New York Tennis Magazine - September/October 2012

65NYTennisMag.com • September/October 2012 • New York Tennis Magazine


Outdoors May to September

Indoor Bubble from October to April

Architectural Rendering of Clubhouse Lobby

www.stadiumtennisnyc.com

XAv

e

Stadium

Parking


• Seasonal and hourly court time• Private and group lessons

• Junior program by Manhattan Tennis Academy• Friday night round robbins

• Racquet stringing and regripping• Same day reservation specials

Don’t Miss Out ... Call NOW to Enroll!

2

New York Tennis Magazine1220 Wantagh Avenue • Wantagh, NY 11793-2202

Phone: (516) 409-4444 • Fax: (516) 409-4600Web site: www.nytennismag.com

StaffDavid Sickmen

Publisher(516) 409-4444, ext. 309 • [email protected]

Joel M. BermanPresident

(516) 409-4444, ext. 310 • [email protected]

Eric C. PeckEditor-in-Chief


Joey ArendtManaging Art Director

Jon BlakeAdvertising Coordinator


Adam WolfthalDirector of Business Development


Anthony PastecchiEditorial Coordinator/Reporter


Emilie KatzMarketing Coordinator

Tara CookBilling Coordinator

(516) 409-4444, ext. 324

Beverly KoondelOffice Administrator

(516) 409-4444, ext. 316

AdvertisingTo receive any information regarding advertising rates, dead-lines, and requirements, call (516) 409-4444 or [email protected].

Article Submissions/Press ReleasesTo submit any material, including articles and press releases,please call (516) 409-4444 or e-mail [email protected] deadline for submissions is the first of the month pre-ceding the target issue.

SubscriptionsTo receive subscription information, contact (516) 409-4444 or e-mail [email protected] or check out our Web site: www.nyten-nismag.com. Fax subscription changes to (516) 409-1600.

Statements of fact and opinion in New York Tennis Magazine are theresponsibility of the authors alone and do not imply an opinion on the partof United Sports Publications Ltd. New York Tennis Magazine reservesthe right to edit, reject and/or postpone the publication of any articles,information or data.

New York Tennis Magazineis published bi-monthly by

United Sports Publications Ltd.Copyright © 2012 United Sports Publications Ltd.

Feature Stories6 The Pros Shine on the Grandest Stage in London at 2012

Olympic Games32 A Look Back at the 2012 New York Sportimes Season

34 2012 Guide to New York Tennis ClubsA closer look at the area’s top clubs, including: Butch Seewagen Tennis Academy, Go! Tennis,Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club, Midtown Tennis Club, New York Tennis Club, Roosevelt IslandRacquet Club, SPORTIME Randall’s Island, Stadium Tennis Center at Mill Pond Park, TCR—TheClub of Riverdale, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and West Side Tennis Club.

Additional Features3 Muscle Memory in Tennis By Xavier Luna4 Learning at the U.S. Open By Bill Longua10 The Service Rhythm By Michael Misiti11 Rolf Jaeger of Tennis Boutique Discusses the Art of Tennis Boutique12 Mike Wallace Serves Both On and Off the Court By Mary Jane Moore14 Courtside With Skip Hartman of Advantage Tennis Clubs 17 BOLT Releases New Light-Head Models30 Junior Tennis Around the World By Eric Faro46 Mommy and Me Tennis By Richard Thater48 Tennis Parenting By Gilad Bloom55 Tryouts Set for 2013 USA Maccabiah Tennis Team56 John McEnroe Tennis Academy Honors Eight With Fall Scholarships58 Juniors Work on Their Game and Get Career Advice at Camp A.C.E.59 McEnroe, Agassi, Sampras and Rafter to Compete in NASDAQ Indexes Cup at MSG in November

Columns16 Winning Within: The Tennis Player is a Person First and Performer Second By Rob Polishook, MA, CPC40 USTA Metro Region Update44 Court Six: New York Tennis Magazine’s Gossip Column By Emilie Katz50 Adult League Recap: USTA Leagues Update By Deborah-Rose Andrews52 Tips From the Tennis Pro: Three Secrets to a Better Serve Today By Lisa Dodson57 New York Tennis Magazine’s Literary Corner: Winning Tennis Strokes By Bill Longua By Brent Shearer60 Upcoming Events60 New York Tennis Club Directory61 New York Rankings64 USTA/Metropolitan Region 2012 Tournament Schedule

Cover photo credit: Getty Images/USTA

18 2012 U.S. Open PreviewPreviewing the stars as they set to take over New York at the 2012 U.S.Open, with a closer look at the contenders, pretenders, the state ofAmerican tennis, what you can learn from the pros at the U.S. Open …the sights, the sounds, the attractions and the pageantry that is the2012 U.S. Open.

Cover storyTABLE OF CONTENTSSeptember/October2012

Volume 2, Number 5

Brent ShearerEditorial Contributor

Kenneth B. GoldbergPhotographer

Kristen KelleherIntern

Kristen MaggioIntern

Jenna PoczikIntern

Jessica StilesIntern


Muscle Memoryin Tennis

By Xavier Luna

“The highest reward for a person’swork is not what they get for it, butwhat they become of it.”—JohnRushkin

Did you ever watch a professional tennis matchand wonder how the players make their ex-traordinary shots look so effortless? Perhapsyou even thought it looks so easy that you

should be able to do it yourself. The veryfact that the pros make it look simple

explains the importance of “musclememory.”

Tennis is a habitual sport,meaning that the forehand andbackhand swings that playersexecute throughout a match

are practiced repeatedly untilthese movements become natural. That’s where theinnovative learning strategy of muscle memorycomes in. Muscle memory is a term given to the pro-cedural memory that can be acquired from makingsomething a physical habit.

In terms of tennis, practicing backhand andforehand swings repeatedly teaches the brain tosignal the body to reproduce these motions as in-grained habits. However, keep in mind that if youare practicing incorrectly and developing habitsbased on your flaws, your game will be flawed.That’s why it is important that your “muscle mem-ory” is fundamentally sound. Here are some waysto ensure this:

� Coaching: Take the time to learn proper logis-tics and form. Don’t take shortcuts and don’tallow bad habits to continue.

� Patience: Muscle memory can also beachieved individually, but it takes patience. Getyour form down, then stay in this form through-out your play, so that it becomes natural to you.

� Practice, practice, practice: Spend lots of timeon your own hitting tennis balls. Make each shotfeel natural and not “forced.” It’s an old cliché, butpractice really does make perfect. Some may arguethat “perfect practice makes perfect,” and this istrue when it comes to building effective musclememory through habit. If you’re practicing incor-rectly, you won’t get the most out of your practicehours, which will lead to frustration on the court.Check your form from time to time to make sureyou’re still practicing perfectly.

Muscle memory is stored in the part of the brainknown as the cerebellum, and practicing the same thingrepeatedly essentially embeds the technique into thispart of the brain. Note that while the cerebellum is onlyabout 10 percent of the overall brain, it contains about 50percent of the total neurons in the brain. As you may re-call from science class, neurons process and transmitinformation through chemical and electrical signals. Theplethora of neurons in this part of the brain is why it’s soessential to long-term muscle memory. So when youpractice, practice and then practice some more, whatyou are practicing becomes engraved, essentially, inyour brain as muscle memory.

One example of a tennis great who has mastered thetechnique of hitting balls over and over again until thestrokes become cemented in the brain. Consider thecase of Roger Federer, whose 17 Grand Slam singles ti-tles certainly put him in running for “best tennisplayer ever.” The practice and discipline that Federerdisplays on the practice court carries over to hismatches. Federer has mastered the muscle memorytechnique and has capitalized on its benefits, thanks torigorous practice and discipline. So the next time youhear the words “practice makes perfect,” keep in mindthat there is a great deal of truth to the popular phrase.

Xavier Luna is director of Advantage All-City JuniorPrograms (Roosevelt Island Racquet Club, Manhat-tan Plaza Racquet Club and New York Tennis Club).He may be reached by phone at (917) 570-9650 orvisit www.advantagetennisny.com.

New York Tennis Magazine • September/October 2012 • NYTennisMag.com

By Bill Longua

It’s the best time of year … time for the 2012U.S. Open. This is a time where you can per-sonally appreciate the amazing talents you are

witnessing on the courts, but more importantly, a great timeto improve your own game by observing the players, not justwatching them. When watching great players, observe theareas that will assist you the best, realizing that many ofthose areas that are intricate in detail are best observed inperson, not on television. My advice is to strictly focus onone player. This will allow you to observe entire points in theeyes of that one particular player and how intense the pointstruly are.

Learning at the U.S. Open

The footwork of a professionalwhen moving to a shot is great,but the constantsmall steps in between their shots is the key.

“

”


Here are some of the areas to zero in onwhen observing players. First and fore-most, you will notice how important foot-work really is to improving your game. Thefootwork of a professional when movingto a shot is great, but the constant smallsteps in between their shots is the key.The constant movement has them betterprepared to react to the next oncomingball. A very smart college coach, JackBarnaby of Harvard, once said, “Tennis is40 percent feet, 40 percent mind and 20percent hitting the ball.” I’m not sure ifthose percentages are exactly true, butthey seem pretty close to me.

Another area that will improve yourgame again involves footwork, the spilt-step. See how a player approaching thenet will split-step just prior to contactmade by the opponent. The split willleave the player balanced and able to goto either side to reach for a shot. Theother split step to watch is on the returnof serve. If you can incorporate this intoyour game, I promise you will breakserve more often. Notice how the playerwill start about a foot back of where he

or she wants to return the ball from andwill jump-step forward landing on theballs of both feet right before service im-pact. The player is now moving forward,taking the serve early with a shortenedbackswing. In your game, this maneuverwill allow you to catch up to the servesof those opponents who have overpow-ered you.

Having a difficult time generating theamount of topspin you want on yourground strokes? Focus in on theplayer’s upward forward motion andwrist snap during the shot. There aredifferent backswings, but they all basi-cally end up at the same point, belowthe ball, which is why the focus shouldbe the forward motion to contact.

Are you watching balls sailing long?Zero in on the follow through. Tennis hasa lot of opposites in the game, and onebig one is the shorter the follow-through, the higher the shot, the longerthe follow-through the lower the shot.

You know your own game and thesame errors that keep creeping into yourgame. Take this opportunity to not justwatch and enjoy the Open matches, butto also learn at the same time.

Good luck and have fun.

Bill Longua is the tennis director/headpro at Palm Island Resort in Cape Haze,Fla. Bill is a member of the USPTA, hasbeen teaching tennis for more than 35years, and is the author of Winning TennisStrokes. Bill also enjoys teaching tennison his Web site, http://onlinetennistrain-ing.com. Please check out Brent’sShearer’s Literary Corner for his review ofWinning Tennis Strokes. Take advantageof the download version sale by going tohttp://onlinetennistraining.com/usopen.He may be reached at [email protected].

NYC Racquet Sports157A West 35th Street(between Bway & 7th)212.695.5353

NTC Pro ShopUSTA Billie Jean KingNational Tennis CenterFlushing Meadows, NY718.760.6227

Grand Central RacquetEast 44th Street(between Mad & Vanderbilt)212.292.8851

Grand Central Terminal(between tracks 38 & 39)212.856.9647

www.grandcentralracquet.com

Racquet Sports Industry2010 Retailer of the Year!

VISIT ANY OF OURGREAT LOCATIONSYOUR SOURCE FOR US OPEN MERCHANDISE

Offering a complete line of

WOMEN’S, MEN’S & KID’S Clothing, Shoes, Racquets, Bags and Accessories for

YOUR SOURCE FOR US OPEN MERCHANDISE

Offering a complete line of

WOMEN’S, MEN’S & KID’S Clothing, Shoes, Racquets, Bags and Accessories for

from Nike, Adidas, Wilson, Prince, Head,Babolat and many, many MORE!

from Nike, Adidas, Wilson, Prince, Head,Babolat and many, many MORE!

SSSSSSSSSSOOOO SSSSSSSSSSSSOOSS CCOUOU CCUUOO RRURUR SOSOSSYOYOUR SOURC FE

RRFOO US OPE MERNR

NNAAAANNNNNNNNNNCC AA DD SSIISSCC DDAA

20a

GGV

1

G

201caRR

GVV

NNCHAHAANDISSE

V

0q

GRREEIS

R

EAIT

etaS

T LANAN

ilep

OCNY

er r

CAO

f

TIF O

hhd

ONOUU

e Ys

NSSR

er

!

T

ear!0 Retailer of the YYeyrttsuudnnIstroopStteuqcc

TIONSR

OCAOCAATATNY O

LT LEAGREAATVISIT ANY OF OUR

OOffffeferrin

WOWOMENClootthinBagss a

eses

ng a compleetete line o

N’SSS, MEN’S’S & KKIng,g, SShoess,s, Racquetetstsand AcAccesssssorriess fofor

oof

ID’S’Ss,s, r

W

718.760.6227718.760.622Flushing Meadows, NYFlushing Meadows, NY

ennis Centernnis CenterTTTeNationalNaBillie Jean KingBillie Jean KingASUSTTA

NTC Pro ShopTC Pro Shop

212.695.5353212.695.5353(between Bway & 7th)between Bway & 7th)

est 35th Streetest 35th StreetWW157A57AA NYC Racquet SportsNYC Racquet Sports

rrrrfrfrorom Nikeke,, AdAdBabolatat

aassdd sosoononmamamm

PPaann

didasas,s, WWilssson,n, Prrincet andd maany, manyny MOnyy

HH

wwwwww

e,e, Headd,d,OREE!

g an

2

G

c

21

12

ran

n

85

2

ee

ra

C

.96trntr

ac

851

47ck

T

qu

38erm

et

& 3

erb

9)

et

212.292.8851

.grandcentralracquet.comw

212.856.9647bet(between tracks 38 & 39)

d C naerminalTTeal Grand Central

212.292.8851andanderbi(between Mad & V(between Mad & V

East 44th StreetEast 44th StreetGrand Central RacqueGrand Central Racquet

t)

m

ilt)

6 New York Tennis Magazine • September/October 2012 • NYTennisMag.com

Just three short weeks beforethe Olympics, history wasmade by Roger Federer, takinghis record-tying seventh title atWimbledon. At the age of 31,Roger won his 17th GrandSlam title, giving him therecord for most Men’s Singles

Grand Slam Championships and vaultinghim back to the number one ranking. Ap-proximately 470 hours after that finalended, the first Olympic tennis match wasplayed on the grounds of the All EnglandLawn Tennis and Croquet Club, kicking offthe 2012 London Olympic Games. Thegrounds looked different, the standard darkgreen color was covered by the magentabanners of the Olympics. The standard“All-Whites” rule was not in effect, andplayers were free to wear what they

pleased, be it for national pride or to pro-mote their newest line of clothing, for exam-ple Eleven by Venus Williams. It was to bethe first time that Olympic Gold was con-tested on grass since 1920, and it seemedthat Federer would finally fill in the one spoton his resume with any room for improve-ment, an Olympic Singles Gold Medal.

Men’s Singles

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Andy Murray defeated top-seed R o g e rF e d e r e r o f Switzerland, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 to

capture the Gold Medal. It was a rematch ofthe 2012 Wimbledon finals, and this time,the outcome was in favor of the hometownMurray who became the first British man towin a singles gold medal in 104 years.

“It’s definitely different,” said Murray.“I’ve won an Olympic Gold Medal. Ihaven’t won a Grand Slam. I know howthis feels and it feels great. I’ve lostsome tough matches in some tough fi-nals and that’s hurt me a lot. I think ten-nis in the Olympics is getting better eachtime it’s played, because all the topplayers are playing now. For me, it’s thebiggest win of my life.”

Murray follows in the footsteps of JohnPius Boland (1900), Laurence Doherty(1904), Josiah Ritchie (1908 outdoors) andArthur Gore (1908 indoors) as maleOlympic singles Gold Medalists represent-ing Great Britain.

“This week has been absolutely incredi-ble, I’ve had a lot of fun,” said Murray. “I feltso fresh on the court today. I didn’t feelnervous really at all, apart from at the be-ginning of the match. The support’s beenunbelievable.

Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro de-feated second-seeded Novak Djokovicof Serbia 7-5, 6-4 to win the BronzeMedal, capturing his nation’s first medalat the Games. del Potro has a 45-11record this year, having won two ATPWorld Tour titles in 2012, at the Open 13in Marseille and at the Estoril Open. Hecame into the match with a 1-4 lifetimerecord against Djokovic.

“[It is a] disappointing end, but I en-joyed it,” said Djokovic after the loss. “It

The Pros Shine on the Grandest Stagein London at 2012 Olympic Games

Finest daily teaching tips from

Top pro Scott Perlstein

Videos, News Match Previewsand More!


was a pleasure playing for my country.”Djokovic has a 45-7 match record to

date in 2012, with two titles under his belt,the Australian Open and the Sony EricssonOpen in Miami.

“It’s our [Argentina’s] first medal atthis Olympic Games,” said del Potro.“It’s the first time in men’s singles. I thinkit means a lot for us. I wish a fantasticday for [Argentineans] to celebrate thiswith me … it’s amazing. It’s history, Ithink. It’s time to celebrate all together.”

Women’s Singles

hoto credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Fourteen-time Grand Slam winner SerenaWilliams of the United States defeatedRussia’s Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 to winthe Gold Medal in the Women’s SinglesTennis Final. Serena joins elite company, asshe has won a career singles GoldenGrand Slam, in addition to the two doublesGold Medals that she won with sisterVenus. Serena is currently on a 17-matchwinning streak and has won the last sevenmatches she played against Sharapova,who took home the Silver Medal.

Serena lost just 13 games in the fourOlympic finals she has won: 2000 Syd-ney doubles, 2008 Beijing doubles, 2012London singles and doubles.

Olympic Bronze went to VictoriaAzarenka of Belarus, a 6-1, 6-0 winner overRussia’s Maria Kirilenko. Azarenka’s winensured that the three women’s GrandSlam winners to date collected three of thewomen’s singles medals up for grabs atLondon 2012, as Azarenka added a BronzeMedal to her 2012 Australian Open title,Sharapova added a Silver Medal to her2012 French Open title, and Serena addedher Gold Medal to her 2012 WimbledonChampionship.

Men’s Doubles

Americans Bob & Mike Bryan won theGold Medal in Men’s Doubles, defeatingFrance’s Michael Llodra & Jo-WilfriedTsonga 6-4, 7-6(2). The Bryans capital-ized on a slow start by their French op-ponents to break Tsonga in the firstgame, after they forced them into severalvolley errors. At 4-3, Mike Bryan cameunder tremendous pressure on serve. Butfought back from 15/40 and saved fivebreak points in total.

“This is the biggest win of our careerright here,” said Bob Bryan. “It’s unbe-lievable.” At the 2008 Beijing Olympics,the Bryans won the Bronze Medal.

“To play on Centre Court at Wimbledonand win the gold medal is a dream cometrue,” said Mike Bryan. “We could stoptomorrow and we got a big smile on ourface for the rest of our lives.”

The Bryans join Australians ToddWoodbridge & Mark Woodforde as theonly pairs to win multiple medals in the

men’s doubles event since tennis re-turned to the Olympic Games in 1988.

Frenchmen Richard Gasquet & JulienBenneteau defeat David Ferrer & FelicianoLopez of Spain 7-6(4), 6-2 to win theBronze Medal in men’s doubles.

Women’s Doubles

The overpowering American pair of Serena& Venus Williams won the 2012 OlympicWomen’s Doubles Gold Medal. TheWilliams Sisters beat Andrea Hlavackova &Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-4 under the roof on a rainy afternoon atthe All England Club.

“We all talk about this. We have so manymedals, but to be able to add to that, it’slike an unbelievable feeling,” Venus said.“You know that in that count, there you are.It feels amazing.”

The Americans in the crowd at CentreCourt broke into a chant of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

continued on page 8


as the players left the court, the sisters pumpedtheir fists, turned to wave, then slapped a high-five. This was another commanding perform-ance, as the Sisters did not drop a set throughtheir five matches in London.

Third-seeded Maria Kirilenko & NadiaPetrova of Russia took the Bronze Medal bybeating the top-seeded U.S. pair of LiezelHuber & Lisa Raymond, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Mixed-Doubles

Andy Murray didn’t have long to celebratehis Singles Championship, as he wasslated to head back onto the courts just 45

The Pros Shine continued from page 7

minutes later in the mixed-doubles finals,as he and partner Laura Robson faced MaxMirnyi & Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.Murray had to settle for silver however, asthe pair fell to the Belarussians who pre-vailed in a close match tie-break to winOlympic Gold, 2-6, 6-3, 10-8.

Mike Bryan won his second medal of theweekend when he and U.S. teammate LisaRaymond took the Bronze Medal in mixed-doubles, which returned to the Olympicsfor the first time since 1924.

The Americans performed extremelywell in London, taking home three of fiveavailable Gold Medals in Olympic Tennis.More history was made at the All EnglandLawn Tennis Club with Murray becomingthe first Brit to win Olympic gold in Men’s

Singles Tennis in104 years andSerena becomingthe first woman toever complete theGolden Slam inboth Singles andDoubles. With onlythree weeks be-tween the Olympicfinals and the startof the 2012 U.S.Open, many players have decided totake some time off. Serena said thatnow she has won everything and will goto Disney World, while Federer has re-portedly decided to spend the time withhis family. With the shortened warm upfor the hard court season this year, itwill be intriguing to see how playerscontend with the conditions in FlushingMeadows.


Sign up now for triple tennis privileges and FREE court time!

PASSP RT

GET YOUR ADVANTAGE

PASSP RT!

WE’VE GOT

YOUR GAME!

SIGN UP NOW

New York Tennis Club3081 Harding Ave., Throgs Neck, NY 10465Contact: Lauren Hartman(718) [email protected]

Roosevelt Island Racquet Club 281 Main St., Roosevelt Island, NY 10044Contact: Tom Manhart(212) [email protected] Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club 450 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036Contact: Gil Amar(212) [email protected]

It’s a triple tennis win!

Play at 3 top clubs for 1 low price. Plus get FREE outdoor court time.

Enjoy membership in all 3 Advantage Tennis Clubs,FREE outdoor court time, advance booking & more.

If you love tennis, Advantage Passport membership was created just for you! Choose a home club and get home club advantages there. Plus complete access to the other two clubs. It’s a “triple tennis win!” Here’s why:

Three great choices for your home club -- New York Tennis Club, Roosevelt Island Racquet Club or Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club

Full access and game-arranging services at all 3 clubs Member court rates at all 3 clubs

14-day reservation privileges at Roosevelt Island and Manhattan Plaza

FREE outdoor court time every day -- noon till closing -- at NY Tennis Club’s 6 Har-Tru courts through October

FREEEnjoy

outdoor courty membership

t time advancin all 3 Advan

ce booking & mntage Tennis C

moreClubs,

e Herwin!””o thess tcac

get home ceteaas crwevou lof yI

FREE

:ys wh’s a ’’t. Io clubswhe other t. Petages theranclub adv

ou! Choose a hor yd just ffoasspotage Pandv, Aennist

outdoor court

ennisiple ttr“eompletlus c

home club andt membershipor

t time, advanc

ce booking & m

PPAOUR GET YYO

ASSPAADV

SIGN UP

more.

T!GEATA

RANT

OW

yda14

embM

all 3 clull acF

lubCquacR

oYYow eNee hrT

tion privilegesavesery r

t all 3 clues atat rourer cb

ubsangin-arress and gamec

ttan Panhalub or Met Cvose, Rolubennis CTTek or

our hor yes ft choiceagr

elt

FtS

Nvoset Roa

ubs

tes avicng ser

quetaclaza Rsland elt Iv

home club --

t time!ourFREE cennis privileges t

or tw fSign up no

lub

SIGN UP N

CennisTTekorw YYoeN

andtriple

NOW

tsourctill closFREE o

sland Iyda14-

erobtough Octhrlubennis CTTeYt Nsing -- aervt time eouror cdoout

ttan Plazaanhaand Mtion privileges avesery r

VE tWE’

u

(C2R

lh(C3N

rTs 6 Har-’’sbony -- noy da

eltvoset Roa

om.cennistcirt@rmanhar212) 935-0250

tanharMom t: TTotaconCelt Islanoosev., Rtain S281 M

qacsland Relt IvoseRo

[email protected]) 239-7919

tmanen Hart: LaurtaconCogs NehrT.,evding A3081 HarlubCennisTTek orw YYoeN

Y 10044, Nndlub uet C

10465Y, Neckk,

ASPPA

SSP R

T gGAME!OUR YYO

OTG(C4M

om.ccycn.amar@mprg212) 594-0554

mart: Gil AtaconC,korYYo., New td Sest 43rW450

qacttan Plaza RanhaM

Y 10036, Nlubquet C


By Michael Misiti

One of the first thingswe are told when webegin our journey in

tennis is that the serve is themost important shot. Unfortunately, I askmany intermediate and advanced playersabout the simple biomechanics of theserve, and they become suddenly mute.We all understand that the toss is vitalwhen trying to hit a good serve, but what’snot taught is that the toss should match thewind-up, or what I call the “rhythm” of theserve.

When we go to the U.S. Open, we aremesmerized by the power, accuracy andspin of the servers on both the men’s andwomen’s side, but what is also quite in-teresting is that they all look quite differ-ent in their approach to the serve. As ageneral rule, we are taught that the firstserve should be tossed between 12o’clock and one o’clock (for right-han-ders) and between 11 o’clock and 12o’clock (for left-handers). The first servetoss should always be out in front of thebaseline, giving the server the opportu-nity to lean into the shot, putting theirweight behind it in a linear fashion. Forthe second serve, however, the tossshould be over one’s head, or perhaps

behind one’s head to effectively be ableto hit a kick serve by hitting upward onthe ball. What’s not discussed enough isthe height of the toss, and the ability tohit different serves from different tosses.

What is the ideal height for the toss ofthe serve? The answer … there is none.The height of the toss should coincidewith one’s rhythm of motion. There arethree distinct rhythms that have beenidentified by coaches worldwide today.The first and most commonly taughtservice rhythm is the Classic Rhythm.This style requires a medium ball tossthat neither gets lost in the clouds orlooks like it’s stuck to your hand. TheClassic motion is very efficient andaesthetically pleasing to the eye, as itrepresents the smoothest motion, as seenby Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

As you can see, when Federer releasesthe ball, his racket is up to shoulder

height and is soon readying the famoustrophy pose, where he will explode up tothe ball. Roger exhibits balance betweenthe right and left side of his body as hecompletes step two of his motion. Themost important thing to understand re-garding the Classic Rhythm is that be-cause the racket moves up with thetossing arm at the same time, the toss re-quires a height neither too high nor toolow, as can be seen in other service mo-tions.

The most unique and easily identifiableservice motion is that of Andy Roddick.He was not only the first server to use anextreme Abbreviated Serve, he perfectedit. Years after Roddick came on the ATPTour, Rafael Nadal changed his serveunder the guidance of Uncle Toni to anAbbreviated Motion. Another pro super-star with an Abbreviated motion is GaelMonfils whose serve is quite similar tothat of Roddick.

As Roddick tosses the ball, his racketis already above his shoulder, almost in aset position. As soon as the ball is re-leased, Andy will immediately start tobend his knees and ready himself for hisexplosive thrust upward to the ball. TheAbbreviated Rhythm requires the lowesttoss, because the racket is already mov-ing up with the tossing arm, and is setmuch quicker than in any other motion. Ifthe toss is too high with this motion,many bad habits can develop. It is im-portant to sync your toss with the rhythmthat is most comfortable to you, and forAndy, Rafa and Gael, they were able todevelop the most power from the Abbre-viated Motion.

The Service Rhythm

www.catsny.com

Butch Seewagen is a former varsity coach at Columbia University.He holds over 15 nationaland international titles and isthe owner/program directorof the Children’s AthleticTraining Schools.

For Boys and Girls 5 – 9 years old.

235 E. 49th Street @ Millennium Health

& Racquet ClubPhone: 212-832-1833, ext. 222

NY’s first Tennis Academydevoted to the USTA’s 10 & under Initiative.

• 4-1 Ratio• Tennis & Swimming• Cross Sport Activities• Convenient Midtown Location


New York Tennis Magazine had the opportunity to interview RolfJaeger, owner of Tennis Boutique. Jaeger hasbeen designing and collecting jewelry since the1960s. When he started collecting tennis memo-rabilia, meant to be displayed in a museum in In-dian Wells, Calif. in 1998, he realized that therewas no “real quality” tennis jewelry available.

“I want tennis enthusiasts to identify themselveswith our great sport—not only on the court, butalso at social events,” said Jaeger.

