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U.S. Open National Playoffs to Return for Sixth Season The U.S. Open National Playoffs will return later this summer for a sixth season, and this year’s tournaments will feature new competitions. Both men’s doubles and women’s doubles have been added to the field, in addition to the men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed-doubles fields. The winners of the men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed-doubles tournaments will be granted wild cards into the 2015 U.S. Open main draw for their respective fields, while the men’s and women’s singles winners earn wild cards into the U.S. Open qualifying tournament. “The U.S. Open National Playoffs are all about connecting people to the U.S. Open,” said USTA Chairman of the Board, CEO and President Katrina Adams. “This year, by adding men’s and women’s doubles, the National Playoffs are giving competitors the chance to earn their way into the U.S. Open in every possible way. We

look forward to another year of great tennis and watching top juniors, collegiate, aspiring pros and weekend warriors compete for the chance to play on tennis’ grandest stage.” The National Playoffs begin with 14 different sectional qualifying tournaments, with the champions or top available finishers from each advancing to the U.S. Open National Playoffs Championship events. The Championships are held during the Connecticut Open, a tournament which is a part of the Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series, held at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University. The sectional qualifying tournament for the Eastern Section will held from June 713 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The men’s and women’s singles championships will be held from Aug. 21-24; the men’s and women’s doubles champi-

onships will be held from Aug. 25-28; the mixed-doubles championships will be held from Aug. 26-29. There were more than 1,200 participants at last year’s U.S. Open National Playoffs, the highest number of players in the playoffs’ history. Sanam Singh and Caitlin Whoriskey claimed the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, and then won their opening-round matches in the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament. Jacqueline Cako & Joel Kielbowicz won the mixed-doubles title and played their first-round match at the U.S. Open in front of thousands of spectators on the Grandstand Court. Even celebrities have taken a shot at competing on tennis’ biggest stage. Past participants in the U.S. Open National Playoffs include LMFAO singer Redfoo, Olympic skier Bode Miller and ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, who teamed with six-time U.S. Open champion Chris Evert in mixed-doubles.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

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Table Of Contents

MAY/JUN 2015 • Vol 5, No 3

Ivanovic Sets Sights on Paris By Brian Coleman The second Grand Slam of 2015 opens in Paris where Ana Ivanovic looks to take home her second title at Roland Garros. See page 14

Cover photo credit: Manuela Davies www.doubleXposure.com

Joel M. Berman President (516) 409-4444, ext. 310 • joel@usptennis.com Eric C. Peck Editor-in-Chief (516) 409-4444, ext. 312 • eric@usptennis.com Brian Coleman Senior Editor (516) 409-4444, ext. 326 • brianc@usptennis.com Joey Arendt Managing Art Director Francine Miller Advertising Coordinator (516) 409-4444, ext. 301 • francinem@usptennis.com Matthew Cohen Director of Business Development (516) 409-4444, ext. 306 Emilie Katz Assistant Marketing Coordinator Beverly Bolnick National Sales Manager (516) 409-4444, ext. 316 Scott Koondel VP of Operations (516) 409-4444, ext. 324 Andrew Eichenholz Editorial Contributor

Calvin Rhoden Staff Photographer

Julia Raziel Intern

Trevor Mitchel Intern

Gabby Raziel Intern

Jessica Haverlin Intern

Jacob Mishkin Intern

Samantha Sklar Intern

Alyssa Gorman Intern

Sarah Sklar Intern

Advertising To receive any information regarding advertising rates, deadlines, and requirements, call (516) 409-4444 or e-mail info@usptennis.com. Article Submissions/Press Releases To submit any material, including articles and press releases, please call (516) 409-4444 or e-mail info@usptennis.com. The deadline for submissions is the first of the month preceding the target issue. Subscriptions To receive subscription information, contact (516) 409-4444 or e-mail info@usptennis.com or check out our Web site: www.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.

Featured Stories 8

NY Boys & Girls High School Recap By Brian Coleman The states are about to begin, as we recap the recent PSAL individual championships for New York’s boys and girls. 18 2015 French Open Preview By Andrew Eichenholz A closer look at the men’s and women’s fields as the second Grand Slam of 2015 is played on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

Featured 1 27 32 35 37 39

U.S. Open National Playoffs to Return for Sixth Season Lux-Craft Lights the Way Developing Before Winning By Jacopo Tezza Annual NYJTL Hartman Cup Wraps Up at NTC Stay in the Match With ScoreBand Watches Sabatini Gets Revenge to Close Chapter on Rivalry With Seles By Andrew Eichenholz 41 YTEX Strings: Setting Your Game for Success 46 New York Native Joseph Caracappa Making Collegiate Strides By Rob Riehle

Featured Columns 4 6 10 23 24 28 30 34 36 42 44 48 50 52

Across Metro New York … News and Notes From Across the New York Metro Tennis Community Tips From the Tennis Pro: Training in the Summertime By Eric Faro New York Tennis Magazine’s Player Spotlight: Sabrina Xiong By Brian Coleman New York Area Upcoming Events USTA Eastern Metro Region Update Court Six: New York Tennis Magazine’s Gossip Column By Emilie Katz New York Collegiate Roundup Adult League: USTA Leagues Update The Game Inside the Game: Unknown Secrets of Great Athletes … Four Principles of More Than an Athlete By Rob Polishook, MA, CPC Metro Corporate League Recap, Presented by Advantage Tennis Clubs Keys to the Perfect Pre-Game Routine By Dr. Tom Ferraro Tips From the Tennis Pro: Play High Percentage and Patterned Tennis By Lisa Dodson The Simple Task of Taking Responsibility By Lonnie Mitchel New York Rankings

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Across Metro N Centercourt’s Noel continues to roll Centercourt’s Alexa Noel continued her excellent play on the junior circuit over the past month. At the Girl’s 16 Singles USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif., Noel, just 12-years-old, defeated the top-seed on her way to the semifinals. She followed that run up at the Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif. the next week, reaching the quarterfinals of the Girl’s 14 Singles Division.

NTC kids at the BNP Paribas Showdown Kids from the junior programs at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center were with the stars of the show at the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden. Pictured here, Ava, Will, Patricia, Kira, Nina, Julia, Wyzer, Samuel, Andrew and Jordan are joined by Roger Federer and Grigor Dimitrov on the courts of The World’s Most Famous Arena.

Saddlebrook’s Caracappa snaps selfie While back in New York for a vacation, Saddlebrook junior player Vinny Caracappa was able to snag a selfie with Grigor Dimitrov at the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden.

NYJTL CEO Antoine discusses goals on CUNY TV Deborah Antoine, president and chief executive officer of the NYJTL, recently appeared on “One to One with Sheryl McCarthy” on CUNY TV to discuss the NYJTL’s initiatives. Antoine talked about how the NYJTL is bringing what was once known as a “country club sport” to 75,000 kids of varying racial and economic backgrounds through free and low-cost lessons and team opportunities. 4

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

ew York New

… News and notes from across the New York Metro tennis community

Bedford native Levine makes waves out west Photo credit: Lloyd Clayton of YourGameFace

Robert Levine of Bedford, N.Y., who plays out of Gotham Tennis Academy/Stadium Tennis Center, took his talents out to California to participate in the International Spring Championships and the Easter Bowl, two ITF Grade 1 Events. He reached the quarterfinals in singles and the semifinals in doubles at the ISC in Carson, Calif. He won his first match at the Easter Bowl at Indian Wells the following week, but withdrew with an injury prior to playing his next round. Great job by Robert representing New York out on the West Coast!

John McEnroe announces new partnerships John McEnroe Tennis Academy (JMTA) expanded its partnerships with two elite organizations, SportsLab NYC and Hourglass Performance Institute, with the goal of maximizing athletic performance. SportsLab NYC is a company dedicated to an innovative approach to therapy, rehabilitation and performance, specializing in things like physical education and nutrition. The Hourglass Per-

formance Institute deals with mental performance and helping athletes deal with thoughts and emotions. “Our goal from the start of JMTA has been to develop complete players—well-rounded, young people who can reach their potential as tennis players and beyond tennis,” said JMTA Founder John McEnroe. “We think that these two partners will help our students to become physically and mentally stronger and more mature.”

Columbia Lions reach Ivy League perfection For the second consecutive year, the Columbia Men’s Tennis team went undefeated in Ivy League play, capturing its 12th conference championship in the process. The Lions defeated the University of Pennsylvania 7-0 in its final regular season match, finishing with an overall record of 14-5, with a perfect 70 mark in the Ivy League. The 23rd-ranked Columbia’s next match will be played in the NCAA Tournament, where the Lions will be making its second consecutive appearance. NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

Training in the Summertime By Eric Faro

“My suggestion for junior players or junior players, summer is a great time for them to improve all aspects of their game. These student-athletes do not have the pressures and responsibilities that go along with their education and schoolwork and can work on their games with a free and focused mind. This summer training is critical to their development as solid tennis players. One obvious factor in the improvement of their games is the opportunity to spend more time on the court. During the school year, junior players are usually very limited to court time, especially in the Northeast. The summer months allow for more available court time and players can train like professionals spending endless hours on the court. During this training time, it is vital for junior players to work on the technical aspects of their game. Whatever the player is working on—whether it be a grip change, kick serve or inside-out forehand—there is plenty of summer court time for them to really focus on making major improvements. During the school year, a majority of

is to play a limited amount of tournaments in the summer and instead work on all aspects of your tennis game.” junior players focus their training time on getting ready for tournaments. This constant tournament preparation does not allow enough time for instruction on breaking down strokes, working on strategy, and quickening footwork. Summer allows more time for making major improvements and the training focus centers on getting better rather than endless competition. My suggestion for junior players is to play a limited amount of tournaments in the summer and instead work on all aspects of your tennis game. Summer is an important time for junior players to spend concentrated time off the court improving their strength and conditioning. Additionally, working out in the summer heat will not only make players much more fit, it will also make them mentally stronger. Setting workout goals

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

is crucial, too. Always train with intention and objectives. Train to improve the first step (quickness), train for endurance, and train for overall strength building. This off-court training, combined with increased on-court practice time and focus, will make you see major improvements in your game. Eric Faro is program director at Gotham Tennis Academy and Stadium Tennis Center, just south of Yankee Stadium. Eric grew up in Riverdale and attended Horace Mann, where he played number one singles for all four years. He attended Ohio State University and won more than 100 matches during his collegiate career. He may be reached by email at eric@gothamtennis.com, or online at www.stadiumtennisnyc.com or www.gothamtennis.com.

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New York Boys & Girls High School Recap PSAL Championships Wrap as Metro Area Players Prep for State Championships BY BRIAN COLEMAN

he Public School Athletic League (PSAL) held its individual tournament for both boys and girls at Queens College, with high school tennis players from New York City competing for a chance to participate in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) championships. The winners, runner-ups and third place winners of each tournament (Boys Singles, Girls Singles, Boys Doubles and Girls Doubles) earned a spot in the state championships. In Boys Singles, the title match was a rematch of an epic semifinal from last year’s draw, as Cardozo senior Marcus Smith took on close friend and fellow senior Felipe Ossess-Konig of Beacon. The two split the first two sets, forcing the match into a deciding third frame. After Osses-Konig went up a break to go up 2-1, Smith countered to even the set up at 2-2. From there, Smith’s game picked up and he was able to win the final four games to take the deciding set 6-2. In the third-place match, Townsend Harris senior Ethan Nittolo battled with Susan B. Wagner freshman Shawn Jackson. Nittolo was looking to rebound from a tough loss to Osses-Konig in the semis, and did so against Jackson. While the

freshman displayed excellent tennis, Nittolo’s experience and aggressiveness proved to be too much, helping him to win 6-1, 6-4. Smith, Osses-Konig and Nittolo will be the singles representatives for the PSAL at the state championships. In the boy’s doubles final, Brooklyn Tech senior William Trang and junior Phillip Raytburg took on a pair of underclassmen from McKee/Staten Island Tech: Freshman Kemal Aziz and sophomore Christopher Kolesnik. Trang & Raytburg finished as runner-ups in last year’s tournament, but would not be denied this time around. The Brooklyn Tech duo won 6-3, 6-4 to punch their ticket in the state tournament. In the third-place match, senior Michael Pisarek and junior Daniel Usvyat of Hunter High School defeated Brooklyn Tech juniors Bojidar Todorov and Denis Korol. As runner-ups, Kolesnik and Aziz, along with third-place finishers Pisarek & Usvyat, will be at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) set for May 28-30. On the girl’s side, senior Sofia Pascual & junior Michelle Khaimov of Beacon took on a pair of juniors from Stuyvesant, Amanda Chiu & Kimberly Chow, in the semifinals. After rolling into the semis, the top-

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

seeded duo of Pascual & Khaimov got a strong test from the Stuyvesant pair. The top-seeds managed to get through with a hard-fought 10-7 victory and booked a spot in the tournament’s final. In the other semifinal, sophomores Klara Wichterle & Alana Rosenthal of Bronx Science took on senior Taylor Rubin & junior Nicole Babayev of Francis Lewis. Wichterle & Rosenthal would come out victorious, pulling out a 10-2 victory to reach the finals. The Beacon duo of Pascual & Khaimov proved to be too tough for Wichterle & Rosenthal, beating the Bronx Science pair by a score of 6-1, 6-1 in the final, booking their spot in the state championships. As runner-ups, Wichterle and Rosenthal also will represent PSAL in the state tournament. In the third-place matchup, Rubin & Babayev earned the final PSAL spot in the state championships with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Chiu & Chow. In the girls singles final, which is being played after this edition went to press, Cardozo senior Sabrina Xiong will take on Bronx Science junior Brianna Williams. Brian Coleman is senior editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by phone at (516) 409-4444, ext. 326 or e-mail brianc@usptennis.com.

Headed to the NYSPHSAA Boy’s Doubles Championship are Kemal Aziz & Christopher Kolesnik from McKee/Staten Island Tech, William Trang & Phillip Raytburg from Brooklyn Tech, and Michael Pisarek & Daniel Usvyat from Hunter High School

Townsend Harris senior Ethan Nittolo defeated Susan B. Wagner freshman Shawn Jackson to book a spot at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships

With his runner-up finish at the PSAL Championship, Beacon’s Felipe OssesKonig advances to the NYSPHSAA Boy’s Singles Championship Marcus Smith of Cardozo captured the 2015 PSAL Boys Singles Championship

Brianna Williams is headed to the NYSPHSAA Girl’s Singles Championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

Boys PSAL Singles Champions headed to the State Championships: Third place winner Ethan Nittolo of Townsend Harris, first place winner Marcus Smith of Cardozo, and second place winner Felipe Osses-Konig of Beacon NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

NEW YORK TENNIS MAGAZINE’S

P L AY E R S P O T L I G H T

Cardozo Star Sabrina Xiong Begins New Ivy League Chapter Harvard-bound local to begin collegiate career By Brian Coleman hen she was eight-yearsold, Sabrina Xiong decided to go with her older sister to the Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Xiong, like any little sister, just went because her older sibling was going. But while there, a young Xiong developed a love for tennis that has taken her to where she is today. “I started playing tennis when I was eight, when a family friend asked us to go to the Arthur Ashe Kids Day,” recalls Xiong. “I saw all the professional players playing and all the kids my age were having such an amazing time. Just watching them play sparked my passion for the sport.” After attending Kids Day, Xiong decided to join her sister in taking lessons at the National Tennis Center. The coaches and pros immediately saw the talent she possessed, and her confidence began to grow from there. “The coaches there saw that I had some kind of talent and they kept putting me into the more advanced levels,” said Xiong. “At that time, I was just taking lessons, I had no tournament experience. I didn’t start playing tournaments until I was 10 or 11,

Photo credit: Liam LaGuerre/Queens Courier

and that was only playing like once every two months. I wasn’t that competitive yet and didn’t even know what sections were at that time.” Xiong began playing in sectional events when she was about 12-years-old. It didn’t start off with all victories as she lost in the opening round of her first few tournaments, but she stuck with it and her game continued to improve. “I just kept playing and never gave up,” said Xiong. “I always had a passion for tennis. And I think because I love tennis so

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

much, I just continued to play and worked hard no matter what.” That work ethic and passion drove Xiong to get better, and indeed she did. As her tournament wins started to add up, so did her ranking. One of the biggest turning points of Sabrina’s career came in the summer of 2012, as the John McEnroe Tennis Academy (JMTA) offered a full scholarship to one boy and one girl. Taking her mother’s suggestion, Xiong decided to go to the tryouts because she thought it may be fun and a good idea to go and compete with some of the top junior players. While she attended the tryouts, she did not expect to be the last girl standing, but she made it all the way through the cuts and was granted the full scholarship to train at JMTA. “When I heard my name and found out that I received the full scholarship, I was really shocked and happy at the same time,” said Xiong. “All of my hard work had finally paid off, and it was also a key confidence booster. Once I started playing at JMTA, my game started to improve so much. The coaches there are so amazing and care so much about you. I’ve never been to an academy as good and as intense as JMTA. It’s honestly become my second home. I’m so happy and appreciative to have been given the opportunity there.”

