 ........Jenna B. Borenstein ......New York, N.Y. 5 ........Emi Lewis........................New York, N.Y. 6 ........Kyra Bergmann ..............Forest Hills, N.Y. 7 ........Alexandra Waldman ......New York, N.Y.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

NEW Boys & Girls Sectional Rankings (as of 05/02/14)

BOYS Sectional Boys 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 2 ........Jeffrey Fradkin................New York, N.Y. 7 ........Noah Edelman................New York, N.Y. 12 ......Brandon T. Cohen ..........New York, N.Y. 17 ......Alexander Petrov............Middle Village, N.Y. 19 ......Harry Portnoy ................New York, N.Y. 21 ......Robbie Werdiger ............New York, N.Y. 27 ......Ryan McCook ................St. Albans, N.Y. 28 ......Alex Portnoy ..................New York, N.Y. 32 ......Kai Yuminaga..................Little Neck, N.Y. 33 ......Joseph Wilkanowski ......Long Island City, N.Y. 35 ......Oliver Obeid....................New York, N.Y. 36 ......Wesley Zhang ................Staten Island, N.Y. 38 ......Maxwell Kachkarov........Flushing, N.Y. 47 ......John-Thomas Bilski ......New York, N.Y. 51 ......Donovan Brown..............New York, N.Y 54 ......Scott Fischer ..................New York, N.Y. 55 ......Ty Switzer........................New York, N.Y. 56 ......Sebastian Sec ................New York, N.Y. 60 ......Marcos Souza Lee ........New York, N.Y. 64 ......David Krasner ................Staten Island, N.Y. 65 ......Charles William Phillips..New York, N.Y. 70 ......Sidharth Chawla ............New York, N.Y. 72 ......Winter Fagerberg............New York, N.Y. 73 ......Tyler Korobov..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 78 ......Mitchel Pertsovsky ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 80 ......Nash Crofoot Johnson ..New York, N.Y. 85 ......Jonathan Glinsky............Brooklyn, N.Y. 86 ......Tyler Kats ........................New York, N.Y. 88 ......Donovan Spigner ..........New York, N.Y. 93 ......Jasper August Hunt ......New York, N.Y. 95 ......Sachin Palta....................Forest Hills, N.Y. 96 ......Anthony Cataldo ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 98 ......Zachary Portnoy ............New York, N.Y. 99 ......Blake Frank ....................New York, N.Y. 103....Tristan Taylor ..................New York, N.Y. 106....Paul Elghouayel..............New York, N.Y. 110....Jeffrey Yu ........................Forest Hills, N.Y. 116....Connor Dunne................Brooklyn, N.Y. 117....Eitan Trantz ....................Bronx, N.Y. 119....Bradley Bennett..............New York, N.Y. 122....Jack Benavides..............New York, N.Y. 127....Noah Eisenberg..............New York, N.Y. 136....Jace Alexander ..............New York, N.Y. 137....Brandon Torres ..............Bronx, N.Y. 138....Evan Friedmann ............New York, N.Y. 147....Cooper Williams ............New York, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 14 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 16 ......Zachary Jordan Lieb ......New York, N.Y. 20 ......Gary Fishkin....................Staten Island, N.Y. 21 ......Sumit Sarkar .................. New York, N.Y. 24 ......Lantis Wang....................New York, N.Y. 32 ......Oliver Jevtovic ................Astoria, N.Y. 35 ......Igor Maslov ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 36 ......Ethan Leon......................Woodhaven, N.Y. 39 ......Shawn Jackson..............Staten Island, N.Y. 47 ......Jeffrey Gorilovsky ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 49 ......Steven Nazaroff..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 50 ......Nicholas Pustilnik ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 57 ......Derek Raskopf................New York, N.Y.