When he exhibited his first memorabilia collec-tion of 10,000-plus tennis-related items in IndianWells, a small museum shop offered tennis jew-elry with great success. The new Indian Wellstournament site was inaugurated in his museumsetting. Since plans had changed for the IndianWells Tennis Garden Museum, the displayed ten-nis memorabilia collection was purchased byTennis Australia for their newly-designed tennismuseum at Melbourne Park. Jaeger has started asecond collection, which is currently in his pos-session.

“These treasures should be displayed in a museum as well for

The motion that requires the highest tossis that of the Staggered Rhythm. It hap-pens to be my favorite motion because Ihave used it throughout my playing careerand also because I admire the serves ofStaggered Rhythm servers, SerenaWilliams and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In thisparticular motion, the toss is completedwhile the arm holding the racket is stilldown by your side with your racket in thevicinity of your back foot. While this rhythmrequires the highest toss which could bedangerous in windy conditions, it alsogives the server the opportunity to buildmomentum slowly into an explosive finishwhere thrust, torque and linear movementcan all come together.

As you can see, Serena has alreadytossed the ball as her left arm is up and rightarm is down. Her next step would be to push

her left hip outward, thus forcing her knees tobend. She would then ready her racket aboveher shoulder before exploding up to the ball.If Serena had a low toss, she would never be

able to complete all the steps necessary to cre-ate power, and she would get caught in amessy position. In fact, it’s the motion that re-quires the toss to be a specific height, and notvice-versa.

As with pitchers in baseball, the delivery mustbe comfortable and one must decide what isbest for them. The next time someone tells youwhere the height of your toss should be, makesure it is aligned with your serving rhythm!

Michael Misiti is director of High Performanceat GO!Tennis in Bayside, N.Y. He has sevenyears of experience coaching top-ranked na-tional juniors, and was captain of the FordhamUniversity Division I Men’s Tennis Team. Hewas also a hitting partner for FernandoVerdasco for three years during the U.S.Open. He may be reached by phone at (347)539-9893 or e-mail [email protected].

generations to come to protect the history of tennis,” said Jaeger.Most of the jewelry in the collection was inspired

by tennis jewelry from the end of the 19th Century.The museum display and the jewelry shop were agreat success and Jaeger started to design moreand more “real” tennis jewelry.

Today, on the Web site www.tennisboutique.com,he offers a large variety of tennis jewelry and giftsfor everyone, from precious stones to inexpensivesterling silver jewelry. This site is great to findteam captain’s gifts, young players’ jewelry, aswell as exclusive diamond, ruby, emerald, sap-phire, etc. jewelry.

Tennis Boutique does not only supply tennis jew-elry, but also offers custom made jewelry of anytype according to customer’s requests, such aswedding rings, any type of pendants, bracelets,etc., which are computer-designed. Tennis Bou-tique is proud to offer jewelry at the best quality foran affordable price.

For more information, visit www.tennisboutique.com or [email protected].

Rolf Jaeger of Tennis BoutiqueDiscusses the Art of

Tennis Boutique


On and off the court, MikeWallace entertained histeam’s players and Midtown

Tennis Club’s clientele for severaldecades. After his games, playerswould gather around him, whilehe gossiped and captivated themwith his stories.

The legendary television jour-nalist passed away April 7 ofthis year. Mike was quoted assaying he would continue toplay tennis “Til my toes turn up”and he almost made it. Mikeplayed tennis for more than 70years, and said the gamesharpened his wit and his phys-ical fitness as a great form ofexercise.

Mike continued to play on weekendsat Midtown Tennis Club until his late

Mike Wallace Serves Both On and Off the CourtB Y M A R Y J A N E M O O R E

80s. His style of play was crafty. Hisdrop shot was infallible, and his lobs

over his opponent’s heads wereawesome.

Mike showed no mercy on hissubjects on the TV show, “60Minutes.” His court captain for manyyears was “60 Minutes” producer,Fred Rosen. The long sufferingMorley Safer was also a weekendvictim of Mike’s gamesmanship.

One prominent sportswriternoted that the producers of “60Minutes” were aware of Mike’sgamesmanship, and knew if youbeat him, you would be taunted formany years to come.

The iconic Mike Wallace has left avoid at Midtown Tennis Club on Sun-days, and leaves a “sweet spot” inour memories.

Mary Jane Moore, Midtown Tennis Club.

ENENTT

EEYYLALAAAYYS PS PIINNNNGGNNIISEEKSEEK

33ESESGGAASSERERSHSHIIEWEWJJGG

646435-35-

11ererbbememttepepSS::ttasasoo C CttWesWesTRTRSSIINNNNTETESSRRTETESSAAMM

bb))FFM,M,((::SSRROOIINNUUJJ::rrooffggitinitinrurucceerroolslsAA44--39, 4039, 40--: 35: 35ssnnooiissiivviiDDeeggAA

MM((EL:EL:LEVLEVSSERERTTSSAAMMLLRROOWWTTARARPP++5533

WWthth1919

ttaaGGinintatannuuooMMe e hhttatat2012 2012 10,10,::TSTSUUYOYORR

gg,,esesggaallllaa))FF,,MM((::NNEEPPOO1998,1998,--19951995nnrroobb6660-60-59, 59, --54, 5554, 55--49, 5049, 50--44, 4544, 45

)) F F,,MMNANARREENTNTIITTSSEEGGRRAALLRDRD33SS’’DDLL

7000+7000+SSTTRROOSPSPGGNNIIATATPPIICCIITT

amam G GahahiiababccacacMMddrlrlooWWWWoont nt eesseerrppeerrtoto

ggnn A Assoo L Lininbblulu C CyytrtrnnuuooCCtete

))(M(M::RSRSEETTSSAAMMDDNNRARAGG&&++8811yyllllaaenerenergg2013201331/31/12/12/ffffooooffssaassgegeAAAAgg4. 4.

PPMMOOCCNGNGIITTRRPOPOSSLLNANAOOIITTAA60+ C60+ CSSEETTEELLHHTTAAHHSSIIWWEE+ J+ J

20120130,30,--1717yyululJJ,,esesmmt thet theaaAASSUUthethe

AACC,,ssleleeegg

80+80+oo65 t65 tsseeagag

NNOOIITTIITTEESSEEIIRRTTNNUUOOCC

raelrael Is Is3,3,

i iti itVVttssuummssttnnaaliclicppppaaddeettsseerreettnnII

2929--7722rreeobobttOcOc::ttasasoo C CttasasEEpp

bibiiittaaliclicppppaalliaiaicicffffoonnaaininddnneesstteeRRnnooatata Ra RccooBBe e hhttatat201220129,9,

,,

ff

ttmmrrooffttuuooyyrrttaassaalllleewwssaannioiobbuullCC&&ttrrooeses

ggyy

illillt ft fddlliittdd

AASSUUiibbaaccccaaMMoott

,,gg

titililitt


SPORTIME IS THE ONLY PLACE TO PLAY TENNIS IN MANHATTAN!� State-of-the-art, 20-court indoor-outdoor facility located on Randall’s Island

in Manhattan

� Staff of world class teaching professionals, including former ATP and WTA champions,led by Lawrence Kleger, SPORTIME’S Executive Director of Tennis and Director of the

John McEnroe Tennis Academy

� Private and group lessons for players of all ages and levels

� Adult singles and doubles leagues and a variety of monthly events

� Private and group personal training in our well-equipped fitness center

� Comfortable lounge areas with excellent viewing

� Junior lounge/computer lab

� Pro shop featuring top brands and 24-hour stringing

� Complimentary nursery; classrooms, party rooms, and meeting facilities

� Café serving healthy food, snacks and beverages

212.427.6150www.SportimeNY.com/Manhattan

FALL PROGRAM REGISTRATION GOING ON NOW!CALL TODAY!

SPORTIMER A N D A L L ’ S I S L A N D

HOME OF THE JOHN McENROE TENNIS ACADEMY


Tell us about your tennisbackground …

Skip Hartman: I started play-ing tennis at the age of eightat camp and then in the pub-lic parks in Manhattan, specif-ically, a park that no longer isthere on 63rd Street and York Av-enue that I could ride my bicycleto. I was a good junior player,having played in high school asthe number one singles player,going undefeated in my senior year. I neverplayed in any Eastern Tournaments because allof the tournaments were in Long Island andWestchester, and my parents did not have a car.

When I got to college as an unknown, Iwalked on to the Princeton tennis team asa freshman and played through my senioryear. During college, I became an assistanttennis pro at a summer camp, playing withsome of the best players in the world at thetime, including three-time Grand Slam sin-gles champion and 18-time Grand Slamdoubles champion, Darlene Hard. I left thecamp to become the summer tennis pro atthe River Club on the East Side before get-ting my law degree. I practiced law for a

few years until there was an opportunity tocreate an indoor tennis business by using abubble on public land. The concept was torent public park tennis courts for the win-ter, put a bubble over them and return themto the public for the outdoor season. In1969, I convinced the New York City ParksDepartment to do just that, which led to thelicense for what became Stadium TennisCenter in the Bronx, the first site of its typewhich I ran until 1997. I partnered with BobKelton, who ran the Fieldston Bath andTennis Club in the Bronx and was my highschool tennis coach, to form HCK Recre-ation on this first project. We went on to do

about a dozen more projects and now areoperating three indoor tennis clubs.

What do the Advantage Tennis Clubsprovide to the New York City tenniscommunity?Indoor courts, a clean environment, goodlighting and air conditioning, among others.But the thing that is unique to Advantageis the game-arranging. One of the most dif-ficult things about the game of tennis isfinding a good match for a regular game.Availability, skill level and personal lives arejust three of the obstacles in this never-ending hassle. Each Advantage TennisClub has at least one staff member whosesole responsibility is to arrange games be-tween players with similar skills.

Is there a specific teaching method that thepros at Advantage Tennis Clubs adhere to?For many years, the pros at Advantage TennisClubs adhered to the Van Der Meer system ofteaching tennis, including progressions andstroke analysis. For upcoming juniors, this isstill the preferred method of teaching; how-ever, adults get a much more flexible programemphasizing the ability to play points, not nec-essarily perfect their form.

Tell us about the Advantage Passport.In addition to membership costs at any ofthe three clubs, for a small fee, you can ob-tain the Advantage Passport. This essen-tially makes you a member at all threeclubs. You can call and arrange games atany of the clubs and only pay memberrates. This gives you the ability to play forfree after 12 noon at Roosevelt Island Rac-quet Club for 12 weeks during the summer,as well as to play outdoors free from Mayto October at New York Tennis Club.

Tell us about Roosevelt Island RacquetClub.Roosevelt is very convenient to get to, and has11 Har-Tru courts year-round indoor with anadjacent pool that members can use.

What is special about Manhattan PlazaRacquet Club?Location, location, location! It’s hard tobeat a club right on 42nd Street. ManhattanPlaza is now year round indoors andboasts cushioned, all-weather courts anda full-service health club with a pool.

Courtside With Skip Hartmanof Advantage Tennis Clubs


What makes New York Tennis Club unique?Outdoor courts set in a lovely area withtrees and grass, a very pleasant escapefrom the hustle and bustle of Manhattanduring the summer. In the winter the sixHar-Tru courts are a few minutes longer toget too from Manhattan, but are less thanhalf the price of Manhattan clubs.

What is unique about the two AdvantageTennis summer camps?The Sea & Sport Camp at New York Ten-nis Club is unique in that it has such anarray of waterfront activities using theSUNY Maritime campus. Campers learnto swim, sail and kayak, and even go onmotor boating excursions. The location isvery safe as the SUNY Maritime campusis gated with security. Roosevelt Islandoffers an incredible sports camp with atop-of-the-line tennis program. The Is-land is also an extremely safe location.

Did your time at camp as a child influ-ence you toward opening such greatcamps for Advantage?As a child I attended camp from the ageof six on up and I enjoyed the experi-

ence. It was my first introduction to thesport of tennis. Any time you can intro-duce children to sports, it is a great thingand has a profound impact on their life.

In your opinion, what makes tennis sucha great sport?Tennis is a healthy activity that encouragesyou to be fit. Tennis appeals to your vanity.You want to look good on court, and thatmotivates you to keep fit and stay healthy.

Tennis brings people together from allwalks of life. At the public courts, you don’tknow who is a CEO and who works in themailroom. What is important on the courtis who has a great backhand and whichplayer can take over a match from the net.Tennis motivates you to become educated.It opens doors both socially and profes-sionally. Some would say it is the envy ofall other sports in that regard. Tennis is thesport of a lifetime.

Wimbledon attracts a worldwide audience of millions but only a tiny percentage of tennis

fans are privileged enough to actually be there. The Wimbledon Experience is the only company

in North America officially appointed by the All England Lawn Tennis Club

to provide tour programs to The Championships.

A wide selection of tours for 2013 are available featuring top category reserved seats,

accommodation at a choice of London hotels and admission to The Experience Club, where

you will enjoy a buffet lunch and a Wimbledon tradition - strawberries and cream!

Please mention New York Tennis Magazine when making

a reservation to receive a free Wimbledon towel.

New York Office: 914-481-8594 Toll Free: 1-888-552-5632

www.wimbledon-experience.com

THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON


The tennis player is a personfirst and a performer second.This idea may seem obvious,since we are all born without aracket in our hands, and whenwe first walked onto the court

to play, we didn’t miraculously change identi-ties—we were the same person. Rafael Nadal,in his book Rafa, says, “Tennis is what I do; itis not who I am.” Yet years later, when we holdthat racket in our hands and demonstrate abil-ity in the sport, the way others view us oftenbegins to change the identity from person toplayer. Simply put, when you walk onto thecourt, the insecurities, experiences and trau-mas which you hold as a person do not goaway. You carry them onto the court whereveryou go. For this reason, it’s imperative to getyour personal life in order whenever you hopeto play peak performance tennis.

It can be helpful to think of your develop-ment in sports and life as a tree. A tree startsfrom a seed where the roots create a founda-tion, an anchor of sorts. The roots can bethought of as the person’s values, belief sys-tem, cultural orientation, work ethic and soul.Influential people in our lives, like our parents,coaches, friends and extended family, play arole in how our roots grow. For example, byencouraging such traits as moral values, per-sonal confidence, self-belief, personal re-siliency and self-empowerment, a person willbe better suited to face obstacles, setbacks,and life’s challenges. Jose Higueras stated, inthe USTA High Performance Newsletter (Vol.10, No. 1), “I’m a big fan of trying to make theplayer as independent as possible.” So re-member, junior players … the stronger the rootsystem, the stronger the physical trunk andbranches become.

The fruits are always a result of the roots.However, these fruits (outcome) often garnermore attention than the roots (process). The

allure of the fruits often shift the focus awayfrom development and the process. They shiftthe focus to the outcome and away from howand what needs to happen to achieve the out-come. Yet make no mistake, development allstarts from the seed and the root system. Dr.David Grand, a psychologist and co-author ofThis is Your Brain on Sports, noted for his workin the field of sports and performance, says,“The foundation is the person—how you playis often a manifestation of yourself, includingyour weakest and strongest points.”

Now, think back to the time you were hav-ing a bad practice or match, exhibiting badbody language, or were just not yourself. Howmuch of this could have been a result of arough day at school, an argument with a friend,parental expectations, or even anxiety aboutan upcoming tournament? Oftentimes, it is off-court issues or unrelated stresses that affectperformance on the court. Awareness of thecomplexity of the person-player relationshipwill help you realize that you’re not a robot! Andthose off-the-court stresses, experiences, andemotional and physical traumas oftentimes getsuppressed in the mind, but the body remem-bers at the conscious or unconscious level.

Another scenario is walking off the courtafter a heartbreaking loss, dejected and rat-tled. A match where you really felt you shouldhave won, but lost your focus and missed ahuge overhead in the third set tie-breaker. Youcould hear the crowd gasp, as your stomachclutched with embarrassment. Certainly, thenext time a big overhead comes up in amatch, it’s likely the missed overhead willflash before you like a shooting star. The mindand body remember trauma.

Lastly, imagine this: The serve is a huge partof your game; in competition, you tear your ro-tator cuff, undergo surgery, and have to besidelined from the game for four months.When you return, people ask how the shoulder

is. You reply like a warrior, “It feels great. Neverfelt better.” However, in practice, you’re afraidto go all out and hit your bombs due to somelingering pain. Then, you change your motionto alleviate the pain. After that you go througha period of excessive double faults. What’s im-portant to understand is that the body re-members any kind of physical trauma,especially injuries and surgeries. The body willtry to protect itself from further injury recur-rence. Most athletes recover from injuries on aphysical level, however healing the mentalscars is much more difficult.

Carlos Rodriguez, coach of Justine Henin,said it best in The New York Times, “The ten-nis player is still first a human being. If thehuman being is going good, feeling good, sowill the tennis player.”

James Blake, in his book Breaking Back,said, “My greatest professional successesoccurred after I faced my most personal chal-lenges … I used to think that was ironic; nowI realize that success flows directly from hav-ing cleared those hurdles.”

In summary, when an athlete crossesthe lines, they are still the person and carryissues, experiences and traumas withthem. The fruits are a result of the roots.

Rob Polishook, MA, CPC is the founder anddirector of Inside the Zone Sports PerformanceGroup. As a mental training coach he workswith athletes and teams of all levels. His workfocuses on helping athletes gain the mentaledge and letting go of blocks which get in theway of peak performance. He is a USTA ZonalCoach and has spoken and been published forthe USTA, USPTA and ITA. Additionally, he hasconducted workshops nationally and interna-tionally in India and Israel. He may be reachedby phone at (973) 723-0314, e-mail rob@insid-ethezone or visit www.insidethezone.com.

Winning Within-The Tennis Player is a Person

First and Performer SecondBy Rob Polishook, Mental Training Coach, MA, CPC


BOLT Sports LLC, NY will introduce twonew tennis racquet models, a 12-pack rac-quet bag and related apparel into its prod-uct line to coincide with the U.S. Open. Thenew racquet models, the B98.light and theB100.light, feature ZipStrip, BOLT’s spring-suspension design. According to BOLT, thehead-light balance of the new racquetsmakes them easy to swing and makesfaster racquet head speeds easier to attainas compared to previous even-balancemodels.

“The combination of faster racquet headspeed with stiff BOLT frames and the extradwell time afforded by our ZipStrips, is aferocious recipe for extreme-velocity spin,particularly when coupled with polyestertype strings,” said BOLT Director BrettBothwell.

The B98.light is for tournament-caliberplayers seeking a head-light, yet powerfuland solid racquet with good feel.

B100.light: 100 square inches, 10.5ounces (strung), three points head-light, 27 inches longThe B100.light is suited to a wide range ofrecreational players, from beginner tosemi-pro. The 100.light is easy-to-swing,forgiving and super comfortable.

B98.light: 98 square inches, 11.1ounces (strung), five points head-light, 27 inches long“The 98.light gets us into the mix with tour-nament juniors, a critical market for our fu-ture growth, and the 100.light has appeal for3.0 and 3.5 players who are, of course, alsocritical to our future,” said Bothwell. “Theplayer response to our ZipStrip design hasbeen off the charts, but one certainly can’t

BOLT Releases New Head-Light Models

appeal to the entire market from pros to be-ginners with just a few frames. This intro-duction is the first of many more ahead aswe expand the product line to include awider range of sizes, weights, and balances,and to cover the full range of player typesand playing levels in the future.”

For more information, visit www.boltad-vance.com or e-mail [email protected].

• All instructors are full time professionals with years of experience

• 10 Indoor Har-Tru courts with excellent lighting and heat

• All ages (4-18)

• All levels (Quickstart, Beginners, Tournament Players)

GEORGE GARLAND, DIRECTOR OF TENNIS • MARIA ALIVENTI, GENERAL MANAGER

4 Week Fall Session: September 10 - October 7thTwo - 13 Week Indoor Sessions:

October 15- January 20 & January 21 - April 21


Fourth and FinalGrand Slam of 2012Set to Invade NewYorkBy Jessica Stiles

Beginning immediately after the conclu-sion of Wimbledon, the U.S. Open Se-

ries links together WTA and ATPtournaments which take place on hardcourts across America throughout thesummer. This year’s summer calendar wasunique in the sense that it was interruptedwith the 2012 Summer Olympic gamesheld at the All-England Club. Here, playersreturned to the grass courts a few weeksafter Wimbledon play. As the summercomes to a close, fans are gearing up forthe fourth and final Grand Slam event ofthe season, the 2012 U.S. Open.

With the 2012 U.S. Open beginning Aug.27, the big names in tennis will have justenough time to play a warm-up event onthe American hard courts before the startof the tournament. Since 1978, the tourna-ment has been held at the USTA Billie JeanKing National Tennis Center in FlushingMeadows, N.Y. and has been a highlight tothe summers of New York tennis fans. Thisyear’s championships will undoubtedlyprovide a high level of drama, action, andexcitement as the world’s best playerscompete for the final Grand Slam title ofthe year.

Some players go into the tournamentlooking to finish a disappointing season offon a more positive note, and some seek tobuild on the solid season they’ve had thusfar. No matter what the player’s individualgoals are for the tournament, we can fore-

cast the true contenders, pretenders andAmerican hopefuls for this year’s U.S. Open.

ContendersPhoto credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

On the women’s side,no one can argueSerena Williams as amajor contender for

this year’s title. After her shocking loss inthe opening round at the 2012 FrenchOpen, Serena Williams has yet to lose amatch. In June, Serena was crowned2012 Wimbledon champ. With two U.S.Open titles under her belt, Serena’sgame matches up impeccably well onthe American hard courts.

In addition to Serena, Maria Sharapovahas proven to be another strong con-tender for this year’s U.S. Open title. Al-though she didn’t follow up her FrenchOpen victory with a strong showing atWimbledon, Sharapova certainly played astrong string of tennis at the 2012 Lon-don Olympic games, taking home the Sil-ver Medal for her nation of Russia. Withthe experience of winning the U.S. Open,Sharapova will take that knowledge andconfidence with her from the start of theevent.

Although she has never before won aGrand Slam event, Agnieszka Radwanskahas really proven herself this 2012 sea-son. Currently ranked number three inthe world, Radwanska reached the fi-nals of this year’s Wimbledon champi-onships, falling to eventual winnerSerena Williams. Even though her gamestyle doesn’t have the power of Shara-pova and Williams, Radwanska makesup for it in her high level of “tennis IQ.”


Of course one wouldexpect Roger Federerand Novak Djokovic tobe the strong con-

tenders going into the 2012 U.S. Open.Rafael Nadal has been struck with a seem-ingly reoccurring knee injury, forcing him to pullout of the Open. On the other hand, Djokoviccertainly hasn’t had the same 2012 season ashe had last year going into the Open. Obvi-ously you cannot count Djokovic out of theequation, but going into this year’s event, itseems that the upper hand should go to AndyMurray, Juan Martin del Potro, and reclaimedworld number one Federer. With Murrayreaching the finals of Wimbledon and defeat-ing Djokovic at the Olympic Games to earnGold for his nation of Great Britain, he shouldapproach the U.S. Open with confidence toclinch his first Grand Slam title.

Former U.S. Open champion, Juan Martindel Potro of Argentina has also been play-ing a very high-level tennis of late. DelPotro is one of those players who canstrike when you’re least expecting it and hehas proven to have the ability to do just thatat the U.S. Open.

With Federer there is not much to say, he’sRoger Federer. He is a strong contender forevery Grand Slam event he takes part in andit certainly helps that he is once again num-ber one in the world, and just claimed theWimbledon title.

PretendersJust as there arestrong contenders forthis years’ U.S. Open,there are also a fewplayers who have been

2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

struggling of late, falling somewhat off theradar. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Li Nahave yet to display sparks of their formerglory in the 2012 season. Both go into theU.S. Open with Grand Slam titles on theirresumes, however of late, they haven’t pro-duced results that would indicate a shot atU.S. Open glory. Both have been on thetour for a while now and some might con-clude their careers are winding down.


On the men’s side, former U.S. Openchampion Andy Roddick will not enter thisyear’s U.S. Open with much in the way ofconfidence. There was a point in time whenRoddick’s serve was consistently thebiggest in the game. Today, the level of thegame has increased just enough to whereplayers don’t seem to be as intimidated tostand on the returning end of Roddick’sserve. Over a decade ago, Roddick wonhis one and only Grand Slam title in Flush-ing Meadows, however it will be hard atthis point in his career to hold the trophyonce more.

AmericansPhoto credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

There is nothing moreexhilarating to the NewYork crowd than gettinga chance to cheer forone of their own. Com-peting in this year’s U.S.Open are a handful ofAmerican hopefuls, on

both the men’s and women’s collective sidesof the event. On the women’s side, young upand comers Christina McHale and SloaneStephens. The New Jersey native McHalehas had a remarkable year, reaching a careerhigh WTA singles ranking of 26th. She’ll be infront of her home crowd, which will hopefullygive her some extra motivation to make it anOpen to remember. In addition to McHale,

Stephens has also had a strong 2012 seasonthus far. She has made great strides, espe-cially at Wimbledon this year. Hard courts areby far her best surface, suiting her powerfulgame style.


On the men’s side, Ameri-cans Mardy Fish, RyanHarrison and big JohnIsner are the top Americanhopefuls for this year’sevent. Although Fish was

sidelined due to injury earlier this year, hechose to bypass the Olympics and get backto proper hard court form. He hasn’t pro-duced the same level of results in this year’sU.S. Open Series; however, Fish will still re-main an American favorite. Harrison has hada very up and down year with a lot of racquetthrowing and frustration. Among all of the tur-moil, he has reached a career-high ATP sin-gles ranking of 60th. If Harrison can channelhis mental fortitude, hopefully he can relishthe kind of U.S. Open event he had in 2011.In addition to Harrison and Fish, Isner has thepotential to have a very strong U.S. Openshowing. Isner has proven this year that hecan hang with the best of them. Admitting tohomesickness during the clay court season,hopefully Isner can channel his energy play-ing in front of an American crowd.

Jessica Stiles is an intern for New YorkTennis Magazine and plays for the Univer-sity of Kentucky Women’s Tennis Team.

The State of American TennisBy Steven Kaplan

The United Stateswas the dominantforce on the worldtennis scene forthe first 30 years ofthe Open Era, but

in the last decade, has experienced limited

international success. Now, with the cur-rent generation of U.S. champions all over30, American tennis is at a crossroads andthe future is uncertain at best.

Here is a brief look of the U.S. tennisscene at the 2012 U.S. Open ...

The golden girlsSerena Williams did a break dance on cen-ter court at The All England Club to cele-brate a beat down on the rest of the worldto win Olympic Gold. With this win, Serenajoins Stefanie Graf as only the secondwoman to win all four Grand Slams andOlympic Women’s Singles Gold. Serenahas her mojo back and she is a force of na-ture. She is the clear favorite at this year’sU.S. Open after a magical summer run inLondon that included a Wimbledon title.

Venus Williams has played the WTA Tourfor over half her life and her body is showingsigns of wear and tear. Venus can be proudof her seven Grand Slam Singles Titles andwhen she partners with sister Serena, she isstill a favorite to capture the doubles crown.

The good old boysTwins Mike & Bob Bryan are the most suc-cessful doubles team in men’s tennis his-tory and are still going strong at acombined age of 68. They now have anOlympic Gold Medal to add to their im-pressive resume.

Mardy Fish has jumped tremendously inthe ATP World Rankings over the past twoyears. Even if he can stay away from thedevastating effects of glutton that had pre-viously limited his court renaissance, he isover 30 years of age and is facing serioushealth concerns.

Andy Roddick has been one of the mostconsistent performers on the men’s tour inthe last 10 years and is the last American towin a Grand Slam in 2003 at the U.S. Open.While Roddick continues to grind on thetour, it looks as though the tour has been agrind on him.

The current cropJohn Isner is the highest ranked Americanman, hovering at around number 10 in the


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

world rankings. He has the size andpower to dominate, but questions remainconcerning his mobility and all-aroundgame. I see his near term chances ofwinning a Slam as a long shot.

Local favorite, 20-year-old ChristinaMcHale from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., hasbroken into the top 30 in the WTA rank-ings. Christina has heart, tenacity, youthand an all-around game. Expect her tobattle for a top 10 world ranking if shecan add a weapon to her game.

Sam Querrey from San Francisco hasa huge game and is ranked just insidethe top 40 where he is likely to remain fora while.

Melanie Oudin thrilled U.S. Open crowdsin 2009 by beating Elena Dementieva,Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova to be-come the youngest Grand Slam quarter-finalist since Serena Williams in 1999.Unfortunately, her career has stalledsince and she is currently ranked outsidethe top 100.