“I always had a passion for tennis. And I think because I love tennis so much, I just continued to play and worked hard no matter what.” —Sabrina Xiong With her tennis improving and her confidence growing, Xiong was ready to take her game to the next level. Her results kept getting better and she began to win sectional tournaments, eventually moving on to nationals. In her junior season, Xiong’s game peaked. She knew she was good, but this was the season that told her she was good enough to play with the best girls in the country. She played and won the National Open in Boston, proving to herself that she was one of the top players nationwide. “What really hit me that year was when I won my first national in Boston,” she recalls. “I think that’s one of my best moments and best accomplishments of my junior career. It was the first national I ever won, and I had won sectionals before and those are a big deal, but winning a national is completely different.

You’re playing against the best girls in the nation. I proved to myself that I was good enough, and that is a huge deal in tennis. From that I grew a lot and gained a lot of experience and confidence.” What was even bigger about the title was that it was during her junior year of high school while she was looking at colleges. Since the tournament was in Boston, Harvard Women’s Head Tennis Coach Traci Green was in attendance. Xiong got numerous offers and looked at a lot of schools while trying to decide where she wanted to go. She knew she wanted to go to an Ivy League school, and so she decided to take her tennis career to Cambridge, Mass. to play for Coach Green at Harvard. After making her second unofficial visit there, Xiong made up her mind and knew Harvard was where she wanted to be.

continued on page 12

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“I just thought Harvard was the best school for me, I don’t think you can beat Harvard,” said Xiong. “What I’m most excited about is just the community there … to be part of such an amazing team and an amazing community. The school itself is just incredible. I’m just excited to meet all the awesome people there. There’s so many people from all different places, internationally and different states. They have all their own unique talents and characteristics.” She understands that playing a sport at an Ivy League school will be a challenge, but says she is used to balancing tennis with her academics. “Time management is definitely going to be a crucial part of being on the tennis team and keeping up with my school

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player spotlight/sabrina xiong continued from page 11 work. But I guess you could say I’ve had training in the field,” Xiong said jokingly. “I’ve been doing this for so long now. All throughout my junior career, I’ve been managing academics and tennis. I’ve talked to so many freshman and girls on the team already and they told me that I’ll be fine. I’m concerned about it, but not too much because I have the experience.” Before she goes off to Harvard, Xiong hopes to bring a city championship to her current team at Cardozo High School. The Lady Judges have fallen short in the city title match against Beacon in the last two seasons and are out to finally get over that hump this spring. “I’m just looking forward to the playoffs,” said Xiong. “We came up a little short in the last couple of years. Hopefully, we can pull it out this year, we have a great team. I’m just looking forward to playing with them and hopefully taking

home the trophy.” The team atmosphere of playing tennis for your school is something that Xiong really embraces. “Tennis is an individual sport, so just having a team aspect to it is different and it makes it a lot more exciting,” she said. “Having someone there cheering you on and supporting you, it’s not something that happens every day in tennis. That’s definitely something I’m going to miss.” Xiong continues to train at JMTA with her coach Felix Alvarado. The two have worked on adding more aggressiveness to her game to compliment her strong play from back on the baseline. “I’m not a power player, I’m not 6’0” tall or anything,” said Xiong about her style of play. “I don’t have the power weapons a lot of the other players have. For me, I was always a counter-puncher. I was really good back at the baseline and just being consistent was the strongest part of

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

my game. As I’ve grown older and stronger, I’ve tried to develop more of an aggressive game. I have been working a lot on going to the net and using the net to my advantage.” In addition, Xiong said that she focused a lot on improving her fitness this off-season. The trainers at the JMTA develop a player-specific training schedule, which has helped her increase her fitness and conditioning. Alvarado, who has worked with some of the top players in the section, sees a lot of the same traits in Xiong that he has seen in previous players he has coached. “Her dedication and work ethic are the two things that I see they all have in common,” said Alvarado. “They are goal-oriented and they work very hard to achieve their goals. I know Sabrina will work very hard to be ready for the summer tournaments and the fall season at Harvard.” Brian Coleman is senior editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by phone at (516) 409-4444, ext. 326 or e-mail brianc@usptennis.com.

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This edition will feature: • A Look Ahead to the 2015 U.S. Open • Guide to the Top New York Sports Medicine Practices • 2015 Boys/Girls High School Season Recap • Summer Camp/Summer Events Coverage

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Ivanovic Sets Sights on Paris Serbian star seeks second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros By Bri a n C o l e m a n

ack in the spring of 2008, a 20-year-old from Serbia named Ana Ivanovic transformed from one of the WTA’s brightest young stars to a household name. Ivanovic had already reached two Grand Slam finals, the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open, but had yet to be crowned a champion at one of the sport’s four majors. At the 2008 French Open, Ivanovic broke through and defeated Russia’s Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 for the first Grand Slam trophy of her career. “It was obviously an amazing experience—the highlight of my career—and something that I always dreamed about,” said Ivanovic. “It happened when I was quite young, I wasn’t expecting it so soon, and I had no idea what to expect. Now I am much older, I would probably appreciate it even more, because I understand better just how hard it is to achieve.” The win helped catapult Ivanovic to the top of the world rankings, where she would remain for nine weeks. Now a mainstay atop the WTA Women’s Singles Rankings, Ivanovic is one of the more popular players in the women’s game. Much of her success can be attributed to her upbringing and the dedication she developed for the sport at a very young age. Ivanovic came from humble beginnings. She was born in Belgrade, Serbia when it was a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. With the country in midst of the Kosovo War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) launched a bombing campaign against the Republic of Yugoslovia. This bombardment forced Ivanovic to train in the early mornings. And because there were no tennis facilities, she often found herself practicing and training inside an abandoned swimming pool. “The facilities in Serbia were really not good, but the opportunity to train in the empty swimming pool was something that was always the highlight of my day—I always looked forward to it,” recalls Ivanovic. “And it’s not like we were hitting against the walls of the pool—there was one big court, and two small ones. We agreed not to hit too many crosscourt shots on the small courts, because then you would hit the walls!”

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New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

ivanovic sets sights on paris continued from page 15 These training conditions, Ivanovic noted, are what helped her become the passionate and determined player she is today. “Of course we were aware that other countries had better facilities, but we could only make the best of what we had,” said Ivanovic. “The Serbian mentality is one that is very determined … we are aware that you have to work hard to achieve something. That’s the mindset that has shaped me as a player more than anything else. I believe it is a cultural thing.” Ivanovic has not forgotten her roots, and still spends a great deal of her time helping

the youth in her home country. In 2007, she became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, a position she takes great pride in. “I love spending time with kids and have done so throughout my adult life,” said Ivanovic. “It seems like a natural fit for me, to work with UNICEF. At the same time, it was an incredible honor when they asked me to become an ambassador. It’s definitely one of the biggest honors I have ever received. I take the role very seriously, as I understand the responsibility of being asked to be a role model. Whenever I’m in Serbia, I try to take part in UNICEF events.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

I am involved with a program called School Without Violence. We often organize workshops in classrooms, talking about bullying and how to deal with violence in schools, whether it is verbal or physical.” Her dedication to charitable causes is symbolic of the determined mindset she developed while growing up in Serbia. That same mindset has driven her to become one of the best players in the world and why she continues to strive for greatness on the WTA Tour. After a great start to 2015, reaching the finals at the Brisbane International in January, Ivanovic’s play has dipped in recent months, something she says has disappointed her up to this point. “It started very well in Brisbane, but the last few months have not been satisfac-

tory,” Ivanovic said of her 2015 season. “I’ve been battling a couple of small injuries and struggling to find the time to rest and fully recover, considering the tournament commitments. When I’ve been healthy, I have not really been satisfied with my performance. There is definitely a lot of hard work to do to get into a position to compete for the title at Roland Garros, which, of course, is my goal.” Her clay court season didn’t start the way she would have liked; losing to Caroline Garcia in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix first round in April, but the clay surface is something the Serb is comfortable playing on. “I grew up playing on clay in Serbia, so I am very used to it and comfortable on this surface,” Ivanovic said. “I am fortunate that my game suits all surfaces. I am an aggressive player, and usually a faster court would be the one that best suits my game, but actually, I’ve had my best results on clay. The mindset is a bit different as you have to be more patient and accept that you have to fight for each point.” Leg strength and conditioning is some-

“The Serbian mentality is one that is very determined … we are aware that you have to work hard to achieve something. That’s the mindset that has shaped me as a player more than anything else. I believe it is a cultural thing.” Ana Ivanovic thing Ivanovic has stressed in her workouts to prepare for the strain put on the legs from playing on clay. As we approach the start of the second major tournament of the 2015 season,

Ivanovic is ready to make a deep run at the French Open in Roland Garros, a venue at which she has experienced much success. The Serb has family who live in Melbourne, Australia and while she loves the city and would inevitably love to win a Grand Slam in front of her family and fans at the Australian Open, the French Open will always be at the top of her list. “It has always been my favorite,” Ivanovic said of Roland Garros. “It is where I reached my first Grand Slam quarterfinal, in my debut year in 2005, and also my first final, in 2007. It was my first Grand Slam win and it’s also where I became number one in the world. So Paris will always be a very special city for me.” Ivanovic will try to use her past success and experience to help her make a deep run in Paris this spring in hopes of adding another French Open trophy to her list of accolades. Brian Coleman is senior editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by phone at (516) 409-4444, ext. 326 or e-mail brianc@usptennis.com.

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2015 FRENCH By Andrew Eichenholz

The men’s field The contenders

ovak Djokovic and Serena Williams are the best tennis players in the world at the moment. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. The two won the Australian Open and show no signs of slowing down any time soon. Djokovic is not only physically close to the top level he can bring to the court, but mentally, there is nobody who can come close to touching him. Serena, on the other hand, may be the most dominant women’s tennis player in the history of the sport. She wields the one shot that can control not only a match, but a tournament, with her massive serve. If both players are at the top of their game on the terre battue in Paris, look out, because regardless of who is put in front of them, it will be a war. That includes Rafael Nadal, who heads into the French Open this year with a 66-1 record at the Grand Slam. If he should run into the Serbian star, that smaller number may very possibly rise.

It is hard to question how well Novak Djokovic has played since he fell in the semifinals of the U.S. Open last fall. In the Australian Open and the four ATP Masters 1000 events that he has played in, the Serbian has dropped just one match, in the semifinals of Shanghai against some 17time Grand Slam Champion named Roger Federer. His mastery reigned supreme at the World Tour Finals as well, showing that not only is Djokovic the best, but he is the best on a consistent basis. The only concerns heading into Paris are that Andy Murray has recently shown that his peak level can challenge him, Nadal has won the French Open nine times and Federer is still the best to ever pick up a racket.

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There is not a player in the history of the sport, or arguably any sport, who has dominated one event as much as Rafael Nadal has stomped his foot on the red clay of Roland Garros. A performance for the ages by Robin Soderling is all that stands between the Spaniard and perfection at the French Open. Every year, it seems as if somebody gets closer to being able to take Nadal down at his own castle, but each time, he proves everybody who doubts him wrong. He has recently admitted that he is not where he needs to be. But, at his lowest ranking in years, it is still hard to ignore that it is nearly impossible to beat him on the clay. For anybody to win 17 Grand Slams, they have to be pretty good at the sport. Roger Federer is arguably the best to ever lace them up and pick up a racket. It does not hurt that when he is playing aggressive tennis, he can still control the pace and tempo of a match against virtually anybody in the world. As he has naturally lost pace off his serve, the Switzerland native has added more spin and better location. It is fair to point out that Federer has not won a major title since Wimbledon in 2012. He has shown his vintage form on some big stages, but not at the Grand Slams, and that is hard to ignore. There is no doubting the fact that he will be around come the second week with his four kids and wife

H OPEN PREVIEW Mirka in tow, but it is a matter of how well he can piece his game together on the biggest stage. The pretenders Going through the ATP World Tour rankings may tell the story of who is playing the best tennis, but poundfor-pound, Kei Nishikori would be even further up the list. There are very few players out there who can match his overall groundstroke game, with what is arguably a stronger set of strokes than even David Ferrer. But, with that comes his size disadvantage. There are players who on a good day have the ability to grip it and rip it against Nishikori, and on the red clay where the bigger, stronger players get an extra step to set up to use weapons of their own on a slower surface, the Japanese star may have some trouble. It will not help that he has never made it past the fourth round in Paris.

On his best day, Tomas Berdych can beat anybody in the world. Very few, if anybody, out there can match the Czech’s firepower from any and every wing. But, he still has yet to win a Grand Slam, and has failed to live up to what seemed to be limitless potential. Rewind 15 years, and Berdych more than likely would have won a major by this point in his career, but he has to contend with some of the strongest defensive players in the history of the sport. It takes them making one tiny hole in his armor to blow apart his game and break away in a match. Look for that to be the case once again in May.

If somebody wins a Grand Slam title, they did not do so by luck. Winning seven matches against the very best tennis players in the world is one of the toughest mountains to climb in sports, yet Marin Cilic did it at the 2014 U.S. Open. His pure size, quicklyhit serve, and what can be dominating groundstrokes, are all dangerous at any moment. Consistency is key, however, and hampering injuries have not and more than likely will not allow the Croat to be ready to go in top form on one of his worst surfaces in Paris. The sleepers When “Stan the Man,” or “Stanimal” as he is called beat Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, the score line told the story of a defending champion beating one of the sport’s new stars. What continued on page 20

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2015 FRENCH the play showed, however, is that there are few if any people who can stop Stan Wawrinka when he is on top of his game. He may not be the tallest, most physically imposing player on tour, but he makes up for it with ball striking that has to be seen to be believed. His onehanded backhand is not just the best shot of that variety in the world, but it is one of the best weapons in the world, period, and despite a ranking drop, look for him to make some noise in Paris. There is no professional tennis player, male or female, who has gotten more out of their natural potential than David Ferrer. There is no question that when playing the Spaniard, it is not about trying to win, but survive. The fittest player on the ATP Tour, Ferrer can run down pretty much any ball thrown his way, but that is not all. In the last few years, he has added a more aggressive, offensive dimension to his game. So, on the clay surface, on which every match is a grind, it will be up to those ranked ahead of him: Will they play their best tennis or have an off day, because if it is the latter, they can pack their bags.