YORK

61 ......Sam Vagner ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 62 ......Allan Ethan Magid ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 65 ......David Mizrahi..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 72 ......Christopher Kolesnik......Staten Island, N.Y. 75 ......Alexander Chiu ..............New York, N.Y. 76 ......Gabriel Sifuentes............Flushing, N.Y. 77 ......Shand Stephens ............New York, N.Y. 79 ......Henry Hochfelder ..........New York, N.Y. 81 ......Jonah Jurick ..................New York, N.Y. 88 ......Jeffrey McCready ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 97 ......George Allen ..................New York, N.Y. 98 ......David Moldovan ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 99 ......Kemal Irfan Aziz..............Staten Island, N.Y. 106....Ameer Hosain ................New York, N.Y. 113....Robbie F. Werdiger ........New York, N.Y. 118....Tyler Kats ........................New York, N.Y. 127....Gabriel Isaac Rissman ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 129....Zachary Targoff ..............New York, N.Y. 138....Christopher Tham ..........Flushing, N.Y. 140....Alfi von Auersperg ..........New York, N.Y. 141....Derrick Mu ......................Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 145....Blake Frank ....................New York, N.Y. 146....William Charles Phillips..New York, N.Y. 149....Zachary Portnoy ............New York, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 10 ......Oliver Sec........................New York, N.Y. 21 ......Marcus Smith ................Little Neck, N.Y. 22 ......Ananth Raghavan ..........New York, N.Y. 23 ......Aleksandar Kovacevic ..New York, N.Y. 38 ......Cole Gittens....................New York, N.Y. 52 ......Jack Haroche ................New York, N.Y. 59 ......Calvin Chung ..................Bronx, N.Y. 63 ......Alexander Thrane ..........New York, N.Y. 67 ......Alex Chao ......................New York, N.Y. 73 ......Faris Nathoo ..................New York, N.Y. 75 ......William Trang ..................Staten Island, N.Y. 76 ......Sumit Sarkar ..................New York, N.Y. 79 ......Xavier Pacthod ..............New York, N.Y. 87 ......Mitchell Ostrovsky..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 94 ......Leonardo Escudero........Ozone Park, N.Y. 100....Noah Kyle Agarwal ........New York, N.Y. 104....Robert Kennedy ............New York, N.Y. 109....Jordan D. Jordan............Astoria, N.Y. 112....Adam Bryan Borak ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 115....Avery Bricks....................New York, N.Y. 128....Ethan Moszkowski ........New York, N.Y. 130....Sam Vagner ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 133....Adam Bernstein..............New York, N.Y. 137....Bojidar Todorov ..............Rego Park, N.Y. 139....Emil Nadyrbekov............Brooklyn, N.Y. 146....Robert Eugene Millman New York, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 18 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 4 ........Daniel Kerznerman ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 8 ........Oliver Sec........................New York, N.Y. 15 ......Victor Miglo ....................Kew Gardens, N.Y. 16 ......Lucas Pickering..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 21 ......Felipe Osses-Konig........Rego Park, N.Y. 28 ......Christopher Paul Auteri..Staten Island, N.Y. 29 ......Artemie Amari ................New York, N.Y. 31 ......Marcus T. Smith..............Little Neck, N.Y. 32 ......Win Smith ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 38 ......Maurice Russo ..............New York, N.Y. 46 ......Ethan Nittolo ..................Flushing, N.Y. 54 ......James Wasserman ........New York, N.Y.

RANKINGS 60 ......Steven Koulouris ............Long Island City, N.Y. 67 ......Richard Sec ....................New York, N.Y. 68 ......Alexander Pintilie............New York, N.Y. 71 ......Sachin Raghavan ..........New York, N.Y. 77 ......Faris Nathoo ..................New York, N.Y. 87 ......Cameron Daniels............Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 95 ......Michael Anzalone ..........Howard Beach, N.Y. 99 ......Edan Lee Sossen ..........Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 111....William J. Trang ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 120....Brett W. Jones ................New York, N.Y. 124....Andrew Arnaboldi ..........New York, N.Y. 125....Benjamin Gottschalk......New York, N.Y. 128....Gal Matthew Sossen......Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 129....Zachary Kaplan ..............New York, N.Y.