Ryan Harrison is ranked 60th in theworld at the tender age of 20. After hisfirst round loss to Santiago Giraldo ofColumbia in the 2012 Olympics, TheNew York Times wrote, “Though thematch was considered winnable forHarrison, the loss itself will be less re-membered than Harrison’s petulant be-

havior as the match slipped away.” Stillmany expect great things from Harrisonas he matures.

Coco Vandeweghe is ranked 73rd onthe WTA Tour and is the daughter of for-mer New York Knick Kiki Vandeweghe.She has the size, power and potential tobe a top 20 player in the world.

Donald Young was once the top-ranked junior in the world, but has notlived up to his great potential. Young iscurrently ranked outside the top 50, hav-ing reached a career high of 38th. He hasall the talent in the world, and at 23-years-old, he is young enough to re-shape his game.

Irina Falconi, currently ranked 104thand grew up playing on The City ParksFoundation Courts at the National TennisCenter, and Julia Cohen, ranked 97th,are top young Americans who followedthe unusual path of playing college ten-nis at Georgia Tech and The University ofMiami (Florida). Bravo to these players.

Last and not least by a long shot areSloane Stephens and Taylor Townsend.

Sloane is currently ranked 50th in theworld, and at the age of 19, has thespeed and power to be perhaps the mostpromising young American player inmany years. Taylor Townsend is just 16and the Australian Open Junior Cham-

pion. She could just be the top Americanof the future.

The local crewScott Lipsky who grew up in Merrick,N.Y. and played for Stanford University,is a doubles specialist ranked 34th in theworld. In 2011, Scott teamed with CaseyDellacqua of Australia to win the FrenchOpen Mixed-Doubles title. Not too badan accomplishment for a local kid andStanford Graduate.

Julia Elbaba of Oyster Bay, N.Y., JamieLoeb of Ossining, N.Y. and Noah Rubinof Rockville Centre, N.Y. are local juniorswho will be competing in this year’s Jun-ior U.S. Open. All three of these risingstars have experienced great successagainst the best young players in theworld in junior Grand Slams. Expect tobe seeing their names in the main drawsof women’s and men’s Grand Slamssoon.

What’s the problem?In 2011, Daniel Riley of GQ interviewedAndre Agassi, John McEnroe and PeteSampras for his article “Why Does Amer-ica Suck at Tennis?” All three championsagreed that success runs in a cycle and weare clearly on a downturn.

Agassi advocates that the USTA 10 &Under tennis initiative will be a greatboost to “get the racquet in more kidshands.” He is optimistic that “We’ll makethe adjustment and have our time in thesun again.”

McEnroe explained that the evolution ofequipment and the development of guyswho are “Getting bigger, stronger and moreathletic” has made the game “more of atrack meet instead of a tennis match.”McEnroe thinks that convincing youngAmerican athletes to jump into tennis is“one of the big factors.”

Sampras believes that the recent suc-cess of countries like Spain is “Just testa-ment to how international the game is nowthat we’re not dominating anymore.” I thinkit’s also a testament to the miracles ofmodern science.


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

Looking aheadSuccess in tennis is similar to achievementin almost any endeavor, in that it requiresboth opportunity and motivation.

Tennis is still a relatively expensive andexclusive sport in the United States formost families. Other countries are simplydoing a better job of attracting the mostpromising athletes at a young age, espe-cially since tennis has become an Olympicsport.

U.S. athletes love to succeed and tennisplayers are no exception, but the risk toachieving reward as a singular “all or noth-ing” goal is less in this country than whatexists elsewhere in many other parts of theworld. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing forthis country to have some parents who donot have their child drop out of school toroll the dice on pro tennis success.

Many Americans see tennis as a meansto achieving a healthier lifestyle and as animportant part of a well-rounded educationrather than as an escape from poverty oranonymity.

Reuters reports that between the years2000-2010, participation in tennis has out-paced growth in all other traditional sportsin the U.S. by an astounding 46 percent.

Tennis as a participatory sport is grow-ing and thriving in the United States, andwe are healthier and better educated be-cause of this trend.

Therefore, rather than ask why we “Suckat Tennis,” perhaps we should ask, “Whydoes it matter to us that we don’t dominatethe tennis world?”

Steve Kaplan is the owner of BethpagePark Tennis Center, as well as the directorof Reebok Academy for New York CityParks Foundation. Over the last 33 years,Steve has been the longtime coach of morethan 500 nationally-ranked junior players,15 state high school champions, two NCAADivision 1 Singles Champions, and numer-ous touring professionals and prominentcoaches. Steve’s students have beenawarded in excess of $7 million in collegescholarship money. He may be reached bye-mail at [email protected].

2012 U.S. Open Prize Money to Exceed $25 MillionThe USTA has announced that the 2012U.S. Open prize purse has been increasedby more than $2 million to reach a record$25.5 million. Additionally, the top threemen’s and top three women’s finishers inthe Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series mayearn up to an additional $2.6 million inbonus prize money at the U.S. Open, de-pending on their performance over thecourse of the Summer Series. With thisbonus money, the total U.S. Open prizemoney could potentially reach $28.1 mil-lion. To support the majority of players, for2012, prize money has been increased by aminimum of 18 percent for the first threerounds of the main singles draw.

Both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opensingles champions will earn a record $1.9million with the ability to earn an additional$1 million in bonus prize money (for a total$2.9 million potential payout) based on theirperformances in the Emirates Airline U.S.Open Series.

The 2012 U.S. Open purse includes an11 percent overall increase in men’s andwomen’s main draw singles prize moneyover last year’s total. First round maindraw singles prize money has been in-

creased by 21 percent, and second roundmain draw singles prize money has beenincreased by 19 percent. In all, 224 of the256 main draw singles players (87 percentof the main draw singles players) will re-ceive an increase in prize money of atleast 18 percent.

For the 40th consecutive year, the USTAwill offer equal prize money to both menand women—a Grand Slam first and U.S.Open tradition dating back to 1973. Allplayers also receive per diem payments tohelp offset the cost of accommodationsand other expenses.

The Emirates Airline U.S. Open SeriesBonus Challenge rewards the top threemen’s and top three women’s finisherseach year with bonus prize money at theU.S. Open and has resulted in the largestpaychecks in tennis history for men (2007–Roger Federer, $2.4 million) and women(2005, 2010–Kim Clijsters, $2.2 million).The USTA will offer up to an additional $2.6million in bonus prize money at the U.S.Open to the top three men’s and top threewomen’s singles finishers in the EmiratesAirline U.S. Open Series. Players must earnpoints in at least two Series events in orderto be eligible for bonus prize money at theU.S. Open. More than $7.7 million in bonusprize money has been awarded since theSeries began in 2004.


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

Agassi to be InductedInto U.S. Open Courtof Champions

Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

The USTA hasannounced thatAndre Agassi, atwo-time U.S.Open Cham-pion, has beennamed the 2012inductee into the

U.S. Open Court of Champions, a U.S.Open and USTA Billie Jean King NationalTennis Center attraction honoring thegreatest singles champions in the historyof the U.S. Championships/U.S. Open.Agassi will be inducted during an on-courtceremony in Arthur Ashe Stadium prior tothe Men’s Singles Championship on Sun-day, Sept. 9. Patrick McEnroe will host theceremony.

The U.S. Open Court of Championssalutes the tournament’s all-time greatestchampions with an individual permanentmonument that serves as a lasting tribute.Agassi will join prior inductees Arthur Ashe,Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, JimmyConnors, Margaret Court, Chris Evert,Althea Gibson, Richard “Pancho”Gonzalez, Steffi Graf, Billie Jean King, Jack

Kramer, Rod Laver, Ivan Lendl, MollaBjurstedt Mallory, John McEnroe, MartinaNavratilova, Margaret Osborne duPont,Ken Rosewall, Pete Sampras, Bill Tildenand Helen Wills. A panel of internationalprint and broadcast journalists selected the2012 inductee from the roster of U.S.champions based on their performances atthe tournament and their impact on thegrowth of the event.

“Few tennis players have impacted thesport of tennis more than Andre Agassi,”said Jon Vegosen, chairman of the boardand president of USTA. “He is a championboth on and off the court, elevating thepopularity of our sport while playing, andnow helping to enhance the lives of chil-dren off the court with his generosity anddedication to providing young people withthe opportunity for a quality education. Hetruly deserves this honor.”

Agassi, the son of a former Olympicboxer, grew up in Las Vegas with a ball ma-chine in his backyard, developing extraor-dinary hand-eye coordination that hasseldom been matched in the history of ten-nis. Turning pro at the age of 16, he quicklyestablished himself as one of the sport’stop talents and a definitive fan favorite.Bold, brash and bigger-than-life, Agassiwon the U.S. Open Men’s Singles Title in1994 (the first unseeded player in the Open

era to capture the U.S. Open) and again in1999. His punishing baseline game, unpar-alleled return-of-serve and superior athleti-cism allowed him to win a career GrandSlam and a total of eight career GrandSlam titles, as well as a Gold Medal in sin-gles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.He also was a member of two U.S. DavisCup-winning teams. Agassi competed in amen’s Open-era record 21 consecutiveU.S. Opens. He was elected to the Interna-tional Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011.

Currently, he focuses a good deal of histime and efforts on the Andre Agassi Foun-dation for Education and the Andre AgassiCollege Preparatory Academy, a tuition-free public charter school for at-risk youthin Las Vegas.

Lineup Announced forArthur Ashe Kids Day

The USTA has an-nounced that popband The Wanted,chart-topping singerCarly Rae Jepsen,

special guest performer Owl City, and fromNickelodeon’s “How to Rock,” CymphoniqueMiller and Max Schneider, will team up withreigning U.S. Open Champion NovakDjokovic, U.S. number one men’s singlesplayer John Isner, three-time U.S. OpenChamp Kim Clijsters and Mardy Fish at the17th Annual Arthur Ashe Kids Day Presentedby Hess, set for Saturday, Aug. 25 at theUSTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centerin Flushing, N.Y. from 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.Hosted by AAKD alumnus Jordin Sparks andTV personality Quddus, the full-day tennisand music festival will feature interactivegames, musical entertainment and tennis ac-tivities. Arthur Ashe Kids Day Presented byHess will kick off the 2012 U.S. Open, whichruns from Aug. 27-Sept. 9.

From 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., kids andtheir families can enjoy an exciting sched-ule of free tennis games, live music and at-tractions taking place throughout the


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King Na-tional Tennis Center. Inside Arthur AsheStadium from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., the livetennis and music show will feature fun exhi-bition matches and skills competitions withDjokovic, Isner, Clijsters, Fish and other topplayers and celebrities with musical perform-ances by The Wanted, Carly Rae Jepsen,Owl City, Cymphonique Miller, Max Schneiderand other talent to be announced.

Over the years, Arthur Ashe Kids’ Dayhas featured many of music’s biggest actsincluding Justin Bieber, Rihanna, JonasBrothers, Demi Lovato, Sean Kingston,Britney Spears, Ne-Yo, Gavin DeGraw,Jessica Simpson, Backstreet Boys, CodySimpson, Bow Wow and Hanson.

The Grounds Festival offers a wide rangeof interactive activities as well as a chance forchildren of all ages to test their skills, hit withtop tennis pros, win prizes and enjoy music:

� Hess Express Stage: The Grounds Fes-tival’s free concert featuring a line-up of up-and-coming musical talent including urbansuper group Love Jones Girlz, InterscopeRecords prodigy Ahsan, and from DisneyChannel’s “Shake It Up!” Caroline Sun-shine! More acts to be confirmed.

� 10 & Under Tennis: A chance for kids tolearn real tennis and have real fun doing it.10 & Under Tennis follows almost everyother youth sport and uses racquets, ballsand courts that are sized right for kids sothat they enjoy the game right from the start.

� Hess Express Obstacle Course: Kidscan test agility, balance, running and ten-nis skills.

� Hess Target Time: Intermediate and ad-vanced-level kids have a chance to testtheir skills hitting targets on this court.

� Nike Tennis: Tennis and skill activitieson two courts featuring Nike sponsoredathletes.

� IBM Speedzone: Two radar guns oncourt test the speed of kids’ serves.

� Xerox Beat the Pro: Kids will have thechance to challenge the pros on this fast-paced court.

� Mario Tennis Open for Nintendo 3DS:Players of all ages and skill levels can

enjoy friendly competition and fast-pacedtennis action with Mario Tennis Open, avideo game for the Nintendo 3DS hand-held system. Join Mario and Luigi in theSouth Plaza for some fun photo opps andcheck out this new attraction.

� USTA Serves/Aetna Tennis Skills: Thiscourt will have six to eight various sta-tions for very young kids or special pop-ulations. Stations may include thingslike rolling the ball with a racquet andbouncing a koush ball.

� PTR Speed Tennis: Children can hitwith PTR certified professionals onmini-courts at full speed and with com-plete strokes using a special restrictedflight foam ball.

� USPTA Little Tennis: Ideal for youngerparticipants to hit and learn, USPTAcertified teaching professionals hostthis court consisting of 30 colorful hit-ting stations using a variety of teachingaids.

� USRSA Pro Racquet Round-Up: Kidscan see what it feels like to hit with a toppro’s personal racquet such as Venusand Serena Williams using actual rac-quets weighted and balanced to eachplayer’ s specifications.

� World TeamTennis: Co-ed relay races,targeting beginner players, particularlythe youngest children attending AAKD.

Activities tailored to the age, size,strength and experience level of par-ticipants.

� Also: Watch the Pros Practice, PlayerAutographs, Juggling Workshop, Face-Painting, Hair Braiding, Storytelling, andmore.

Kids comment on theU.S. Open experienceDuring our travels this summer visitingmany of the area tennis camps, New YorkTennis Magazine asked participants thefollowing question: “If you had the chanceto play in the U.S. Open, how would youfeel and what do you think it would belike?”

“If I could play at the U.S. Open I would beso excited to play against my favorite play-ers, like Nadal, I would also be nervous atthe same time but it would be an amazingexperience.“—Oliver, 11, Dick Savitt Ten-nis Center

“I would be so surprised to play in the U.S.Open and really nervous to play in front ofa lot of people.”—Annie, 9, Stadium Ten-nis Center

Kids Apparel & Sneakers • Great Prices On RacquetsWorkout Apparel • 1 Hour Stringing

Tennis & Running Shoes • Warmup SuitsU.S. Open Merchandise Available

Open 7 Days • Demos AvailableShipping Available

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

10% OFF

Restringing/Regrip Combo

$10 OFF

TOPSPIN TENNIS & FITNESS

USTA Long Island Retailer of the Year

218 JERICHO TURNPIKESYOSSET • 516-364-9470

TopSpinTennisLI.comACROSS FROM SYOSSET HOSPITAL

W/COUPON • Exp. 10/31/12 • Non-combinableONE COUPON PER FAMILY

ONE ITEMof Apparel or Shoes

W/COUPON • Non-combinableONE COUPON PER FAMILY

Some Exclusions Apply • Exp. 10/31/12

“Long Island’s Tennis Store”


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

“I would be stunned! I would try to win andI would want to play Nadal.”—Danny, 10,Advantage Sea & Sport Tennis Camp

“It would be really exciting to play in theU.S. Open. I would want to play againstMaria Sharapova.”—Yara, 9, AdvantageAll City Tennis Camp

“To be able to play in the U.S. Open wouldbe awesome, but scary at the sametime.”—Hannah, 9, Central Park Tennis

“I’d want to cream Rafa Nadal.”—Rohan,USTA Billie Jean King National TennisCenter Camp

“I would like my sister, Sarah, to be mycoach for the tournament.”—Michael,West Side Tennis Club

“It would be really scary to play in the U.S.Open, I would be afraid of hitting the ball

out. I would want to play Serena becauseshe is my favorite player.”—Macy, 11,Prospect Park Tennis Camps

“It would be really cool to play in the U.S.Open, I would try to win but it would bevery tough. I would want to play RogerFederer.”—Jason, 10, Butch SeewagenTennis Academy (C.A.T.S. Camp)

“It would be amazing to play in the U.S.Open. It would be unbelievable to playSerena.”—Amery, 14, Camp ACE

You heard from the kids, now what dothe pros have to say about playing at theU.S. Open?I enjoy the camaraderie that you can getfrom the fans for the American players—it’s definitely the most favorite Slam forthe Americans as far as being able toplay in those big courts and having thecrowd behind you. We go to so many

places, in Spain and in Italy and in Eng-land, where you can play a guy from thatcountry, and those fans are just goingcrazy for their player. But we know for afact that we have that one big eventwhere everyone wants to do well, andwe’re going to have the fans behind usand rooting as loud as they can for us.So that makes it so much fun and excit-ing and one of the best times of thewhole year for us.”—Mardy Fish

“Well, you know, New York, I feel like it’sa great fan base. They’re going to giveyou whatever you give them. They cer-tainly appreciate hustle. They like a bit ofa show. You give them some energy,they’re going to give it right back to you.I feel like it’s a pretty clear-cut understoodrelationship, at least from my perspective.It doesn’t get a whole lot better as far asatmosphere goes than a night session upthere.”—Andy Roddick

WWW.GOTHAMTENNIS.COM

www.gothamtennis.com


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

More Than 400 Vie for 80 Spots at 2012 U.S. OpenBallperson TryoutsBy Kristen Kelleher


On June 21, the 2012 U.S. Open Ballper-son Tryouts were held at the USTA BillieJean King National Tennis Center. Morethan 400 people were on hand to show offtheir skills in running, throwing and catch-ing for a shot at one of the 80 availablespots. The extreme heat did not stop com-petitors ranging in age from 14 on up fromimpressing the U.S. Open officials for theirshot at the big stage in late August.

“I feel like it went well. It was nervewracking at first since you’re around abunch of people you’ve never met before,”said 15-year-old Gabrielle Williams. “Youjust have to move quickly and rememberwhat you’re doing it for.”

Those who are chosen to become aballperson work during both the qualifyingand main draw of the U.S. Open.

“I think this tryout is pretty hard. It showshow much effort needs to be put in. Theheat was also really tough,” said LawrenceChih, 17.

With the temperature in the 90s and the sunblaring down on the courts, potential ballper-sons had to not only flex their skills but battlethe elements thrown their way by Mother Na-ture, but as the officials continually stressed tothe competitors, “This is U.S. Open weather.”

Richard DeGregoris, a current ballboy,helped at this year’s tryout.

“I’ve been a ballboy for four yearsnow,” said DeGregoris. “I really like it notjust because it’s great money, but it is theexperience of a lifetime being on courtwith the pros. You also meet a lot of newfriends.”

With the applicant pool being so large,the selection for spots is extremely com-petitive. Those selected will have theunique opportunity to be on-court at theUSTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Cen-ter with some of the sport’s biggest stars atthe Open.

Kristen Kelleher is an intern with New YorkTennis Magazine. She is currently attendingLoyola University Maryland and may bereached by e-mail at [email protected].

Five Ways to Improve Your Gameby Watching theWorld’s Best TennisPlayers at the OpenBy Steven Kaplan

Walk around the grounds of the USTA BillieJean King National Tennis Center duringthis year’s U.S. Open and you will see play-ers from every part of the globe. Evenmulti-generations are represented in thejunior and senior events. While the assort-ment of differing playing styles is vast, thefundamentals displayed by the world’s toptennis players are similar. Learn what thepros know about tennis success by study-ing their tactics, attributes and skills.

1. Ramp up your playEven the pros are nervous at the start of amatch. They handle these jitters by aimingconservatively, but striking the ball aggres-sively when beginning a match. After hittingtheir way into a personal comfort zone and

only after having successfully made someshots, do the pros confidently go for more.Chris Evert once explained that her goal inthe first game was to “hit her way into thematch” and “ready herself to win.”

2. Seize the opportunityWhile the Girls 12 & Under players oftenchoose to attack only when they feel com-fortable and ready, this strategy is notgoing to work at the highest levels becausehere, aggressive play is opportunity driven.If a U.S Open competitor passes up achance to go for it in the point, they knowvery well that they might not get anotherchance. Most elite players will play theopen court in combination with their servesalmost every time, because the best timeto attack is the first opportunity.

3. Mix it up with a purposeThe specific purpose of variety is to exposeweaknesses and increase uncertaintywhich limits reaction time. Therefore, shotvariety is a means to an end, not just a goalin itself. Variety makes your play more of-fensive, because it delays an opponent’sdecision-making process. Serena Williamswill serve wide to an opponent to forcethem to return from a more forward andwider return position. Once she sees heropponent has adjusted, she will go withpace to middle and keep pounding awayuntil the returner repositions again.

4. Be decisiveHow do the best players in the world knowwhen to come to net? They don’t, they takean educated guess, but they do so with de-cisive commitment. The pros believe thatdecisive decisions are often more impor-tant than making the right tactic or shotchoice because by the time they know thatit’s the right choice, it’s too late to start. Po-sition and hit with no hesitation and makeyour willingness to commitment yourstrength.

5. Compete like a proHere is some bad news that you probablyalready know. Few people who ever pick


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

up a racket will ever play as well as MariaSharapova or Roger Federer. Here’s somebetter news however, almost anyone canperform every bit as confidently and pro-fessionally as these great champions over80 percent of the time because that’s theamount of time spent in between points.The ratio of play to in between play is 7:1,which is just about 17 minutes of actualplay in a two-hour match. The organiza-tional court habits of every player at theU.S. Open in between points is remarkablyuniform. You still won’t play like Roger evenif you act like him, but you will play better.

The U.S. Open can be an exciting andeye-opening learning experience for tennisplayers at every level, if you know where tofocus your attention.

Steve Kaplan is the owner of BethpagePark Tennis Center, as well as the directorof Reebok Academy for New York CityParks Foundation. Over the last 33 years,Steve has been the longtime coach of morethan 500 nationally-ranked junior players,15 state high school champions, two NCAADivision 1 Singles Champions, and numer-ous touring professionals and prominentcoaches. Steve’s students have beenawarded in excess of $7 million in collegescholarship money. He may be reached bye-mail at [email protected].

USTA Announces New Stadiums to beBuilt at National Tennis Center

Photo credit: Anthony Pastecchi

The USTA hasjoined with NewYork City MayorMichael R. Bloomberg

and Queens officials to release details of aproposed strategic vision for future de-velopment at the USTA Billie Jean King

National Tennis Center in Flushing Mead-ows Corona Park, site of the U.S. Open.The strategic vision—a series of intercon-nected construction projects that includebuilding developments, infrastructure up-grades and improvements to site circula-tion—aims to enhance the currentconditions at the NTC and preserve itsstature as a world-class venue. The projectwill positively impact the facility’s ability tohost its flagship event, the U.S. Open, whilesimultaneously providing a superior experi-ence for both visiting fans and players, al-lowing the City of New York to continue toreap substantial economic benefits.

“The U.S. Open is one of the city’s greatestsporting events, and it generates more than$750 million a year in economic activity,” saidMayor Bloomberg. “The City recognizes thecrucial need to improve the USTA facility andsupports this vision, so that the center re-mains a top-ranked tennis venue capable ofhosting the U.S. Open, and thereby, allowingthe tournament to remain in New York City formany decades.”

The project, expected to developthroughout a multi-year period and costhundreds of millions of dollars, will be un-dertaken by the USTA, which will investi-gate a multitude of potential financingoptions. The project will primarily entail thereplacement and renovation of aging facil-ities and infrastructures. Since 1978, theUSTA has invested more than $500 millionof its own funds into the NTC, and this proj-ect will continue that investment.

“Our goal remains to ensure that theUSTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Cen-ter remains a world-class facility for the topprofessional tennis players, for the hun-dreds of thousands of fans who annuallyattend the U.S. Open, and, as importantly,the near hundred thousand recreationaltennis players who use this facility all year-round,” said Jon Vegosen, chairman of theboard and president of the USTA. “TheStrategic Vision will enable us to achievethis goal.”

Currently, the U.S. Open is New YorkCity’s largest and most valued annual pub-lic sporting event, and generates $756 mil-

lion in economic impact. Attendance nowregularly tops 700,000, making the U.S.Open the highest-attended annual sportingevent in the world. On television andthrough various media, the U.S. Openreaches a global audience, attracting 85million TV viewers in the United States andis broadcast to 188 countries, with morethan 41,000 hours of coverage.

Most notably, the project calls for the con-struction of two new stadiums, one to re-place the aging Louis Armstrong Stadium inits current location at the northeast corner ofthe site, and the other a brand new Grand-stand Stadium, built in a different location atthe southwest corner of the property. Seventournament courts on the southern sectionof the site will be relocated between 30-50feet, and a new walkway will be built to allowfor easy access through the southern part ofthe site. Two parking garages will be con-structed over existing parking lots to ac-commodate additional spaces, and sevencourts on the northwest section–five prac-tice and two tournament- will be replacedand linked by a new, elevated viewing plat-form that will provide better seating andviewing options for fans.

As a direct result of the collective en-hancements, the project will enable thefacility to accommodate an extra 10,000people each day during the U.S. Open,increasing attendance by approximately100,000 new visitors, and amounting to asignificant economic boost to Queens,New York City and the entire metropoli-tan region. The U.S. Open creates 6,000seasonal jobs–with 85 percent of all em-ployees coming from New York City and41 percent from Queens. These 6,000seasonal jobs yield the equivalent of 585(direct and indirect) full- and part-timejobs for Queens residents, earning$40.33 million in direct and indirect em-ployee compensation.

Situated on approximately 42-acres in thepark, the NTC is one of the world’s largestpublic recreational tennis facilities, with in-door and outdoor amenities open for publicuse throughout most of the calendar year,hosting approximately 100,000 patrons.


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

U.S. Open restaurantsAlong with the best tennis and entertain-ment in the world, the U.S. Open offerspremium-dining experiences—from Mojito,a Cuban-inspired restaurant and bar, toChampions Bar & Grill, a classic Americansteakhouse. Whether you are in the moodfor a light snack, lunch, dinner, meetingfriends for cocktails or satisfying a sweettooth, the restaurants on the grounds of theUSTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Cen-ter can cure any craving. Come experienceall the U.S. Open has to offer.

AcesVaulted ceilings, vi-brant colors and acasual but elegantwine and sushi barcombined with su-

perlative seafood offerings, makes Acesthe ultimate dining experience. You canalso enjoy Aces’ flavorful and sumptuouscuisine in your suite with the Aces PlatinumPackage Series. Join us for lunch, dinneror after the matches.

Champions Bar & GrillA contemporarysetting with classicleather and woodaccents, Champi-ons Bar & Grill is a

modern take on the traditional clubhouse at-mosphere. The Grill offers premium steaks,hearty chops, fresh seafood, salads and awide variety of wines. Join us for fun, deli-cious menu items and the finest cuts of meatand more. Bring your friends for lunch, din-ner or after the matches, and you won’t missa minute of the action with live matches andother sporting events on our many TVs.

U.S. Open Club Presented by Emirates Airline

The U.S. Open ClubPresented by Emi-rates Airline is lo-cated on the groundfloor of Arthur Ashe

Stadium. The U.S. Open Club Presented

by Emirates Airline is available to all Sub-scription Series ticket holders for the dura-tion of the tournament for a nominalentrance fee, and is included for SilverLoge Box seat holders. The U.S. OpenClub Presented by Emirates Airline, with itsstriking contemporary décor, is famous forits Chef’s Table and seasonal selections ofeclectic American cuisine.

Patio Café & BarSoak up the beauti-ful surroundings ofthe U.S. Opengrounds at our ex-panded charming

outdoor café and bar located outside theU.S. Open Club Presented by Emirates Air-line. Enjoy fresh selections of seasonalsandwiches and salads paired with sum-mer specialty cocktails. The Patio Café &Bar is available for all ticket holders. Joinus for lunch, dinner or after the matches.

Mojito Restaurant & BarMojito, a Cuban-in-spired restaurant,transports you to adramatic setting in atropical oasis remi-niscent of 1950sHavana. ExperienceMojito’s lusciousflavors with Latin

specialties and cool cocktails either insideor outdoors in our whimsical outdoor gar-den. Mojito is available for all ticket hold-ers. Join us for lunch, dinner or after thematches. Mojito is located on the groundfloor of Arthur Ashe Stadium near the PatioCafé & Bar.

Heineken Red Star CaféThe new HeinekenRed Star Café is lo-cated next to theSouth Plaza Foun-tains. The re-

designed café will be on the top level of anew two-story building providing guestswith a unique view of the grounds. Guests

can enjoy a spacious, ideal setting to un-wind and keep track of the matches whileenjoying the café’s laid-back atmosphereand enhanced menus. The new U.S. OpenCollection Store, located on the groundlevel, will feature a complete assortment of2012 U.S. Open merchandise and memen-tos alongside a limited selection ofHeineken-branded offerings. Join us forlunch, dinner of after the matches.

