Bradenton Teen Osuigwe Named to Team USA National Junior Tennis Team

Whitney Osuigwe

Bradenton 15-year-old Whitney Osuigwe was this week named to the 2017 Team USA National Junior Team, a training program designed to give a collection of America’s best young players, born in either 2001 or 2002, opportunities to train together during the summer and travel to play against top junior competition from around the world.

Players qualified for the team through meeting one or several results-based or ranking-based criteria, or through a playoff which was held last week at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla. Players were invited for the playoff based on tournament results, USTA national, or ITF world ranking.

Osuigwe, coached by her father Desmond, is ranked No. 16 in the world among juniors, this year winning ITF junior singles events in Brazil and Paraguay.

Also on the eight-girl squad are Hailey Baptiste (15, Takoma Park, Md.; Coach: Vince Spadea); Caty McNally (15, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn McNally); Alexa Noel (14, Summit, N.J.; Coach: Randy Blumenthaal); Abigail Forbes (16, Raleigh, N.C.; Coach: Cameron Moore); Sedona Gallagher (15, Henderson, Nev.; Coach: Tammy Gallagher); Vanessa Ong (15, Oklahoma City; Coach: Trent Tucker); and Katie Volynets (15, Walnut Creek, Calif.; Coaches: Mark Orwig, Richard Tompkins).

USTA Player Development will provide the Team USA National Junior Team with training opportunities and coaching and travel assistance to select USTA National Championships, ITF junior and USTA Pro Circuit tournaments throughout the summer, beginning with the USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 event in Naples, Fla., this week.

For more info go to www.usta.com/news.