Tennis Briefs: Junior Cup Results; Florida Players at NCAA Individual Chps.

U.S. Juniors Qualify for Finals of Junior Davis Cup, Fed Cup and World Juniors

Whitney Osuigwe

Florida juniors featured on all four U.S. international tennis teams that qualified for the finals of the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup, and World Junior Tennis Championships.

The regional qualifier was contested last weekend at the USTA Training Center-Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., with the finals to be held later this year in Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Hallendale Beach’s 14-year-old Amanda Anisimova led the U.S. Junior Fed Cup team, which did not drop a set (18-0) in beating Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico for the championship. Also on the team were Claire Liu (15, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Caty McNally (14, Cincinnati). The team was captained by Adam Peterson. Anisimova is the No. 5-ranked junior in the world.

“The USA girls in the Junior Fed Cup led the way without dropping a set in the entire competition and losing only 22 games in 9 rubbers,” said USTA Director of Competition Lew Brewer.

Bradenton’s 15-year-old Sebastien Korda, coached by his Grand Slam-winning father Petr Korda, led the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team (16-and-under competition) that finished second to Canada, losing 2-1 in the final, but still advancing to the Junior Davis Cup finals. Other team members were Trey Hilderbrand (15, San Antonio) and Keenan Mayo (15, Roseville, Calif.). The team was captained by Leo Azevedo.

Hollywood’s 14-year-old Nicholas Garcia led the U.S. World Junior Tennis boys’ team that went undefeated (and 18-2 in sets) with wins over Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Also on the team were Stefan Leustian (14, Mather, Calif.) and Alex Lee (14, Oak Brook, Ill.). The team was captained by Eric Nunez.

Bradenton’s 14-year-old Whitney Osuigwe led the World Junior Tennis girls’ team that went undefeated (and 18-1 in sets) against Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. Also on the team were Naomi Cheong (13, Las Vegas) and Alexa Noel (13, Summit, N.J.). The team was captained by Jean Desdunes.

The finals of the World Junior Tennis Championships will be played in Protejov, Czech Republic, on Aug. 1-6, 2016. The Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup finals will played in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 27-Oct. 2, 2016.

The U.S. will be attempting a fourth Junior Fed Cup title (previously winning in 2008, 2012, 2014), a fourth Junior Davis Cup title Junior Davis Cup title (previously winning in 1999, 2008, 2014), a seventh World Junior Tennis girls’ title (previously winning in 1992, 2007-10, 2013), and a fifth World Junior Tennis boys’ title (previously winning in 2002-03, 2008, 2012).

Former U.S. junior international team members include Jim Courier, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport, and Sloane Stephens. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic also have represented their respective countries in junior international team competition.

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

Florida Players at NCAA Tennis Individual Championships

The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s tennis subcommittees this week selected for each the 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams that will compete in the 2016 NCAA Division I individual tennis championships.

The singles and doubles competition will be held on May 25-30 at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Ok., following the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 19-24. The University of Tulsa will serve as host.

All matches are the best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a 7-point tiebreaker at 6-games-all will be used for all matches. In doubles, a 10-point match tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set.

Here are the individuals from Florida schools that qualified in singles and doubles.

NCAA individual singles women:
University of Florida — Brooke Austin, Kourtney Keegan, Belinda Woolcock
University of Miami — Sinead Lohan, Stephanie Wagner
Florida State University — Daneika Borthwick

NCAA individual doubles women:
University of Florida — Brooke Austin/Kourtney Keegan
University of Miami — Stephanie Wagner/Wendy Zhang Miami

NCAA individual singles men:
University of Florida — Diego Hidalgo, Elliott Orkin, Alfredo Perez
University of South Florida — Roberto Cid, Dominic Cotrone
University of North Florida — Jack Findel-Hawkins
University of Miami — Piotr Lomacki
Florida State University — Benjamin Lock

NCAA individual doubles men:
University of North Florida — Jack Findel-Hawkins/Yannick Zuern
University of Florida — Gordon Watson/Diego Hidalgo
Florida State University — Benjamin Lock/Marco Nunez

To see the full draws go to www.itatennis.com.