Moët & Chandon TerraceThe new Moët &Chandon Terracelocated next to thePatio Café & Barfeatures Moët &

Chandon Imperial Champagne along withfull-service bar options. Guests can relaxand enjoy a glass of champagne in an out-door lounge setting.

Rejuvenate by the FountainsVisit our refreshing food destinations by thefountains, including the South Plaza Café,Cuppa Spotta, Carnegie Deli and Ben &Jerry’s.

Baseline CocktailsCome quench your thirst with a full-servicebar that includes premium wine upgrades.

Wine Bar FoodSample Mediterranean flavors with winesto match.

Grey Goose BarLocated in the Food Village, the GreyGoose Bar features the Grey Goose HoneyDeuce, the U.S. Open signature cocktail,along with Grey Goose specialty cocktailsand a full-service bar.

Food VillageEnjoy regional cuisine and specialty itemsat the U.S. Open Food Village:

� Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shop� Carnegie Deli� Classic Burger� Cuppa Spotta


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

� Farm to Fork� Franks and Fries� Fresca Mexicana� Fulton Seafood� Glatt Kosher Cart� Grey Goose Bar� New Delhi Spice� Pizza, Pasta� Southern Barbeque� Stonyfield Café� Sweet & Savory Crepes� Grounds rules

The following items are prohibited andMAY NOT be brought onto the premisesand grounds of the U.S. Open:

� Backpacks� Hard coolers or like containers� Sealed packages of any kind� Bottles or cans (glass or metal)� Aerosol cans or noisemaking devices� Alcohol� Video cameras or recording devices� Computers or laptops� Food (except in limited quantities, or for

medical, dietary or infant purposes)� Weapons� Animals (unless a service animal)� Flags, banners or signs� Any materials constituting unauthorized

advertising or promotion� Laser pointing devices

� Tennis racquets� Any other items deemed inappropriate or

dangerous by the U.S. Open personnel

U.S. Open attractions� U.S. Open American Express Fan Ex-

perience: The U.S. Open American Ex-press Fan Experience that premieredduring the 2011 U.S. Open is moving in-side and will be located in the spacepreviously occupied by SmashZone(within the Chase Center). Open to thepublic, the U.S. Open American Ex-press Fan Experience will feature swinganalysis hitting bays allowing fans to getinstant feedback on their swing alongwith other activities. Also new for 2012,the Fan Experience will include a full-size tennis court with daily program-ming and special offers and assistancefor American Express Cardmembers.

� Mobile Shopping: The 2012 U.S. Openfeatures an enhanced mobile experiencethat includes merchandise-ordering ca-pabilities in addition to the ability tocheck live scores, daily schedules, thelatest news and watch live matches. Withthis dynamic shopping feature, you’ll beable to purchase merchandise while onthe grounds for pick-up or delivery to se-lect locations at your convenience.

� Fountain/Plaza Desk: ESPN and CBSwill broadcast live during select ses-sions. You won’t want to miss inter-views with today’s tennis stars!

� Where to See the Stars: The prac-tice courts located by the West Gateare a great place to get an up-closelook at some of the world’s bestplayers.

� Membership: Here’s your chance tomake tennis, make a difference incommunities across the country. Jointhe USTA today and help us changelives through tennis Stop by the USTAMembership Booth next to the U.S.Open American Express Fan Experi-ence under the overhang of the ChaseCenter. A vast array of tournamentsouvenirs and mementos are availableto commemorate your U.S. Open ex-perience.

� Merchandise: A vast array of tourna-ment souvenirs and mementos areavailable to commemorate your U.S.Open experience.

� International Tennis Hall of Fame& Museum Gallery at the U.S.Open: Be sure to visit the U.S. OpenGallery, located inside the ChaseCenter.

United Sports Publications, Ltd. • United Sports Public

atio

ns, L

td. •

USPUSTA/Metropolitan Region

TOURNAMENT

SCHEDULEFor detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments.

S E E P A G E 6 4


2 0 1 2 U . S . O P E N P R E V I E W

2012 U.S. OPEN MATCH SCHEDULESubject to change

Date/Session Day/Evening Time Featured Matches

Monday, August 27 1 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s/Women’s 1st Round2 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s/Women’s 1st Round

Tuesday, August 283 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s/Women’s 1st Round4 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s/Women’s 1st Round

Wednesday, August 295 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s 1st Round/Women’s 2nd Round6 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s/Women’s 2nd Round

Thursday, August 307 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s/Women’s 2nd Round8 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s/Women’s 2nd Round

Friday, August 319 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s 2nd Round/Women’s 3rd Round10 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s 2nd Round/Women’s 3rd Round

Saturday, September 111 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s/Women’s 3rd Round12 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s/Women’s 3rd Round

Sunday, September 213 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s 3rd Round/Women’s Round of 1614 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s 3rd Round/Women’s Round of 16

Monday, September 315 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s/Women’s Round of 1616 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s/Women’s Round of 16

Tuesday, September 417 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s Round of 16/Women’s Quarterfinals18 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s Round of 16/Women’s Quarterfinals

Wednesday, September 519 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s and/or Women’s Quarterfinals20 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s and/or Women’s Quarterfinals

Thursday, September 621 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s Quarterfinals/Mixed-Doubles Final22 Evening 7:00 p.m. Men’s Quarterfinals

Friday, September 723 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s Doubles Final/Women’s Semifinals

Saturday, September 824 Day 11:00 a.m. Men’s Semifinals25 Evening 7:00 p.m. Women’s Final/Pre-Match Ceremony

Sunday, September 926 Day 12:00 p.m. Women’s Doubles Final/Men’s Final


Tennis Center in Minsk. It had four indoorand 25 outdoor courts. The outdoor courtswere grass, clay and hard courts. It was thenicest facility in my town.

Mike Haddad: I trained primarily on publiccourts. I played at Van Cortland and SetonPark. At 11-years-old, I started playing atStadium Tennis Center. That was the firstprivate club I ever played at.

What was the style of coaching?Belenchia: Most of my coaches taught megood competitive skills, but not so much on

the technical skills. My academy was small,so I usually just worked with one coach foryears at a time. We played a lot of games,but never too many drills.

Beliankou: I didn’t have a particular coachthat I worked with, but all of the coachesstressed limiting unforced errors. However, Idon’t remember spending much time on myserve.

Haddad: My coaching was mainly in theafter-school junior program. I worked onhigh performance drills, strategy and high-percentage tennis. My practice sessionsusually consisted of drilling in the first hourand match play in the second hour.

How was it getting access to courttime?Belenchia: Court access was very easy tocome by. Most of the courts were publicand I would often hang around after prac-tice to play in pick-up matches with otherkids from the academy. My family never hadto pay for court time for me to play or train.We also used to climb the fences of publiccourts just to hit some balls.

Junior TennisAround the World

Matt Belenchia, Mike Haddad and MaxBeliankou of Stadium Tennis Center each sharetheir perspective of growing up in the sport withunique backgrounds

PLAY ON RED CLAY at this fabulous,public 10-court facility in Riverside Park along the Hudson River Greenway,maintained by the Riverside Clay Tennis Association. Present a NYC ParksDepartment tennis permit, or pay $15 at the gate to play on these courts.

• The RCTA offers clinics, tournaments, ladders and “speed tennis” meets.

• FREE CONCERTS Saturday nights at 7pm throughout the summer!

Get more information about the RCTA and its programs at at www.rcta.info.

Find out about the GreenOutlook, the RCTA’s plan to provide New Yorkerswith the greenest buildings in the city atwww.greenoutlook.info.

Phot

o: J

oe J

osep

hs

By Eric Faro

Tennis is becoming anincreasingly interna-tional sport every year.

Though it is more readilyavailable, there are still many noticeabledifferences in the background of the jun-ior athletes being developed all over theglobe. I took some time to interview threeformer top junior players from differentbackgrounds. Matt Belenchia from At-lanta, Ga.; Max Beliankou from Minsk,Belarus; and Mike Haddad from New YorkCity. They are now three of the top teach-ing instructors at Stadium Tennis Center.I was surprised to find the many similari-ties and differences in their answers.

How were the facilities in your area?Matt Belenchia: The facilities were not thatnice. Most of the courts were coveredwith cracks. I never played indoors grow-ing up. The winters were not too extreme,so we would usually play all year-roundoutdoors.

Max Beliankou: I trained at the National


Beliankou: It was tough to get on the courtduring the indoor season. Since there wereonly four indoor courts, I would often haveto practice at 6:00 a.m. or 9:00 p.m.

Haddad: Tennis has a high demand in NewYork City due to the limited places to play.Whether you are playing at a club or on a pub-lic court, it wasn’t easy to get on the court whenyou wanted. If you wanted to play as bad as Idid, you could eventually find some time.

Was it difficult to get to and fromyour practice sessions?Belenchia: I grew up playing five minutes frommy house. If my parents couldn’t take me, Iwould ride my bike to practice. When I gotolder, it was easy to drive my pick-up truck tothe courts.

Beliankou: No, it wasn’t easy. I had to takethe subway and the bus and it would takeme at least an hour to get to the courts.

Haddad: Transportation was not easy. WhenI was young, my parents played a huge role ingetting me to and from practice every day. As

I grew older, I would take the subway andbuses, which made me feel mentally strongerand more dedicated to the sport.

What is the best quality about yourtennis you would attribute to whereyou grew up?Belenchia: The ease of traveling to and fromtournaments … the readily available courts.

Beliankou: The best part is my dedication.The coaches would play with me at any timeof the day. No one would complain about theold facilities. I would often spend an houreach way traveling just to play for one hour.

Haddad: From the ages of about 12 to 17,I would go to Van Cortland Park and playsets with my friends. We would all watcheach other play and critique each other’sstrengths and weaknesses. This was agreat place to practice and socialize.

If you could change one thing aboutyour training as a junior what wouldit be?Belenchia: I would have liked more techni-

cal training and match play. I would haveplayed more tournaments starting in the 14sin order to gain more valuable experience.

Beliankou: I would have focused more onmy serve and volleys. I would like to haveworked on a more aggressive style of tennis.

Haddad: There was a few years’ gapwhere I didn’t play. If I could go back, Iwould not only have played, but I wouldhave given it 100 percent. Practice iseverything in tennis or any sport. You’llnever know how far you could have goneunless you put the time in.

Eric Faro is program director at GothamTennis Academy and Stadium Tennis Cen-ter, just south of Yankee Stadium. Eric grewup in Riverdale and attended Horace Mann,where he played number one singles for allfour years. He attended Ohio State Univer-sity and won more than 100 matches duringhis collegiate career. He may be reached bye-mail at [email protected], or onlineat www.stadiumtennisnyc.com orwww.gothamtennis.com.

“All kinds of tennis programs for all kinds of players.”

718-639-8936

metrotennis.comLow cost adult

beginner group tennis

lessons throughout

New York City-April

thru September.

The largest corporate league in the country!

Team format with refreshments

every night afterwards, and

opportunities for exclusive

tennis clinics.

Singles and doubles

competition in a team format

by ability levels-fun and

competitive! We'll find you a

team, or bring your own team!PLAY TENNISNEW YORK

EASTERNM E T R O

METROCorporate Tennis League

presented by


A L O O K B A C K AT T H E2 0 1 2 N E W Y O R KS P O RT I M E S S E A S O N

NY Sportimes Advanceto the Eastern Conference Finals and Look to Cap OffSuccessful CampaignThe New York Sportimes completed an-other successful season of WorldTeamTennis (WTT) action this summer.Home matches were played at bothSportime Stadium at Randall’s Island (fivematches) and the SEFCU Arena in Albany,N.Y. (two matches). Attendance was up thisyear, as fans have started to realize howmuch fun these matches can be. A noisyatmosphere between points is encour-aged, and WTT is a great chance to seesome of the stars of the game up close andpersonal in an intimate atmosphere.

Playoffs await the SportimesThe New York Sportimes were the secondbest team in the 2012 WorldTeamTennisseason, and with a 9-5 record, theSportimes qualified for the 2012 WTT Play-offs. On Saturday, Sept. 15, the Sportimeswill face off against the defending cham-

pion Washington Kastles for the EasternConference Championship. The Sportimeswill look to end the Kastles unprecedented30-match winning streak and advance tothe 2012 WTT Finals, and a shot at the WTTChampionship for the first time since 2010.The Newport Beach Breakers will face theSacramento Capitals on Friday, Sept. 14 at6:30 p.m. in the Western ConferenceChampionship match. The two ConferenceChampions face off for the King Trophy onSunday, Sept. 16 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Legends collide in the Big Apple


Featuring two hall-of-famers, one particu-lar Sportimes homematchup created quitethe buzz with thelargest turnout of theseason. Actor andcomedian JohnLeguizamo, a long

with former New York Mayor DavidDinkins, were two of the celebrities whowere courtside to watch two legends,John McEnroe (Sportimes) and Andre

Agassi (Boston Lobsters) compete inthe night’s men singles and mixed-dou-bles events.

First up was singles and as a spectatorat the event, it was apparent that bothplayers had not lost the competitive na-ture that made them world champions.Famous for his incredible return of serve,Agassi was able to jump on the openinggame and break Johnny Mac’s serve.Both players continued to hold serve,giving Agassi a chance to serve for theset at 4-3. However, McEnroe turned thetables around with some great returns ofserve and one incredible slice backhandup the line. With the set knotted at 4, itwas time (per WTT rules) for a nine-pointtiebreaker. McEnroe couldn’t help himselffrom throwing his racquet and arguingwith the linesperson as tensions began tobuild in the breaker. Agassi was able tokeep the cool hand though and prevailed5-4 (5-3 in the breaker).

In the next match, McEnroe was able toredeem himself in the mixed-doublesevent. The Sportimes team of McEnroe &Martina Hingis paired up against Agassi &Carly Gullickson-Eagle. McEnroe & Hingiswere able to secure an early break andserve for the match, taking it 5-3 over theLobsters.

Hingis wins WTT MVP

Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Former world number one-ranked MartinaHingis of the Sportimes was named WTTMost Valuable Player (Female) for theWorld TeamTennis Pro League presentedby GEICO. Bobby Reynolds of the Wash-ington Kastles was named Male MVP.Hingis finished first in women’s singles

Online Tennis Training with Bill Longua USPTAPlease see the review of this book in this month'sissue of New York Tennis Magazine. For the down-load version please go to http://onlinetennistrain-ing.com/usopen Get in the US Open spirit and takeadvantage of this great deal for only $9.99!

Go to http://onlinetennistraining.com/members for details.

E-mail Bill [email protected] for more info.


A L O O K B A C K AT T H E2 0 1 2 N E W Y O R KS P O RT I M E S S E A S O N

this season with a .593 winning percent-age. Hingis teamed with AshleyHarkleroad to finish as the top-rankedteam in women’s doubles with a .571winning percentage. This is the fifth sea-son of WTT play for Hingis, who led theSportimes to the 2005 WTT title.

“I’m proud to win the WTT MVPaward,” said Hingis. “The 2012 seasonwas both challenging and rewarding. Iwas part of a great team and much of mysuccess was thanks to my teammates,coach, team owner and great New YorkSportimes fans.”

Other Sportimes players were recog-nized by WorldTeamTennis for theirstrong showings in 2012 as well, asJesse Witten was named fourth BestMen’s Singles Player, Harkleroad wonthe award for Second Best Women’sDoubles Player and Robert Kendrickwas named Third Best Mixed-DoublesPlayer.

Growing the sportThe WTT season offers the opportunityfor Long Island Tennis Magazine to helpcontinue the growth of grassroots tennisthroughout New York. With Sportime’ssupport, a free copy of our July/Augustedition was distributed to all fans in at-tendance at all home matches. A boothwas setup across from USTA Eastern inthe outdoor food area. Also our profes-sional photographer was on hand for allhome matches to capture the matchesand we had writers to do interviews andrecaps post match.

Season overviewAll in all, this WTT season was a greatprelude to the sport’s stars coming in forthe 2012 U.S. Open, and with New Yorkcurrently not a host site of either an ATPor WTA tournament, the chance to seethe stars of WTT in action should be em-braced and appreciated by tennis fansthroughout the area.

Scenes From the 2012 New York SportimesWorld TeamTennis SeasonCredit all photos to Kenneth B. Goldberg

The New York Sportimes gather after a successfulnight against the Philadelphia Freedoms

RobertKendrick &

Jesse Witten ofthe Sportimes

were 5-3winners over

Luka Gregorc& Jordan Kerr

of thePhiladelphia

Freedoms

John McEnroe of the Sportimes in hismatch against Andre Agassi

Ashley Harkelroad in women’s doubles action forthe Sportimes at Sportime Stadium

New York Tennis MagazinePRESENTS YOUR

2012 Guide to New York Tennis Clubs


Butch Seewagen Tennis Academy235 East 49th Street • New York, N.Y.(212) [email protected] over 75 years, the Seewagen Family hasknown that physical competence empowerschildren to develop a healthy self-esteem. In1984, CATS developed a unique cross-train-ing curriculum with the assumption that if achild achieves success the child will havemore fun. Through interaction, students aregiven the steps to achieve their goals. Themore success a child has the more fun thechild will have leading to a lifelong love ofbeing active. The Butch Seewagen TennisAcademy is proud to be the first of its kind inNew York City devoted entirely to the USTA’s10 & Under Tennis program. We use an all-new method of teaching tennis establishedby the USTA and the ITF. Butch Seewagen,co-founder and athletic director of CATS, is a

former top 70 world-class touring pro who competed at Wimble-don, the French Open and the U.S. Open.

Go! Tennis34-28 214th PlaceBayside, N.Y.(718) 224-6303GoTennisPrograms.com

Go! Tennis Programs are operated at NorthShore Tennis and Racquets Club in Bayside,Queens. North Shore has 14 outdoor Har-Tru courts, 10 that are bubbled for the indoorseason. Players are provided with beauti-fully-maintained courts, as well as excellentlighting and heat. The club also boasts abeautifully appointed clubhouse featuringspacious locker rooms, lounge, and a fullservice bar and grill.

Go! Tennis Programs are under the di-rection of 35-year tennis veteran George

Garland. The junior program caters to players of all ages and skilllevels, from QuickStart through Tournament Team. The programis known for its high level of instruction.

Go! Tennis also offers a wide range of programs geared for

adults. Whether its competitive leagues, clinics, drills, or privatelessons, Go! Tennis has it all. An attentive, caring professionalstaff, coupled with first-rate facilities, make Go! Tennis at NorthShore Tennis and Racquets Club the place to play.

Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club450 West 43rd StreetNew York, N.Y.(212) [email protected] Plaza Racquet Club (MPRC), anAdvantage Tennis Club, located at 450 West

43rd Street (between 9thAvenue and 10th Avenue)in New York City (openMonday-Sunday from 6:00a.m. until midnight), offersluxury tennis in the heart ofManhattan with five indoorchampionship hard courts,air-conditioning in the sum-mer, a luxurious duplexclubhouse with terrace, a

new tennis bubble, private and group lessons for all ages and lev-els, game arranging, quality tennis programs for members andnon-members, leagues, tennis camps, parties, doubles play, tour-naments, a pro shop with stringing services, and nice lockerrooms. Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club membership includes a fullmembership to Manhattan Plaza Health Club. MPRC memberscan fully access the Health Club’s many fitness classes, climbingwalls, gym, glass enclosed swimming pool, sundeck, sauna andmore. There is indoor parking also available on the premises.

MPRC’s most popular program for members is game arrangingthat follows the NTRP rating system. MPRC has some of the besttennis-teaching professionals in New York City who offer privatelessons and group lessons.

MPRC offers several categories of membership, including theAdvantage Passport Tennis/Sports MultiClub Membership to Roo-sevelt Island Racquet Club & Sports Park and the New York Ten-nis Club. For membership information, contact MPRC AssistantManager and Membership Director Calvin Sharpe at (212) 594-0554. MPRC also offers season/open tennis time, and for moreinformation on these opportunities, contact MPRC ManagerGertrud Wilhelm at (212) 594-0554. For more information on ten-nis lessons and Adult Tennis Programs, contact MPRC Assistant

Credit: Photo by MPRC member Sam Kanter, courtesy of MPRC




New York Tennis Club3081 Harding AvenueThrogs Neck (Bronx), N.Y.(718) [email protected] in 1886, New York Tennis Club is the

oldest active tennis club inNew York, as 2012 marksNew York Tennis Club’s127th consecutive season.Throughout the years, ithas maintained a reputa-tion for its restful atmos-phere, the congeniality ofits members and its pro-

fessional approach to a truly popular sport. With new patio andviewing deck and six newly resurfaced Har-Tru courts, The NewYork Tennis Club is a haven in a quiet corner of the City. Conven-ient to Manhattan, Queens and lower Westchester, New York Ten-nis Club is also the best value in the Tri-State area. Sit back andrelax in New York Tennis Club’s recently renovated clubhouse andlounge, grab a bite to eat at the snack bar or unwind in the re-modeled locker rooms. There is also on-site racquet stringing inthe pro-shop and ample free parking located on the premises.

For the outdoor season, New York Tennis Club offers unlimitedsummer play from May through October. Members can play asmuch tennis as they wish and soak up the sun on lush lawns sur-rounded by flower gardens, sit in the shade of willow trees or havelunch on a covered patio or in the clubhouse, offering eating facil-ities, locker rooms and showers. The indoor season offers thesame high-quality courts during the winter at competitive rates.New York Tennis Club Indoors features two climate-controlledbubbles, equipped with shadow-less, non-glare lighting, offeringhourly court time with rates between $34-$70 per court, as wellas seasonal court options. Hours of operation are 6:00 a.m. tomidnight, seven days a week, and no membership is required.

The Club offers adult programs for skill sets of all levels. Pro-gram offerings include singles and doubles leagues, a compre-hensive game arranging program for both singles and doublesplayers, private and group instruction for all levels, cardio-tennisclasses, and tennis parties with guests are welcome. Whether youare new to tennis, or want to take your game to the next level, TheNew York Tennis Club has a program for you.

The Advantage All-City Junior Tennis Program at New York Ten-nis offers year-round classes, camps, and programs for all agesand levels. There are QuickStart classes for ages four through

Tennis Director Bruce Barney at (212) 594-0554. MPRC also of-fers QuickStart, and for more information, contact MPRC Directorof Programs Outreach Gil Amar at (212) 594-0554.

Midtown Tennis Club

341 8th Avenue • New York, N.Y.(212) 989-8572 • MidtownTennis.com

Midtown Tennis Club isManhattan’s original in-door tennis facility conve-niently located in theheart of New York City.Situated on 8th Avenuebetween 26th and 27thStreets, Midtown TennisClub is easily accessible

by public transportation. In a city filled with commitments andmembership dues, it’s a breeze to reserve at Midtown for anhour or more of court time, a private lesson or one of Midtown’sclinics.

Midtown has four indoor Har-Tru courts for year-round useand four outdoor Har-Tru courts which are bubbled and heatedduring the winter months. Midtown’s outdoor season enablesCity-dwellers to play on our open-air courts with spectacularviews of the Manhattan skyline.

Midtown offers an extensive team of tennis professionalswho are available to provide lessons to all ages and levels. Ifyou are looking to develop your existing skills, learn new tech-niques, get a great cardio workout or prepare for your next tour-nament, Midtown has a pro for whatever your interest.

Midtown’s clinics are offered for total beginners and all lev-els up to competition players. Sign up for one month, one dayor all year. The Friday Night Round-Robin is a popular event inthe winter season which attracts intermediate to advancedplayers looking for friendly doubles matches. It is a great wayto meet new tennis friends.

Midtown is now the home of John Curtis’s Manhattan TennisAcademy, Midtown’s new Junior Development Program. John’safter-school classes are available for juniors of all ages and lev-els. The Manhattan Tennis Academy also will feature the USTA10-and-Under program and will offer small classes beginningin September.




nine, summer and holiday camp programs, after-school programs,tournament training for advanced competitive players, and matchplay. During the school year, classes are offered both after schooland on Saturdays. The Advantage All-City Junior Tennis Camp of-fers one-week sessions from mid-June through the end of August.

We are very excited to offer Advantage Passport Membership,which offers our members a whole new level of benefits and ac-cess. Passport memberships include free summer court time onreserved courts at Roosevelt Island Racquet Club (RIRC) and NewYork Tennis Club, plus membership privileges at Manhattan PlazaRacquet Club, Manhattan Plaza Health Club and New York TennisClub. For more information, call Manager Lauren Hartman, or Di-rector of Adult Programs & Advantage Sea and Sports Camp PaulFontana at (718) 239-7919.

Roosevelt Island Racquet Club281 Main StreetRoosevelt Island, N.Y.(212) [email protected] in its 20th year of operation, RooseveltIsland Racquet Club (RIRC) is part of Advan-

tage Tennis Clubs. Roo-sevelt Island Racquet Clubis conveniently located onbeautiful Roosevelt Island,New York City’s oasis inthe East River. The Clubfeatures 12 Lee green claycourts under translucentbubbles with shadowless,

non-glare lighting, heated and air-conditioned for comfortable year-round play. The exercise room includes a treadmill, exercise bikes,elliptical trainers and free weights to accommodate almost any work-out. The Club boasts a completely stocked pro shop, locker room fa-cilities, two social lounges, Riverview Lounge with a breathtakingview of Manhattan’s skyline, a snack bar and free parking.

RIRC is easily accessible by tram, subway or car (free on-siteparking). The Roosevelt Island Tram (from 60th Street and 2nd Av-enue) stops adjacent to the Club, and the subway (F Train) stopsone block from the Club. Members also have use of an indoorswimming pool and fitness center next door in the Sports Park.

RIRC offers a wide range of adult programs for players of all lev-els. Program offerings range from the Advanced Singles Leaguefor the experienced competitive player, to Beginner Group Les-

sons for people new to the sport of tennis. Cardio-tennis is one ofthe Club’s most popular programs and is offered daily for thoselooking to combine a cardio workout with tennis. Whatever yourgoal, there is a program for you!

The Advantage All-City Junior Tennis Program offers year-roundclasses, camps and programs for all ages and levels. There areQuickStart classes for ages four through nine, summer and holi-day camp programs, after-school programs, tournament trainingfor advanced competitive players, and match play. During theschool year, classes are offered both after-school and on Satur-days. The Advantage All-City Junior Tennis Camp offers one-weeksessions from mid-June through the end of August.

Roosevelt Island Racquet Club offers a Gold Membership thatincludes full Club privileges, 14-day advance reservation privi-leges, member court fees with an average savings of $35 per courthour, game arranging and member discount on all programs. TheClub is excited to offer Advantage Passport Membership, whichoffers members a whole new level of benefits and access. Pass-port Memberships include free summer court time on reservedcourts at RIRC and New York Tennis Club, plus membership priv-ileges at Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club, Manhattan Plaza HealthClub and New York Tennis Club. For more information, contactGordon Kent, Tom Manhart or Kimberly Latif at (212) 935-0250.

SPORTIME Randall’s IslandOne Randall’s IslandNew York, N.Y.(212) 427-6150SportimeNY.com/[email protected] Randall’s Island, a state-

of-the-art, 20-court facility lo-cated on Randall’s Island inManhattan, is the home of theJohn McEnroe Tennis Academy(JMTA). New York sports legendJohn McEnroe opened hisworld-class training academy inthe world’s greatest city in Sep-

tember 2010. JMTA is led by Lawrence Kleger, SPORITME’S ex-ecutive director of tennis, who has trained more ranked juniorsthan anyone in the history of the USTA Eastern Section. Lawrenceis also the personal coach of JMTA’s Noah Rubin, a top Americantennis prospect who recently reached his career-best of 14th inthe ITF junior world ranking for boys 18 & Under. JMTA staff iscomprised of experienced teaching professionals, including As-




sistant Academy Directors Fritz Buehning, Bruce Haddad, KarimBalagh and Nate Emge. Fritz is a former world top 20 player andU.S. Open finalist, Bruce is a two-time All-American at ArizonaState University, Karim has coached with the Moroccan Davis Cupteam, and Nate is a former number one player at the University ofKentucky and an assistant coach at Michigan State University.

In addition to a world-class junior tournament training program,SPORTIME Randall’s Island offers the best New York City has tooffer for adult players of all levels. We have a wide range of adulttennis and fitness offerings, including group clinics and private les-sons, taught by the same great teaching pros who are training thenext Johnny Mac at JMTA.