GIRLS Sectional Girls 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 2 ........Rosie Garcia Gross ........New York, N.Y. 3 ........Dasha Kourkina..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 4 ........Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 14 ......Nadejda Maslova ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 15 ......Elvina Kalieva..................Staten Island, N.Y. 16 ......Marie Ivantechenko........Brooklyn, N.Y. 19 ......Miriam Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 23 ......Perene Wang ..................New York, N.Y. 31 ......Amanda Solecki ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 33 ......Lena Kovacevic..............New York, N.Y. 35 ......Rebecca Eliana Fisch ....New York, N.Y. 39 ......Isabella Tushaj ................Bronx, N.Y. 45 ......Lorraine Bergmann ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 46 ......Zoe Kava ........................New York, N.Y. 47 ......Shakima Hotaki ..............Flushing, N.Y. 50 ......Daniella Benabraham ....New York, N.Y. 52 ......Khyanna Singh ..............Queens Village, N.Y. 53 ......Carolyn Brodsky ............New York, N.Y. 57 ......Isabella Cooper ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 59 ......Amy Kaplan ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 62 ......Sabrina Boada................Woodhaven, N.Y. 63 ......Masha Serjantov ............New York, N.Y. 64 ......Anastasya Chesnokova..Staten Island, N.Y. 65 ......Karolina Lankamer ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 68 ......Emily Moczulski..............Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 69 ......Gabriella Eitkis................Brooklyn, N.Y. 72 ......Giuliana Gibson..............Bayside, N.Y. 80 ......Natalie Eordekian ..........Woodside, N.Y. 85 ......Rachel Rubenzahl ..........New York, N.Y. 93 ......Michelle Tikhonko ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 100....Shawnte Beale ..............Bronx, N.Y. 101....Nathalie Williams ............New York, N.Y. 102....Sarah Youngberg............New York, N.Y. 105....Michelle Kleynerman......Staten Island, N.Y. 106....Alyssa An ........................New York, N.Y. 107....Anastasya Menshikova..Brooklyn, N.Y. 116....Rachel Zhang ................Forest Hills, N.Y. 127....Elizabeth Serjantov ........New York, N.Y. 145....Naomi Park ....................New York, N.Y. 146....Emma Abels Eisenberg..New York, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 14 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 3 ........Dasha Kourkina..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 4 ........Michelle Sorokko............Little Neck, N.Y. 8 ........Shelly Yaloz ....................Little Neck, N.Y. 10 ......Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 11 ......Nicole Semenov ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 21 ......Anastasia Koniaev..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 22 ......Jennifer Yu ......................Forest Hills, N.Y.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

31 ......Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y. 32 ......Christina Huynh..............Astoria, N.Y. 35 ......Katherine Kachkarov......Flushing, N.Y. 36 ......Katelyn Walker................New York, N.Y. 39 ......Stephanie Li....................New York, N.Y. 41 ......Chelsea Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 43 ......Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y. 50 ......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 53 ......Kyra Bergmann ..............Forest Hills, N.Y. 56 ......Lia Kiam ..........................New York, N.Y. 72 ......Miriam Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 73 ......Barbara Podvorchani ....Bronx, N.Y. 75 ......Audrey Pacthod..............New York, N.Y. 76 ......Grace L. Kennedy ..........New York, N.Y. 77 ......Diana Sosonkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 90 ......Gabriella Eitkis................Brooklyn, N.Y. 91 ......Elvina Kalinova ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 93 ......Sofie Kate Levine ..........New York, N.Y. 102....Rosie Garcia Gross ........New York, N.Y. 104....Isabella Nicole Tushaj ....Bronx, N.Y. 105....Liana Weitzman..............Whitestone, N.Y. 106....Isabel Balilo ....................Flushing, N.Y. 108....Caroline Paige Kantor ....New York, N.Y. 116....Amalia Parrish ................Queens Village, N.Y. 122....Nadejda Maslova ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 125....Marie Ivantechenko........Brooklyn, N.Y. 130....Amanda Solecki ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 132....Maryna Bohdanovska....Brooklyn, N.Y. 136....Anastasya Menshikova..Brooklyn, N.Y. 149....Sarah Finley ....................New York, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 2 ........Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y. 8 ........Jessica Melanie Livianu Brooklyn, N.Y. 10 ......Brianna Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 17 ......Alexandra Koniaev ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 18 ......Alexus Gill ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 25 ......Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y. 27 ......Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 36 ......Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y. 51 ......Yuka Lin ..........................Kew Gardens, N.Y. 52 ......Victoria Sec ....................New York, N.Y. 60 ......Anastasiya Malinouskaya..Staten Island, N.Y. 62 ......Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 69 ......Stephanie Li....................New York, N.Y. 71 ......Jillian Auteri ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 74 ......Keren Khromchenko......Staten Island, N.Y. 77 ......Sydney Lynn Katz ..........New York, N.Y. 80 ......Patricia Obeid ................New York, N.Y. 92 ......Julia Fisch ......................New York, N.Y. 94 ......Brittny Jo Ferreira ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 96 ......Michelle Sorokko............Little Neck, N.Y. 98 ......Isabelle Rovinski ............New York, N.Y. 106....Jennifer Yu ......................Forest Hills, N.Y. 109....Sabrina Lee Abrams ......New York, N.Y. 116....Nicole Khorosh ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 119....Emma Kassan ................New York, N.Y. 121....Michelle Khaimov ..........Jamaica, N.Y. 128....Kiara A. Rose..................New York, N.Y. 131....Isabel Balilo ....................Flushing, N.Y. 132....Liana Weitzman..............Whitestone, N.Y. 140....Regina Furer ..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 145....Ashley DelMissier ..........Forest Hills, N.Y.