Nick Kyrgios, the young Australian sensation, has burst onto the scene in the tennis world, showing that not only is he a good tennis player, but he has loads of potential. The key word is “Entertainer,” that is Gael Monfils’ department, isn’t it? When people start talking about somebody who challenges “La Monf” in that department, one could only think that he will be motivated to put on even more of a show, much like Bernard Tomic has surged back into relevance after Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis started to emerge. On his best day, Monfils has a serve that can get him into advantageous positions, a forehand that when loose can be dangerous, and athleticism that may be unlike anything the sport has ever seen. Playing in front of his home crowd, it is impossible to count him out from using the crowd to push him through to the second week or later.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

The women’s field The contenders There is nobody in the world who can beat Serena Williams when she is at the top of her game. She has the biggest serve in women’s tennis history, penetrating groundstrokes and a competitive mindset that rears its head in the biggest of moments. If she brings everything she has to the table, despite the slower surface, as the players compete on the red clay of Roland Garros, nobody can beat Serena. She has too much firepower and will to win. Once in a while, she has an off day, which although rare is very off, but on the biggest of stages in the most important of moments, Serena never ceases to amaze fans and opponents. There has been one consistent challenger to Serena’s thrown and it lies in arguably the best pure baseliner in the game, Simona Halep. Her consistency does not hurt her resumé either, as she has only lost three matches all season long, with them coming in the intense environments of a Grand Slam quarterfinal, Fed Cup and a clash with Serena herself. Her success has not come from lack of competition either, with her results as of Miami totaling five wins over top-20 opponents.

H OPEN PREVIEW When a player makes the quarterfinals of a particular Grand Slam on three occasions, they have to be considered dangerous, as that kind of consistency is rare on the biggest of stages. If that same person has made the semifinals on two other occasions and the final once more, they go to the status of being a contender. Maria Sharapova has been crowned French Open champion twice as well. That is a ton of experience and positive results at one of the year’s biggest tournaments. One may not expect an overwhelming power player who controls points from the baseline to succeed on a slower surface, but Roland Garros has been her most successful major, and despite early season woes, there is no doubt that the most mentally resilient player on tour will be ready for Paris. The pretenders

back in 2012, but despite that successful tournament, she did not win one match out of her five victories against a ranked player. E k a t e r i n a Makarova brings the lefty finesse to Kvitova’s power, which in theory would create the perfect player if combining the players was a possibility. The most under-the-radar player in the topten, she has arguably been one of the most consistent players on tour, period, in the last year and a half. Even Serena herself did not make at least the quarterfinals in each of the last three majors as Makarova has. However, she also has never made it past the fourth round at the French Open, where she has historically struggled on the clay. She may win the matches that she should, but do not be surprised if a younger player pulls off the upset.

After her widelypublicized separation from golfer Rory McIlroy, Caroline Wozniacki has reestablished her fame in the tennis world, both on and off the court. She has spent a ton of time with Serena, which can only be a good thing, and has played much better tennis, more reminiscent of her time at the top of the WTA Rankings. However, even after reaching the U.S. Open finals, Wozniacki has struggled to find form in the biggest of moments, falling victim to a tough draw with Victoria Azarenka in Melbourne to start what has been an up-and-down season. She has won the matches she should have won for the most part, and lost most of the ones that she would not be favored in, but that does not give reason to believe in a major run. She will not drop her opener like last year, but seeing a young big hitter such as continued on page 22

As she has shown in winning the Wimbledon title twice, Petra Kvitova can win big tennis matches. She has a crafty lefty serve combined with well-struck groundstrokes that can beat almost anybody out there. However, when players have more time to react to and deal with the spin and pace she throws their way, Kvitova is suddenly not as lethal. Her slicing serve will not bite and go through the court as effectively, her opponents will have time to take that extra needed step to the ball in baseline rallies, and so on. One may look at her semifinal run in Paris NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

2015 FRENCH OPEN PREVIEW Madison Keys blast her off the court is not out of the question. The sleepers Who is Carla Suarez Navarro? She may have one of the more attackable serves on WTA Tour, but the Spaniard can grind out a point like few others, somewhat like her compatriot David Ferrer on the men’s side. Armed with one of the only one-handed backhands in the women’s game, Suarez Navarro uses heavier shots with plenty of topspin, and can throw in a nice slice here and there. It helps that she is not only a world-class singles player but doubles as well, so at Roland Garros, look for her to be able to grind out points while also carefully constructing rallies to give the best in the sport trouble. It is extremely hard to call Agnieszka Radwanska a sleeper considering her

status as a mainstay in the top 10 for years now. Without a doubt, there is no smarter player on the tour, and “The Ninja,” as she is called, can throw everything but the kitchen sink at her opponents. Every inch of the court is in play for the Polish star, and she does not need the overwhelming power that one may expect from a player that could make a deep run. With a career-best quarterfinal appearance at the French Open thus far, look for Radwanska to truly get her season started with a couple of big wins, making a run if the draws open up in her favor. On the men’s side, everyone is raving about the Kyrgios’ of the world, from Borna Coric to all the other young stars on the rise that have already been anointed “the next big thing.” It may not be as noticeable, but Karolina Pliskova is past the point of being next. She is now, and on her way to star status quickly. Already on the verge of

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

breaking into the top-10, she has hit ace after ace to lead the WTA Tour, and is only on her way up. It has been difficult to break through at a major earlier in her career, but with the ranking to bolster her seeding, she now will have the opportunity to feel her way into a tournament, and perhaps spring an upset that will shine the light on her stardom. 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.

NEW YORK AREA UPCOMING TENNIS EVENTS MAY 2015 Monday, May 11 PSAL Team Playoffs The PSAL team playoffs for high schools in New York City will get underway beginning Monday, May 11. Saturday, May 16 30th Annual CityParks Foundation Lacoste Junior Tennis Academy Tryouts The Lacoste Junior Tennis Academy returns for its 30th season this summer, and will hold tryouts for the Academy on Saturday, May 16 from 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. For more information, visit www.cityparksfoundation.org. Saturday, May 16 The Long Island Tennis Challenge The Long Island Tennis Challenge, presented by Long Island Tennis Magazine, will be held Saturday, May 16 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. at Engineer’s Country Club, located at 55 Glenwood Road in Roslyn, N.Y. For more information, e-mail info@usptennis.com. Thursday, May 21 18th Annual “Say Yes to Tennis, No to Violence” Event For the 18th consecutive year, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown will hold his “Say Yes to Tennis, No to Violence” event on Thursday, May 21 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

Thursday-Saturday, May 28-30 2015 New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Singles and Doubles Championships The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Singles and Doubles Championships will run from Thursday-Saturday, May 28-30 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. For more information, visit www.nysphsaa.org. Saturday-Sunday, May 30-June 7 Mayor’s Cup All-Scholastic Tennis Championships The annual team Mayor’s Cup will run from Saturday, May 30 through Sunday, June 7 at the Carry Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

JUNE 2015 Thursday-Sunday, June 4-7 15th Annual Jana Hunsaker Memorial ITF Wheelchair Tournament The 15th Annual Jana Hunsaker Memorial ITF Wheelchair Tournament will be held Thursday-Sunday, June 4-7 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. For more information, visit www.usta.com.

Sunday-Saturday, June 7-13 2015 U.S. Open USTA Eastern Sectional Qualifying Tournament The USTA Eastern Qualifying Tournament for the 2015 U.S. Open will be held from June 7 through June 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. For more information, visit www.usopen.org/National_Playoffs/Eastern. Sunday, June 14 New York Tennis Magazine Presents KidsFest New York Tennis Magazine presents KidsFest on Sunday, June 14 from 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. at Engineer’s Country Club, located at 55 Glenwood Road in Roslyn, N.Y. For more information, e-mail info@usptennis.com or call (516) 782-9868. Thursday, June 25 2015 U.S. Open Ballperson Tryouts The U.S. Open will hold its ballperson tryouts Thursday, June 25 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. For more information, visit www.usopen.org.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

USTA Metro Region NYC ACES expands NY’s tennis social scene NYC ACES is a new social group for young professional tennis players and tennis enthusiasts. The group’s first social event was held at Fat Cat in the West Village in late March. The group’s next event will be a tennis social for all levels of players. For more information, contact Committee Chair Natalie Ferguson at nycacesmetrotennis@gmail.com.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

USTA Metro Region USTA Eastern Metro and Super Duper Tennis take part in ESPN Sports Day USTA Eastern Metro and Super Duper Tennis recently participated in the Tribeca Film Festival’s ESPN Sports Day. Kids enjoyed learning how to play using smaller racquets and low compression balls, and there were many giveaways and prizes awarded.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

USTA Metro Region USTA Metro members honored for their service

Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins (center) congratulates Kyra Bergmann (left) and Miles Nabritt (right) on being named 2015’s David Dinkins Scholarship Award winners

Inductees Bob Ingersole and Victoria Rogers McEvoy, Master of Ceremonies Dave Haggerty, and Inductees Katrina Adams and Mel DiGiacomo at the 2015 Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame celebration Hart

USTA Eastern Long Island Region President Danny Burgess, Junior Tennis Competitive Council Vice Chair Roberta Feldman, Director of Tennis for The West Side Tennis Club Bob Ingersole and USTA Eastern Metro Region President Jackie Clark were on hand for the 28th Annual Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame event

The International Tennis Hall of Fame presented Skip Hartman (center) with The Samuel Hardy Award at its 2015 Annual Awards Luncheon on April 12 in recognition of his long and outstanding service to the sport of tennis

USTA Metro heads to Sunshine State for the USTA Annual Meeting & Conference Members of the USTA Eastern Metro Region enjoying the weather in Boca Raton, Fla.

USTA Eastern Metro Region members were on hand for the 2015 USTA Annual Meeting & Conference, held at the Boca Raton Resort in Florida 26

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

Lux-Craft Lights the Way Bringing LED technology to the tennis court ince 2010, Lux-Craft Inc. has been involved in research and development of the newest LED technologies for sport facilities. In 2013, the company installed the firstever 100 percent LED system for indoor tennis at Robbie Wagner Tennis Academy. Building on that successful installation, Lux-Craft’s team continued their research in order to improve the company’s product line even further. Today, through hard work and dedication, Lux-Craft remains one of the only companies able to deliver indirect LED lighting with direct replacement capability of old HID systems. The company’s goal is to provide top quality LED lighting systems. Their systems outperform old 1,000-watt HID systems by delivering crisp and clear lighting, while reducing electricity cost by as much as 70 percent. By utilizing the latest technologies with years of research and development, Lux-Craft is able to make conventional light sources become a thing of the past. Indirect nature of Lux-Craft’s light source minimizes glare and provides an amazing playing environment. No other lighting systems on the market today are comparable

in quality and light level output. One for one replacement ability greatly reduces the cost to retrofit existing facilities, thus minimizing the initial expense. Currently, the company has a line of lighting for indoor arenas, but that line will soon be complimented to include outdoor lighting. Early results indicate that the new revolution in outdoor LED lighting for sports venues is just around the corner. New outdoor fixtures will minimize glare and provide bright day-like lighting. In order to achieve consistent quality, only the latest technologically-advanced components are used, and final assembly

is performed in the United States. Lux-Craft provides a three-year full guarantee, with the option to extend the guarantee to five years. The company understands that anything new is met with skepticism. Lux-Craft would eagerly provide as much information as possible and facilitate a tour of completed installations here in the New York area. Lux-Craft Inc. is located at 2220 Voorhies Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y. For more information, call (718) 934-3600 or (917) 417-5361, e-mail luxcrafters@gmail.com or visit www.luxcrafters.com.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

courtsix New York Tennis Magazine’s Gossip Column By Emilie Katz Querry appears on Millionaire Matchmaker

b…h, but thank u @SamQuerrey for this entertainment… Millionare Matchmaker? hahahaha

Sam Querrey recently starred in an episode of “ M i l l i o n a i re Matchmaker.” The show on Bravo is hosted by Patti Stanger, a fix-‘em up queen. “It was fun to do something different,” said Querrey. “It was a really fun process, and it’ll be something I can talk about for a long time.” Some of Querrey’s friends on the pro tour checked out the episode and had some fun with it: l John Isner (@JohnIsner): Set your DVRs America! #WillQuerreyFindLove l Victoria Azarenka (@Vika7): Jetlag is a

Bouchard hits with celebrities

Eugenie Bouchard met her crush, fellow Canadian Justin Bieber, and got to play some tennis with him at the Desert Smash charity event. Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell were also participants in the event that was

just a few miles down the road from Indian Wells.

The joke’s on you! Caroline Wozniacki scared a lot of her fans with this April Fool’s prank on her Twitter. She took to Twitter to say, “As of today, I am officially announcing my retirement from tennis and I am going to focus on TV and modeling. I want to thank all of you for the amazing support over the years, it’s been truly amazing! It wouldn’t have been the same without you!” She later assured everyone that it was just a joke: “Had my agents sweat it a little this morning. Got to love April Fools.”

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Pros swim with the fishes

Watt and Wozniacki rumors?

Caroline Wozniacki was a busy woman over the last couple of weeks. Following her trip to the White House for the Easter Egg Roll, the Dane joined NFL star and former Wisconsin Badger JJ Watt at the NCAA men’s basketball championship in Indianapolis. Many are speculating the two are dating, but nothing has yet to be confirmed. Tennis stars Ryan Harrison and Sabine Lisicki found some new friends while in Miami for the Miami Open. Lisicki would reach the tournament’s quarterfinals before losing to Serena Williams, but while in Florida, took advantage of an opportunity to swim with some dolphins.

The coaching carousel continues

Hitting partner Sasha Bajin’s move from the Serena Williams camp to the Victoria Azarenka team was the latest turn in the dizzying coaching carousel at the top of women’s tennis in recent months. Azarenka’s longtime coach, Sam Sumyk, went to work with Eugenie Bouchard. Bouchard’s previous coach, Nick Saviano, began working with Sloane Stephens. Stephens’ past coach, Thomas Hogstedt, spent time with Simona Halep; and Halep’s former coach, Wim Fissette, is now alongside Bajin with Azarenka. Dizzy yet?