The club also offers adult singles and doubles leagues, privateand group personal training in its well-equipped fitness center, anda variety of monthly events where you can meet new people asyou improve your tennis. Members enjoy preferred rates for courttimes and seasonal courts.

SPORTIME Randall’s Island features 160,000-square feet of ten-nis courts and amenities, including five indoor and five indoor/out-door Deco-Turf tennis courts, as well as 10 indoor/outdoor Har-Truclay tennis courts. All 20 courts are available for year-round play.

This extraordinary club also features a functional training andfitness center; comfortable lounge areas with excellent viewing; ajunior lounge/computer lab; a pro shop featuring top brands and24-hour stringing; a complimentary nursery; steam baths in themember locker rooms; a café serving healthy food, snacks andbeverages; and classrooms, party rooms and meeting facilities.

So come see for yourself. It’s all right here on Randall’s Islandunder the RFK/Triboro Bridge. Contact Membership Director ZefLekaj at (212) 427-6150 or e-mail [email protected] more information and to schedule a visit.

Stadium Tennis Center at Mill Pond Park

725 Gateway Center Boulevardat East 152nd Street and the Harlem RiverBronx, N.Y.(718) 665-4684 StadiumTennisNYC.comThe new Stadium Tennis Center at Mill

Pond Park, located in the shadow of Yankee Stadium at East 152ndStreet and the Harlem River, can be labeled “the best-kept secret inNew York City tennis.” With 16 cushioned, U.S. Open-style deco-turf,hard courts—including 12 indoor courts which are open for indoorplay from October through April, New York City’s newest indoor/out-

door tennis center commenced its firstindoor season at the end of 2010. Theexcellent lighting, high indoor ceilingsand spacious backcourts of the newStadium Tennis Center are sure toplease the tennis playing public andtournament level players.

The new Stadium Tennis Center at Mill Pond Park offers a fullcomplement of tennis programs for juniors and adults of all skilllevels in partnership with Gotham Tennis Academy, a leader in de-veloping and operating tennis programs in New York City and theHamptons. Through its partnership with Gotham Tennis Academy,the new Tennis Center has established a team of top-notch, ex-perienced tennis professionals and offers popular junior develop-ment and advanced training tennis programs including highperformance elite training for ranked juniors. For adult players,fast-paced group clinics and cardio tennis workouts are offereddaily, in addition to indoor seasonal court rentals, private lessons,game arranging, leagues and tournament play.

The state-of-the art indoor seasonal “bubble” covering 12 tenniscourts at the new Stadium Tennis Center is one of the largest tennis“bubbles” or domes of this type in the world, covering an area of overfour million cubic feet and a footprint of more than 75,000-squarefeet. In addition, an adjacent clubhouse will be completed in the com-ing months and will feature a pro shop, café, locker rooms and loungeareas, Wi-Fi computer access, a workspace where children can doschoolwork and read, and a tennis library.

More information about Stadium Tennis Center at Mill Pond Parkcan be found at www.stadiumtennisnyc.com or by calling (718) 665-4684. More information about Gotham Tennis Academy can be foundat www.gothamtennis.com or by calling (646) 524-7069.

TCR—The Club of Riverdale2600 Netherland AvenueRiverdale, N.Y.(718) 796-9099TCR-NYC.comTCR—The Club of Riverdale is en-

tering its 20th year as NewYork’s premier tennis andhealth club. We are proudto welcome Gilad Bloomas our new director of ten-nis. Gilad, for the last twoyears, was the director oftennis at The John McEnroe



2012 Guide to New York Tennis ClubsTennis Academy at Randall’s Island, and before that, ran his own acad-emy at The New York Tennis Club. Gilad commands the reputation ofinspiring the most from the high-performance athletes in the field. Itis his inspirational quality that is going to not only lead the Tourna-ment Training Program at TCR, but will raise the level of effort andproductivity on all the courts that Gilad will personally impact eachand every day.

The 150,000-square foot club has six indoor tennis courts, a 75-foot swimming pool, basketball gymnasium, table tennis rec hall,fitness center, golf center, group exercise and spinning studios, spa,café, sun deck and childcare center.

TCR’s Junior Development Program has led the market regards op-erational excellence since 1993. TCR’s quality pro staff, unparalleledon-court product, mature transport operation, great facilities and themost convenient club location in NYC have combined to make TCR’sprogram the go-to program for the most discerning tennis enthusiast.

TCR is accepting a limited number of applications for its Junior De-velopment Tournament Training Program that begins Monday, Sept.10. TCR’s transport network offers the convenience of door-to-doortransport from school or home, seven days a week, for all hours of theday and night. The program will offer a supplemental fitness programto provide that extra edge as well as private tennis lessons on a sea-sonal basis. TCR will also be running ETA Tournament excursions forits kids, as well as school break camp sessions.

Gilad will not only head the Junior Development Program during theschool year, but will also bring High-Performance to TCR’s SummerCamp Program. Students can experience weekly camp sessions at TCRwith door-to-door transport offered from throughout New York City.

TCR invites you to come and meet Gilad and visit the Club. Toarrange for an on/off-court appointment with Gilad, call (718) 796-9099.

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

Meridian Road at Grand Central ParkwayFlushing, N.Y.(718) 760-6200USTA.comThe Community Tennis Developmentprogram at the USTA Billie Jean King

National Tennis Center (NTC) is intended to promote and develop thegame of tennis as a means of healthful recreation and physical fitness foryoungsters and the general public while utilizing the facilities at the NTC.

The NTC is open to the public seven days a week, except for thetime period of the U.S. Open. The general public is encouraged tocome utilize the indoor/outdoor tennis courts and other facilities.

Courts may be reserved two daysin advance or used on the day ofplay on a first-come/first-servedbasis. In 2011, it is estimated thatmore than 85,000 individuals utilizedthe facility in this manner.

Among the many participants inthe programs are the New York

Junior Tennis League (NYJTL), the NYC Department of Parks andRecreation, Star Track/Say Yes to Tennis, No to Violence clinics forQueens at-risk youth, etc., providing thousands of youth with a freeopportunity to learn and play tennis. Free tennis clinics are con-ducted for NYC Department of Education teachers/coaches. TheNTC hosts various tennis opportunities for special populations, in-cluding wheelchair tennis instruction for the physically-challengedfrom the months of October through July, HERO (Help ExpandRecreational Opportunities) for developmentally challenged adultsand tennis for autistic children through NYFAC (New York Families forAutistic Children).

The NTC tournaments program promotes tennis play at the NTCby providing various tournaments for local players. At the junior level(ages eight to 18), more than 1,000 boys and girls compete againsteach other based on their abilities. The USTA NTC Junior Classic, alarger, Level 1 sectional tournament, is held for boys and girls ageseight through 18 from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Thistournament has more than 350 competitors.

NTC summer camps provide basic tennis instruction, includingthe 10-and-Under QuickStart format for younger children, and basicfitness programs; encourages good sportsmanship; and leads togeneral character building of children in the New York City area.These services are provided at nominal cost, making it affordable foryoungsters who would not otherwise get the chance to attend campor receive tennis instruction.

NTC’s teaching programs provide the public with reasonably-priced tennis instruction from USPTA- or PTR-certified, full-timeteaching staff. These teaching programs service thousands of play-ers, from the very young (four years old) to senior citizens (92 years-plus) with a wide variety of lesson plans suited to their abilities.

Project ACES (Alternative Classroom Environment for Students)started at the NTC in 2009. The program is geared toward six- to10-year-old children from schools around the five boroughs, provid-ing them the opportunity to visit the NTC and learn about the historyand the game of tennis. The kids are given a walking tour of the en-tire site (excluding Stadium 2/3), including Center Court in Ashe, avideo presentation in Interview Room 1 on the history and the gameof tennis and the great players of the sport, a tour of the lockerrooms, and roughly an hour of tennis instruction from the NTC’s prostaff, ending with lunch at the Indoor Tennis Center.

Photo credit: Anthony Pastecchi



2012 Guide to New York Tennis ClubsWest Side Tennis Club

1 Tennis PlaceForest Hills, N.Y.(718) 268-2300ForestHillsTennis.comThe West Side Tennis Club is well-known forhosting the U.S. Open Tennis Champi-onships. Today, it is home to 830 members,

maintaining the best of ourcelebrated past and richhistory. The West Side Ten-nis Club often surprisesfirst-time visitors. An-chored by its historic sta-

dium, the renowned Tudor-style clubhouse, along with a juniorOlympic pool complex, West Side’s 12 acres are both a majesticsetting and a tranquil oasis in the heart of New York City.

West Side Tennis Club is located just 20 minutes from thebustle of midtown Manhattan, easily accessible by car, bus,subway or the Long Island Railroad. West Side maintains 38tennis courts on four different surfaces: Grass, Har-Tru, RedClay and Deco-Turf and provides year-round tennis utilizing its10-court indoor facility.

Members can take advantage of group or private lessons,clinics, tournaments, ladders, arranged matches, round-robinsand a year-round junior program, including summer camp, a proshop and swimming lessons. West Side Tennis Club also offersa full-service restaurant and bar with spectacular sunset din-ing, and private party and corporate outing facilities. Platformtennis, bridge, and fun-filled activities and social events for allages at all levels are scheduled year-round.

On weekends and weekdays, it’s a fabulous warm weathergetaway for families, with a tennis day camp that is the perfectsummer activity for children. So convenient, what better wayto end a day at work than with a game of tennis, a dip in thepool, and watching the sun set having drinks on the clubhouse patio.

And for getting business done in a special way, it’s a uniqueplace to spend quality time with customers, business associ-ates and colleagues. There is even wireless Internet accessavailable anywhere in the clubhouse. Want to do a truly specialevent for a small or large group of people, West Side TennisClub has everything you could want to create a special occa-sion. There is something for everyone at the West Side TennisClub. For more information, visit ForestHillsTennis.com or call(718) 268-2300.

Connect with us on .com/NewYorkTennis

Follow us on @NYTennisMag (twitter.com/NYTennisMag)

Go to NYTennisMag.com and sign up for free registration.

Visit us onNewYorkTennisMagazine.com for ...

• HOT TOPICS: Breaking pro tour news.

• LOCAL NEWS: The hottest local tennis news.

• GUIDES: Camps, clubs, retail outlets and anything related to tennis in New York

• VOICE: Share your opinions and experiences in NY Forums. Participate in polls.

Comment on articles.

• WHAT'S GOING ON: Check out upcoming tennis events and tournaments

• READ: The latest issue and archives of New York Tennis Magazine.

• PHOTOS: Photos, photos and MORE photos.


USTA METRO REGION

A Chat With Ron RocchiUSTA Eastern volunteer DaisySchwartz had a chance to chatwith Ron Rocchi, senior de-signer-CRO, global tour man-ager of racquet sports forWilson Sporting Goods aboutlife, liberty and the pursuit ofhappiness, which we all knowis really tennis!

When/how/why did you get your start in tennis? Tell me a little bitabout yourself.Ron Rocchi: I consider myself a life-long tennis player and tennis en-thusiast, and as I look back on the different stages of my life, ten-nis has always been a major influence. I was the first person inmy family to play tennis and had no real influence or exposureto the sport as a young child. Around the age of eight or nine, Ipicked up a racquet and have had one in my hand ever since. Ilove playing the sport and found competitive tennis filled a de-sire to train and compete, through high school, college and be-yond. I am fortunate to have worked in the tennis industry formore than 30 years now, and my experience is extremely di-verse. My very first job in tennis was folding towels at the localclub in trade for court time, and I even washed courts at a resortas a full-time job! I have taught tennis in both private and pub-lic facilities, at resorts and country clubs, managed facilities, de-veloped innovative programs and trained teachingprofessionals. Currently, I am the senior designer and global tourmanager for Wilson Racquet Sports, and work with over 100professional tennis players on tour.

What about the sport are you most passionate about?Equipment, more specifically, racquets and strings. For any playerin the world, having the right equipment absolutely can make adifference in their game. Elite athletes and professional playershave the same desire and need to match the right racquet that willallow them to play their best tennis as does the average player atthe local club. There are many factors that contribute to the rac-quet, the string, and the handle, all of which will determine howeach player will perform. The challenge is to find the right combi-nation for each individual player. In the history of tennis, we havenever seen the sheer magnitude of products being produced andoffered for players than today, and to understand those equipmentchoices takes a comprehensive knowledge.What about tennis is most inspirational?One aspect of tennis I find inspirational is the unique path each playertakes to reach the top level. For the pros, background is almost unim-

portant as many of the top players come from a very modest upbring-ing. Then, the drive to be the best takes over and with a lot of hardwork, amazing things can happen. Our media coverage of the sporttoday does not begin to tell these amazing stories, full of struggle andchallenge. These stories transcend tennis, and are truly inspirational.

What direction do you see tennis going in, overall?Court-balanced with the exter-nal business influences. Aroundthe world, the governing bodiesof tennis struggle with the no-tion of how to protect the sport,while increasing the revenue re-quired to grow and improve. Forexample, the addition of “on-

court” player challenges has proven to be a real improvement to thesport, without changing the dynamics of play. But this addition has costsignificant dollars in research, testing and equipment. On the businessside, sponsors, agents, manufacturers, tournaments and players allcompete to find their share of the respective pie. This delicate balanceis important and should be a major focus for those of us involved in thesport of tennis to protect its future.

What advice do you have for young players just getting started?Take your tennis extremely seriously. Training, diet, skill-building, tac-tics and shot selection are the cornerstones of your game. I guaranteeyour opponents are working with 100 percent of their effort and evenbeyond. Do all of the little things well, know your equipment, shoes andgrips, and these things will factor into your success.

How did you come up with the idea for an all-star internationalteam of stringers? What are some of the tournaments where wecan find you and your team?For decades, Wilson and the USTA have been partners on many proj-ects, from grassroots programs, to being the official ball of the U.S.Open. In 2006, the USTA identified a need to upgrade the stringing serv-ice provided to the players at the tournament, and approached Wilsonwith this request. What most tennis fans don’t know is that the “on-site”stringing service is a major component of how the tournament is oper-ated, and is extremely difficult to perform well. We will see almost everyplayer each day, and to fulfill their specific stringing needs is no simpletask. On a busy day, we will string more than 350 racquets, each withtheir own set requirements tailored toward the individual players. Ourability to string their racquet efficiently and correctly each day is centralto their performance and can make the difference between a loss anda win. This is something we take very seriously. To handle this monu-mental task, having a well-trained team is essential. The Wilson String-ing team was created to become the very best in the world, and performat the highest level possible at a Grand Slam event. While many other


USTA METRO REGION

stringing services are just that—a service—we operate as a team. Eachstringer goes through a rigorous and comprehensive training program,and we have standardized every aspect of stringing down to how wetie certain knots. Team members come from all over the world, and arethe some of the finest tournament stringers in the world today. In 2012,the Wilson stringing team can be found stringing at the AustralianOpen, Sony Ericsson Open, and the U.S. Open. These tournamentsrepresent three out of the five biggest tournaments in the world, andthey trust Wilson for their stringing.

When you are in New York City during the U.S. Open, which restau-rants/bars do you like best? Any tips for the fans/spectators?During the U.S. Open, there is not much time to get out and enjoy thecity. The stringing team stays in midtown Manhattan, and we are alwayslooking for late night spots to eat or just hang out. We have been knownto frequent Smith and Wo, Blondies, Wheel Tapper, Dos Caminos andEast Japanese for sushi.

If you are considering coming to the U.S. Open as a fan to watch ten-nis, consider a weekday during the first week. This is your best chanceto see many outer courts of action with great players, and also take ina night match which is a must during the Open. In the second week,there is less tennis to see and the demand is greater. Be prepared tospend some money as the U.S. Open is expensive. You may have tofight some crowds, but the experience is well worth it as a fan! I havebeen to every major tournament in the world, and almost all of thesmaller ones as well, and what you hear is true, there is nothing like anight match at the U.S. Open!

Although on the tour so much of the time, where do you spendmost of your days coming up with your great ideas? Without re-vealing too much, what are you working on now?As senior designer for Wilson Racquet Sports, I am always working onnew and innovative products for players of all skill levels. Currently, ourBLX line of racquets can be found in stores, clubs, and online all overthe world. We typically launch new models once a year, and are rap-idly approaching the 2013 debut of new models. I am currently work-ing on some great things for 2014, and have even started work onthings for 2015! Stay tuned for some great products from Wilson.

Outside of tennis what else are you up to this summer?For a lot of people, today it is challenging to balance work andfamily, and this is certainly true for me as well. I spend as muchtime as possible with my wife and kids just doing summer thingsand taking vacations. I had two boys playing baseball this summerand it was great to go to all the games. The girls were busy withfriends, soccer and activities. We did find the time to take a roadtrip to Colorado. When at home, we like to spend time at the pool.I consider myself to be a semi-professional chef and love to bar-beque all summer long!

The David Dinkins Tennis Club Offering Free 10 & Under Tennis

The David Dinkins Tennis Club at The Jungle has an-nounced that it is offering a summer of Free 10 &Under family tennis. Every Saturday morning from8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. through Saturday, Sept. 30,five- to 10-year-old children and their parents are en-couraged to participate in tennis instruction with theirchildren at Fred Johnson Park, located at 150thStreet and 7th Avenue. These lessons are presented

under the direction of Sam Penceal, a USPTR-Certified Professional,and racquets, balls and all equipment is provided. To RSVP for thesesessions, send an e-mail with the names and ages of participants [email protected] or call (917) 687-2576.

Yonkers Native Jonathan Agyeno Selected to Attend USTA NationalJunior Tennis and Learning Leadership Camp

The USTA has announced that 13-year-oldJonathan Agyeno from Yonkers, N.Y. was oneof 36 student/athletes from around the nationselected to attend the 28th Annual USTA/NJTLTennis Leadership Camp in Minneapolis, heldJuly 16-20. The camp is for kids ages 12-14 whoparticipate in National Junior Tennis & Learning(NJTL) network chapters nationwide. This year’scamp was held on the campus of the Universityof Minnesota. Agyeno was nominated by DanteBrown from the Harlem Junior Tennis & Educa-

tion Program based on his leadership qualities, academics, tennis skillsand extracurricular activities.

The all-expenses paid week-long camp provides the attendees withtennis instructions, as well as rewarding educational and motivationalexperiences. During the camp, instructors emphasized the importanceof individual skill development, physical fitness, proper nutrition andgood sportsmanship. The students received tennis lessons four toseven hours daily from several of the most experienced coaches in thegame; heard from guest speaker Jon Rydberg, U.S. Men’s wheelchairtennis player and 2012 Paralympian; and volunteered locally to sort andpack donated books for shipment to the “Books for Africa” projectsand programs.

The USTA/NJTL Tennis Leadership Camp was created in 1984 to pro-vide an educational and motivational tennis experience for NJTL partic-ipants who might not otherwise have access to such an opportunity.


USTA METRO REGION

Bronx Player Raising Funds to Rebuild School, Tennis Courts in Niger

The world of tennis knows no bounds. Just ask Ibrahim Siddo of theBronx, N.Y. who founded a non-profit organization last year after learn-ing about the destruction of a school in his hometown of Niger duringthe country’s rainy season. Siddo, who visited the school in December,saw the impact on the local community firsthand: Students were sittingon bricks in classrooms, the school was missing basic educationalsupplies and the tennis courts where he used to play were all ripped up.We caught up with Siddo and asked him about his organization,SUPAD Inc., and its efforts to help rebuild and develop Niger.

What is the name of your organization? What is its mission?SUPAD Inc. comes from truncating the words “SUPport” and “Ad-vancement,” and its mission is to help create better conditions forlearning and development for children in Niger.

What inspired you to create this organization?My inspiration to create this organization came two years ago when Ireceived an e-mail from a cousin of mine from my native village askingme to send money to help reconstruct the classrooms the storms de-stroyed during the rainy season. When I saw the pictures of the dam-age, I shared them with friends and colleagues who did not hesitate abit to join me when I told them about my idea of creating a non-profitto help in this poor country where small help could go far. That washow SUPAD was created on July 25, 2011.

In December 2011, I traveled to Niger, and saw for myself how seri-ous the situation was. The school had no benches or tables, the stu-dents were sitting on bricks in classrooms and had no basic schoolsupplies. The tennis club I used to play at was unrecognizable, thecourts were ripped, the nets torn and the balls were worn out beyondrecognition. That is why I have decided to do something to bring thissituation to the knowledge of those who are capable and willing to joinus to make a difference for these children.

What can people do to help your organization?When I came back from Niger, I developed the first project: To support

the school of Fetetchide. This can be seen on the Web at www.su-padinc.org. I am also doing everything I can, as mandated by the NigerTennis Federation, to collect balls, rackets, shoes, nets and anythinganyone can give to support the Niger Tennis Federation.

If people want to help, how can they contact your organization?Whoever wants to help can do so at www.supadinc.org or mail us at:SUPAD Inc. • 1230 E. Tremont Avenue, #10F • Bronx, NY 10460They can also call us at (917) 545-9825.

What’s your hope for the children who are learning to play tennisin Niger?My hope for the children who are learning to play tennis in Niger is tohave decent courts, nets, and balls which, I have no doubt, will galva-nize these children and lead them to be even more enthusiastic abouttennis. This will ultimately create champions for Niger.

Local Players Compete in the American Tennis Association’s National Championships

By Esu Ma’at

Thirteen players from the Harlem Junior Tennis and Ed-ucation Program (HJTEP) took part in the 95th AnnualAmerican Tennis Association (ATA) National Champi-onships, held July 29-Aug. 4 at the Jimmy Evert Tennis

Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Formed in 1916 by a group of African-American businessmen, college professors and physicians, the ATA,is the oldest African American sports organization in the United States.

The first ever ATA National Championships, consisting of threeevents (men’s and women’s singles, and men’s doubles) took place atBaltimore’s Druid Hill Park in August of 1917. In August 2012, severalthousand players took part in more than 50 different events at the 95thAnnual ATA National Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Representing the HJTEP were: Shayna Spooner, Donovan Spigner,Nia Rose, Kiara Rose, Courtney “Jaycen” Murphy, Alexa Colas, JoakimDuffy, DJ Smith, Zuhri Masters, Jonathan Agyeno, Kumeil Hosain,Ameer Hosain and Vashni Ballesti.

The HJTEP has been a member club and fervent supporter of theAmerican Tennis Association. Juniors making the annual ATA National’sexcursion is a time honored tradition for the 40-year program locatedin Central Harlem.

For most of the students, this is an all-expenses-paid trip. TheHJTEP is a non-profit organization. Operational expenses are largelycovered by fundraising efforts, grants and private donations. For moreinformation or to support the HJTEP, visit http://harlemjuniortennis.org.

Workbeing doneon a tenniscourt inNiger

Ibrahim Siddo of the Bronx, N.Y.


PUT MORE PLAYIN YOUR DAY

For more information visit

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

and tennis is the perfect sport to get your kids active.

Attend a USTA Free Tennis Play Day in celebration of

Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play.

The USTA is hosting Free Tennis Play Days across the country from

September 1 through October 6

© 2012 USTA. All rights reserved.

THERE IS AN EVENT HAPPENING NEAR YOU!

Nickelodeon, Worldwide Day of Play, and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.


Tweets from the prosDaniela Hantuchova(@dhantuchova): Heyguys, I had so much funlast night at the ESPYs! Itwas fun seeing so manygreat athletes under oneroof. It’s always great tobe in LA!

C a s e y D e l l a c q u a(@caseydel lacqua) :Justin Bieber seems likea lovely young lad witha good head on hisshoulders.

Mardy Fish (@Mardy-Fish): I’m not an Angelsfan at all but obviously Ihave to root for a guynamed Mike Troutright???

Novak Djokovic (@djok-ernole): I’m officially backin the office! I hit a coupleof balls with Maria, trustme … she didn’t take iteasy on me :)

Sabine Lisicki (@sabine-lisicki): Done for the day.It feels so good to gethome after a good day ofpractice. I’ll sleep like ababy tonight!

Shahar Peer (@sha-harpeer): After a reallygood day of tennis andfitness I had a massage,and now I’m going tohave dinner! Really happyabout today :-)

Carol ine Wozniacki( @ c a r o w o z n i a c k i ) :Evening on the couch forme! 6 hours of training in30 degrees should do it.

Serena Williams (@sere-nawilliams): I’m at ChefChu’s restaurant in PaloAlto Ca. This place is in-sanely good! ThanksChef! I love it!!!

R o b i n S o d e r l i n g(@RSoderling): Acupunc-ture time!

Andy Roddick (@andy-roddick): It’s awesomewhen you’re behindsomeone at the grocerystore and as they are get-ting wrung up they run toget five more things.

Tweets from the 2012London Olympics

Bob Bryan (@Bryanbros):Trying on some snazzygear at USA team pro-cessing.

Sabine Lisicki (@sabine-lisicki): Woohoo on myway to London!!! So ex-cited!

Ryan Harrison (@ryan-harrison92): Made it toLondon! Awesome newNike gear for theOlympics! Can’t wait toget going.

Serena Williams (@sere-nawilliams): OLYMPICS!!!!!

Carol ine Wozniacki(@carowozniacki): Backin London and can’t waitfor the Olympics! I am soexcited to represent Den-mark!!


Body IssueDaniela Hantuchova hasfollowed Serena Williamsand Vera Zvonareva in ap-pearing before the camerasfor ESPN The Magazine’sannual Body Issue.

There’s precedent forHantuchova’s (lack of)coverage: She featured

prominently in Sports Illustrated’s 2009Swimsuit Issue, alongside fellow prosMaria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin.

Basketball Meets TennisScottie Pippen, part ofthe six-time World Cham-pion Chicago Bulls andthe original Dream Team,watched Serena Williamsadvance to the next round

at Wimbledon and Dallas Mavericks starDirk Nowitzki watched his Germancompatriot Sabine Lisicki upset MariaSharapova at Wimbledon as well.

And the ESPY goes to …Maria Sharapova made acameo on the red carpetat the ESPY Awards heldat Los Angeles’ NokiaTheatre. She then won theBest Female Tennis Player

honor, but was beaten for Best Female Ath-lete by Baylor University basketball champBrittney Griner, and for Best Comeback byDetroit Lions quarterback MatthewStafford. Novak Djokovic also won at theESPYs, as Best Male Tennis Player.

Back to schoolVenus Williams is takingonline classes throughIndiana University. Shewore her school colorsand letters while watch-

ing sister Serena play at Wimbledon

Love and marriageMarcos Baghdatis andKarolina Sprem marriedin Trakoscan castle in herhomeland of Croatia inJuly. Sprem is also preg-

nant with the couple’s first child. Both play-ers are 27 and have been dating for twoyears. On his way to tying the knot isJames Blake. Blake is set to be married onNov. 9 in San Diego. Blake and his fianceeEmily just recently had their first child, ababy girl named Riley. María JoséMartínez Sánchez has been enjoyingsome of the best years of her career re-cently and the Spaniard got married inBarcelona on July 14 to her boyfriend ofnine years, Juan Domingo Pérez.

Serena hopes not toargue at U.S. Open

Serena Williams jokesthat her goal at this sum-mer’s U.S. Open is to“maybe not get into anargument.” In her last twoappearances at FlushingMeadows, Williams threat-

ened a linesperson after being called for afoot fault (in the 2009 semis), and then ar-gued with chair umpire Eva Asderaki overa hindrance call, calling her “not a very niceperson inside” (in the 2011 final).

“If someone makes me really angry Imight have to get into a little bit of an argu-ment, but my goal is to try to stay calm if Ican,” Serena said with a smile. “If not I’mgoing out with a bang as I did the past twoyears.”

Last call at Open for Clijsters

This year’s U.S. Open willbe the last for formerworld number one-rankedKim Clijsters of Belgium.Clijsters has announcedthat she plans on retiringafter the event. She ini-

tially retired in 2007 due to a hip injury, butreturned in 2009 to win her second U.S.Open title that year. Earlier this year, Cli-jsters had already announced this would beher last season.

“As it stands, I will end my career at theU.S Open,” said Clijsters. “That is where Ienjoyed my greatest triumphs and it is a veryspecial place for me.” She is a three-timechampion in Flushing Meadows, winning thetournament in 2005, 2009 and 2010.

McHale and Stephenson the USS Midway

Two of America’s most promising youngstars, Christina McHale and SloaneStephens, had a very special experienceon Day 1 of the Mercury Insurance Open,playing tennis on and then touring the USSMidway, the longest-serving U.S. Navy car-rier of the 20th Century and the most vis-ited floating ship museum, with more thanfive million visitors since 2004.