NEW Sectional Girls 18 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 5 ........Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y. 7 ........Ariana D. Rodriguez ......Bronx, N.Y. 9 ........Hannah Shteyn ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 10 ......Arnelle Sullivan ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 14 ......Anna Ulyashchenko ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 15 ......Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y. 26 ......Christina Puccinelli ........New York, N.Y. 36 ......Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y. 41 ......Nia Rose ........................New York, N.Y. 45 ......Alexus Gill ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 50 ......Sofia Anouk Alsiks..........New York, N.Y. 53 ......Jessica Livianu ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 58 ......Shayna Spooner ............New York, N.Y. 62 ......Yuka Lin ..........................Kew Gardens, N.Y. 64 ......Kimberly Salkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 69 ......Hediye Karabay..............Flushing, N.Y. 71 ......Annie Reiner ..................New York, N.Y. 77 ......Keren Khromchenko......Staten Island, N.Y. 86 ......Anastasiya Malinouskaya..Staten Island, N.Y. 106....Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 110....Angeline Devanthiran ....Corona, N.Y. 116....Stefani Lineva ................Middle Village, N.Y. 119....Julia Zbarsky ..................New York, N.Y. 123....Erika Tinalli......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 126....Sophia N. Schlossel ......New York, N.Y. 128....Alexandra Koniaev ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 129....Stefana Vujinovic............Brooklyn, N.Y. 138....Patricia Obeid ................New York, N.Y. 139....Emi F. Lewis....................New York, N.Y. 144....Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y. 147....Daniella Roldan ..............New York, N.Y.

Boys & Girls National Rankings (as of 04/30/14)

BOYS National Boys 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 16 ......Jeffrey Fradkin................New York, N.Y. 125....Noah Edelman................New York, N.Y. 134....Robbie Werdiger ............New York, N.Y. 170....Alex Portnoy ..................New York, N.Y. 239....Alex Petrov......................Middle Village, N.Y. 281....Harry Portnoy ................New York, N.Y. 299....Brandon T. Cohen ..........New York, N.Y. 305....Max Kachkarov ..............Flushing, N.Y. 513....Ryan McCook ................St. Albans, N.Y. 516....Oliver Obeid....................New York, N.Y. 569....Wesley Zhang ................Staten Island, N.Y. 645....Kai Yuminaga..................Little Neck, N.Y. 681....Joseph Wilkanowski ......Long Island City, N.Y. 763....Jeffrey McCready ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 834....Ty Switzer........................New York, N.Y.

National Boys 14 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City

YORK

RANKINGS National Girls 14 Singles— Metro Region

575....Igor Malsov ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 779....Lantis Wang....................New York, N.Y. 795....Shawn Jackson..............Staten Island, N.Y. 919....Ethan Leon......................Woodhaven, N.Y. 946....Christopher Kolesnik......Staten Island, N.Y. 978....Sam V. Vagner ................Staten Island, N.Y. 983....Jeffrey Gorilovsky ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.

