Sofia Kenin
Two Florida boys and two Florida girls will compete in the main draws at the French Open juniors in Paris on May 29-June 4, 2016
Competitors from Florida are Amanda Anisimova (14, Hallandale Beach, Fla.; Coaches: Konstantin and Olga Anisimova, Nick Saviano), Sofia Kenin (17, Pembroke Pines, Fla.; Coaches: Alex Kenin and Stephen Huss), Ulises Blanch (18, Pompano Beach, Fla; Coaches: Daniel Garcia, Rodrigo Alvarez, Claudio Menna), and Vasil Kirkov (17, Tampa, Fla.; Coaches: Leo Azevedo, Stoyan Kirkov).
Kenin last year was the USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion and US Open girls’ finalist.
With 12 girls and nine boys entered into the main draw or qualifying, the U.S. has the most players entered into the Roland Garros junior draw via direct acceptance by a wide margin. China and Japan, the next-highest countries, each have eight. Additionally, two of the top three girls’ seeds will be American — No. 2 Anisimova and No. 3 Kayla Day.
Three of the French Open boys’ singles semifinalists were American last year, with Tommy Paul beating Taylor Fritz in the first all-American French Open boys’ singles final, dating to 1947.
USTA Player Development National Coaches Leo Azevedo, Sylvain Guichard, Jamea Jackson, Henner Nehles and Adam Peterson will be providing support to all American players participating in the French Open junior championships. Players participating in the main draw will receive a $1,250 grant from USTA Player Development, and those players’ full-time, personal coaches traveling with them to Paris will also receive a $1,250 grant.
Other Americans in the girls’ draw are Day (16, Santa Barbara, Calif.; Coaches: Henner Nehles, Mike Gennette), Usue Arconada (17, College Park, Md.; Coach: Frank Salazar), Alexandra Sanford (17, Westerville, Ohio; Coach: Henner Nehles), Maria Mateas (16; Braintree, Mass.; Coach: Calin Mateas), Michaela Gordon (16, Los Altos Hills, Calif.; Coach: Alex Poorta), Morgan Coppoc (17, Tulsa, Okla.; Coach: Trent Tucker), Caty McNally (14, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn Nabors-McNally), and Claire Liu (16, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Coaches: Adam Peterson, Mike Gennette).
Additional U.S boys in the draw are John McNally (17, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn Nabors-McNally), J.J. Wolf (17, Cincinnati; Coach: David Kass), Nathan Ponwith (18, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Coach: Lou Belken), Sam Riffice (17, Roseville, Calif.; Coach: Lori Riffice), and Brandon Holt (18, Rolling Hills, Calif.; Coach: Peter Lucassen).
U.S. girls and boys in the qualifying draw this week are Ellie Douglas (15, McKinney, Texas; Coach: Luis Herrera), Natasha Subhash (14, Fairfax, Va.; Coach: Bear Schofield), Oliver Crawford (17, Spartanburg, S.C.; Coaches: Anthony Stewart, Kelly Jones), and Gianni Ross (17, Chicago; Coaches: Jack Sharpe, Robbye Poole).
For more info go to www.usta.com/news.