Tweets from the pros l Gael Monfils (@Gael_Monfils): Very happy to join the @IndianAces again! @ARadwanska @RafaelNadal @MirzaSania @fabsantoro72 @rohanbopanna @DodigTennis Go Aces! @iptl l Sabine Lisicki (@SabineLisicki): It’s back on the dirt again ... Time to slide around the court #thattimeoftheyearagain #FedCupnext l Mardy Fish (@MardyFish): Lets go @mnwild !!!! l Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska): Cool seeing @AndreAgassi at a @WTA event! l Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios): Major thanks to @NikeTennis for taking care of me yesterday. #appreciated l Eugenie Bouchard (@GenieBouchard): Clay ... you’ve actually been missed. l Noah Rubin (@Noahrubin33): Great way to end the regular season with a 70 victory! ACC’s here we go. l Angelique Kerber (@angeliquekerber): Thanks @FamilyCircleCup and thanks to all my fans for the support!!! Amazing week with a happy end #teamangie l Andy Roddick (@andyroddick): Had a blast watching @JordanSpieth this weekend! Quality all around. Congrats! l Victoria Azarenka (@Vika7): Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody’s

heart. l Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal): Happy to be back in Barcelona for the #openbarcelonabancsabadell l Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys): I’ve been turned into an @AnaheimDucks fan l Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert): Love that Jordan Spieth is winning not because of power … Guile, composure, smarts … l Milos Raonic (@MilosRaonic): Hello Vancouver, we are back at it! #TrainHard l Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76): Come on … let’s go! RT @SJohnson_89: Boooom!!! Big overtime win for the Ducks!! @AnaheimDucks Rakell with the game winner!! l Justin Gimelstob (@JustinGimelstob): When ur lucky enough 2 work w/people U like/love/respect, biggest challenge at times is not laughing @LDavenport76 ! l Venus Williams (@VenusesWilliams): Thank you @espnW “Most Important Female Athletes in the Last 20 Years” #TeamWilliams l Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole): Nothing beats time with family in the nature. Recharging batteries :) #Grounding l CoCo Vandeweghe (@cocovandey): Had such a great time at the @WhiteHouse Thank you @usta for letting me be a part of this experience #GimmeFive @Jagwr l Jack Sock (@jacksock): A big thank you to @GenUCAN and @peterkaufman for helping me capture my first ATP title in Houston #gamechanger #UCAN l Serena Williams (@SerenaWilliams): Wow 700 wins! I still can’t believe it. Thanks for all the love and support. #renasarmy #wow l John Isner (@JohnIsner): All-time great movie on USA right now. ‘Predator’ l Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki): In my room singing karaoke to 90’s music … Missing my girl @serenawilliams. #bestduetsever #needtoworkonmydancemoves l Roger Federer (@RogerFederer): Back in Monte Carlo l Monica Puig (@monicaace93): Shout out to the best morning texter, smile giver, United 1k flier, America Horror Story creeper and FaceTimer I know! @AustinKrajicek

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

NEW YORK CO

St. John’s men win second consecutive Big East Title

utive three-set wins to clinch their second-straight conference crown. First, in third singles, Livi topped Dykema 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Shortly thereafter, Reyes sealed the deal for the Red Storm, climbing back from an early deficit to bring down Teofanovic 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. St. John’s will play third-seeded Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. in the opening round of the NCAA championships. The St. John’s Women’s Tennis team also enjoyed a fantastic season, but fell one win short of reaching the NCAA tournament, losing to DePaul 4-0 in the conference championship. Columbia men continue their Ivy League dominance

For the second straight year, the St. John’s Red Storm have been crowned champions of the Big East. St. John’s topped Marquette, 4-2, in its final match, once again punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. This year’s conference title marks the second in school history. “I’m very proud of our repeat as conference champions,” said St. John’s Head Coach Eric Rebhuhn. “The team played tremendously at the Big East Championship, having overcome much adversity throughout the year. We look forward to playing in the NCAAs and making a long postseason run.” Michael-John Every & Robert Livi picked up the first victory against the Golden Eagles, downing Nick Dykema & Vukasin Teofanovic, 8-5. Vaidik Munshaw & Erick Reyes soon closed out doubles action with another Red Storm win, topping Andre Romanello & Kris Trukov by the same score. Lucas Hejhal struck first for the Red Storm in individual action, winning his match 7-5, 6-2 in the top singles slot over Marquette’s Daniel Fernandez. The Golden Eagles were the next squad to register a point, as Mackenzie Stearns topped Elio Livi at fifth singles to pull Marquette within one. Marquette soon knotted the score at two, picking up a win at fourth singles when Kris Trukov downed Munshaw 7-5 (7-5), 6-0. With the score tied 2-2, the Red Storm rattled off two-consec30

Pictured above, the Columbia Men’s Tennis squad awaits their NCAA Tournament seeding announcement. For the second straight year and 12th time overall, the Columbia Lions Men’s Tennis team are Ivy League champions. The Lions defeated Penn 7-0 in its final regular season game to complete a perfect season inside the Ivy League for the second consecutive season. Columbia is back-to-back champions for the first time since hoisting the Albie Collins Trophy following the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons. The win not only sealed Columbia’s status as conference champs, but gave the program its sixth undefeated home season with a 7-0 home record and 23rd consecutive home victory. In the NCAA tournament, the Lions will travel to Oxford, Miss. to take on Georgia Tech in the first round. Head coach Bid Goswami, in his 33rd year as head coach, took home Ivy League Coach of the Year honors.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

OLLEGIATE ROUNDU P Hunter wins CUNYAC title; Saez-Garcia claims second Player of the Year Award

The Hunter Men’s Tennis team won the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) Championship with a 5-1 victory over three-time defending champion Baruch College. The victory by the Hawks was the seventh in the program’s history and first since 2011. The Hawks also earned the CUNYAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Some Hawks players also earned CUNY accolades as well. For the second straight year, Hunter College junior Gonzalo SaezGarcia was named CUNYAC Player of the Year, while freshman

Carlos Sala took home the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Award. Freshman Florimond Le Goupil-Maier earned a spot as a First Team All-Star after his stellar freshman season. Saez-Garcia, a native of Madrid, Spain, was undefeated in CUNY Athletic Conference play this year, with a 7-0 overall conference record. The sophomore finished the season with an impressive nine-match winning streak for an overall record of 10-1, playing all of his matches in the top flight. Saez-Garcia was named CUNYAC Player of the Week for three consecutive weeks throughout the 2015 season for his extraordinary performance. “It’s great to win this award again. I know it’s a personal award, but I couldn’t have achieved it without the help from my teammates and coaches,” said Garcia. Sala was named CUNYAC Rookie of the Year. The freshman was the owner of a 7-0 undefeated record when facing CUNYAC opponents this season and finished the year strong with a four match winning streak to extend his overall record to 8-3 in number two singles. The Valencia, Spain native was also awarded CUNYAC Player of the Week honors for two consecutive weeks this year. Sala echoed the same sentiments when asked about his award. “I am really excited to win this award, and have to thank my teammates and coaches for helping me get there,” said Sala.

Centercourt Performance Tennis Academy (CPTA) is a one of a kind facility dedicated to the development and performance of tennis players. CPTA features eleven hard courts, one red clay court, a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning center, an indoor turf field and an academic center. Our mission is to help every student-athlete realize his or her potential athletically and academically. Our players respect the game, their peers, parents, and coaches. Our curriculum features comprehensive tennis instruction as well as physical and mental conditioning. CPTA offers both full-time and after-school programs 7 days per week with tournament coaching and travel. Both programs have rolling admissions from September 9, 2015 to June 21, 2016. CPTA also offers an 11-week summer training camp, with van shuttle transportation available for players located in the New York area. Contact us to schedule an appointment and discover the place championships come to train!

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Contact Clay Bibbee: clay@centercourtclub.com NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

Developing Before Winning By Jacopo Tezza ll sports have a common factor: Results. I have been coaching for several years now, and I have often dealt with parents who were extremely resultsoriented instead of development-oriented. The lack of results in their children caused a lot of drama in the family and pressure on both the player and the coach. So when is

winning secondary in the sport of tennis? The early stages of a tennis player are extremely important for the playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future achievements. Until the age of 14 and 15, the primary focus of the coach should be the development of the player. In my opinion, there are three main areas during this process that should take place. The first area involves technique. The player should have clean and sound strokes, along with proper footwork.

New York Tennis Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ May/June 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ NYTennisMag.com

This will help the player adjust in the future to a more physical, faster and intense game. A proper and clean technique often means less injuries, as sound swings allow more natural movements and less effort on the joints. The second important trait in developing a player focuses on the mental aspect of the game. As a coach, you want to make sure the young player keeps learning, and at the same time, enjoys what they do. You want to create a positive en-

vironment that thrives with a mixture of discipline and fun for the players. It is very important to instill work ethic and discipline into a young player’s routine, as this establishes the foundation for their dedication to the game. It is much easier to set the fundamentals for their work ethic at the early stages than later on. The third part of development takes place with the component of competition. When kids compete, we should not focus on the results, but more on the manner in which they compete. Do they give up when things get rough? Do they play overly passive or overly aggressive in the tight moments of the match? Do they learn from their losses? How well do they prepare before their matches? Do they implement what they work on in training sessions or do they revert to old habits? These are just some questions that are worth focusing on and working on if the responses are not positive. We often see a player performing very well in practice, only to underachieve in official matches. Teaching how to compete is

“When kids compete, we should not focus on the results, but more on the manner in which they compete.”

gender at the early ages. I am always pleased to work with coaches and parents who understand the natural process of developing a tennis player … parents who let the coach do their job without putting pressure on the kid. Tennis is not a science, but I have seen more players “falling out of love” with the game than becoming successful players when the priority was winning and not improving.

not an easy task, and it requires knowledge and patience. Competing is a natural skill. Great competitors are born, but I truly believe that anyone can work on it and improve upon it. I have often seen young players dominate the scene at just 12-years-old, but only a few years later, their game has stopped improving and their results are poor. Boys and girls differ slightly in their development, as girls tend to show their skills and results a little earlier than boys. The development process should take priority over winning, no matter the

Jacopo Tezza is currently the academy director at the Evert Academy and began coaching there in 2010. He graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in International Communications, where the team reached a ranking of fifth in the country. He has been an assistant coach at both the University of Central Florida following a professional playing career. Originally from Verona, Italy, he was a top 30 player in Italy and was ranked as high as 1,003rd in the world. PTR- and-GPTCA certified, Tezza has worked with players such as Madison Keys, Lauren Davis, Olivia Rogwaska and Maria Sanchez.

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NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

adult league U S T A L E A G U E S U P D AT E

The Metro Leagues are in the busy time of the year, as the playoffs are being held for the mixed-doubles and 40 & Over Leagues, while the individual women’s and men’s seasons are underway. Congratulations to the following Queens mixed teams and 40 & Over teams for qualifying for playoffs: Mixed-Doubles l Level 6.0: Melnick & Quinones l Level 7.0: Ragione McCabe Avila Chamnankool

l Level 8.0: Minatondani Zaldivar Lee/Zhou Moreira/Low 40 & Over l Level 3.5 Women: Chin Rowe & Chee l Level 4.0 Women: Sweeney Schaffer l Level 4.0 Men: Khine & Chua Derman & Tratenberg

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

Good luck to all of the playoff-bound teams! Playoffs began in April, and the season will conclude with the Regional Playoffs in May with the winners moving on to Sectional Playoffs. The Manhattan season for men’s and women’s teams started in April. The Leauge has more than 100 teams participating this year at the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 & 5.0 Levels. The Queens League began in early May, with Brooklyn and Staten Island later in the spring. Looking forward to a fun spring/summer season! See you on the courts!

Annual NYJTL Hartman Cup Wraps Up at NTC Credit all photos to Kathy Vazquez

he New York Junior Tennis and Learning’s (NYJTL) Hartman Cup recently wrapped up at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The annual three-week tournament for boys and girls ages seven through 18 brings the NYJTL’s Winter Early Morning Program to a close with the finals and an award presentation. There were eight divisions, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals being played in the early morning at the National Tennis Center. Below are the results and winners (in italics) from the action:

l Boys 12: Jonathan Rabinowitz (Bay Terrace) defeated Lonnie McKinstry (147 ACES)

l Girls 12: Tori Lai (228 Aces) defeated Ginella Grimes (Heights Casino) l Boys 14: Cristian Rabinowitz (Bay Terrace) defeated Anthony Fratarelli (National Tennis Center) l Girls 14: Nia Dabreo (Heights Casino) defeated Natalie Corella (National Tennis Center) l Boys 16: George Arteaga (National Tennis Center) l Girls 16: Coney Bank (Roosevelt Island Racquet Club) defeated Mariana Santamaria (Roosevelt Island Racquet Club) l Boys 18: Joel Cantila (National Tennis Center) defeated Anthony Coneo (National Tennis Center) l Girls 18: Jazmine Cantila (National Tennis Center) defeated Jahnavi Selvam (National Tennis Center)

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

The Game Inside the Game Unknown Secrets of Great Athletes: Four Principles of More Than an Athlete By Rob Polishook, Mental Training Coach MA, CPC In Part One of the “More Than an Athlete” series, we highlighted how, when an athlete brings his or her “whole self” (mental and skillset) to the performance, they are better able to play their game and be the best they can be. In Part Two, we highlighted how, when a player understands that results don’t define them, they can play from a more relaxed, aware, and grounded place. In Part Three, we will show how having a set of foundational principals can help the athlete, parent or coach to better manage and learn from adversity, challenges and successes in competition. Having a set of foundational principles or values is actually one of the unknown secrets of great athletes and teams. Having a set of principles helps great athletes keep their attention on their process and what they can control, essentially putting them in the best position to achieve their goals. Without having that “true north” set of principles athletes may be in danger of going off course. Below are four fundamental principles of More Than an Athlete which will help you to set your own course for success. 1. Person first. Every time James Blake said in his book, Breaking Back, “When we walk on the court, we walk on as a person. What’s inside effects what’s on the outside. It’s one and the same.” Think about watching the “Gladiators.” It’s not about the armor a gladiator wears, but the spirit and heart beneath the armor that determines the fight. Rafael Nadal summed this idea up well when he said, “Tennis is not who I am, It’s what I do.” 36

“Because everyone’s process is unique, the results will be unique as well. The reward is in the process.” 2. An athlete is not broken Performance blocks such as nerves, anxiety, slumps and the yips are not the problem, but symptoms of other challenges. Often, the challenge is only this: We are focused on the end result, rather than the process. Once we can reframe our mindset, we can allow ourselves to hold both excitement and fear about the process. The athlete does not need to be fixed, but rather helped back to the place they were at when they could perform fluidly. 3. The fruits are always a result of the roots We tend to look at situations as isolated occurrences, but when a player chokes, it doesn’t happen out of the blue. There have been iterative incidents along the way that triggered the player’s nervous system. Our individual journeys lead us to unique performance, and every day we have an opportunity to learn from our experiences. Rather than compare our end result to others, we might understand that because everyone’s process is unique, the results will be unique as well. Appreciate the journey it took to arrive right where you are today. 4. Playing is a privilege Inevitably fear, doubt and nerves are going to be part of any competition. The idea is not to eliminate these emotions or

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

hide from them, but to be able to experience them as part of the privilege of playing the game. Billie Jean King addressed this idea by titling her book, Pressure is a Privilege. She understood that playing was a privilege and that if you are feeling pressure, that’s part of the privilege of being an athlete! To summarize, these four principals are the building blocks to realizing you are “More Than an Athlete.” Being more than an athlete is the key to sustainable, longterm success. Rob Polishook, MA, CPC is the founder and director of Inside the Zone Sports Performance Group. He works with athletes in all sports at all levels helping them to break through mental barriers and be their best both as a person and an athlete. Rob has spoken to athletes, coaches, and parents both nationally at USTA, USPTA, ITA conferences, and internationally in India and Israel. Additionally, he is author of Tennis Inside the Zone: Mental Training Workouts for Champions. His work was recently featured in ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 film called Fields of Fear. In prior years, Rob received the USPTA-Eastern Division High School Coach of the Year Award and coached USTA’s 16 and under Zonals. He may be reached by phone at (973) 723-0314, email rob@insidethezone.com or visit www.insidethezone.com.

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l Two color options (Black or White) l Two sizes (Small or Large) l DATABAR technology for multiple data point viewing ScoreBand PRO helps take your game to the next level by adding Stopwatch mode and DATABAR Technology. The DATABAR offers three unique data views within each mode. In Tennis Mode, you can choose to view the current time, the elapsed match time, or the current set

score, all while keeping score of the current game on-screen. ScoreBand PRO scores up to five sets, provides a server indicator, and a tiebreak scoring option. After the match, use the review function to relive your victory set-by-set. For more information on ScoreBand PLAY and ScoreBand PRO, visit www.scoreband.net or call (888) 722-0444. Order from the ScoreBand Web site and take 10 percent off with discount code “NY10.”