Rank ..Name ..........................City 30 ......Dasha Kourkina..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 70 ......Michelle Sorokko............Little Neck, N.Y. 96 ......Shelly Yaloz ....................Little Neck, N.Y. 129....Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 203....Nicole Semenov ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 257....Anastasia Koniaev..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 304....Jennifer Yu ......................Forest Hills, N.Y. 323....Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y. 467....Katelyn Walker................New York, N.Y. 483....Katherine Kachkarov......Flushing, N.Y. 534....Chelsea Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 649....Stephanie Li....................New York, N.Y. 802....Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y. 888....Christina M. Huynh ........Astoria, N.Y.

National Boys 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 71 ......Oliver Sec........................New York, N.Y. 126....Felipe Osses-Konig........Rego Park, N.Y. 149....Ananth Raghavan ..........New York, N.Y. 279....Aleksandar Kovacevic ..New York, N.Y. 409....Marcus Smith ................Little Neck, N.Y. 587....Cole Gittens....................New York, N.Y. 705....Alexander Thrane ..........New York, N.Y. 853....William J. Trang ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 915....Sumit Sarkar ..................New York, N.Y. 954....Jack Alexander ..............New York, N.Y.

National Girls 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 36 ......Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y. 71 ......Jessica Livianu ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 159....Brianna Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 212....Arnelle Sullivan ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 254....Alexandra Koniaev ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 262....Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 334....Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y. 360....Alexus Gill ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 714....Keren Khromochenko....Staten Island, N.Y. 916....Julia Fisch ......................New York, N.Y. 955....Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y.

National Boys 18 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 2 ........Daniel Kerznerman ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 94 ......Oliver Sec........................New York, N.Y. 128....James Wasserman ........New York, N.Y. 174....Artemie Amari ................New York, N.Y. 175....Lucas Pickering..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 205....Win Smith ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 316....Felipe Osses-Konig........Rego Park, N.Y. 386....Christopher Auteri ..........Staten Island, N.Y. 494....Sachin Raghavan ..........New York, N.Y. 508....Ethan Nittolo ..................Flushing, N.Y. 591....Richard Sec ....................New York, N.Y. 705....Victor Miglo ....................Kew Gardens, N.Y. 883....Jeffrey Fradkin................New York, N.Y.

National Girls 18 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City

GIRLS National Girls 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 12 ......Dasha Kourkina..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 13 ......Rosie Garcia Gross ........New York, N.Y. 47 ......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 83 ......Marie Ivantechenko........Brooklyn, N.Y. 144....Perene Wang ..................New York, N.Y. 153....Elvina Kalieva..................Staten Island, N.Y. 165....Miriam Irfan Aziz ............Staten Island, N.Y. 235....Isabella Tushaj ................Bronx, N.Y. 265....Nadejda Maslova ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 448....Diana McCready ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 459....Rebecca Eliana Fisch ....New York, N.Y. 536....Lena Kovacevic..............New York, N.Y. 544....Diana Sosonkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 642....Amanda Solecki ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 692 ....Anastasiya Chesnokova ..Staten Island, N.Y. 755....Lorraine Bergmann ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 756....Khyanna Singh ..............Queens Village, N.Y. 759....Shakima Hotaki ..............Flushing, N.Y. 936....Giulana Rosa Gibson ....Bayside, N.Y. 990....Isabella Cooper ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 991....Shawnte Beale ..............Bronx, N.Y.

63 ......Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y. 117....Ariana D. Rodriguez ......Bronx, N.Y. 172....Hannah Shteyn ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 192....Anna Ulyashchenko ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 212....Arnelle Sullivan ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 284....Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y. 355....Jessica Livianu ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 504....Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y. 679....Keren Khromchenko......Staten Island, N.Y. 721....Christina Puccinelli ........New York, N.Y. 816....Dasha Kourkina..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 889....Nia Rose ........................New York, N.Y.