Tube stations

In celebration of the Olympic Games inLondon 2012, the names of 361 tube sta-tions will be changed to carry the names ofOlympic athletes. Roger Federer now hashis own stop near the city centre. “RogerFederer” will be one of the stops on theblack line, the so-called Northern Line andwill replace the normal stop “Old Street.”Athletes like Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o,Usain Bolt, Fabian Cancellara, CarlLewis, Michael Jordan and MuhammadAli were also honored with their own tubestation stops during the Olympics thissummer.


B Y R I C H A R D T H A T E R

was asked this past

spring by the par-

ents of some of my

five-year-old stu-

dents if I would

consider starting a

class for two-,

three- and four-year-

olds. The younger children

had been coming to my

club as tagalongs to their

siblings’ lessons and were

feeling left out.Secure in my belief that Google would

rescue me, I enthusiastically said yes. Know-ing that Mommy and Me programs are verypopular, I was dismayed to get just three hitsfrom my search. And those hits were for pro-grams that had been discontinued.

Since I am teaching mostly 10 & UnderTennis classes, I decided to modify what Ido for the needs of younger children.

I began by determining how strict I wasgoing to be with the requirements for joiningthis experimental program. First, the mothershad to be club members. Outsiders mightbalk at my club’s rule about all-white cloth-

ing in the summer. Then, the children had tohave an older sibling in another program Iteach. I expected the mothers to be playersthemselves. And, finally, the mother had tocome and participate with her child. I had toturn down one applicant because her busywork schedule would have required her tosend her nanny with the child.

I spend every summer day setting up fourQuickStart courts in the historic stadium of theWest Side Tennis Club so I have plenty of

room. For Mommy and Me, I set up a courtparallel to these four so I can easily incorpo-rate this group into my summer camp pro-gram. The young children feel they are part ofthe action with the big guys, and, since all theclasses break for a fruit snack at the sametime, they feel even more included.

Setting up a court is easy. For net posts,I use the large white and red tubs that areshipped full of 36-foot court balls. I attacha length of yellow tennis/caution tape be-tween the tubs as the net, and I throwdown 12-inch yellow rubber strips to set

the boundaries of thecourt.

You have probablyseen the class on televi-sion where children usean inverted cone tocatch balls. For youngerchildren, I use balls thatare extra soft, with nobounce. This increasesthe success my stu-

dents have in keeping the balls in thecones (a folded set of socks also works). Ithen progress to using rackets to catchfloppy toys, having the children just holdtheir rackets in front of them like fryingpans to catch the floppy toys on thestrings. These methods reduce the risks offailure while the children learn the princi-ples of tracking and receiving.

Then it is time for Italian lessons. I tellthem that Bocce is the Italian word for

MommyandMe

Tennis

i


bowling, and for kisses. Using throw downlines, I set up two targets at different dis-tances from the children (maybe three-feetand eight-feet) and have them try to bowl aball as close to the line as possible. Theydon’t know that they are also getting a les-son in depth perception, a concept noteasily grasped by children.

Next step is tennis horseshoes, using a fewhula-hoops and some spare ball hoppers.Para-communication is critical when teachingyoung children. Show them, don’t tell them. Iplace one hoop on the hopper so they seewhat the goal is. I then show them how to holdthe hoop (palms up) and how to turn theirbodies sideways to get power on the toss.Positioning the children and their mothersabout five-feet from the hopper, I have themtry to toss the hula-hoops over the hoppers.

One of my favorite exercises for helpingyoung children learn how to move theirbodies is to let them practice transitioningfrom large motor movements into smallerand more precise actions. I set a ball downon a spare racket, about five-feet from thenet and use an inflatable tennis player bal-loon that is larger than my children. This

can be lots of fun. You can also modify ahopper or shopping cart, with a racketstuck up in front as a target.

The children run full speed to the ball onthe racket, stop, pick up the ball, and thenthrow it at the target. I remind them thatthrowing successfully demands that theopposite foot be put forward, and the throwshould start behind the ear.

I limit the Mommy and Me lessons to just30 minutes. No one gets too tired, and no

one gets bored. Everyone in the programwants to come back in the autumn andwinter, so I am going to judge this experi-ment was a success.

Richard Thater is director of 10 & UnderTennis at the West Side Tennis Club in For-est Hills N.Y. He is PTR-certified in JuniorDevelopment. He may be reached byphone at (917) 749-3255 or [email protected].

www.LoveTennisByHazel.com

Tennis InspiredFine Jewelry

A game-changing new jewelry line that celebrates a passion fortennis with an appreciation for classic and elegant jewelry.

View the entire collection at:


By Gilad Bloom

Any coach who teachesmostly junior players hashad to deal with the parentsof their students. It is a deli-

cate job that requires a lot of psychology.As a parent myself, I know that when itcomes to our kids, we all get a bit emo-tional and our judgment is sometimesclouded. When I talk to the parents of mystudents, I try to remember that fact and Iam very cautious.

However, as a professional, I have anobligation to tell the parents what theyneed to hear, whether they like it or not.This can cause friction at times. Somediplomacy is needed, but I have learnedthat, as a coach, it is best to draw somered lines and keep a few principles inorder. It may have cost me a few studentsover the years, but in the long run, it ac-tually got me many more. I find that bothparents and kids will respect a pro whostands up for his/her philosophy ofcoaching.

I have seen many pros being dictatedto by the parents which is understandablebecause the parent is the employer of thepro and the pro wants to keep his or herjob. But on the other hand, the parent ispaying us as tennis pros to give them anhonest opinion about their kid’s game andthat can sometimes entail telling the par-ent to step back.

As a teaching pro, I try to set groundrules when it comes to my relationshipswith parents. It is part of my job to educatethe parents on how to be a good, positiveand supportive tennis parent. Many (if notmost) of the parents don’t have the back-ground and are unsure about how to han-dle a young kid who suddenly gets the“tennis bug” and starts dragging them toUSTA tournaments. Here are some of therules I try to establish. Many don’t alwayslisten to me, but I am consistent aboutthese rules, and in time, most of them docome around and improve because thereare many common mistakes that can beavoided when raising a young child in acompetitive sport.

1. The parent cannot talk to the childduring lessonsThis is an iron clad rule. In fact, ideally, theparent should not be on the court andshould not attend most lessons. It is betterto let the coach do the job and show upsporadically to show some support andcheck out on the development of the stu-dent. It is totally acceptable for the parentto get a report from the pro about thechild‘s development, but the parents haveto understand their role in this equation—they provide parental guidance and the proteaches tennis.

2. Never talk about rankingsI have had parents call me and say, “My

goal is to get my child into the top 10 bythe end of the year.” That is the wrong ap-proach entirely, because rankings can bemisleading. I have nothing against a highranking, as we all want to be number one,but it is best not to talk about it becauseit can put unnecessary pressure on thechild. The right terms that I like to use andrecommend the parents to use have to domore with specific things that are withinthe child’s control. For example, let’s im-prove the student’s practice habits orother areas that they need work on, suchas footwork, strategy, technique, on-courtdemeanor, mental strength in the game,etc. This way, when we check ourselvesevery few months, we can assess the im-provement in these different areas andcompare the student’s current perform-ance to past performances. The last thingto worry about is where they stand in therankings. The mentality should be that ifwe work hard on all of those things, theirspot in the rankings will take care of itselfand good results will come.

3. Talk to the child as little as possibleabout tennisThis is something that I‘m sure most par-ents don’t listen to me about, but I stillpreach it. My reasoning is this: A tourna-ment player usually plays three to five timesa week, multiple hours a day, including pri-vate lessons under the supervision of acoach or multiple coaches who are usually

TennisParenting

What is Right and What is Wrong


pretty vocal and dominant. The last thingthe student needs is to hear more stuffabout tennis on the car ride home afterpractice or a match. That is the coach’sjob! Also, as we all know as parents, aftera certain age, kids will stop listening any-way. Most parents cannot resist and haveto tell the kid something about the match,it is usually counterproductive. My adviceto parents is to leave the kids alone and letthem figure out things on their own. Thisway, they can develop their style throughlearning from their own mistakes and work-ing with their coaches. I recommend askingkids questions, rather than barking at themand criticizing them. Oftentimes, the childwill shut down if the parents are too deepinto their affairs. If the parent takes a backseat, the student will often come aroundand ask the parent about their opinion, butit has to come from the child. In any case,unless the parent was at least a Division Icollege player, his or her answer should be,“Just try to listen to your coach and dowhat he says.” The only time I would rec-ommend the parents to step in is if theplayer behaves in an unsportsmanlikemanner, then the parent can and should bethe educator. But when it comes to tennis,

it usually hurts the child to receive any kindof tennis instruction. Most parents don’tlike to hear this, but a good 12- or 13-year-old player knows way more about thegame than an average parent who has notcompeted at a high level.

4. Do not exhibit or display anyphysical gestures or emotion duringmatchesI often see parents during matches and it’sa tragic/comic situation. The parent will livethe match as if they are actually playing it.If the parent thinks that their behavior dur-ing matches doesn’t impact the child, theyare living in denial. Kids are very sharp andthey pick up on any facial expressions orgestures. We all know that what the childwants most of all is to please his/her par-ents, and when they see that winning orlosing a point has an emotional effect ontheir parents, it sends the wrong message.The right message should be, “This yoursport, you love it and I am here to supportyou. I want you to win, of course, but itdoesn’t really change anything. I will stilllove you just the same ... win or lose.”

I strongly recommend that parents sitstoically during matches and not change

Do you want to work on your singles game,without affecting your USTA rating? Doesyour schedule make it difficult to play on aUSTA League team? USTA’s Flex Leaguemay be for you.

Flex Leagues allow you to play whenit’s convenient for you. You arrange a mu-tually agreeable match day, time and lo-cation with your opponent. Court costs, ifany, are split.

Registration is completed online atwww.ustaflex.com. Once registration isclosed, a schedule will be generated.You will receive a list of opponents andsuggested “play by” dates. Once thematch is played, the scores are recordedonline.

We have leagues in Manhattan, Brooklynand Queens, and Staten Island has nowjoined in on the fun. Leagues are currently

open at the 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 Levels for menand women. You can find the Staten IslandLeague by searching “NYC-Staten Island”at www.ustaflex.com.

All players registered for the USTA FlexLeague are entered into the USTA FlexLeague Sweepstakes, where the grandprize is a trip for two to the U.S. Open.

Fall registration dates for the USTA FlexLeague run from June 15 through Sept. 20.

USTA Flex League New York City

For more information, e-mail [email protected].

the expression on their face. Do not getoverzealous when the child is winning andnot get upset if they are having a badmatch. After the match, the parent shouldask questions like, “What do you want fordinner?” Needless to say, this one is atough one for the parents to implement.We all need to remember that this is asport and we are creating childhoodmemories for these kids. The goal is that,when they are older, they can look at thejunior years as some of the best years oftheir life. We need to find the fun and san-ity in all of this, and I believe that if wehelp create healthy tennis players, they willenjoy the game for life.

Gilad Bloom is a former ATP touring pro-fessional who, at his peak, was ranked 61stin singles and 62nd in doubles in the world.Five times an Israel’s Men’s Champion,three times in singles and twice in doubles,Gilad is currently the director of tennis atThe Club of Riverdale. He was the directorof tennis at John McEnroe Tennis Academyfor two years, and before, that ran GiladBloom Tennis for nine years. He may bereached by phone at (914) 907-0041 or e-mail [email protected].


The Manhattan Spring/Summer Playoffswere held over two weekends in July, asthe 3.0 Women’s & Men’s, 3.5 Women’s &Men’s, 4.0 Women’s & Men’s, 4.5 Women’s& Men’s, and 5.0 Women all competed.The 5.0 Men’s team received direct entry tothe Sectional Championships. The winningteams are listed below by captain:

� 3.0 Women ....Catherine Skryzpek/Shannon Smith

� 3.0 Men..........Brad Aspel/Tony Andrade� 3.5 Women ....Ashley Rowe/Yao Bailey� 3.5 Men..........Obong Akpan� 4.0 Women ....Sarah Pomerantz� 4.0 Men..........Fred Derman� 4.5 Women ....Eileen Melniker� .5 Men............Ian Katz� 5.0 Women ....Eileen Melniker� 5.0 Men..........Michael Doane

The Brooklyn teams compete in a smaller

league with a lesser number of teams, andthe winners advance directly to RegionalChampionships.

� 3.0 Women ....Liz Bednarz� 3.5 Women ....Ashley Rowe� 4.0 Men..........Jason Hee

The Queens league was plagued by rainthis year. There were more than 160 courtsrained out this season. A particular cloudhung over the 4.0 Men’s team, captained byRon Lense/Jeffrey Fairbanks, who had fiveof their matches rained out. They advancedto the playoffs which were also rained out!Despite having two playoff date rainouts, theplayoffs finally finished on Thursday, Aug. 2with the following teams advancing.

� 3.0 Women ....Bonnie Aves/Avegale Legaspi

� 3.0 Men..........James DeSilva/Samm Ticol

� 3.5 Women ....Yao Bailey/Ariane Qureshi� 3.5 Men..........Pete Veloso/Hermie Aguda� 4.0 Women ....Elina Kapostina� 4.0 Men..........Jin Hwang/Angelo Ragione

This year, we also had a new league,the Staten Island 3.5 Women. Threeteams (Layne/Loffreno; Lacqua/Paskoand Hansson) competed during the sea-son. Matches were played at the College ofStaten Island, Richmond County CountryClub and Tottenville Tennis Club. The teamcaptained by Cindy Lacqua and MichellePasko won the league and advanced to theRegional Championship.

The 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 Level teams com-peted at the Regional Championships at theUSTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Cen-ter the weekend of Aug. 3-4. Each district(Manhattan, Queens, etc.) played the otherdistricts to determine who would representMetro at the Sectional Championships. TheQueens teams were on a roll—winning the3.0 Women’s, 3.0 Men’s, 3.5 Women’s, 3.5Men’s and 4.0 Women’s Levels. Manhattanwon the 4.0 Men’s Level.

Yao Bailey was the captain/co-captain oftwo teams that advanced to RegionalChampionships—the Manhattan Rowe/Baileyteam and the Queens Bailey/Qureshi team.Yao’s co-captain in Queens was away, soYao had to make the difficult decision tocaptain the Queens team and remove her-self from the Manhattan team. To makethings more difficult, the 3.5 Women’s Play-offs would be decided in the last match—Queens vs. Manhattan. It was a hard-foughtmatch, and in the end, Yao’s Queens teamprevailed for a repeat trip to SectionalChampionship, which will be held inSchenectady, N.Y. this year.

USTA Leagues UpdateBy Deborah-Rose Andrews

Brent ShearerPartial Student List: Alan Greenspan, Designer Mary McFadden, Newsman Mike Wallace, Former Paine Weber CEO Don Marron

646.270.8371 [email protected]


The 3.5 and 4.5 Levels competed theweekend of Aug. 10-12 as this issue wentinto production:

� 3.5. Women’s..Bailey/Qureshi� 3.5 Men’s ......Veloso/Aguda� 4.5 Women’s ..Melniker� 4.5 Men’s ......Katz

The 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 Levels will competethe weekend of Aug. 17-19:

� 3.0 Women’s ..Aves/Legaspi� 3.0 Men’s ......DeSilva/Ticol� 4.0 Women’s ..Kapostina� 4.0 Men’s ......Derman� 5.0 Women’s ..Melniker� 5.0 Men’s ......Doane

Our Senior Leagues are playing now forplaces at the Sectional Championships inSeptember.

Metro will once again plan for a Tri-LevelLeague in September/October at the 3.5,4.0 and 4.5 Levels. This league consists ofthree doubles courts—one court of 3.5Level players, one court of 4.0 Level play-ers and one court of 4.5 Level players. It’sa great opportunity to play with your friendswho have different ratings. Please note thatself-rated players may participate, how-ever, only computer-rated players may ad-vance. If you are interested in the Tri-LevelLeague, please e-mail me [email protected] and put “Tri-Level” in the subject line.

The Mixed-Doubles League will begin inOctober with the Manhattan-Mixed. TheBronx, Brooklyn and Queens Leagues willbegin in January. This League also runswith three courts of mixed-doubles. Wehave leagues at the 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0 and10.0 Levels (the 9.0 and 10.0 Levels play inthe Manhattan League). Additional detailswill be posted online at www.metroten-nis.com in mid-September.

Deborah-Rose Andrews is the Local LeagueCoordinator for the Metro Region. She is alsovice chair of the Adult League Committeeand a member of the Metro Region board ofdirectors. She may be reached by e-mail [email protected].

The 4.0 Men’s team, captained by Fred Derman, wereManhattan Spring/Summer Playoff winners at the 4.0Level

The Men’s 3.5 team, co-captained by Pete Veloso andHermie Aguda, advanced in Queens

The 3.5 Women’steam, captained by

Yao Bailey andAriane Qureshi, were

winners at the 3.5Level in Queens

The Women’s 3.0 team, captained by Bonnie Aves and AvegaleLegaspi, proudly represent Queens

The 4.5 Men’s squad,captained by IanKatz, wereManhattanSpring/SummerPlayoff winners atthe 4.0 Level

The 4.0 Women’s team,captained by Elina

Kapostina, advanced inQueens

The 3.0 Men’s team,captained by James De Silvaand Samm Ticol, advancedto the playoffs


Three Secrets to a Better Serve Today

By Lisa Dodson

In today’s game, there aremany schools of thought asto how to create the bestserve. The information is

often unclear, the terminology is difficultand the execution is near impossible. I’dlike to give you three clear and simple con-cepts to think about that will change yourserve for the better in a relatively short pe-riod of time.

I. Relax already!It is truly rare to find a player who under-stands what “relaxed” means in the game oftennis. Often when searching for a relaxedstate, a player becomes so loose thatstrokes and technique are slow and sloppy.They simply haven’t hit enough technicallysound serves to be confident in letting theracket head do the work for them. Especiallyproblematic for the serve is the uncomfort-able Continental Grip. Players squeeze thegrip so as not to lose the grip. At the sametime, they are killing the fluid and rhythmictechnique they are trying to achieve.

A relaxed mind, hand and body have adirect effect on the speed your serve willtravel. Here are a few practical things youcan do to physically understand what a re-laxed grip means. Gently put your hand inthe correct grip position on the racket.Slide your hand down so that only your firstfinger and your thumb are on the flaredbutt-end of the racket. Your other three fin-gers will be curled under the butt of theracket. Now go through your service mo-tion without hitting a ball. The racketshould feel heavy and uncontrollable. Youcan feel all of the “links” in your arm con-

tributing to your service motion. Now tryhitting a ball with this grip. You’ll be sur-prised that this seemingly impossible taskis really effective. As you put more fingerson the grip, strive to maintain the whippyfeeling that allows all of the “links” in yourarm to contribute to the serve.

II. Look up before you toss!Most tennis players think that they arelooking up to their ball toss when they areactually looking out. To test what you do,stand up, relax your neck and let your headgo back as far as it can against the top ofyour back. If you are inside, you should belooking at a spot on the ceiling almost di-rectly above your head. Your tossing armlifts and the fingers of your tossing hand goto the sky. A high tossing hand will set thetossing shoulder higher than the hittingshoulder, making this head position feelmore natural.

Clear vision is essential for great contacton a ball. A little-known fact is that the bestservers look up before the ball is tossed.Looking up in anticipation of the arrival ofthe ball is a much more efficient method ofserving. If your head goes up in advance ofthe toss, your eyes will be still. Now youwill be fully able to focus on the target. Tryenvisioning a small picture frame hangingin the air at optimum contact point. Lookup to that picture frame and work on beingable to place the toss in that area. Focusand intent to strike the ball will be fargreater.

III. Toss with a flat handThe position of the toss hand and arm areneglected areas when dealing with theserve. The toss arm has several criticalfunctions. How the ball is propelled up isimportant not only for the result of the tossbut also for the next phase of the serve.Ball tosses should travel straight up anddown, without spin or arc (except when in-tended). Fingers bent or curled around theball assure failure.

For a successful toss, flatten your fingersand place the ball on the creases of the lastjoint segment. Place your thumb gently overthe top of the ball, making sure to keep thehand flat by laying your wrist down.Straighten your elbow, bring your toss armdown and up in the direction of the right netpost (for a right-handed server). The tosscomes from the shoulder and gentle bodyaction, and the hand finishes up in the “pic-ture frame” described above. Gently pop-ping the hand open at the release pointeliminates “flipping” the ball off the fingers.The toss hand continues to the sky to set thetossing shoulder higher than the hittingshoulder and allowing an upward hit.

The three secrets to a great serve aren’tflashy, but are so critically fundamental tothe serve that you simply cannot be as suc-cessful without them. Make masteringthese principles a priority and you will soonhave the stress free, dominant and power-ful serve that you have been wanting.

Lisa Dodson is owner of The Total Serve, aUSPTA Pro 1, and a formerly WTA world-ranked player. She may be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or visitwww.thetotalserve.com.

“Clear vision is essential forgreat contact on a ball.”

53NYTennisMag.com • September/October 2012 • New York Tennis Magazine 53NYTennisMag.com • July/August 2012 • New York Tennis Magazine 53NYTennisMag.com • July/August 2012 • New York Tennis Magazine

Distribution scheduled for 11/01/12

This edition will feature:• 2012 Year in Review• U.S. Open Recap• Summer Camp Photo Recap• Tennis Vacation Destinations

Distributionacross the New York Metro areaat 300+ locations:• Country clubs• Tennis camps• Retail stores• Gyms• Indoor tennis

clubs• Supermarkets, and• Many more!• Bonus Distribution at Girls HS StateChampionships

Don’t miss the advertising opportunities in the nextedition of New York Tennis MagazineNovember/December 2012!

Submissions for both advertising and editorial are due by October 1, 2012.For more information, please call 516-409-4444 or e-mail [email protected]



Rob Delman, Gil Koppel and PeterSimel, Masters Tennis Co-Chairmen,of the 19th Maccabiah USA Organ-

izing Committee, and Head Coach RoyKozupsky are actively seeking the bestJewish tennis players from across thecountry to try out for the Maccabiahteam. The Masters Tennis team will bepart of the 1000+ USA Maccabiah Teamcompeting at the 19th World MaccabiahGames in Israel next July. Masters Tennisathletes must be 35 years of age and upas of July 2013 and age divisions for theteam are: 35-39; 40-44; 45-49; 50-54; 55-59 and 60-64. All interested Jewish ath-letes must fill out an application for theteam, prior to the tryouts which can befound at www.maccabiusa.com. The EastCoast tryout will take place Saturday-Monday, Oct. 27-29 at the Boca RatonResort and Club in Boca Raton, Fla.

The World Maccabiah Games has amagical quality about it which awakensfeelings that touch the hearts and reach the

souls of the Maccabiah participants. Theathletes readily explain that these feelingsremain long past the conclusion of the

competition—they last a lifetime. The Mac-cabiah is more than an international athleticcompetition; it is a celebration of Jewishculture, unity and pride, and support for theState of Israel.

Coach Kozupsky of New York City hasmore than 30 years of coaching experiencein both Israel and the United States. He hasan extensive history with the Israel TennisCenters and was a coach at RamatHasharon from 1978-1980, where he hadthe opportunity to coach and work withmany young elite Israeli Tennis players.Most recently, in 2010-11, Kozupsky wasthe volunteer coach for the men’s andwomen’s club tennis teams at Northeast-ern University in Boston, Mass.

For additional information or for ques-tions regarding the tryouts, please con-tact either: Rob Delman [email protected]; Gil Koppel [email protected]; Peter Simel [email protected] or Roy Kozupskyat [email protected].

Tryouts Set for 2013 USA Maccabiah Tennis Team


Eight boys and girls, ranging in agefrom seven to 16, were introducedthis week as winners of full or par-tial scholarships to the John

McEnroe Tennis Academy (JMTA). Eachwere among approximately 170 participantsages six through 17 in an open tryout on July21, and the eight were honored on-courtduring the World TeamTennis matchup be-tween the New York Sportimes and Wash-ington Kastles at Sportime Randall’s Island.

The eight winners were:� Palmer Clare, North Bellmore, N.Y. (16)� Diane McCready, Brooklyn, N.Y. (11)� Natalie Eordekian, Woodside, N.Y. (7)� Cameron Daniels, Oakland Gardens,

N.Y. (15)� Leonte Wilder, Plainfield, N.J. (11)� Sean Wei, Yorktown Heights, N.Y. (12)� Tomas Kopczynski, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.

(12)� Amber O’Dell, Chesterfield, Mich. (11)

John McEnroe Tennis AcademyHonors Eight With Fall Scholarships

In all, 23 semifinalists advanced to an af-ternoon session at the tryout, from whichthe winners were selected.

“These eight boys and girls showed agreat deal of potential and positive, winningattitude,” said McEnroe. “I was pleasedwith how much talent and competitivespirit we saw at the tryout, and my Acad-emy staff and I are looking forward to work-ing with these exceptional young athletesto maximize their abilities.”

The JMTA, expanding with annexes onLong Island and in Westchester to open inSeptember 2012, continues to draw a widerange of talented young people from all walksof life who are interested in learning tennisfrom its Hall of Fame namesake and from theelite team of JMTA coaches that have beenassembled. The third annual session of theAcademy will begin in September.

The day-long tryout was held at the JMTAFlagship location, Sportime Randall’s Island,with young players between the ages of sixand 17 having worked out for JMTAcoaches. McEnroe observed and evaluatedthe players in the second opportunity foryoung players to participate in open tryoutsfor spots in the JMTA. In July 2010, over 300young people participated in tryouts, withfive boys and seven girls awarded full orpartial scholarships to the JMTA.

John McEnroe congratulates the recipients of Fall Scholarships to his John McEnroe Tennis AcademyPhoto credit: Adam Wolfthal

Phone: 917-355-9290Check out TheGoldbergReport.com Sports & Entertainment Blog

and See My Portfolio atwww.kennethbgoldberg.com

Official Photographer for Long Island and New York Tennis Magazine

Actor’s Headshotsand Sports Photography

Are My Specialties.

Kenneth GoldbergPHOTOGRAPHER

64LITennisMag.com • July/August 2011 • Long Island Tennis Magazine ��NYTennisMag.com • July/August 2011 • �e� �o�� Tennis Magazine


Winning Tennis Strokes By Bill Longua

Winning Tennis Strokes is ashort guidebook to tennistechniques and a splendidgeneral introduction to ten-nis strokes. With this book,

Bill Longua, a veteran tennis instructorand USPTA pro, has produced a conciseguide to learning the fundamentals ofthe game.

As Longua explains in his foreword,this book is intended for players whorange from beginners to NTRP 4.0. Un-like some other tennis books reviewed inthis space, there are no admissions ofdrug use or high-level strategic con-cerns in Winning Tennis Strokes.

What you get instead is basic in-struction with a non-bossy tilt. Loopbackswing on groundstrokes orstraight-back? Eastern, Western orContinental Grips? One-handed back-hand volleys or two-handed backhandvolleys for players with a two-handedbackhand groundstroke? Longua saysplayers learning the game can taketheir pick from these options. Fairenough.

The book also includes some practice

tips for players just learning the gamewhich, while basic, will be useful. Hesays beginners should bring as manyballs as possible to the court so theydon’t have to spend so much time pick-ing them up. This is a good point.

You could also use this concern as areason as to why beginners should takelessons, because with a pro and a hop-per in use across the net, the studentcan make the most of their court time.Longua does caution readers of hisbook that before they show up at thecourts with a shopping cart full of prac-tice balls, they should make sure thereare not many players on adjacentcourts.

At the East River Park courts in Man-hattan where I play, there is a sign thatsays you can only bring six balls on thecourt. Most people interpret this tomean you can only have six balls percourt, but it could just as well meanthere can only be six balls in use at anyone time on all 12 courts. This wouldmake Longua’s advice hard to put intopractice.

Longua is an advocate of the “watchthe ball onto the strings” theory of ten-nis. There are other theories about this,even if nobody says to not watch theball. Some pros say that watching theball is overrated advice. In any case,Longua is a traditionalist on this topic.

A topic that Longua does tackle, is theopen stance/closed stance debate. Hetakes a compromise position on this.Players should start off with what hecalls the traditional forehand, turn, step,hit (closed stance) and when they grad-uate to an intermediate level, may switchto The Modern forehand, load, explode,land (open stance).

The author says, “I recommend thatplayers using the closed stance learn tohit in an open stance when pulled to thecorner for a forehand.”

