Juniors Kick Off Spring Season with Inaugural USTA International Spring Championships (usta.com)

Juniors Kick Off Spring Season with Inaugural USTA International Spring Championships--

I'm heading out to Carson for the Spring Championships today so this story is of special interest. The rationale for what the USTA is doing makes sense; spring ITF events in the US are important if the goal is to automatically qualify players for ITF junior Grand Slams.

One comment from Lew Brewer that I don't agree with is his contention that the field for the Easter Bowl is "at least as strong as Kalamazoo last year." Perhaps I'm not the most objective person in the world on this, but when there's a wildcard to the US Open as a carrot, Kalamazoo will draw players that don't even compete on the junior circuit. And, if I may mention it, Donald Young was seeded seventh, and didn't make it out of the fourth round at Kalamazoo last year. Maybe Brewer's statement is really a comment on how he feels about the class of 1986, which he doesn't rate as highly as I do. I hope the 87s, 88s and 89s surpass them, but I'm not expecting it.