162....Sumit Sarkar ..................New York, N.Y. 230....Zachary Jordan Lieb ......New York, N.Y. 254....Gary Fishkin....................Staten Island, N.Y. 295....Steven Daniel Nazaroff ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 298....Oliver Jevtovic ................Astoria, N.Y.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

USTA/Metropolitan 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 L1 APTC May Championships Alley Pond Tennis Center 7920 Winchester Boulevard Queens Village, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Boys Singles 12 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Thursday, May 8 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail hemco2@aol.com or call (718) 264-2600. Friday-Monday, May 23-26 L2O Cunningham Tennis May Open Cunningham Sports Center 19600 Union Turnpike Fresh Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Ranked Boys & Girls Singles 14-18 (FMLC) & Ranked Boys & Girls Doubles 14-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Tuesday, May 20 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (718) 740-6800. Friday-Monday, May 23-26 L1B Stadium Tennis Center May Challenger Stadium Tennis Center 725 Gateway Center Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12, 18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 16 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail lauren@stadiumtennisnyc.com or call (718) 665-4684. Friday-Sunday, May 23-25 & June 6-8 L2O Sportime Randall’s Island April 2014 Open Sportime at Randalls Island 1 Randalls Island New York, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12-14 (FMLC) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, May 19 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentsri@sportimetfm.com or call (646) 783-5301.

Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1 L2R + 8U Playday NYJTL Summer Kick Off Metro Regional NYJTL 754 Thieriot Avenue • Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12-18 (FMLC); QuickStart Boys & Girls 10 & Under Singles & Doubles [36’ Red Ball 8 (RR)]; QuickStart Boys & Girls 10 & Under Singles & Doubles [60’ Orange Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Saturday, May 24 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail mclemente@nyjtl.org or call (347) 417-8118.

Friday-Sunday, June 13-15 L2O Cunningham Park Summer Open Cunningham Sports Center 19600 Union Turnpike Fresh Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 14-18 (SE); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12 (FMLC); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 14-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Monday, June 9 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (718) 740-6800.

Saturday-Sunday, May 31-June 8 Mayor’s Cup New York City All-Scholastic Tennis Championships USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12-14 (FMLC) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $3 for first singles/$3 for additional singles & $3 for doubles/$3 for additional doubles For more information, e-mail ebantovska@nyjtl.org or call (347) 417-8168.

Saturday, June 14 L3 Stadium Tennis Center UPS Stadium Tennis Center 725 Gateway Center Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Novice Boys & Girls Singles 12 (RR) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 9 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail lauren@stadiumtennisnyc.com or call (718) 665-4684.

JUNE 2014 Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L1B NYJTL June Challenger + 8U Playday New York Junior Tennis and Learning 5812 Queens Boulevard, Ste. 1 Woodside, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 12-14 (SE); Challenger Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [78’ Green Ball 10 (FMLC)]; and Challenger Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles & Doubles [36’ Red Ball 8 (RR)] Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 23 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail ebantovska@nyjtl.org or call (347) 417-8100. Friday-Sunday, June 6-8 L1B Sportime Randall’s Island June Challenger Sportime at Randalls Island 1 Randalls Island New York, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 16-18 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 30 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentsri@sportimetfm.com or call (646) 783-5301.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

Friday-Sunday, June 20-22 L2O Staten Island Community Tennis Center June Open Staten Island Community Tennis Center 2800 Victory Boulevard Staten Island, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles & Doubles 14, 18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player/$28 per player for doubles (deadline for entries is Saturday, June 14 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (718) 982-3355. Friday-Sunday, June 20-22 L1B Stadium Tennis Center Summer Challenger Stadium Tennis Center 725 Exterior Street Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 16-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 13 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail lauren@stadiumtennisnyc.com or call (718) 665-4684.

USTA/Metropolitan Region

2014 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE For detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments. Friday-Sunday, June 20-22 L2O Sportime Randall’s Island June Open Sportime at Randalls Island 1 Randalls Island New York, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 16 (SE); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12 (FMLC); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 16 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 for singles/$28 per player for doubles (deadline for entries is Saturday, June 14 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentsri@sportimetfm.com or call (646) 783-5301. Monday-Thursday, June 23-26 L3 West Side June Summer UPS The West Side Tennis Club 1 Tennis Place Forest Hills, N.Y. Divisions: Novice Boys & Girls Singles 12-18 (RR) and Novice Boys & Girls 10 & Under Singles [60’ Orange Ball 10 (RR)] Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Saturday, June 14 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tennisdirector@foresthillstennis.com or call (718) 268-2300. Tuesday-Sunday, June 24-29 L1B North Shore Towers June Challenger North Shore & Towers Country Club 27286 Grand Central Parkway Floral Park, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 12-18 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 20 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, call (866) 246-6354. Friday-Saturday, June 27-28 L3 Sportime RI June UPS Sportime at Randalls Island 1 Randalls Island New York, N.Y. Divisions: Novice Boys & Girls Singles 12-14 (RR) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 20 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tournamentsri@sportimetfm.com or call (646) 783-5301.