He doesn’t define closed versusopen, so let me say that a closedstance for a righty’s forehand meansthe left (front) foot is out in front andfurther to the right than the back foot.Open stance means hitting off the leftor back foot without the body havingfully turned sideways to the net. Be-cause I learned the game in the era ofwhite balls, wood racquets and longpants, I believe the closed stance is themorally superior way to address theball. But I do agree with Longua’s gen-eral approach, which is that playersshould have some flexibility as theylearn the strokes.

In his section on serving, Longuaidentifies three kinds of serves: Flat, spinand slice. This is a little weird since aslice serve is a spin serve. What he callsa “spin” serve must be what many call a“kick” or an “American Twist.” But noharm, no foul.

In the section on lobs, Longua says,“Many players feel the lob is a cowardlyshot and an easy way out of a difficultpredicament.”

This may be true of inexperiencedplayers, but I recently attended an exhi-bition match in which three of the fourplayers had ATP points on their resumesand the one player who didn’t used thelob volley to great effect. But for begin-ners and intermediates, this compactbook will be a great companion to taketo the courts with you.

Brent Shearer may be reached by e-mail [email protected].


Junior tennis players from across theUSTA Eastern Region had the chanceto improve their games and learn

about careers in tennis, as they receivedcoaching from top tennis executives andtwo former professional tennis players,Rodney Harmon and Leslie Allen, at theSection’s 14th Annual Camp A.C.E. CampA.C.E. (Achieving through Coaching andEducation), held July 22-27 at RamapoCollege of New Jersey. Camp A.C.E. is aNational Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL)Regional Leadership camp, which providesworld-class tennis and fitness instruction,and sessions on playing tennis in college,career choices in tennis, team building, andleadership skills.

“We are very excited to have Rodney,

Leslie, and these outstanding tennis execu-tives here this year,” said Linda Mann, man-aging director of community tennisdevelopment for USTA Eastern. “Thecampers are not only improving their skills oncourt, but also learning what it takes to suc-ceed off the court, in college and their futurecareers.”

The on-court training was led by Harmon,a former U.S. Open quarterfinalist whocoached the U.S. Men’s Tennis Team at the2008 Beijing Olympics. The classroom ses-sions featured a range of speakers, includ-ing sessions about personal growth led byDale Caldwell, a director-at-large on theUSTA Board of Directors; and Leslie Allen, aformer player on the WTA Tour, and a paneldiscussion about careers in tennis.

The panel discussion featured D.A.Abrams, chief diversity and inclusion Officer,USTA; Michelle Blake Wilson, managing di-rector of marketing and communications,USTA Eastern; Jill Fonte, executive directorand chief operating officer, USTA Eastern;Brian Hainline, chief medical officer, USTA;Ed Neppl, chief financial officer, USTA;Renee Tirado, manager of diversity and in-clusion, USTA; Jeff Williams, publisher, Ten-nis Magazine; and Jocelyn Cruz, tennisservice representative for USTA Eastern’sNew Jersey Region.

In addition to the on-court and panel dis-cussion, the camp included a trip to Co-lumbia University, a New York Sportimesmatch at Sportime Randall’s Island, and aJunior TeamTennis tournament.

Credit all photos to Jessica Stiles

Juniors Work on Their Gameand Get Career Advice at Camp A.C.E.


InsideOut Sports + Entertainment hasannounced that tennis legends JohnMcEnroe, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras

and Patrick Rafter will be competing inthe NASDAQ Indexes Cup as part of thePowerShares Series Tour at MadisonSquare Garden in New York, N.Y. onMonday, Nov. 5. Formerly known as theChampions Series, the PowerShares Se-ries will visit a total of 12 U.S. cities dur-ing its seven-week season.

In addition to McEnroe, Agassi,Sampras and Rafter, the tour, producedby Larry Magid, will feature fellow GrandSlam champions Jimmy Connors, JimCourier, Michael Chang and Mats

Wilander, as well as Davis Cup ChampionTodd Martin. The athletes will becompeting for a prize pool totaling $1million to be shared by the top threefinishers at the conclusion of the season.Each PowerShares Series tournament willshowcase four of the legendary playerscompeting for ranking points playing intwo, one-set semifinals followed by aone-set championship match.

Pete Sampras finished the 2011 sea-son as the number one-ranked player, fol-lowed by Jim Courier and Andre Agassi.

“We are thrilled to be coming to Madi-son Square Garden with the Power-Shares Series,” said Jon Venison, partner

at InsideOut Sports + Entertainment.“New York audiences expect to see thebest and this event will showcase fourformer world number ones and U.S.Open Champions competing againsteach other in a one-night shootout tour-nament. It will be a fantastic night of ten-nis at The Garden.”

The PowerShares Series is a tennis cir-cuit for champion tennis players over theage of 30, created in 2005 by InsideOutSports + Entertainment, the New Yorkbased firm which is co-owned and op-erated by former SFX executive JonVenison and former world number oneJim Courier.

McEnroe, Agassi, Sampras and Rafter to Compete in NASDAQ Indexes Cup at MSG in November


UPCOMINGEVENTSSEPTEMBER 2012Saturday, September 1David Dinkins Tennis Club at the Jungle Presents Free 10 &Under TennisFred Johnson Park150th Street and 7th AvenueNew York, N.Y.8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. For more information, call (917) 687-2576 or [email protected].

Friday, September 7The Legends Ball 2012Cipriani 42nd Street110 East 42nd Street (between Lexington & Park Avenues)New York, N.Y.For more information, call (401) 849-3990, e-mail [email protected] or visit www. tennisfame.com.

Saturday, September 8David Dinkins Tennis Club at the Jungle Presents Free 10 & Under TennisFred Johnson Park150th Street and 7th Avenue • New York, N.Y.8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. For more information, call (917) 687-2576 or [email protected].

Saturday, September 15David Dinkins Tennis Club at the Jungle Presents Free 10 &Under TennisFred Johnson Park150th Street and 7th Avenue • New York, N.Y.8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. For more information, call (917) 687-2576 or [email protected].

Saturday, September 22David Dinkins Tennis Club at the Jungle Presents Free 10 &Under TennisFred Johnson Park150th Street and 7th Avenue • New York, N.Y.8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. For more information, call (917) 687-2576 or [email protected].

Saturday, September 29David Dinkins Tennis Club at the Jungle Presents Free 10 &Under TennisFred Johnson Park150th Street and 7th AvenueNew York, N.Y.8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. For more information, call (917) 687-2576 or [email protected].

NOVEMBER 2012Monday, November 52012 NASDAQ Indexes Cup PowerShares Series TourMadison Square Garden 4 Pennsylvania PlazaNew York, N.Y.For more information, visit www.powersharesseries.com.

NEW YORK TENNIS CLUB

DIRECTORYButch Seewagen TennisAcademy @ CATS of 49th St.Geri Goetz, Director235 East 49th Street • New York, NY 10017(212) 832-1833, ext. [email protected]

Go! Tennis at North ShoreTennis & Racquet ClubGeorge Garland—Director of Tennis34-28 214th Place Flushing, NY 11361-1720(718) [email protected]

Manhattan Plaza Racquet ClubGertrud Wilhelm450 West 43rd StreetNew York, NY 10036(212) [email protected] AdvantageTennis NY.com

Midtown Tennis ClubJennifer Brown—Director341 8th AvenueNew York, NY 10001(212) [email protected] York Tennis ClubLauren Hartman3081 Harding AvenueBronx, NY 10465(718) [email protected] or AdvantageTennisNY.com

Prospect Park Tennis CenterPaul Campbell, Director of Tennis50 Parkside AvenueBrooklyn, NY 11226(718) 436-2500, ext. [email protected]/Visit/Activities/Tennis

Roosevelt Island RacquetClubTom Manhart—Assistant GeneralManager281 Main Street Roosevelt Island, NY 10044(212) [email protected] or AdvantageTennis NY.comSPORTIME Randall’s IslandTed Dimond—Director of Tennis1 Randall’s Island • New York, NY 10035(212) [email protected]/Manhattan

Stadium Tennis Center at Mill Pond Joel Kassan—Tennis Director725 Gateway Center Boulevard Bronx, NY 10451(718) [email protected]

The Country Club ofRiverdale (TCR)Gilad Bloom—Director of Tennis2600 Netherland AvenueRiverdale, NY 10463(718) [email protected]

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis CenterWhitney Kraft—Director of TennisFlushing Meadows Corona ParkFlushing, NY 11368(718) [email protected]

West Side Tennis ClubBob Ingersole—Director of Tennis1 Tennis Place • Forest Hills, NY 11375(718) 268-2300tennisdirector@foresthillstennis.comForestHillsTennis.com/index.html


N E W Y O R K R A N K I N G SBoys & Girls Metro Rankings(as of 07/30/12)

BOYSMetro Boys 12 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........Derek Lung ....................Brooklyn, N.Y.2 ........Nicholas Pustilnik ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.3 ........Stevan Stojkovic ............Flushing, N.Y.4 ........Kemal Irfan Aziz..............Staten Island, N.Y.5 ........David Dylan Pines ..........New York, N.Y.6 ........Mitchell Mu ....................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.7 ........Scott Fischer ..................New York, N.Y.8 ........David Moldovan ............Brooklyn, N.Y.9 ........Henry Hochfelder ..........New York, N.Y.10 ......Alexander Petrov............Middle Village, N.Y.11 ......Derrick Mu ......................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.12 ......Jonathan Glinsky............Brooklyn, N.Y.13 ......Eitan Khromchenko........Staten Island, N.Y.14 ......Sidharth Chawla ............New York, N.Y.15 ......Shawn Jackson..............Staten Island, N.Y.16 ......Robert Shinder ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.17 ......Logan Gruss ..................New York, N.Y.18 ......Gregory Coe ..................New York, N.Y.19 ......Eli Taylor-Kerman ..........New York, N.Y.20 ......Ryan McCook ................Saint Albans, N.Y.21 ......Pieter Wernink ................New York, N.Y.22 ......Blake Frank ....................New York, N.Y.23 ......David Krasner ................Staten Island, N.Y.24 ......Noah Edelman................New York, N.Y.25 ......Brandon Torres ..............Bronx, N.Y.26 ......Brandon Cohen..............New York, N.Y.27 ......Jacob Livianu ................Brooklyn, N.Y.28 ......Ethan Finley ....................New York, N.Y.29 ......Wesley Zhang ................Staten Island, N.Y.30 ......Joseph Shulkin ..............Staten Island, N.Y.31 ......Teddy Brodsky................New York, N.Y.32 ......Joseph Wilkanowski ......Long Island City, N.Y.33 ......Nash Johnson ................New York, N.Y.34 ......Bryce Kassalow..............New York, N.Y.35 ......Javier Luna ....................New York, N.Y.36 ......Daniel Maseyev ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.37 ......Ameer Hosain ................New York, N.Y.38 ......Felix Levine ....................Long Island City, N.Y.39 ......Dylan Friedman ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.40 ......Daniel Helfgott................

Metro Boys 14 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........Leonardo Escudero........Ozone Park, N.Y.2 ........Horia Negru ....................Middle Village, N.Y.3 ........Kevin Yan........................Brooklyn, N.Y.4 ........Andrew Zucker ..............New York, N.Y.5 ........Daniel Schaw..................New York, N.Y.6 ........Garrett Sopko ................Brooklyn, N.Y.7 ........Robert Millman ..............New York, N.Y.8 ........Scott Glauber ................New York, N.Y.9 ........William Trang ..................Staten Island, N.Y.10 ......Barak Harari....................Hollis, N.Y.11 ......Andrew Hauser ..............New York, N.Y.12 ......Adam Bernstein..............New York, N.Y.13 ......Josh Charap ..................New York, N.Y.14 ......Denis Korol ....................Brooklyn, N.Y.15 ......Jahmall Forde ................Jamaica, N.Y.16 ......Dan Ion Negru ................Middle Village, N.Y.17 ......Derek Lung ....................Brooklyn, N.Y.18 ......Evan Liberman ..............New York, N.Y.19 ......Jordan Rey-Anatole ......Brooklyn, N.Y.

20 ......Xavier Pacthod ..............New York, N.Y.21 ......Mark Karpovas ..............Staten Island, N.Y.22 ......Logan Gruss ..................New York, N.Y.23 ......David Moldovan ............Brooklyn, N.Y.24 ......Noah Solano ..................Brooklyn, N.Y.25 ......Kermal Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y.26 ......Nate Newhouse..............New York, N.Y.27 ......Adam Borak....................Brooklyn, N.Y.28 ......Jack Metzger..................New York, N.Y.29 ......Eric Ryklin ......................New York, N.Y.30 ......Ray Fishman ..................New York, N.Y.31 ......Massimo Costantini ......New York, N.Y.32 ......Jake Laurence................New York, N.Y.33 ......Brandon Zhang ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.34 ......Ethan Moszkowski ........New York, N.Y.35 ......Gabriel Broshy................New York, N.Y.36 ......Mitchell Mu ....................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.37 ......Sam Krevlin ....................New York, N.Y.38 ......Kristjan Tomasson..........New York, N.Y.39 ......Gabriel Sifuentes............Flushing, N.Y.40 ......Ethan Leon......................Woodhaven, N.Y.

Metro Boys 16 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........David Farina....................New York, N.Y.2 ........Jonathan Cohen ............New York, N.Y.3 ........Benjamin M. Erichsen....Bronx, N.Y.4 ........Jordan Selig....................New York, N.Y.5 ........Leonardo Escudero........Ozone Park, N.Y.6 ........Christopher Huynh ........Astoria ,N.Y.7 ........Samuel Caloras..............Little Neck, N.Y.8 ........William Trang ..................Staten Island, N.Y.9 ........Leonard Margolis ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.10 ......Justin Selig ....................New York, N.Y.11 ......Ryo Kono........................New York, N.Y.12 ......Michael Jasienowski......Middle Village, N.Y.13 ......Zachary Kaplan ..............New York, N.Y.14 ......Andrew Penn..................New York, N.Y.15 ......Joshua Freud..................New York, N.Y.16 ......Garrett Sopko ................Brooklyn, N.Y.17 ......Justin Ho ........................Brooklyn, N.Y.18 ......Dillon McKenzie..............Laurelton, N.Y.19 ......Kevin Huynh ..................Astoria, N.Y.20 ......Alexander Fallone ..........New York, N.Y.21 ......Teddy Drucker ................New York, N.Y.22 ......Jonathan Compres ........East Elmhurst, N.Y.23 ......Kevin Ching ....................Bayside, N.Y.24 ......Michael Lesser ..............New York, N.Y.25 ......Lorenzo Soo ..................New York, N.Y.26 ......Alexander Pintilie............New York, N.Y.27 ......Safraz Hamid..................Brooklyn, N.Y.28 ......Jahmall Forde ................Jamaica, N.Y.29 ......Andrew Hauser ..............New York, N.Y.30 ......Kumiel Hosain ................New York, N.Y.31 ......Marc Betito ....................Floral Park, N.Y.32 ......Josh Weiner....................New York, N.Y.33 ......Kevin Valdez ..................Jamaica, N.Y.34 ......Lamar Hurt......................New York, N.Y.35 ......Benjamin Beruh..............Bronx, N.Y.36 ......Ira Rey-Anatole ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.37 ......Alexander Newhouse ....New York, N.Y.38 ......Douglas Mo ....................Douglaston, N.Y.39 ......Yihao Yang......................New York, N.Y.40 ......Christian Gloria ..............Queens Village, N.Y.

Metro Boys 18 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........David N. Zhukovsky ......Brooklyn, N.Y.2 ........Jordan Selig....................New York, N.Y.3 ........Justin Selig ....................New York, N.Y.

4 ........Benjamin Erichsen ........Bronx, N.Y.5 ........Brad Gaffin......................New York, N.Y.6 ........Sean Solomonoff............New York, N.Y.7 ........Kevin Ching ....................Bayside, N.Y.8 ........Alexander Pintilie............New York, N.Y.9 ........Lorenzo Soo ..................New York, N.Y.10 ......Ryo Kono........................New York, N.Y.11 ......Jonathan Cohen ............New York, N.Y.12 ......Christopher Huynh ........Astoria, N.Y.13 ......Mark Semerik ................Brooklyn, N.Y.14 ......Josh Weiner....................New York, N.Y.15 ......Jordan Jordan ................Astoria, N.Y.16 ......Hugh Mo ........................Douglaston, N.Y.17 ......Teddy Drucker ................New York, N.Y.18 ......Matthew Glaser..............Brooklyn, N.Y.19 ......Enrique Torres ................Brooklyn, N.Y.20 ......Jack Walla ......................New York, N.Y.21 ......Jahmall Forde ................Jamaica, N.Y.22 ......Travis Arffa ......................New York, N.Y.23 ......Kevin Huynh ..................Astoria, N.Y.24 ......Michael Leon..................Woodhaven, N.Y.25 ......Mitchell Cheung ............Woodside, N.Y.26 ......Alexander Fallone ..........New York, N.Y.27 ......Zachary Kaplan ..............New York, N.Y.28 ......Christopher Walla ..........New York, N.Y.

GIRLSMetro Girls 12 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........Sabrina Boada................Woodhaven, N.Y.2 ........Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y.3 ........Victoria Hanuman ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.4 ........Zoe Kava ........................New York, N.Y.5 ........Gabriella Eitkis................Brooklyn, N.Y.6 ........Caroline Kantor ..............New York, N.Y.7 ........Sofie Levine ....................New York, N.Y.8 ........Rachel Okin ....................New York, N.Y.9 ........Anastasya Menshikova..Brooklyn, N.Y.10 ......Jean Soo ........................Flushing, N.Y.11 ......Diana Sosonkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.12 ......Carolyn Brodsky ............New York, N.Y.13 ......Rosa Aksanova ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.14 ......Hanna Yip ......................New York, N.Y.15 ......Perene Wang..................New York, N.Y.16 ......Audrey Pacthod ............New York, N.Y.17 ......Skyie Stamper ................Bronx, N.Y.18 ......Amanda Solecki ............Brooklyn, N.Y.19 ......Stephanie Li....................New York, N.Y.20 ......Miriam Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y.21 ......Diana McCready ............Brooklyn, N.Y.22 ......Sonia Tartakovsky ..........New York, N.Y.23 ......Amalia Parrish ................Queens Village, N.Y.24 ......Najah Dawson................Rosedale, N.Y.25 ......Brittny Ferreira ................Brooklyn, N.Y.26 ......Christina Huynh..............Astoria, N.Y.27 ......Steffi Antao ....................Briarwood, N.Y.28 ......Bella Kaplan....................New York, N.Y.29 ......Lorraine Bergmann ........Forest Hills, N.Y.30 ......Samantha Fischer ..........New York, N.Y.31 ......Kyra Bergmann ..............Forest Hills, N.Y.32 ......Johnniesha Breiten ........Bronx, N.Y.33 ......Lena Kovacevic..............New York, N.Y.34 ......Sophia Weiland ..............Ridgewood, N.Y.35 ......Tiana Fernandez ............Bronx, N.Y.36 ......Olga Drahanchuk ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.37 ......Alexandra Miasnikova....Rego Park, N.Y.38 ......Rebecca Krupatkin ........Brooklyn, N.Y.39 ......Isabella Cooper ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.40 ......Isabella Tushaj ................Bronx, N.Y.

Metro Girls 14 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........Keren Khromchenko......Staten Island, N.Y.2 ........Marierose Apice ............Brooklyn, N.Y.3 ........Jennifer Yu......................Forest Hills, N.Y.4 ........Victoria Zezula ................Ridgewood, N.Y.5 ........Zorriana B. Johnson ......New York, N.Y.6 ........Anna Maite Kaplan ........New York, N.Y.7 ........Donna Marie Episcopio Bayside, N.Y.8 ........Sarah Hirschfield ............New York, N.Y.9 ........Sydney Lynn Katz ..........New York, N.Y.10 ......Arianna Motta ................Staten Island, N.Y.11 ......Isabelle Rovinski ............New York, N.Y.12 ......Kiara Rose ......................New York, N.Y.13 ......Marion Goldberg ............New York, N.Y.14 ......Vanessa Hanuman ........Brooklyn, N.Y.15 ......Victoria Judy Hanuman Brooklyn, N.Y.16 ......Sabrina Lee Abrams ......New York, N.Y.17 ......Alexandra Sanford ........New York, N.Y.18 ......Val Leifer..........................New York, N.Y.19 ......Kayla Schumacher ........Brooklyn, N.Y.20 ......Veronika Semenova ......Brooklyn, N.Y.21 ......Electra Frelinghuysen ....New York, N.Y.22 ......Nicole Khorosh ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.23 ......Cecilia Sweson ..............New York, N.Y.24 ......Brooke Jin ......................New York, N.Y.25 ......Stephanie Li....................New York, N.Y.26 ......Rosa Aksanova ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.27 ......Caitlin Ervine ..................New York, N.Y.28 ......Danielle Kade..................New York, N.Y.29 ......Olivia Morris....................Floral Park, N.Y.30 ......Christina Huynh..............Astoria, N.Y.31 ......Jean Soo ........................Flushing, N.Y.32 ......Alexandra Miasnikova....Rego Park, N.Y.33 ......Emma Wrazej ................New York, N.Y.34 ......Emma Gray ....................New York, N.Y.35 ......Anu Alalade ....................Rosedale, N.Y.36 ......Elizabeth Khusid ............Brooklyn, N.Y.37 ......Eliza Lesser ....................New York, N.Y.38 ......Cheyenne Jenkins..........Bronx, N.Y.39 ......Olga Drahanchuk ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.40 ......Hanna Yip ......................New York, N.Y.

Metro Girls 16 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........Nicole Serras ..................Whitestone, N.Y.2 ........Emi Lewis........................New York, N.Y.3 ........Vania Savic ....................Woodside, N.Y.4 ........Keren Khromchenko......Staten Island, N.Y.5 ........Erika Tinalli ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.6 ........Hediye Karabay..............Flushing, N.Y.7 ........Nicole Schnabel ............Woodhaven, N.Y.8 ........Alexus Gill ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.9 ........Keri Anne Picciochi ........Flushing, N.Y.10 ......Irina Titova ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.11 ......Dina Levy-Lambert ........New York, N.Y.12 ......Priscilla Signore..............Staten Island, N.Y.13 ......Annie Reiner ..................New York, N.Y.14 ......Bianca Signore ..............Staten Island, N.Y.15 ......Jennifer Yu......................Forest Hills, N.Y.16 ......Nia Rose ........................New York, N.Y.17 ......Brittany Biggs ................Bronx, N.Y.18 ......Julia Zbarsky ..................New York, N.Y.19 ......Isadora Braune ..............New York, N.Y.20 ......Jenna Borestein ............New York, N.Y.21 ......Marion Goldberg ............New York, N.Y.22 ......Sarah Horne ..................New York, N.Y.23 ......Paula Faltynowicz ..........Flushing, N.Y.24 ......Anika Pornpitaksuk........Flushing, N.Y.25 ......Anna Kaplan ..................New York, N.Y.


N E W Y O R K R A N K I N G S26 ......Camille Price ..................New York, N.Y.27 ......Stefana Vujinovic............Brooklyn, N.Y.28 ......Shayna Spooner ............New York, N.Y.29 ......Kiarah Williams ..............Bronx, N.Y.30 ......Sarah Levy-Lambert ......New York, N.Y.31 ......Kara Rosenblum ............New York, N.Y.32 ......Lipika Raghunathan ......New York, N.Y.33 ......Zorriana Johnson ..........New York, N.Y.34 ......Champagne Mills ..........New York, N.Y.35 ......Savannah George ..........Bronx, N.Y.36 ......Lydia Weintraub..............New York, N.Y.37 ......Zoe Anderson ................Brooklyn, N.Y.38 ......Nicole Holloran ..............Bayside, N.Y.39 ......Sofia Degtyar..................Brooklyn, N.Y.40 ......Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y.

Metro Girls 18 SinglesRank..Name ..........................City1 ........Nicole Serras ..................Whitestone, N.Y.2 ........Rachel Colton ................New York, N.Y.3 ........Priscilla Signore..............Staten Island, N.Y.4 ........Bianca Signore ..............Staten Island, N.Y.5 ........Kimberly Salkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.6 ........Alexus Gill ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.7 ........Kyra Bergmann ..............Forest Hills, N.Y.8 ........Nicole Schnabel ............Woodhaven, N.Y.9 ........Hediye Karabay..............Flushing, N.Y.10 ......Charlotte Camacho........New York, N.Y.11 ......Michelle Khaimov ..........Jamaica, N.Y.12 ......Nicole Snegur ................Staten Island, N.Y.

Boys & Girls Sectional Rankings(as of 07/30/12)

BOYSSectional Boys 12 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City1 ........Gary Fishkin....................Staten Island, N.Y.18 ......Jeffrey Gorilovsky ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.22 ......Oliver Jevtovic ................Astoria, N.Y.23 ......Ethan Leon......................Woodhaven, N.Y.26 ......Sam Vagner ....................Staten Island, N.Y.28 ......David Mizrahi..................Brooklyn, N.Y.35 ......Zachary Jordan Lieb ......New York, N.Y.38 ......Derek Raskopf................New York, N.Y.47 ......Gabriel Sifuentes............Flushing, N.Y.51 ......Shand Stephens ............New York, N.Y.54 ......Robbie Werdiger ............New York, N.Y.55 ......Steven Daniel Nazaroff ..Brooklyn, N.Y.56 ......Kemal Irfan Aziz..............Staten Island, N.Y.57 ......Christopher Tham ..........Flushing, N.Y.59 ......Will Coad ........................New York, N.Y.62 ......Jonah Jurick ..................New York, N.Y.73 ......Jeffrey Fradkin................New York, N.Y.75 ......Logan Gruss ..................New York, N.Y.76 ......Henry Hochfelder ..........New York, N.Y.78 ......Lantis Wang....................New York, N.Y.84 ......Nicholas Pustilnik ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.90 ......Joseph Reiner ................New York, N.Y.92 ......Alex Portnoy ..................New York, N.Y.95 ......Jeffrey McCready ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.97 ......Dylan Friedman ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.100 ....Kai Yuminaga..................Little Neck, N.Y.106 ....Eitan Khromchenko........Staten Island, N.Y.111 ....Derrick Mu ......................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.115 ....Ethan Finley ....................New York, N.Y.

117 ....Harry Portnoy ................New York, N.Y.121 ....Stevan Stojkovic ............Flushing, N.Y.123 ....Itamar Oron ....................New York, N.Y.127 ....Aleksa Pljakic..................Forest Hills, N.Y.128 ....Tristan Taylor ..................New York, N.Y.132 ....Oliver Obeid....................New York, N.Y.135 ....Derek Lung ....................Brooklyn, N.Y.136 ....Tyler Kats ........................Astoria, N.Y.143 ....Joseph Wilkanowski ......Long Island City, N.Y.145 ....Maxwell Kachkarov........Flushing, N.Y.146 ....Zachary Portnoy ............New York, N.Y.148 ....Marcos Lee ....................New York, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 14 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City4 ........Alex Knaff........................New York, N.Y.11 ......Aleksandar Kovacevic ..New York, N.Y.12 ......Mitchell Ostrovsky..........Brooklyn, N.Y.13 ......Cole Gittens....................New York, N.Y.14 ......Philip Raytburg ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.16 ......Ananth Raghavan ..........New York, N.Y.17 ......Jordan Jordan ................Astoria, N.Y.31 ......Alex Chao ......................New York, N.Y.36 ......Ian Witmer ......................New York, N.Y.39 ......Peter Lohrbach ..............Little Neck, N.Y.45 ......Calvin Chung..................Bronx, N.Y.48 ......Sumit Sarkar .................. New York, N.Y.58 ......Christian Gloria ..............Queens Village, N.Y.59 ......Max Prohorov ................Rego Park, N.Y.61 ......Cameron Gruss..............New York, N.Y.66 ......Evan Liberman ..............New York, N.Y.83 ......Tyler Pasko......................Staten Island, N.Y.90 ......Leonardo Escudero........Ozone Park, N.Y.99 ......Xavier Pacthod ..............New York, N.Y.105 ....Allan Magid ....................Brooklyn, N.Y.106 ....Jared Fields ....................New York, N.Y.107 ....William Trang ..................Staten Island, N.Y.118 ....Adam Borak....................Brooklyn, N.Y.128 ....Robert Kennedy ............New York, N.Y.129 ....Adam Bernstein..............New York, N.Y.131 ....Jacob Kern ....................New York, N.Y.141 ....James Dill ......................New York, N.Y.143 ....David Mizrahi..................Brooklyn, N.Y.145 ....Ethan Moszkowski ........New York, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 16 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City11 ......James Wasserman ........New York, N.Y.14 ......Win Smith ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.18 ......Oliver Sec........................New York, N.Y.19 ......Artemie Amari ................New York, N.Y.24 ......Lucas Pickering..............Brooklyn, N.Y.26 ......Richard Sec ....................New York, N.Y.28 ......Victor Miglo ....................Kew Gardens, N.Y.29 ......Cameron Daniels............Oakland Gardens, N.Y.31 ......Christopher Paul Auteri..Staten Island, N.Y.41 ......Marcus Smith ................Little Neck, N.Y.46 ......Joshua Gordon ..............Staten Island, N.Y.49 ......Daniel Kerznerman ........Brooklyn, N.Y.52 ......Gal Sossen ....................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.68 ......Edan Sossen ..................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.70 ......Maurice Russo ..............New York, N.Y.72 ......Douglas Mo ....................Douglaston, N.Y.79 ......Jun Yuminaga ................Little Neck, N.Y.84 ......Michael Anzalone ..........Howard Beach, N.Y.94 ......Ethan Nittolo ..................Flushing, N.Y.100 ....Alexander Pintilie............New York, N.Y.104 ....Alexander Thrane ..........New York, N.Y.