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NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

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New York Tennis Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ May/June 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ NYTennisMag.com

Sabatini Gets Revenge to Close Chapter on Rivalry With Seles MSG exhibition rematch settles the score BY ANDREW EICHENHOLZ

t is fair to call the eight-year headto-head rivalry between Monica Seles and Gabriela Sabatini onesided. Seles and her powerful twohanded groundstrokes dominated, with every one of the duo’s seven Grand Slam, WTA Championship and Olympic matches going the way of the American. The last six of those meetings, excluding a classic at the 1992 French Open, were landslides. Five times, Seles held Sabatini to only one game in a set. Their first match at Madison Square Garden, however, is arguably one of the most historic contests in the history of tennis. Twenty-five years ago, the two ladies met at Madison Square Garden, the home of this year’s BNP Paribas Showdown, in a match that lasted three hours and 47 minutes. “I prefer not to be reminded too many times if you don’t mind,” Seles joked. The thing is, at 16-years-old, she came out the winner. “I just remember it was a five-setter and we both wanted to win it.” Down two sets to one, Seles theoretically should have lost al-

ready. Sabatini fought from a set down to take the next two, pulling herself within one set of a victory on the carpet court of the WTA Championships. “It was so long ago,” Seles said. “Yeah it is,” Sabatini quickly added. Neither could really remember exactly what happened. Instead, memories began to flow of a lot of hard work on the single court smack in the center of the World’s Most Famous Arena. Seles evened things up and pulled away in the fifth and final set, marking the first match in the Open Era in which two women played a five-set match. “But that’s why it was so special to be back,” Seles said prior to this year’s BNP Paribas Showdown about how their history of three matches in New York City, including the five-setter played a role in their return this March. The rematch marks the anniversary of something special. They did not merely step off a plane and walk on to the court for an exhibition, either. Both Seles and Sabatini spent the continued on page 4o NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

sabatini gets revenge continued from page 39 months leading up to playing in front of a crowd of 14,894 preparing as if they were getting ready for a match on the WTA Tour. “We both put our bodies through a lot of training,” said Seles. “We both trained a lot in the months leading up to this match at MSG, really dedicating our lives and schedules for it,” Seles said, adding the major factor in deciding to relive their historic match. “At this stage in our lives, it was just because we wanted to play in New York at MSG and there was no other factor involved.” This time around, as the crowd slowly filed in under far different circumstances, with gasps and applause rather than a title on the line, it was not about struggling for every point, but having fun. Sabatini would hang on for an 8-5 victory in a much less tension-filled 37 minutes than the match of a quarter century ago, it was more a matter of whether or not

the win could make up for the pain of her most heart-wrenching defeat. “Well now I can say, yes,” Sabatini

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

said. “Before … I wasn’t sure of that.” It was not necessarily all about the quality of play, either. Understandably, neither athlete would be anywhere near their level that produced one of the more famous matches of recent memory. “We played some nice tennis,” Sabatini said. “Just stepping out on this court again is amazing.” Now, Gabriela Sabatini can finally close the book on one of the more unique matches on one of the more unique stages in all of sports. 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.

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Junior Orange Bowl, where 1,400 of the world’s top juniors each received a set in their goody bag to play test. YTEX offers a variety of cutting-edge profile strings such as the Pro Tour series, Pentagonal Twisted, Triple Twister Silver, Quadro Twist and Octo-Twist to name a few, but the talk of the town is the new SQUARE-X. They also offer a complete range of strings, depending

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

Bank of America was crowned 2015 Winter Advanced Intermediate champs

Congratulations to NYJTL, the 2015 Metro Corporate Tennis League Winter 2015 Season Advanced Division champions

The Metro Corporate Tennis League, presented by Advantage Tennis Clubs, is a joint initiative of the Metrotennis Community Tennis Association (MCTA) and 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 that are not ready to compete. The Winter 2015 season just wrapped up. Congratulations to NYJTL, Bank of America and HBO for winning the Advanced, Advanced Intermediate and Intermediate Divisions, respectively. More than 47 teams participated in the Winter Season. How42

HBO captured the Metro Corporate League’s Intermediate Division title

ever, during the Summer Season, only 22-plus teams can be accommodated. The Summer Season will run from June through August, culminating with an end-of-season party at Roosevelt Island Racquet Club. Team registrations are currently being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please visit www.metrotennis.com/corporate/main.html, or call Luis Espinoza at (347) 886-3117 or e-mail luis@metrotennis.com.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

The Metro Corporate Tennis League Summer 2015 Season The Summer Season includes a minimum of six matches. Each match is played for two hours on two courts. Tennis balls and refreshments are provided. The season concludes with an end-of-season party where all participants enjoy a buffet dinner and open bar, tennis, dancing and other activities. The winners of all divisions advance to semifinals or finals for their league. Play format Each team match consists of six individual matches played as regular no-ad sets: l One women singles l One men singles l One women doubles l One men doubles l Two mixed doubles Levels of play are Advanced and Intermediate. Games won are totaled cumulatively throughout the season. The winners of all divisions advance to playoffs at the end-of-season party. In case of a tie, the head-to-head scores will be the tiebreaker. Coaching and player substitutions are permitted during the match. This allows for more players to get involved and creates a fun atmosphere. All league champions have the right to advance to the National WTT Championships. Additional Corporate League activities The Metro Corporate Tennis League emphasizes networking and social occasions, as well as the opportunities to improve your tennis game. Each League night, refreshments are served after the matches, including hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer. Special group tennis lessons are also available for teams at an additional fee at the Advantage Tennis Clubs—Manhattan Plaza, New York Tennis Club and Roosevelt Island Racquet Club. Locations All clubs are beautiful and refreshments are served each match night, including wine and beer. The matches will be held weekday evenings at: l Roosevelt Island Racquet Club 281 Main Street Roosevelt Island, N.Y. (212) 935-0250 Train Line: F or Roosevelt Island Tram

l CityView Racquet Club 43-34 32nd Place (between Skillman Avenue & Queens Boulevard) Penthouse, Long Island City, N.Y. (718) 389-6252 Train Line: 7 train to 33rd Street Entry fee The fee is $2,100 per team for the season. Each team requires a minimum of four players, two women and two men to play an entire match, but you can carry as many players as you’d like. Present and past participants include ABN AMRO Adobe Systems Inc. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP Allen & Overy AMC Networks AXA Bank of America Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. Barclays Capital Bloomberg BNP Paribas Citibank Citigroup Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Coleman Research Group Credit Agricole Credit Suisse Curtis Brown Davis Polk & Wardell LLP Deloitte & Touche LLP D.E. Shaw & Company Deutsche Bank Dewey & LeBoeuf DoubleClick Ernst & Young LLP FINRA Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto Forbes Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Gerson Lehrman Group Goldman Sachs Google Group SJR HBO Highbridge Capital Management LLC Horizon Media

IBM Americas ING Capital LLC Investment Technology Group Kaye Scholer LLP Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP Lacoste McKinsey & Company Merrill Lynch Mizuho Bank Ltd. Mizuho Capital Markets Corporation Moody’s Investors Services Nielsen Nera Neuberger Berman Group LLC NYJTL NYSE Opera Solutions Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP Pfizer Practical Law PricewaterhouseCoopers Proskauer Rose LLP Protege Partners Prudential Douglas Elliman Rockefeller & Company Schulte, Roth & Zabel LLP Sidley Austin LLP Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & From LLP Societe Generale Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP Sullivan Cromwell LLP The Corcoran Group The New York Times TheStreet.com Thomson Reuters Tiffany & Company Time Warner Cable Tommy Hilfiger Turner Construction Unilever Watson Farley White & Case LLP Yahoo For more information, please visit www.metrotennis.com/corporate /main.html, or call Luis Espinoza at (347) 886-3117 or e-mail luis@metrotennis.com.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

Keys to the Perfect Pre-Game Routine By Dr. Tom Ferraro f you’re at all serious about playing tennis to your fullest potential, then you must … I repeat … you must, come to each match with the proper mental set. And the proper mindset is not anxiety, self-doubt or dread. If you do feel self-doubt or a lack of confidence prior to your matches, you are reading the right article. Any competitive player has gone through his or her share of losing. Losing will eventually produce emotional scars which include anxiety, dread and loss of confidence and usually the player and coach are clue-

less as to what to actually do about all this. That little 30 second pep talk you get prior to stepping on the court will not do the trick. So let’s spend some time talking about how to develop the right pre-game routine in order to create calmness, confidence and the belief that you will win. The pre-game routine must start three days before the tournament. It must consist of physical, mental and emotional preparation: Physical pre-game prep The goal of your physical preparation is to rest and recover from all your training. Your goal is not to get stronger or get more fit. You goal is to rest and recover so that you

begin to store energy for the match. You may not know this, but thoroughbred horses will only be walked around the shed row for the three days before a race. Many players get so keyed up and anxious before big matches that they go to the gym to work out in order to relieve themselves from anxiety. But all that does is result in fatigue which is not helpful to good tennis. So rest, nap and get to sleep early for the three days before big matches. During training, athletes need nine hours of sleep each night to fully recover from workouts. Dietary preparation Nutritionist Irina Belfer-Lehat told me that the best dietary advice for the three days leading

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New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

up to an event is to load up on water and have complex carbohydrates like pasta and potatoes the day before the event in order to have access to more energy. Another helpful hint she gave was to have only sips of sport drink during the match and small bites of oranges, apples or bananas. Mental pre-game prep It is crucial to develop and rehearse a strategy for playing your match. This ought to be developed with the help of your coach and might include ideas like hitting to the baseline, playing aggressively, playing to the opponents weakness, or staying relaxed after a lost point. I called famed tennis coach Butch Seewagen who suggested, “I would always formulate a game plan, rehearse it mentally for the days leading up to the match and then stick with it during play.” Another mental mindset is to not worry about the match that is coming up. You can spend some time rehearsing strategy but make sure that for the three days prior to the big match you use your downtime to go to the movies, hang with friends and

“During training, athletes need nine hours of sleep each night to fully recover from workouts.” generally distract yourself with pleasant and relaxing diversions. Emotional pre-game prep The proper emotional attitude is to be calm, relaxed, focused and with a belief that you are a talented player. Self-doubt, anxiety and low confidence emerge in most players over time because of inevitable losses. To counteract this you need to determine the best performance of your career and recall how you felt, who you played, how you closed out the match, how you focused, who was on your side, and what your level of confidence felt like. Your job is to reacquaint yourself with this memory and to internalize it during the three days prior to the match. We want you to imagine how you actually walked at that moment of triumph and to rehearse that manner of walking between shots in an effort to maintain and re-

inforce this belief in yourself. You can also put this attitude and sense of confidence to music which you may want to listen to over the three days and even on the way to the match. Many professional athletes use music coupled with positive self-imagery and positive self-esteem imagery as a way of entering the zone and remaining there throughout the match. If you follow the physical, mental and emotional preparation and allow yourself to embrace confidence, you will have established a solid pre-game routine which will help you play better competitive tennis. For consultations, treatment or on-site visits, contact Dr. Tom Ferraro Ph.D., sport psychologist, by phone at (516) 248-7189, e-mail drtferraro@aol.com or visit www.drtomferraro.com.

More camp choices. More facilities. More fun! At Advantage All-City Camps. Sign up today! Junior Tennis – Lots of tennis plus optional sports and arts. • 3 to 6 hours of daily tennis • Swimming, ﬁeld sports & arts • Ages 6-17 Call 212.935.0250 gkent@advantagetennisclubs.com

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Visit www.advantagecamps.net NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

New York Native Joseph Carac By Rob Riehle From Tampa to Baltimore, New York native Joseph Caracappa continues to prove you can take the player out of New York, but you cannot take the New York out of the player. Currently playing number two singles and number one doubles for Goucher College, with a record of 15-3 in doubles and 11-4 in singles as a freshman, Joseph has more than earned his spot on the team as an underclassman. Starting tennis at the ripe age of six after watching his father play, it was quickly evident that Joseph had talent. He began playing tournaments and realized playing competitively is what he wanted to do. Thus when he began his high school career, he and his family made the decision to give Joseph and his brother Vincent, also an aspiring tennis player, the best means to do so. They found Saddlebrook Preparatory School in Wesley Chapel, Fla. With a fully accredited school, worldwide competition, an exceptional training facility, and a reputation for

producing great players, the Caracappas found their home for years to come. Joseph enrolled in the school his freshman year, which may seem intimidating having to make new friends which was no problem for Joseph. Going to school followed by four hours of training and an hour of conditioning daily, the program was demanding and Joseph adjusted quickly. Smithtown native Joseph Caracappa in action for Goucher Florida, having the elements College to train year-round, is renowned as being one of the top training areas players flock to in order to upon this disadvantage, creating a foundaimprove their game and conditioning. It was tion for his style. Utilizing his low center of clear the types of players were more diverse gravity for increased balance and developing and skilled than most other places. Not to an excellent touch, he was able to level the mention the Saddlebrook program itself playing field. “Joseph is a very talented player,” said bringing prospects from all over the world to contend with. Joseph, not being as tall as Sean McQuillan, director of the Saddlebrook most of his opponents, is where most com- Junior Tennis Program. “He’s got unbelievpetitors would start. However, Joseph built able hands and can drop shot players from

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

cappa Making Collegiate Strides anywhere on the court.” Developing these skills enabled him to move into the top 10 players in the more competitive Saddlebrook program. Joseph applied himself off the court in the area of fitness training, so well that every coach in the academy took notice. He was so impressive that the coaches decided to create the “Coach’s Award,” granted to the most admirable student-athlete, and Joseph was first recipient of the honor in 2013. It is those qualities and skills which allowed him to receive a college scholarship. Since joining the team, Joseph has been recognized as the “Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week” on two occasions since last September.

“Joseph has proven to be one the better players through his dedication,” said Brendan Kincaid, coach of the Goucher Men’s Tennis team. “I’m excited to see where his tennis career will go.” Joseph Caracappa is an exemplary student-athlete, and his story is a perfect illustration of what can come when character meets dedication. Robert Riehle is a graduate of Saddlebrook Preparatory School and holds a bachelor of arts and science degree from Rollins College. He is currently Sport Logistics Manager for Saddlebrook International Sports and may be reached by e-mail at rriehle@saddlebrook.com.