Friday-Sunday, June 27-29 L2R + 8U Playday NYJTL June Metro Regional Bronx International Youth Tennis Center 754 Thieriot Avenue • Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 14-18 (SE); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12 (FMLC); Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 14-18 (SE); Intermediate Boys & Girls 10 & Under Singles & Doubles [36’ Red Ball 8 (RR)] and Intermediate Boys & Girls 10 & Under Singles [60’ Orange Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for singles/$28 per player for doubles (deadline for entries is Friday, June 13 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail wwiese@nyjtl.org.com or call (347) 417-8118. Monday-Friday, June 30-July 4 L2R Metro CityParks Junior Tournament Series City Parks Foundation-Cunningham Park, Queens The Olmsted Center • Flushing Meadows Corona Park, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 14-16 (SE); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12 (FMLC); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 14-16 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $33 for first singles/$28 per player for first doubles (deadline for entries is Tuesday, June 24 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tomtvedt@yahoo.com or call (718) 760-6986. JULY 2014 Tuesday-Sunday-July 8-13 L1B July Bronx Challenger Bronx International Youth Tennis Center 754 Thieriot Avenue • Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles [78' Yellow Ball 12-18 (SE)] and QuickStart Boys & Girls 10 & Under Singles [78' Green Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 30 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, or call (347) 417-8176. Friday-Sunday, July 11-13 L2O Staten Island CTC Summer Open Staten Island Community Tennis Center 2800 Victory Boulevard Staten Island, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 14-18 (SE); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 12 (FMLC); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 12-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Sunday, July 6 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (718) 982-3355.

Friday-Thursday, July 11-17 L1 APTC Summer Championships Alley Pond Tennis Center 7920 Winchester Boulevard Queens Village, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Boys Singles 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Tuesday, July 1 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail hemco2@aol.com or call (718) 264-2600. Friday-Thursday, July 11-17 L1 Stadium Tennis Center Summer Championships Stadium Tennis Center 725 Exterior Street Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Girls Singles 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Tuesday, July 1 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail lauren@stadiumtennisnyc.com or call (718) 665-4684. Friday-Thursday, July 11-17 L1 USTA BJK NTC Summer Championships USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Flushing Meadows Corona Park Flushing, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Boys & Girls Singles 12 (SE) and QuickStart Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles [78' Green Ball 10 (FMLC)] Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player For more information, e-mail ntctournaments@usta.com or call (718) 760-6200. Friday-Monday, July 11-14 & Friday-Sunday, July 18-20 L1B CityView Summer Challenger Series Cityview Racquet Club 4334 32nd Place Long Island City, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles & Doubles 12-14 (SE) Surface Type: Clay Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles For more information, e-mail jperez@cityviewracquet.com or call (718) 389-6252.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

UPCOMING

EVENTS

Friday-Wednesday, July 11-23 NTC Junior Classic L1s From July 11-23, the NTC Junior Classic L1s will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

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New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2014 • NYTennisMag.com

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Thursday, June 5 NYJTL’s School Time Tennis Training NYJTL’s School Time Tennis Training session will take place Thursday, June 5 from 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

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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.

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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.

JULY 2014 Friday-Monday, July 4-7 2014 Liberty Open Tournament The 2014 Liberty Open Tournament will take place Friday-Monday, July 4-7, 2014 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

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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.

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.

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, June 14 John McEnroe Tennis Academy Scholarship Tryouts John McEnroe Tennis Academy Scholarship Tryouts will be held on Saturday, June 14 from 8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, located on Randall’s Island, One Randall’s Island in New York, N.Y.

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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.

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.

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MAY 2014 Saturday, May 17 City Parks Foundation’s LACOSTE Junior Tennis Academy Tryouts On Saturday, May 17, City Parks Foundation will host its LACOSTE Junior Tennis Academy Tryouts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

C O M I N G I N J U LY 2 0 1 4

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NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2014 • New York Tennis Magazine

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