111 ....Steven Koulouris ............Long Island City, N.Y.112 ....Jack Spiegel ..................New York, N.Y.121 ....Alex Knaff........................New York, N.Y.123 ....Matthew Balilo................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.126 ....Felipe Osses-Konig........Rego Park, N.Y.131 ....Michael Pisarek ..............Forest Hills, N.Y.135 ....Jacob Frisch ..................New York, N.Y.150 ....Jonathan Compres ........East Elmhurst, N.Y.

Sectional Boys 18 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City1 ........Richard J. Del Nunzio ....Forest Hills, N.Y.9 ........Joshua Yablon................New York, N.Y.20 ......Courtney Murphy ..........Bronx, N.Y.23 ......Justin Fields....................New York, N.Y.28 ......Jake Sosonkin................Brooklyn, N.Y.31 ......Eric R. Brinzenskiy ........Staten Island, N.Y.42 ......Ryoma Haraguchi ..........New York, N.Y.43 ......Christian Waldron ..........Bronx, N.Y.59 ......Richard Sec ....................New York, N.Y.65 ......Daniel Kerznerman ........Brooklyn, N.Y.78 ......David Zhukovsky............Brooklyn, N.Y.87 ......Zachary Yablon ..............New York, N.Y.91 ......Alexis Cai ........................Woodhaven, N.Y.92 ......Jonathan Selegean ........East Elmhurst, N.Y.93 ......Leon Pan ........................Brooklyn, N.Y.99 ......Joseph Motta ................Staten Island, N.Y.103 ....Christopher Jou..............Oakland Gardens, N.Y.106 ....Harold Schaaff................New York, N.Y.109 ....Artemie Amari ................New York, N.Y.117 ....Andrew Arnaboldi ..........New York, N.Y.126 ....Sean Solomonoff............New York, N.Y.131 ....Mark Semerik ................Brooklyn, N.Y.134 ....Alexander Pintilie............New York, N.Y.145 ....Dennis Druzhinsky ........Brooklyn, N.Y.

GIRLSSectional Girls 12 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City4 ........Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y.5 ........Dasha Kourkina..............Brooklyn, N.Y.9 ........Chelsea Williams............Brooklyn, N.Y.11 ......Michelle Sorokko............Douglaston, N.Y.12 ......Nicole Semenov ............Brooklyn, N.Y.13 ......Jennifer Yu......................Forest Hills, N.Y.18 ......Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y.19 ......Anastasia Koniaev..........Forest Hills, N.Y.23 ......Shelly Yaloz ....................Little Neck, N.Y.24 ......Katherine Kachkarov......Flushing, N.Y.31 ......Christina Huynh..............Astoria, N.Y.44 ......Kyra Bergmann ..............Forest Hills, N.Y.46 ......Isabel Balilo ....................Flushing, N.Y.53 ......Dakota Fordham ............New York, N.Y.60 ......Diana McCready ............Brooklyn, N.Y.61 ......Marie Ivantechenko........Brooklyn, N.Y.62 ......Rosie Gross ....................New York, N.Y.63 ......Carolyn Brodsky ............New York, N.Y.65 ......Amanda Solecki ............Brooklyn, N.Y.68 ......Sarah Finley....................New York, N.Y.71 ......Diana Sosonkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.75 ......Stephanie Li....................New York, N.Y.77 ......Elvina Kalieva..................Staten Island, N.Y.82 ......Olivia Morris....................Florak Park, N.Y.83 ......Miriam Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y.84 ......Alice Pinho......................Woodside, N.Y.87 ......Steffi Antao ....................Briarwood, N.Y.90 ......Sabrina Boada................Woodhaven, N.Y.

91 ......Najah Dawson................Rosedale, N.Y.92 ......Isabella Tushaj ................Bronx, N.Y.94 ......Zoe Kava ........................New York, N.Y.96 ......Gabriella Eitkis................Brooklyn, N.Y.101 ....Rachel Okin ....................New York, N.Y.103 ....Sofie Levine ....................New York, N.Y.114 ....Perene Wang..................New York, N.Y.116 ....Amalia Parrish ................Queens Village, N.Y.118 ....Elisabeth Schlossel ........New York, N.Y.119 ....Rebecca Fisch................New York, N.Y.135 ....Rebecca Izyayeva..........Staten Island, N.Y.136 ....Anastasya Menshikova..Brooklyn, N.Y.138 ....Caroline Kantor ..............New York, N.Y.141 ....Rosa Aksanova ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.148 ....Grace Kennedy ..............New York, N.Y.149 ....Isabella Sifuentes ..........Flushing, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 14 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City1 ........Jessica Livianu ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.3 ........Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y.6 ........Brianna Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y.21 ......Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y.22 ......Yuka Lin ..........................Kew Gardens, N.Y.23 ......Regina Furer ..................Brooklyn, N.Y.24 ......Alexus Gill ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.25 ......Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y.28 ......Anastasiya MalinouskayaStaten Island, N.Y.29 ......Victoria Sec ....................New York, N.Y.32 ......Alexandra Koniaev ........Forest Hills, N.Y.33 ......Julia Fisch ......................New York, N.Y.36 ......Jennifer Richards ..........New York, N.Y.44 ......Jillian Auteri ....................Staten Island, N.Y.47 ......Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y.63 ......Michelle Khaimov ..........Jamaica, N.Y.67 ......Patricia Obeid ................New York, N.Y.69 ......Julia Zbarsky ..................New York, N.Y.72 ......Nicole Semenov ............Brooklyn, N.Y.75 ......Jennifer Yu......................Forest Hills, N.Y.79 ......Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y.80 ......Lisa Marchelska ............Brooklyn, N.Y.83 ......Marierose Apice ............Brooklyn, N.Y.99 ......Sydney Katz ..................New York, N.Y.102 ....Anna Kaplan ..................New York, N.Y.112 ....Sarah Hirschfield ............New York, N.Y.120 ....Keren Khromchenko......Staten Island, N.Y.122 ....Victoria Zezula ................Ridgewood, N.Y.131 ....Chelsea Williams............Brooklyn, N.Y.137 ....Cecilia Swenson ............New York, N.Y.146 ....Sabrina Abrams..............New York, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 16 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City2 ........Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y.10 ......Ariana Rodriguez............Bronx, N.Y.11 ......Arnelle Sullivan ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.13 ......Destiny Grunin................Brooklyn, N.Y.14 ......Jessica Livianu ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.17 ......Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y.18 ......Elizabeth Tsvetkov..........Brooklyn, N.Y.19 ......Hannah Shteyn ..............Staten Island, N.Y.26 ......Stefanie Lineva ..............Middle Village, N.Y.33 ......Nia Rose ........................New York, N.Y.37 ......Shayna Spooner ............New York, N.Y.47 ......Kimberly Salkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.51 ......Victoria Zoha ..................New York, N.Y.53 ......Anastasiya Malinouskaya Staten Island, N.Y.59 ......Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y.


N E W Y O R K R A N K I N G S71 ......Christina Puccinelli ........New York, N.Y.72 ......Champagne Mills ..........New York, N.Y.78 ......Jillian Auteri ....................Staten Island, N.Y.79 ......Sophia Schlossel............New York, N.Y.81 ......Augusta Conway............New York, N.Y.83 ......Illana Levich ....................Staten Island, N.Y.84 ......Erika Tinalli ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.85 ......Briel Biggs ......................Bronx, N.Y.88 ......Julia Zbarsky ..................New York, N.Y.92 ......Anna Ulyashchenko ......Brooklyn, N.Y.97 ......Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y.119 ....Michelle Khaimov ..........Jamaica, N.Y.123 ....Annie Reiner ..................New York, N.Y.129 ....Vania Savic ....................Woodside, N.Y.131 ....Nicole Schnabel ............Woodhaven, N.Y.138 ....Brittany Biggs ................Bronx, N.Y.143 ....Keren Khromchenko......Staten Island, N.Y.146 ....Brianna Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y.

Sectional Girls 18 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City4 ........Emily Safron....................New York, N.Y.5 ........Ariana D. Rodriguez ......Bronx, N.Y.14 ......Nadia Smergut ..............New York, N.Y.16 ......Hannah Shteyn ..............Staten Island, N.Y.19 ......Samantha P. Tutelman ..New York, N.Y.22 ......Lily Bondy ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.24 ......Alexa Meltzer..................New York, N.Y.37 ......Denise Starr ....................Brooklyn, N.Y.42 ......Destiny Grunin................Brooklyn, N.Y.46 ......Laura Chitu ....................New York, N.Y.54 ......Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y.63 ......Katie Derienzo ................Douglaston, N.Y.70 ......Paulina Velasquez ..........Kew Gardens, N.Y.72 ......Kyra Silitch......................New York, N.Y.76 ......Angela Assal ..................Bronx, N.Y.80 ......Kimberly Salkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.88 ......Lisa Ventimiglia ..............Bayside, N.Y.89 ......Anastasiya Malinouskaya Staten Island, N.Y.90 ......Arielle Griffin....................Jamaica, N.Y.91 ......Charlotte Camacho........New York, N.Y.92 ......Charlotte Camacho........New York, N.Y.94 ......Dayana Agasieva............Forest Hills, N.Y.96 ......Leighann Sahagun ........Queens Village, N.Y.109 ....Augusta Conway............New York, N.Y.112 ....Victoria Zoha ..................New York, N.Y.119 ....Madison Gordon ............New York, N.Y.126 ....Monica Gokhberg ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.128 ....Arnelle Sullivan ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.133 ....Becky Shtilkind ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.136 ....Brianna Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y.137 ....Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y.138 ....Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y.145 ....Nakia Miller ....................Rosedale, N.Y.149 ....Nicole Snegur ................Staten Island, N.Y.150 ....Ilana Levich ....................Staten Island, N.Y.

Boys & Girls National Rankings(as of 08/15/12)

BOYSNational Boys 12 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City73 ......Gary C. Fishkin ..............Staten Island, N.Y.159 ....Jeffrey Gorilovsky ..........Brooklyn, N.Y.160 ....Sam V. Vagner ................Staten Island, N.Y.306 ....Zachary Lieb ..................New York, N.Y.353 ....Ethan Leon......................Woodhaven, N.Y.501 ....Derek Raskopf................New York, N.Y.599 ....Oliver Jevtovic ................Astoria, N.Y.616 ....David Mizrahi..................Brooklyn, N.Y.644 ....Henry Hochfelder ..........New York, N.Y.945 ....Gabriel Sifuentes............Flushing, N.Y.

National Boys 14 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City88 ......Alex Knaff........................New York, N.Y.108 ....Aleksandar Kovacevic ..New York, N.Y.113 ....Cole Gittens....................New York, N.Y.122 ....Mitchell Ostrovsky..........Brooklyn, N.Y.137 ....Ananth Raghavan ..........New York, N.Y.167 ....Philip Raytburg ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.237 ....Jordan D. Jordan............Astoria, N.Y.338 ....Alex Chao ......................New York, N.Y.421 ....Christian Gloria ..............Queens Village, N.Y.495 ....Ian Witmer ......................New York, N.Y.909 ....Sumit Sarkar ..................New York, N.Y.

National Boys 16 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City25 ......Daniel Kerznerman ........Brooklyn, N.Y.117 ....Win Smith ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.145 ....James Wasserman ........New York, N.Y.258 ....Oliver Sec........................New York, N.Y.296 ....Richard Sec ....................New York, N.Y.341 ....Lucas Pickering..............Brooklyn, N.Y.368 ....Victor Miglo ....................Kew Gardens, N.Y.395 ....Cameron Daniels............Oakland Gardens, N.Y.478 ....Christopher Auteri ..........Staten Island, N.Y.731 ....Gal Sossen ....................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.737 ....Joshua Gordon ..............Staten Island, N.Y.821 ....Edan Sossen ..................Oakland Gardens, N.Y.921 ....Maurice Russo ..............New York, N.Y.

National Boys 18 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City32 ......Richard J. Del Nunzio ....Forest Hills, N.Y.71 ......Daniel Kerznerman ........Brooklyn, N.Y.167 ....Joshua Yablon................New York, N.Y.269 ....Jake Sosonkin................Brooklyn, N.Y.437 ....Eric R. Brinzenskiy ........Staten Island, N.Y.667 ....Courtney Murphy ..........Bronx, N.Y.694 ....Justin Fields....................New York, N.Y.756 ....Ryoma Haraguchi ..........New York, N.Y.891 ....Zachary Yablon ..............New York, N.Y.

GIRLSNational Girls 12 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City37 ......Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y.41 ......Dasha Kourkina..............Brooklyn, N.Y.65 ......Chelsea Williams............Brooklyn, N.Y.82 ......Michelle Sorokko............Douglaston, N.Y.89 ......Jennifer Yu......................Forest Hills, N.Y.105 ....Lauren Munari ................Middle Village, N.Y.127 ....Nicole Semenov ............Brooklyn, N.Y.218 ....Katherine Kachkarov......Flushing, N.Y.277 ....Anastasia Koniaev..........Forest Hills, N.Y.288 ....Shelly Yaloz ....................Little Neck, N.Y.419 ....Christina Huynh..............Astoria, N.Y.654 ....Marie Ivantechenko........Brooklyn, N.Y.757 ....Isabel Balilo ....................Flushing, N.Y.767 ....Isabella Tushaj ................Bronx, N.Y.771 ....Kyra Bergmann ..............Forest Hills, N.Y.918 ....Miriam Aziz ....................Staten Island, N.Y.

National Girls 14 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City19 ......Jessica Melane Livianu..Brooklyn, N.Y.70 ......Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y.113 ....Brianna Williams ............Brooklyn, N.Y.178 ....Isis Gill ............................Brooklyn, N.Y.304 ....Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y.321 ....Yuka Lin ........................Kew Gardens, N.Y.365 ....Alexandra Koniaev ........Forest Hills, N.Y.367 ....Regina Furer ..................Brooklyn, N.Y.389 ....Victoria Sec ....................New York, N.Y.446 ....Julia Fisch ......................New York, N.Y.458 ....Anastasiya Malinouskaya Staten Island, N.Y.460 ....Alexus Gill ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.689 ....Patricia Obeid ................New York, N.Y.700 ....Jillian Auteri ....................Staten Island, N.Y.849 ....Aleksandra Bekirova ......Brooklyn, N.Y.

National Girls 16 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City14 ......Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y.135 ....Ariana D. Rodriguez ......Bronx, N.Y.181 ....Hannah Shteyn ..............Staten Island, N.Y.243 ....Destiny Grunin................Brooklyn, N.Y.247 ....Arnelle Sullivan ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.333 ....Elizabeth Tsvetkov..........Brooklyn, N.Y.408 ....Sabrina Xiong ................Fresh Meadows, N.Y.461 ....Shayna Spooner ............New York, N.Y.504 ....Jessica Livianu ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.510 ....Stefani Lineva ................Middle Village, N.Y.547 ....Nia Rose ........................New York, N.Y.662 ....Anna Ulyashchenko ......Brooklyn, N.Y.704 ....Sophia Kryloff ................Brooklyn, N.Y.872 ....Victoria Zoha ..................New York, N.Y.883 ....Kimberly Salkin ..............Brooklyn, N.Y.919 ....Anastasiya Malinouskaya Staten Island, N.Y.

National Girls 18 Singles—Metro RegionRank ..Name ..........................City34 ......Denise Starr ....................Brooklyn, N.Y.46 ......Emily Safron....................New York, N.Y.127 ....Ariana D. Rodriguez ......Bronx, N.Y.156 ....Hannah Shteyn ..............Staten Island, N.Y.175 ....Samantha Tutelman ......New York, N.Y.369 ....Jacqueline Katz..............New York, N.Y.509 ....Arielle Griffin....................Jamaica, N.Y.573 ....Angela Assal ..................Bronx, N.Y.626 ....Nadia Smergut ..............New York, N.Y.643 ....Jessica Golovin ..............New York, N.Y.667 ....Lily Bondy ......................Brooklyn, N.Y.729 ....Dayana Agasieva............Forest Hills, N.Y.841 ....Alexa Meltzer..................New York, N.Y.843 ....Madison Gordon ............New York, N.Y.925 ....Katie Derienzo ................Douglaston, N.Y.941 ....Laura Chitu ....................New York, N.Y.


SEPTEMBER 2012Friday-Sunday, September 7-9L3 Alley Pond End of Summer UPSAlley Pond Tennis Center79-20 Winchester BoulevardQueens Village, N.Y.Divisions: Novice BG (14-12)s, RRSurface Type: HardEntry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries isThursday, Sept. 6 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (718) 264-2600.

Friday-Sunday, September 7-9 & 14-16L1B Sportime Randall’s Island September ChallengerSportime Randall’s Island1 Randall’s IslandNew York, N.Y.Divisions: Challenger BG (16-14)s, SESurface Type: UnknownEntry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Fri-day, Aug. 24 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (646) 783-5301.

Friday-Sunday, September 7-9L3 Staten Island September UPSStaten Island Community Tennis Center2800 Victory BoulevardStaten Island, N.Y.Divisions: Regular BG (16-12)s, RRSurface Type: HardEntry Fee: $48.88 per player (deadline for entries is Monday, Sept. 3 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (516) 984-3711.

Friday-Sunday, September 7-9L1B Crotona Park ChallengerHaffen Park Sports Association2748 Eastchester RoadBronx, N.Y.Divisions: Challenger BG (16-14)s, SESurface Type: UnknownEntry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, Aug. 24 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (347) 920-3038.

Monday-Sunday, September 10-16+ Columbia University ChampionshipsColumbia University Tennis Center575 W. 218 StreetNew York, N.Y.Divisions: Ranked M (Op, 40)s, SE; W (Op)s, SE; X (Op)d, SESurface Type: Hard Indoor Entry Fee: $54.25 per player singles (deadline for entriesis Friday, Sept. 7 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (212) 942-2220.

Friday-Sunday, September 14-16 & 21-23L2O Sportime Randall’s Island September 2012 OpenSportime Randall’s Island1 Randall’s IslandNew York, N.Y.Divisions: Intermediate BG (12)s, SESurface Type: UnknownEntry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, Aug. 31 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (212) 427-5650.

Saturday-Sunday, September 15-16L2R Flushing Meadows Metro Region InvitationalCity Parks Foundation—Flushing MeadowsFlushing Meadows Park Flushing, N.Y.Divisions: Intermediate BG (16-12)s, SESurface Type: UnknownEntry Fee: $28.00 per player (deadline for entries is Saturday, Sept. 1)For more information, call (718) 760-6985.

Monday-Sunday, September 17-30USTA National Men’s 40, 55 & 60 Grass Court ChampionshipsWest Side Tennis Club1 Tennis PlaceForest Hills, N.Y.Divisions: M (40, 55-60)sdSurface Type: GrassEntry Fee: $97.25 per player singles, $65 per player dou-bles (deadline for entries is Monday, Sept. 3 at 11:59 p.m.)For more information, call (718) 268-2230.

Friday-Sunday, September 21-23L3 Bill Holloway 10U QuickStart UPSHarlem Junior Tennis Program40 West 143rd StreetNew York, N.Y.Divisions: QuickStart BG (10)s, FRLC; QuickStart BG (10)s,FRLCSurface Type: HardEntry Fee: $33 per player (deadline for entries is Monday,Sept. 17 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (212) 491-3738.

Friday-Sunday, September 21-30Staten Island Tennis Center Men’s ChampionshipsStaten Island Community Tennis Center2800 Victory BoulevardStaten Island, N.Y.Divisions: Ranked M (Op)s, FRLCSurface Type: HardEntry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, Sept. 14 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (516) 984-3711.

Friday-Sunday, September 21-23 & 28-30L1B Sportime Randall’s Island September 2012 ChallengerSportime Randall’s Island1 Randall’s IslandNew York, N.Y.Divisions: Challenger B (14)s, SE G (18-14)s, SESurface Type: UnknownEntry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, Sept. 7 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (212) 427-6150.

Friday-Sunday, September 28-30L3 Sportime Randall’s Island September 2012 UPSSportime Randall’s Island1 Randall’s IslandNew York, N.Y.Divisions: Novice B (12)s, RR; G (14-12)s, RRSurface Type: UnknownEntry Fee: $43.50 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, Sept. 14 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (212) 427-6150.

OCTOBER 2012Friday-Sunday, October 12-14L1B Sportime Randall’s Island October ChallengerSportime Randall’s Island1 Randall’s IslandNew York, N.Y.Divisions: Challenger B (16)s, SE; G (18-14)s, SESurface Type: UnknownEntry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, Sept. 28 at 1:00 p.m.)For more information, call (646) 783-5301.

Friday-Sunday, October 19-21L2R NCT October Metro RegionalNorth Shore Tennis34-28 214th PlaceBayside, N.Y.Divisions: Intermediate BG (18-16)s, SESurface Type: Clay IndoorEntry Fee: $54.25 per player (deadline for entries is Friday, Oct. 5 at 5:00 p.m.)For more information, call (646) 220-4172.

Friday-Sunday, October 26-November 42012 NCT November ClassicNorth Shore Tennis34-28 214th Place • Bayside, N.Y.Divisions: Ranked X (Op)d, SE; M (45, 55)sd, SE; NM (3.5-4.5)s, SE; NW (3.0-4.0)s, SESurface Type: Clay IndoorEntry Fee: $75.75 per player singles $38.13 per playerdoubles (deadline for entries is Friday, Sept. 21)For more information, call (646) 220-4172.

USTA/Metropolitan Region2012 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

For detailed information on these and all USTA tournaments, visit tennislink.usta.com/tournaments.


SIGN up today while your first choice location is still available! New York Tennis Club3081 Harding Avenue, Throgs Neck, NY 10465

Roosevelt IslandSports Park Gym, 552 Main St.,Roosevelt Island, NY 10044

Manhattan PlazaRacquet Club, 450 West 43rd St.,New York, NY 10036

Columbia Prep School Gym 4 West 93rd St. New York, NY 10025

FALL PROGRAM BEGINS

SEPT. 17 !ow kids’ tennis is easier and more fun! Advan-tage Tennis Clubs’ QuickStart program is custom designed for boys and girls ages 4 to 10 – no experience needed. Children play with

age- and size-appropriate shorter racquets on short-ened courts using special slow-bouncing balls. They learn from non-competitive drills, games and instruction in tennis basics and fundamentals. Get a class free, call today for details!

For kids 10 and over, we offer a Junior Development Program.

NNIt’s EASY, FUN and FREE!*

we’ve got your game

th

Call Kimberly at 212-935-4049Email: [email protected]: www.quickstartny.com

*Offer applies to new students only.

BEPRO

F

NSEGIOGRAMFALL

SEPBE

- andage

to

NNNNNNNNNo

7thPTT.NSEGI

e shortopria-appresize neeriencxp10 – no eor bom designed fcust

uic Q’’lubsennis CTTetageennis is easiet’’idsw ko

. 17 !

-tquets on shoracer rtry wen plahildr. Ceeded

ols ages 4 ts and giryobam isgrot prtarckS

andve fun! Ar and mor

ll avas stiice locachoi

le yourwhiGN up todSI

-with o

-n

lable!aionatirst r fi

day

elopmvDeids 1or kF

ydaoall tcand fundagames an

olearn frouened c

andage

am.grort Pmener ae off, werr,v10 and o

or details!y fet a class fG.talsamen

ennistion in tucnd instre detitivompcom non-

-wecial slots using spure shortopriaappresiz

a Junior

,eefrs basics

, drillsyhe. Tballsouncing b-

tquets on shoracer rtr

FREE!*FUN andt’s EASYI

Y 10044,elt Island

.,tain S552 Mymk Garts PorSp

slandelt IvoseRo

Y , Nogs NeckhrTevding A3081 Har

ennisTTek orw YYoeN

ll avas stiiy

,

RoosevN

m,d

10465,enue

lubCs

lable!ai

YNkorYYo.td S

ymol Gepr

Y 10, Nk.td S

, lubttan Plaz

Y 10044N

auet Cest 43ror

mbia Poest 93rw

10025.

p

0036.,

a

Y , NkorYYo

tn

w

ckstarennistcrir

t 212-93a

10025

om.cynom.cs

35-4049

e got yv’ewwe

our gamey

y


Sign up now for triple tennis privileges and FREE court time!

PASSP RT

GET YOUR ADVANTAGE

PASSP RT!

WE’VE GOT

YOUR GAME!

SIGN UP NOW

New York Tennis Club3081 Harding Ave., Throgs Neck, NY 10465Contact: Lauren Hartman(718) [email protected]

Roosevelt Island Racquet Club 281 Main St., Roosevelt Island, NY 10044Contact: Tom Manhart(212) [email protected] Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club 450 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036Contact: Gil Amar(212) [email protected]

It’s a triple tennis win!

Play at 3 top clubs for 1 low price. Plus get FREE outdoor court time.

Enjoy membership in all 3 Advantage Tennis Clubs,FREE outdoor court time, advance booking & more.

If you love tennis, Advantage Passport membership was created just for you! Choose a home club and get home club advantages there. Plus complete access to the other two clubs. It’s a “triple tennis win!” Here’s why:

Three great choices for your home club -- New York Tennis Club, Roosevelt Island Racquet Club or Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club

Full access and game-arranging services at all 3 clubs Member court rates at all 3 clubs

14-day reservation privileges at Roosevelt Island and Manhattan Plaza

FREE outdoor court time every day -- noon till closing -- at NY Tennis Club’s 6 Har-Tru courts through October

FREEEnjoy

outdoor courty membership

t time advancin all 3 Advan

ce booking & mntage Tennis C

moreClubs,

e Herwin!””o thess tcac

get home ceteaas crwevou lof yI

FREE

:ys wh’s a ’’t. Io clubswhe other t. Petages theranclub adv

ou! Choose a hor yd just ffoasspotage Pandv, Aennist

outdoor court

ennisiple ttr“eompletlus c

home club andt membershipor

t time, advanc

ce booking & m

PPAOUR GET YYO

ASSPAADV

SIGN UP

more.

T!GEATA

RANT

OW

yda14

embM

all 3 clull acF

lubCquacR

oYYow eNee hrT

tion privilegesavesery r

t all 3 clues atat rourer cb

ubsangin-arress and gamec

ttan Panhalub or Met Cvose, Rolubennis CTTek or

our hor yes ft choiceagr

elt

FtS

Nvoset Roa

ubs

tes avicng ser

quetaclaza Rsland elt Iv

home club --

t time!ourFREE cennis privileges t

or tw fSign up no

lub

SIGN UP N

CennisTTekorw YYoeN

andtriple

NOW

tsourctill closFREE o

sland Iyda14-

erobtough Octhrlubennis CTTeYt Nsing -- aervt time eouror cdoout

ttan Plazaanhaand Mtion privileges avesery r

VE tWE’

u

(C2R

lh(C3N

rTs 6 Har-’’sbony -- noy da

eltvoset Roa

om.cennistcirt@rmanhar212) 935-0250

tanharMom t: TTotaconCelt Islanoosev., Rtain S281 M

qacsland Relt IvoseRo

[email protected]) 239-7919

tmanen Hart: LaurtaconCogs NehrT.,evding A3081 HarlubCennisTTek orw YYoeN

Y 10044, Nndlub uet C

10465Y, Neckk,

ASPPA

SSP R

T gGAME!OUR YYO

OTG(C4M

om.ccycn.amar@mprg212) 594-0554

mart: Gil AtaconC,korYYo., New td Sest 43rW450

qacttan Plaza RanhaM

Y 10036, Nlubquet C

Documents

New York Tennis Magazine - September/October 2012