Joseph Caracappa, in doubles play for Goucher, was honored twice with the Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week Award

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NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

Play High Percentage and Patterned Tennis By Lisa Dodson ennis is a game that is played by pattern. Strokes are patterned and so are points. It’ s very organized and orderly, so we should experience very few random moments. We construct strokes and techniques to correspond with point of contact and we construct points for high percentage play. This could be very interesting news to you and news that can be a game-changer. When thinking about point construction, one major problem exists: We think we have a lot of choices when it comes to where we want to hit a ball. In actuality, there is always one “best” choice, which is called a high percentage shot. Everything after that becomes more difficult, and therefore, less likely to succeed and is called a low percentage shot. Unfortunately, players don’t really know what that high percentage shot is, so they keep trying to hit a shot that is ultimately likely to fail. Random shots end points that could be played out longer and more effectively. When considering strokes and technique, we also wrongly think we have options about how we will get our ball to a certain location. Simply stated, we make up new ways to hit the ball out of convenience in-

stead of staying within the guidelines that our stroke technique dictates. Staying with your technique and striving to gain good position to the ball is the name of the game. There is nothing more important than a consistent and clear point of contact. Let’s think specifically about combining high percentage serve technique and high percentage serve location. Technique always comes first. With technique comes the ability to vary spin, speed and direction. You can only successfully, consistently and effectively hit a ball to a location with solid technique. You cannot do one without the other. Think of the service motion as this: The arm and racket move in an identical, pre-determined path every time. The ball toss is then placed so that it sits still in the way of the racket head’s path. That’s a pretty simple concept. An easy comparison is a train on a windy track. There is a penny sitting on the track a little way off. The train will hit the penny every time because its movement is always the same and the penny is sitting, waiting to be hit by the accelerated force. Remember, when developing a patterned and efficient service motion you must use a Continental Grip. Your hand placement on the racket dictates how the wrist, elbow and shoulder can move. If the hand is in the wrong place, your joints will not be able to

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

move the way they are intended to. Anything less than using a Continental Grip is just not good enough. The same technique for the motion is used each time you serve. Variations in serve come from changes in grip and ball toss location. In this way, the hand, wrist and forearm can act differently when sending the racket face to the contact point, while still using the same technique leading up to the hit. A patterned service motion will give you the following benefits: l Simplicity in developing a variety of serves (flat, slice, kick) by simply moving ball toss location with a corresponding grip change l Confidence to swing the same speed (or harder) on a second serve as the first l Improvement in serve percentage l Stress reduction when under pressure l Consistency and placement for first and second serves l More free points and weak returns l Power generated from being relaxed and letting the racket head go (racket head speed) l Understanding that the looser you are, the better you will serve If you have a patterned motion that gives you all of the benefits above, we can see how this directly translates into success in landing the ball where you want. It won’t take much

convincing to get you on board. Here is one example of what works and what does not work: This works: A slice serve wide to the deuce court playing singles. A right-handed player’s slice always curves from right to left. In order to hit a slice, you must have a Continental Grip and toss the ball slightly further to the right. When playing singles and serving from the deuce court, you can use this type of serve to swing your opponent off the court to their right. Since the ball is curving on the flight, it will cross closer to the center strap than to the higher outside of the net. The spin slows the ball down, giving more margin for error. The target zone for landing is a long distance out of bounds. In a nutshell, this is a serve that crosses a low part of the net, curves away from the opponent, travels a long distance to the boundary and has spin that gives margin over the net. That’s all extremely positive and makes the slice a high percentage choice for where you want your ball to land. A final perk: Hit the same serve to the T on the add side. Now you have one serve for two locations. This does not work: the same serve attempt will not work well with a flat grip (forehand grip). No serve works well with a flat grip, so I suggest that you never use it. Serving with a flat grip inhibits the natural movement of

“When you discover the power of the high percentage shot, you will have a better understanding of patterned play.” the joints and creates a ball traveling on a straight line. Aiming out wide takes the ball over a high part of the net to a short distance to out of bounds. This flat serve also travels faster, so you’ll spend a lot of time hitting the net top or hitting too far wide. This makes it a very low percentage shot for where you want your ball to land. This information goes for every shot in the game of tennis. For groundstrokes, cross-court is the high percentage shot because you are hitting the longest distance to out of bounds and over the lowest part of the net. Down the line is a more difficult shot for a number of reasons, but the main concern is that you are hitting over the high part of the net to a shorter distance to out of bounds. Hitting topspin will raise the percentage, because it gives more net clearance than a flat ball. Volleys hit with underspin are higher percentage than flat or topspin volleys. Underspin gives control of speed, spin and direction. You can hit an effective underspin volley from anywhere on the court, whether you are on the move or more still. You can hit speed, angles, touch and depth. You can also have a high rate of success receiving all types of balls: Flat, topspin, un-

derspin, hard, soft, etc. Flat, hard volleys fail unless you are very close to the net so they can be used only in certain situations. Like a flat serve, I suggest never hitting a flat volley. Topspin volleys should be chosen carefully. For any decent rate of success, players need to be receiving a floating ball inside of the service line and at shoulder height. When you discover the power of the high percentage shot, you will have a better understanding of patterned play. If a shot is high percentage, why wouldn’t we choose to do it over and over? Well, the best players play this way. Watch a professional match and you’ll see, for example, patterns of multiple cross-court balls before one of the players takes a bigger risk by changing direction of the ball. It happens over and over again. As we strive to improve our techniques, we will begin to play high percentage tennis. When we make fewer impulsive choices and play by pattern, amazing things happen on our tennis court. Lisa Dodson is owner of Servemaster at The Total Serve, a USPTA Elite Pro, a formerly world ranked player and radio show host. She may be reached by e-mail at lisa@thetotalserve.com or visitwww.thetotalserve.com.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

The Simple Task of Taking Responsibility By Lonnie Mitchel looked at one of the women’s tennis players on my college squad recently as she just broke several school records for wins by a woman, a record that had been held for 16 years. I thought to myself, “How does this happen?” How does a young woman with aspirations to simply succeed achieve her goals on the tennis court and in the classroom effectively with all academic honors? I looked at one of my male players who graduated last year and spent his time in college playing every match, never missing a practice, while going undefeated at home. He followed that up graduating with an outstanding portfolio of top notch academic success. How does that happen when both of these players figured out the skill of time management, placing such emphasis on the privilege of playing collegiate tennis and achiev-

ing such high academic success? Why would these young men and women want to play tennis, work hard, train and then go even harder at the academics? I think it is a simple answer, but a more difficult action. The feeling you get when you work hard at something and put your heart and soul into an endeavor and then achieve success is an unmatched state of euphoria. As a coach, I always talk about being laser-focused and to take responsibility for everything you can control. The best way to determine a favorable outcome is to put every statistical chance of success in your corner, even though in life, there are no guarantees. If you wanted to be successful on the tennis court and have had only limited accomplishments, here is what you need to do. Take more responsibility! What does it really mean to take responsibility? Say you are the type of player that practices often and believes that you are going to improve if you practice a lot.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

There is truth to that, but only up to a certain point. “Insanity,” as defined by Albert Einstein is “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” You practice your forehand and backhand repeatedly. Practicing these skills is great because you are reinforcing your muscle memory to remember to hit groundstrokes consistently well. However, you are not happy with the outcome. You need to change and take on the responsibility and accept Einstein’s definition of insanity. You are making mental mistakes, such as losing focus and treating yourself badly on the tennis court after a failed shot attempt that you know you should make. Don’t you think it might be in your best interest to get some help and focus on the mental aspect of the game? Yet, you will sign up and take lessons and work on your strokes to insure that you are hitting the same strokes perfectly, while at the same time, are reinforcing the same things you are doing, but not addressing the real

problem. Plain and simple … go see a sports psychologist and focus on what really needs to be fixed. If your volleys are short and weak and you are getting passed often, the answer may seem simple in that you should practice your volley’s more. It makes sense and you will have to do some of that work for sure. However, you can become better at volleying if you look at the building block of the point construction, such as the approach shot being better and more penetrable, you may not be as challenged when at the net and your volley’s become easier. Taking responsibility goes far beyond fixing certain strokes. It involves a complete look at the components of the shot and everything leading up to it. Another example is when you make too many unforced errors off your forehand. You might look at the forehand stroke itself or maybe your footwork and whole approach to the forehand has to be examined. Are you off balance? Is your point of contact off? Are you lifting your head and not watching the ball long enough?

If you want to fix it, then take full responsibility, not partial responsibility, but whole responsibility and force a dissection of the problem. Practicing the same way is not going to solve the problem by Einstein’s definition that would be insanity. How many of you would really approach the problem in the manners I describe? Accepting responsibility is that of a person who empties his glass to effectively open themselves and their mind to the unobvious solution. Now, back to the college team … taking responsibility also involves emulating highly successful people. If your fellow tennis players are getting it done on the tennis court and in the classroom, I am willing to bet that you are not embracing those same habits. Mediocre people do not like overachievers and overachievers do not like those who are mediocre. Mediocre people tend to be jealous of those who are overachievers because they want acceptance in the club of mediocrity. An overachiever on the tennis court and in life takes responsibility for their actions and cares little about

the mediocre individual. The people I described at the beginning of the article are overachievers in that they spend more time in the gym, more time on the tennis court practicing with a laser-focus strategy on their tennis ailments to gain optimal performance. They spend the extra time studying and simply outwork the others to attain and exceed the goals and the results show. This sounds simple in that the work you put in is directly correlated to what you get out of it. In other words, taking control and accepting and taking responsibility. So you want to know the answer on how to improve? Accept responsibility and take the responsibility first and do it. Yes, it can all be that simple! 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 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

NEW Boys & Girls Metro Rankings (as of 04/14/15)

BOYS Metro Boys 12 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Brandon Torres................Bronx, N.Y. 2........Sabian Kosinov ..............Forest Hills, N.Y. 3........Solomon Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 4........Ryan David Brandes ......Rego Park, N.Y. 5........Winter Forest Fagerberg New York, N.Y. 6........Dylan Lachmanen ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 7........Nicholas Suhanitski ........Staten Island, N.Y. 8........Joshua Ashvil ..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 9........Eric Dubilirer ....................Little Neck, N.Y. 10......Donovan Spigner ............New York, N.Y. 11......Jasper August Hunt ........New York, N.Y. 12......Guy Ferrera......................New York, N.Y. 13......Daniel Galisteo Gordon ..New York, N.Y. 14......Sebastian Brustein..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 15......Nicholas Doupsas ..........New York, N.Y. 16......Marko R. Gural ................New York, N.Y. 17......Rafe Photopoulos ..........New York, N.Y. 18......Alexander Oh ..................New York, N.Y. 19......Nicholas Laffont ..............New York, N.Y. 20......Kole Henry Moses ..........New York, N.Y. 21......Cooper Williams ..............New York, N.Y. 22......Isadore Jude Axinn ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 23......Mathias Isaac Davila ......Whitestone, N.Y. 24......Sachin Palta .................... Forest Hills, N.Y. 25......Albert Y. Wan ..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 26......David Dove Hendon........New York, N.Y. 27......Jonathan Rabinowitz ......Bayside, N.Y. 28......Jonathan Laforest ..........Queens Village, N.Y. 29......Jeffrey Yu ........................Forest Hills, N.Y. 30......Michael Zlatnik ................Forest Hills, N.Y. 31......Joshua Staroselskiy ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 32......Andrew Mendelson ........New York, N.Y. 33......Gabriel E. Chiha ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 34......Luca Photopoulos ..........New York, N.Y. 35......Paul Elghouayel ..............New York, N.Y. 36......Neel Epstein ....................New York, N.Y. 37......Yesh Nikam......................New York, N.Y. 38......Evan Friedmann ..............New York, N.Y. 39......Safin Shaikh ....................Bayside, N.Y. 40......Charles Robertson ..........Whitestone, N.Y.

Metro Boys 14 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Christopher Tham ..........Flushing, N.Y. 2........Igor Maslov ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 3........Christian Rabinowitz ......Bayside, N.Y. 4........Daniel Leon-Maseyev ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 5........Jonathan Glinsky ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 6........Eli Taylor-Kerman ............New York, N.Y. 7........Matthew Mosejczuk........East Elmhurst, N.Y. 8........Jack Mascone ................New York, N.Y. 9........Donald James Smith ......Roosevelt Island, N.Y. 10......Tadd Long........................Woodside, N.Y. 11......Blake Frank......................New York, N.Y. 12......Donovan Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 13......Robbie F. Werdiger..........New York, N.Y. 14......David Dylan Pines ..........New York, N.Y. 15......Michael Kaydin................Brooklyn, N.Y. 16......Alfonso Laffont ................New York, N.Y. 17......Jasper Hunt Thomas ......New York, N.Y. 18......Solomon Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 19......Ethan King ......................New York, N.Y.

YORK

20......Dylan Conner Charles ....New York, N.Y. 21......Simon Camacho ............New York, N.Y. 22......Jeffrey Yu ........................Forest Hills, N.Y. 23......Robert Shinder ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 24......Leonidas Vrailas ..............New York, N.Y. 25......Alexander L. Chiu............New York, N.Y. 26......Jeffrey McCready............Brooklyn, N.Y. 27......Albert Y. Wan ..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 28......Sachin Palta ....................Forest Hills, N.Y. 29......Scott Fischer....................New York, N.Y. 30......Noah D. Edelman............New York, N.Y. 31......Gabriel Isaac Rissman ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 32......Shanay Ashesh Amin......New York, N.Y. 33......Sadi Guicelik....................New York, N.Y. 34......Michael Gechka ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 35......Tyler Kats ........................New York, N.Y. 36......Alex Portnoy ....................New York, N.Y. 37......Justin S. Taub ..................New York, N.Y. 38......Daniel Levy ......................New York, N.Y. 39......Benjamin Goldstein ........New York, N.Y. 40......Kevin Daniel Golub..........New York, N.Y.

Metro Boys 16 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Nicholas Pustilnik ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 2........Justin Arrington-Holmes..New York, N.Y. 3........Fayed Fayaz Uddin ........Elmhurst, N.Y. 4........Igor Maslov ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 5........Wiley Schubert Reed ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 6........Eli Taylor-Kerman ............New York, N.Y. 7........Mark Karpovas................Staten Island, N.Y. 8........Leaf Fagerberg ................New York, N.Y. 9........David Krasner..................Staten Island, N.Y. 10......Christopher Tham ..........Flushing, N.Y. 11......Lucas DeSanto................New York, N.Y. 12......Michael Kamsky..............New York, N.Y. 13......Adam Lane Bernstein ....New York, N.Y. 14......Ameer Hosain..................New York, N.Y. 15......Gabriel Sifuentes ............Flushing, N.Y. 16......Jonathan Shapiro............Brooklyn, N.Y. 17......Jackson Trevor ................New York, N.Y. 18......Richard Wickman............Bayside, N.Y. 19......Umar Akhmedjanov ........New York, N.Y. 20......Daniel Ertel ......................New York, N.Y. 21......Leonardo Escudero ........Ozone Park, N.Y. 22......Jack Mascone ................New York, N.Y. 23......Jonathan Glinsky ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 24......Stephen Mai ....................Flushing, N.Y. 25......Joseph Zac Namtalov ....Staten Island, N.Y. 26......Donovan Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 27......Justin Belnavis ................Jamaica, N.Y. 28......Jaime Gomez ..................New York, N.Y. 29......Simon Ross Heinberg ....New York, N.Y. 30......Derek Lung ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 31......David Dylan Pines ..........New York, N.Y. 32......Matthew Joshua Ross....New York, N.Y. 33......Bryan Chu........................Flushing, N.Y. 34......Benjamin Thier ................New York, N.Y. 35......Damon Watson................New York, N.Y. 36......Andrew Zucker................New York, N.Y. 37......Ethan Finley ....................New York, N.Y. 38......Andre Agregado ..............New York, N.Y. 39......Daniel Leon Maseyev......Brooklyn, N.Y. 40......Daniel Schaw ..................New York, N.Y.

Metro Boys 18 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Nicholas Pustilnik ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 2........Nicholas Rudman............New York, N.Y. 3........Douglas Nover................Bayside, N.Y.

RANKINGS 4........Shawn Jackson ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 5........David Farina ....................New York, N.Y. 6........Oliver Jevtovic ................Astoria, N.Y. 7........Adam Lane Bernstein ....New York, N.Y. 8........Michael Gardiner ............New York, N.Y. 9........Justin Arrington-Holmes..New York, N.Y. 10......Richard Wickman............Bayside, N.Y.

GIRLS Metro Girls 12 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 2........Rachel Zhang ..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 3........Nicolette Fundator ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 4........Leila M. Epstein ..............New York, N.Y. 5........Alina Kargin-Utkin............Brooklyn, N.Y. 6........Masha Serjantov ............New York, N.Y. 7........Blakely Dushkin ..............New York, N.Y. 8........Taylor Overstrom ............New York, N.Y. 9........Niki Truszkowski..............Middle Village, N.Y. 10......Beyonce Blake ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 11......Nicole Bolkunova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 12......Sarah Lucy Youngberg ..New York, N.Y. 13......Sage Loudon ..................New York, N.Y. 14......Sophia Cisse....................New York, N.Y. 15......Cassie Tian ......................Flushing, N.Y. 16......Samantha Bentsianov ....Staten Island, N.Y. 17......Bukky Alalade..................Rosedale, N.Y. 18......Sofie Shen ......................New York, N.Y. 19......Nathalie Williams ............New York, N.Y. 20......Celina Liu ........................Forest Hills, N.Y. 21......Katherine Krieger ............New York, N.Y. 22......Angelica Schell................New York, N.Y. 23......Emma Sofia Ostlund ......New York, N.Y. 24......Nina Wiese ......................Flushing, N.Y. 25......Sofia Allinson ..................New York, N.Y. 26......Alyssa An ........................New York, N.Y. 27......Piper Sydney Brown ......New York, N.Y. 28......Alyssa Pustilnik................Brooklyn, N.Y. 29......Julia Gottschalk ..............New York, N.Y. 30......Paula Ann Maseyev ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 31......Elizabeth Serjantov..........New York, N.Y. 32......Nadzeya Filaha................Brooklyn, N.Y. 33......Sheyna Esther Karen ......New York, N.Y. 34......Kelly Chen........................Forest Hills, N.Y. 35......Talia Helen Kahan............New York, N.Y. 36......Maxie Molly Karen ..........New York, N.Y. 37......Arielle Bakst ....................New York, N.Y. 38......Nicole Wooyin Lee ..........New York, N.Y. 39......Medina Garunja ..............Bronx, N.Y. 40......Nia Lashawn Dabreo ......Brooklyn, N.Y.

Metro Girls 14 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Amy Kaplan ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 2........Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 3........Rebecca Sitkovetsky ......Staten Island, N.Y. 4........Casey Brandes................Rego Park, N.Y. 5........Rebecca Izyayeva ..........Staten Island, N.Y. 6........Hillary Sherpa ..................Astoria, N.Y. 7........Cassie Tian ......................Flushing, N.Y. 8........Nicole Koi Massa ............Astoria, N.Y. 9........Kristina Pali ......................Briarwood, N.Y. 10......Jamila Akhmedjanova ....New York, N.Y. 11......Barbara Podvorchani......Bronx, N.Y. 12......Sofia Kate Levine ............New York, N.Y. 13......Alanna Levitt ....................New York, N.Y. 14......Niki Truszkowski..............Middle Village, N.Y. 15......Karolina Lankamer ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.

New York Tennis Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ May/June 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ NYTennisMag.com

16......Anastasya Menshikova ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 17......Leah Margulies ................New York, N.Y. 18......Alexandra Coulombe ......New York, N.Y. 19......Danielle P. Kezeli..............Staten Island, N.Y. 20......Taylor Simone Williams ..New York, N.Y. 21......Josephine Kimball ..........New York, N.Y. 22......Julia Gottschalk ..............New York, N.Y. 23......Joanna Urena ..................Hollis, N.Y. 24......Naomi Park......................New York, N.Y. 25......Rebecca MacDonald ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 26......Nicolette Fundator ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 27......Lauren Wooyoung Lee....New York, N.Y. 28......Nicole Sin Ming Chu ......Flushing, N.Y. 29......Diana McCready..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 30......Amalia M. Parrish ............Queens Village, N.Y. 31......Shakima Hotaki ..............Flushing, N.Y. 32......Julia Kirsh ........................New York, N.Y. 33......Michelle Kleynerman ......Staten Island, N.Y. 34......Theodora Vrailas..............New York, N.Y. 35......Kate Yamin ......................New York, N.Y. 36......Katrine Zlatnik..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 37......Nadzeya Filaha................Brooklyn, N.Y. 38......Emma Eisenberg ............New York, N.Y. 39......Masha Serjantov ............New York, N.Y. 40......Elisabeth G. Schlossel ....New York, N.Y.

Metro Girls 16 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Tamila Latif-Zade ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 2........Amy Kaplan ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 3........Gianna Gaudio ................Staten Island, N.Y. 4........Natalie Marguiles ............New York, N.Y. 5........Tomi Alalade ....................Rosedale, N.Y. 6........Liana I. Weitzman ............Whitestone, N.Y. 7........Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 8........Denise Marie Trerotola ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 9........Isabella Rendon ..............Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 10......Sophia Hartman ..............New York, N.Y. 11......Kelsey Emma Gund ........New York, N.Y. 12......Joanna Urena ..................Hollis, N.Y. 13......Alanna Levitt ....................New York, N.Y. 14......Maxine Beata Zaretsky ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 15......Anna Maite Kaplan..........New York, N.Y. 16......Emma Wrazej ..................New York, N.Y. 17......Gabrielle Eitkas................Brooklyn, N.Y. 18......Nicole Khorosh................Brooklyn, N.Y. 19......Rebecca Xinyue Zhou ....New York, N.Y. 20......Jamila Akhmedjanova ....New York, N.Y. 21......Barbara Podvorchani......Bronx, N.Y. 22......Rachel Okin ....................New York, N.Y. 23......Mariam Shengelia ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 24......Lejla Redzematovic ........Whitestone, N.Y. 25......Anastasia Lukyanovich ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 26......Alexandra Coulombe ......New York, N.Y. 27......Maryna Bohdanovska ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 28......Kayla MSchumacher ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 29......Grace L. Kennedy ..........New York, N.Y. 30......Nicole Koi Massa ............Astoria, N.Y. 31......Anastasya Menshikova ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 32......Shelby Lau ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 33......Elizabeth Khusid..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 34......Hillary Sherpa ..................Astoria, N.Y. 35......Danielle P. Kezeli..............Staten Island, N.Y. 36......Carolyn Silverstein ..........New York, N.Y. 37......Gianna Medici ................Bayside Hills, N.Y.

NEW Metro Girls 18 Singles Rank Name ................................City 1........Julia Zbarsky....................New York, N.Y. 2........Tamila Latif-Zade ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 3........Liana Weitzman ..............Whitestone, N.Y. 4........Isabelle Rovinski..............New York, N.Y.

Boys & Girls Sectional Rankings (as of 04/24/15)

BOYS

Sectional Boys 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................City ..........Noah Edelman ................New York, N.Y. 8........Wesley Zhang..................Staten Island, N.Y. 10......John-Thomas Bilski ........New York, N.Y. 12......Sebastian Sec ................New York, N.Y. 14......Donovan Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 18......Tyler Korobov ..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 21......Ty Switzer ........................New York, N.Y. 25......David Krasner..................Staten Island, N.Y. 35......Sachin Palta ....................Forest Hills, N.Y. 36......Hudson Beaudoin ..........New York, N.Y. 38......Jasper August Hunt ........New York, N.Y. 39......Jace Alexander................New York, N.Y. 44......Donovan Spigner ............New York, N.Y. 45......Sidharth Chawla..............New York, N.Y. 47......Anthony Cataldo ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 48......Winter Fagerberg ............New York, N.Y. 50......Cooper Williams ..............New York, N.Y. 54......Mitchel Pertsovsky..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 55......Solomon Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 59......Noah Abels Eisenberg ....New York, N.Y. 60......Kole Henry Moses ..........New York, N.Y. 67......Bradley Bennett ..............New York, N.Y. 68......Jeffrey Yu ........................Forest Hills, N.Y. 73......Gunnar S. Overstrom......New York, N.Y. 74......Joseph Phillips ................New York, N.Y. 76......Luca Anthony DeMare....New York, N.Y. 79......Paul Elghouayel ..............New York, N.Y. 80......Adrien Svilen Jippov ......New York, N.Y. 83......Jonathan Laforest ..........Queens Village, N.Y. 87......Benjamin Thomas Ebanks New York, N.Y. 90 ....Eric Dubilirer ....................Little Neck, N.Y. 92......Nicholas Murphy ............New York, N.Y. 95......Sabian Kosinov ..............Forest Hills, N.Y. 102....Nicholas Suhanitski ........Staten Island, N.Y. 112....David Dove Hendon........New York, N.Y. 116....Ryan David Brandes ......Rego Park, N.Y. 119....Mathias Isaac Davila ......Whitestone, N.Y. 120....Guy Ferrera......................New York, N.Y. 122....Joshua Ashvil ..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 127....Rafe Photopoulos ..........New York, N.Y. 128....Jack Benavides ..............New York, N.Y. 131....Ryuichi Nitta ....................Bronx, N.Y. 135....Daniel Galisteo Gordon ..New York, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 14 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................City 6........Lantis Wang ....................New York, N.Y. 11......Ethan Leon ......................Woodhaven, N.Y. 12......Igor Maslov ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 15......Derek Raskopf ................New York, N.Y. 17......Jeffrey Fradkin ................New York, N.Y. 19......Steven Nazaroff ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.

YORK

20......Shawn Jackson ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 21......Nicholas Pustilnik ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 26......Alexander Petrov ............Middle Village, N.Y. 28......Joshua Berman ..............New York, N.Y. 33......Noah Edelman ................New York, N.Y. 38......Shand Stephens..............New York, N.Y. 42......Jonah Jurick ....................New York, N.Y. 44......Robbie F. Werdiger..........New York, N.Y. 46......Brandon T. Cohen ..........New York, N.Y. 48......Richard Zusman..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 49......Oliver Worth ....................New York, N.Y. 53......Oliver Obeid ....................New York, N.Y. 57......Blake Frank......................New York, N.Y. 58......Kai Yuminaga ..................Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 67......Donovan Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 68......William Charles Phillips ..New York, N.Y. 70......Christopher Tham ..........Flushing, N.Y. 72......Jeffrey McCready............Brooklyn, N.Y. 76......Marcos Souza Lee ..........New York, N.Y. 85......Maxwell Kachkarov ........Flushing, N.Y. 87......Tristan Taylor....................New York, N.Y. 88......Alex Portnoy ....................New York, N.Y. 93......Alexander Chiu................New York, N.Y. 94......Derek Lung ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 96......Gabriel Isaac Rissman ....Brooklyn, N.Y. 102....David Krasner..................Staten Island, N.Y. 103....Alexander Nielsen ..........New York, N.Y. 105....Ryan McCook..................Saint Albans, N.Y. 107....Joseph Wilkanowski ......Long Island City, N.Y. 108....Daniel Leon Maseyev......Brooklyn, N.Y. 112....Harry Portnoy ..................New York, N.Y. 113....Jonathan Glinsky ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 115....Kemal Irfan Aziz ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 118....John-Tomas Bilski ..........New York, N.Y. 123....Ameer Hosain..................New York, N.Y. 138....Zachary Portnoy..............New York, N.Y. 140....Aleksa Pljakic ..................Forest Hills, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................City 15......Sumit Sarkar....................New York, N.Y. 18......Mitchell Ostrovsky ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 25......Gary C. Fishkin................Staten Island, N.Y. 29......Calvin Chung ..................Bronx, N.Y 42......Zachary Jordan Lieb ......New York, N.Y. 50......Jeffrey Gorilovsky............Brooklyn, N.Y. 57......Sam Vagner ....................Staten Island, N.Y. 62......David Mizahi ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 63......Christopher Kolesnik ......Staten Island, N.Y. 68......Nicholas Rudman............New York, N.Y. 71......Philip Belmatch ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 73......Allan Ethan Magid ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 75......Robert Kennedy ............New York, N.Y. 78......Jordan D. Jordan ............Astoria, N.Y. 80......Lantis Wang ....................New York, N.Y. 89......Igor Maslov ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 95......Shawn Jackson ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 100....Dylan Friedman ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 115....Michael Tyutyunik............Brooklyn, N.Y. 122....Jacob Kern ......................New York, N.Y. 123....Adam Bernstein ..............New York, N.Y. 124....Gabriel Sifuentes ............Flushing, N.Y. 130....Derek Raskopf ................New York, N.Y. 135....Ethan Moszkowski..........New York, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 18 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................City 4........Oliver Sec ........................New York, N.Y.

RANKINGS 15......Christopher Paul Auteri ..Staten Island, N.Y. 16......Ananth Raghavan............New York, N.Y. 25......Marcus T. Smith ..............Little Neck, N.Y. 26......Ethan Nittolo....................Flushing, N.Y. 30......Felipe Osses-Konig ........Rego Park, N.Y. 45......James Wasserman..........New York, N.Y. 64......Alexander Pintilie ............New York, N.Y. 68......Jack Haroche ..................New York, N.Y. 87......Leonard Margolis ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 88......William J. Trang ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 94......Alexander Thrane ............New York, N.Y. 95......Zachary Kaplan ..............New York, N.Y. 97......Avery Bicks......................New York, N.Y. 99......Maurice Russo ................New York, N.Y. 100....Jordan D. Jordan ............Astoria, N.Y. 101....Michael Gardiner ............New York, N.Y. 104....Alex Chao ........................New York, N.Y. 108....Adam Bryan Borak..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 110....Brett W. Jones ................New York, N.Y. 117....Cole Gittens ....................New York, N.Y. 118....Xavier Pacthod ................New York, N.Y. 126....Faris Nathoo ....................New York, N.Y. 132....Igor Maslov ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.

GIRLS

Sectional Girls 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................City 7........Miriam Aziz ......................Staten Island, N.Y. 9........Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 14......Elvina Kalieva ..................Staten Island, N.Y. 16......Daniella Benabraham......New York, N.Y. 17......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 21......Lorraine Bergmann ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 26......Karolina Lankamer ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 27......Shawnte Beale ................Bronx, N.Y. 28......Carolyn Brodsky..............New York, N.Y. 35......Shakima Hotaki ..............Flushing, N.Y. 36......Michelle Kleynerman ......Staten Island, N.Y. 37......Natalie Eordekian ............Woodside, N.Y. 42......Sarah Youngberg ............New York, N.Y. 50......Rachel Zhang ..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 61......Nathalie Williams ............New York, N.Y. 70......Sabrina Boada ................Woodhaven, N.Y. 72......Sage Loudon ..................New York, N.Y. 74......Deliala Friedman..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 77......Alyssa An ........................New York, N.Y. 79......Kassia Taylor....................New York, N.Y. 94......Lara Rose Berliner ..........New York, N.Y. 100....Alina Kargin-Utkin............Brooklyn, N.Y. 101....Sofie Shen ......................New York, N.Y. 105....Masha Serjantov ............New York, N.Y. 112....Leila M. Epstein ..............New York, N.Y. 116....Elizabeth Serjantov..........New York, N.Y. 120....Nicolette Fundator ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 121....Samantha Bentsianov ....Staten Island, N.Y. 129....Julia T. Werdiger ..............New York, N.Y. 130....Blakely Duskin ................New York, N.Y. 134....Nicole Bolkunova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 137....Taylor Overstrom ............New York, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 14 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................Cityy 2........Shelly Yaloz......................Little Neck, N.Y. 6........Michelle Sorokko ............Little Neck, N.Y. 10......Dasha Kourkina ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 14......Rosie Garcia Gross ........New York, N.Y. 17......Nicole Semenov ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.

21......Katherine Kachkarov ......Flushing, N.Y. 23......Anastasia Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 25......Perene Wang ..................New York, N.Y. 29......Chelsea Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 30......Christina Huynh ..............Astoria, N.Y. 32......Kyra Bergmann................Forest Hills, N.Y. 35......Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y. 40......Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 45......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 52......Diana McCready..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 53......Rebecca Eliana Fisch......New York, N.Y. 54......Isabella Sinclair Cooper ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 55......Amanda Solecki ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 59......Marie Ivantechenko ........Brooklyn, N.Y. 60......Miriam Irfan Aziz..............Staten Island, N.Y. 64......Diana Sosonkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 74......Isabella Nicole Tushaj......Bronx, N.Y. 78......Giuliana Rosa Gibson ....Bayside, N.Y. 81......Gabriella Eitkis ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 82......Khyanna Singh ................Queens Village, N.Y. 83......Elvina Kalieva ..................Staten Island, N.Y. 84......Amy Kaplan ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 88......Rachel Rubenzahl ..........New York, N.Y. 92......Sofie Kate Levine ............New York, N.Y. 96......Audrey Pacthod ..............New York, N.Y. 106....Shawnte Beale ................Bronx, N.Y. 110....Shakima Hotaki ..............Flushing, N.Y. 112....Daniella Benabraham......New York, N.Y. 117....Zoe Kava..........................New York, N.Y. 120....Sabrina Boada ................Woodhaven, N.Y. 121....Lorraine Bergmann ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 125....Emily Moczulski ..............Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 136....Anastasya Menshikova ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 138....Casey Angelica Brandes Rego Park, N.Y. 139....Nicole Koi Massa ............Astoria, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................City 6........Shelly Yaloz......................Little Neck, N.Y. 9........Michelle Sorokko ............Little Neck, N.Y. 14......Dasha Kourkina ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 18......Brianna Williams..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 20......Nicole Semenov ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 21......Alexus Gill ........................Brooklyn, N.Y. 24......Alexandra Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 26......Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brookln, N.Y. 28......Victoria Sec......................New York, N.Y. 33......Sarah Rahman ................East Elmhurst, N.Y. 38......Lauren Munari..................Middle Village, N.Y. 42......Chelsea Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 43......Regina Furer ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 45......Anastasia Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 50......Patricia Obeid..................New York, N.Y. 52......Stephanie Li ....................New York, N.Y. 53......Sydney Lynn Katz ..........New York, N.Y. 54......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 59......Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y. 61......Lisa Marchelska ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 65......Katherine Kachkarov ......Flushing, N.Y. 71......Jennifer Yu ......................Forest Hills, N.Y. 81......Lia Kiam ..........................New York, N.Y. 86......Valicia Browne ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 89......Emma Brandes Kassan..New York, N.Y. 93......Kyra Bergmann................Forest Hills, N.Y. 99......Christina M. Huynh..........Astoria, N.Y. 102....Kiara A. Rose ..................New York, N.Y. 105....Barbara Podvorchani......Bronx, N.Y. 106....Isabelle Rovinski..............New York, N.Y. 114....Sabrina Lee Abrams ......New York, N.Y. 126....Miriam Irfan Aziz..............Staten Island, N.Y.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

NEW 129....Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 130....Rosie Garcia Gross ........New York, N.Y. 134....Liana Weitzman ..............Whitestone, N.Y. 135....Amy Kaplan ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 137....Brittny Jo Ferreira............Brooklyn, N.Y. 140....Maxine Beata Zaretsky ..Brooklyn, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 18 Singles— Metro Region Rank Name............................City 2........Anna Ulyashchenko........Brooklyn, N.Y. 5........Sabrina Xiong ..................Fresh Meadows, N.Y. 14......Arnelle Sullivan ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 19......Isis Gill..............................Brooklyn, N.Y. 20......Alexandra Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 24......Alexus Gill ........................Brooklyn, N.Y. 26......Yuka Lin ..........................Kew Gardens, N.Y. 34......Jessica Livianu ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 40......Brianna Williams..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 41......Sheely Yaloz ....................Little Neck, N.Y. 43......Christina Puccinelli..........New York, N.Y. 44......Patricia Obeid..................New York, N.Y. 51......Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y. 54......Sarah Rahman ................East Elmhurst, N.Y. 55......Sophia Kryloff ..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 56......Jillian Rose Auteri............Staten Island, N.Y. 57......Shayna Spooner..............New York, N.Y. 65......Michelle Sorokko ............Little Neck, N.Y. 68......Elizabeth Tsvetkov ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 69......Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y. 72......Annie Reiner ....................New York, N.Y. 77......Emma Brandes Kassan..New York, N.Y. 82......Lisa Marchelska ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 89......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 93......Kiara A. Rose ..................New York, N.Y. 109....Sofia Anouk Alsiks ..........New York, N.Y. 110....Lauren Munari..................Middle Village, N.Y. 112....Sydney Lynn Katz ..........New York, N.Y. 116....Stephanie Johnson ........Richmond Hill, N.Y. 122....Maxine Beata Zaretsky ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 127....Dea Koiava ......................New York, N.Y. 135....Jennifer Yu ......................Forest Hills, N.Y. 137....Isabelle Rovinski..............New York, N.Y. 138....Tamila Latif-Zade ............Brooklyn, N.Y.

Boys & Girls National Rankings (as of 04/22/15)

BOYS

National Boys 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 54......Noah Edelman ................New York, N.Y. 69......John-Tomas Bilski ..........New York, N.Y. 101....Wesley Zhang..................Staten Island, N.Y. 152....Sebastian Sec ................New York, N.Y. 214....Tyler Korobov ..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 233....Ty Switzer ........................New York, N.Y. 294....Donovan Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 305....Hudson Beaudoin ..........New York, N.Y. 411....Sidharth Chawla..............New York, N.Y. 488....Sachin Palta ....................Forest Hills, N.Y. 504....Winter Fagerberg ............New York, N.Y. 521....Jace K. Alexander ..........New York, N.Y. 646....David Krasner..................Staten Island, N.Y. 756....Cooper Williams ..............New York, N.Y.

YORK

811....Jasper August Hunt ........New York, N.Y. 973....Luca Anthony DeMare....New York, N.Y. 977....Solomon Brown ..............New York, N.Y. 980....Mitchel Pertsovsky..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 991....Joseph Phillips ................New York, N.Y.

National Boys 14 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 67......Lantis Wang ....................New York, N.Y. 118....Derek Raskopf ................New York, N.Y. 143....Nicholas Pustilnik ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 221....Shawn Jackson ..............Staten Island, N.Y. 247....Ethan Leon ......................Woodhaven, N.Y. 248....Igor Maslov ......................Brooklyn, N.Y. 287....Jeffrey Fradkin ................New York, N.Y. 324....Steven Daniel Nazaroff....Brooklyn, N.Y. 352....Joshua Berman ..............New York, N.Y. 506....Alexander Petrov ............Middle Village, N.Y. 748....Shand Stephens..............New York, N.Y. 812....Richard Zusman..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 856....Oliver Worth ....................New York, N.Y. 864....Brandon T. Cohen ..........New York, N.Y. 880....Jonah Jurick ....................New York, N.Y. 881....Harry Portnoy ..................New York, N.Y. 888....Noah D. Edelman............New York, N.Y. 947....Robbie Werdiger..............New York, N.Y.

National Boys 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 226....Sumit Sarkar....................New York, N.Y. 243....Mitchell Ostrovsky ..........Brooklyn, N.Y. 302....Gary C. Fishkin................Staten Island, N.Y. 402....Calvin Chung ..................Bronx, N.Y. 891....Robert Kennedy ..............New York, N.Y. 899....Zachary Jordan Lieb ......New York, N.Y. 901....Sam V. Vagner ................Staten Island, N.Y. 904....Lantis Wang ....................New York, N.Y.

National Boys 18 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 53......Oliver Sec ........................New York, N.Y. 146....James Wasserman..........New York, N.Y. 167....Ethan Nittolo....................Flushing, N.Y. 178....Christopher Auteri ..........Staten Island, N.Y. 221....Felipe Osses-Konig ........Rego Park, N.Y. 250....Ananth Raghavan............New York, N.Y. 387....Marcus T. Smith ..............Little Neck, N.Y. 513....Alexander Pintilie ............New York, N.Y. 709....Maurice Russo ................New York, N.Y.

RANKINGS 460....Shakima Hotaki ..............Flushing, N.Y. 507....Michelle Kleynerman ......Staten Island, N.Y. 636....Rachel Zhang ..................Forest Hills, N.Y. 773....Nathalie Williams ............New York, N.Y. 782....Natalie Eordekian ............Woodside, N.Y. 962....Masha Serjantov ............New York, N.Y. 979....Nina Wiese ......................Flushing, N.Y. 980....Julia T. Werdiger ..............New York, N.Y.

National Girls 14 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 22......Shelly Yaloz......................Little Neck, N.Y. 31......Dasha Kourkina ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 37......Michelle Sorokko ............Little Neck, N.Y. 150....Nicole Semenov ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 157....Katherine Kachkarov ......Flushing, N.Y. 173....Rosie Garcia Gross ........New York, N.Y. 204....Anastasia Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 206....Perene Wang ..................New York, N.Y. 303....Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y. 326....Kyra Bergmann................Forest Hills, N.Y. 370....Christina M. Huynh..........Astoria, N.Y. 587....Chelsea Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 635....Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 722....Diana McCready..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 844....Rebecca Eliana Fisch......New York, N.Y. 870....Amanda Solecki ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 977....Diana Sosonkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.

National Girls 16 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 137....Dasha Kourkina ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 175....Michelle Sorokko ............Little Neck, N.Y. 176....Brianna Williams..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 211....Alexandra Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 234....Shelly Yaloz......................Little Neck, N.Y. 286....Alexus Gill ........................Brooklyn, N.Y. 358....Victoria Sec......................New York, N.Y. 369....Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y. 384....Lauren Munari..................Middle Village, N.Y. 458....Sarah Rahman ................East Elmhurst, N.Y. 502....Nicole Semenov ..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 750....Anastasia Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 752....Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 870....Regina Furer ....................Brooklyn, N.Y. 927....Katherine Kachkarov ......Flushing, N.Y. 935....Chelsea Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y.

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

GIRLS

National Girls 12 Singles— Metro Region Rank ..Name ..........................City 32......Nadejda Maslova ............Brooklyn, N.Y. 45......Elvina Kalieva ..................Staten Island, N.Y. 56......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y. 66......Miriam Irfan Aziz..............Staten Island, N.Y. 209....Lorraine Bergmann ........Forest Hills, N.Y. 217....Daniella Benabraham......New York, N.Y. 390....Shawnte Beale ................Bronx, N.Y. 406....Carolyn Brodsky..............New York, N.Y. 409....Sarah Lucy Youngberg ..New York, N.Y. 451....Karolina Lankamer ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.

55......Anna Ulyashchenko........Brooklyn, N.Y. 60......Sabrina Xiong ..................Fresh Meadows, N.Y. 112....Jessica Melanie Livianu ..Brooklyn, N.Y. 156....Arnelle Sullivan ................Brooklyn, N.Y. 226....Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y. 368....Isis Gill..............................Brooklyn, N.Y. 369....Brianna Williams..............Brooklyn, N.Y. 404....Alexandra Koniaev ..........Forest Hills, N.Y. 498....Sophia Kryloff ..................Brooklyn, N.Y. 567....Stephanie Johnson ........Richmond Hill, N.Y. 588....Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y. 622....Michelle Sorokko ............Little Neck, N.Y. 670....Sheely Yaloz ....................Little Neck, N.Y. 690....Alexandra Sanford ..........New York, N.Y. 852....Nia Rose ..........................New York, N.Y. 869....Elizabeth Tsvetkov ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.

New York Tennis Magazine • May/June 2015 • NYTennisMag.com

909....Alexus Gill ........................Brooklyn, N.Y. 921....Julia D. Fisch ..................New York, N.Y.

USTA/Metropolitan Region

2015 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE For detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments. MAY 2015 Friday-Sunday, May 8-10 L1B Stadium Tennis Center May Challenger Stadium Tennis Center 725 Exterior Street Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12, 16 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player For more information, e-mail lauren@stadiumtennisnyc.com or call (718) 665-4684.

Friday-Sunday, May 15-17 L1B APTC May Challenger Alley Pond Tennis Center 7920 Winchester Boulevard Queens Village, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 16 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, May 11 at 9:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail hemco2@aol.com or call (718) 264-2600.

Saturday-Sunday, May 30-June 7 Mayor’s Cup New York City All-Scholastic Tennis Championships Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning 1720 Crotona Avenue Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles & Doubles 78’ Yellow Ball 12-18 Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $3 per player For more information, e-mail ebantovska@nyjtl.org or call (347) 553-2328.

Saturday, May 9 CTC Rally Day USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Flushing, N.Y. Divisions: Unranked Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 18 (TC) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $3 per player For more information, e-mail festa@eastern.usta.com or call (914) 697-2398.

Friday-Sunday, May 15-17 & May 22-24 L2O Sportime Randall’s Island May Open Sportime at Randall’s Island 1 Randall’s Island New York, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12 (FMLC); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 14 (SE); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 78’ Yellow Ball 14 (SE) Surface Type: Clay Indoor, Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Friday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail mmoore@sportimeny.com or call (212) 427-6150.

JUNE 2015 Friday-Sunday, June 12-14 L1B Cunningham Park Tennis Center June Challenger Cunningham Sports Center 19600 Union Turnpike Fresh Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12-14 (SE); Ranked Men’s & Women’s Singles & Doubles Open (SE); and Ranked NTRP Men’s & NTRP Women’s Singles: 3.5, 4.5 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Monday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (516) 984-3711.

Friday-Sunday, May 15-17 L1B Stadium Tennis Center May Challenger Stadium Tennis Center 725 Exterior Street Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12-14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail lauren@stadiumtennisnyc.com or call (718) 665-4684. Friday-Sunday, May 15-17 L1B Cunningham Park Tennis Center May Challenger Cunningham Sports Center 19600 Union Turnpike Fresh Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Monday, May 11 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (516) 984-3711.

Friday-Sunday, May 29-31 L2O Cunningham Park Tennis Center May Open Cunningham Sports Center 19600 Union Turnpike Fresh Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12 (FMLC); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 14-18 (SE); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 78’ Yellow Ball 14-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Monday, May 25 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (516) 984-3711. Friday-Saturday, May 29-30 L3 Sportime at Randall’s Island May UPS Sportime at Randall’s Island 1 Randall’s Island New York, N.Y. Divisions: Entry Level Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Green Ball 12 (RR) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail mmoore@sportimeny.com or call (212) 427-6150.

Friday-Sunday, June 12-14 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 78’ Yellow Ball 12 (FMLC); Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 14-18 (SE); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Doubles 78’ Yellow Ball 12-18 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Monday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail klastique@yahoo.com or call (516) 984-3711. Friday, June 12 L3 Sportime at Randall’s Island June UPS Sportime at Randall’s Island 1 Randall’s Island • New York, N.Y. Divisions: Entry Level Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Green Ball 12 (RR) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 7 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail mmoore@sportimeny.com or call (212) 427-6150.

NYTennisMag.com • May/June 2015 • New York Tennis Magazine

USTA/Metropolitan Region

2015 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE For detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments. Saturday, June 20 PSP L3; Sportime RI Metro Orange Series #3 Sportime at Randall’s Island 1 Randall’s Island New York, N.Y. Divisions: Entry Level Boys & Girls 10 and Under Singles 60’ Orange Ball 10 (NEF) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $28 per player (deadline for entries is Sunday, June 14 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail mmoore@sportimeny.com or call (212) 427-6150.

Friday-Sunday, June 26-28 L1 Thomas Blake Sr. June Championships Fordham University 441 East Fordham Road Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail dantebrown@hjtep.org or call (212) 491-3738.

Tuesday-Sunday, June 23-28 L1B North Shore Towers June Challenger North Shore and Towers Country Club 27286 Grand Central Parkway Floral Park, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12-18 (SE); and Challenger Boys & Girls Doubles 78’ Yellow Ball 14, 18 (SE) Surface Type: Clay Entry Fee: $54.25 for first singles/$28 for first doubles (deadline for entries is Monday, June 22 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, call (718) 428-5030.

Monday-Friday, June 29-July 3 L2R City Parks Junior Tournament Series: Cunningham Park City Parks Foundation Union Turnpike & 196th Place Flushing Meadow Corona Park Fresh Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12 (FMLC); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $33 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 19 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tomtvedt@yahoo.com or call (718) 760-6999.

Thursday-Sunday, June 25-28 L1B Thomas Blake Sr. June Challenger Fordham University 441 East Fordham Road Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Challenger Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12, 16 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail dantebrown@hjtep.org or call (212) 491-3738. Friday-Sunday, June 26-28 L1 NYJTL June Championships Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning 1720 Crotona Avenue Bronx, N.Y. Divisions: Championships Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12 (SE) Surface Type: Unknown Entry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail ebantovska@nyjtl.org or call (347) 553-2328.

Monday-Friday, June 29-July 3 L1B City Parks 10U Tournament Series: Cunningham Park City Parks Foundation Union Turnpike & 196th Place Flushing Meadow Corona Park Fresh Meadows, N.Y. Divisions: Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 12 (FMLC); and Intermediate Boys & Girls Singles 78’ Yellow Ball 14 (SE) Surface Type: Hard Entry Fee: $33 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, June 22 at 1:00 p.m.) For more information, e-mail tomtvedt@yahoo.com or call (718) 760-6999.

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