Lauren Embree: Junior Spotlight of the Week (usta.com)
Lauren Embree: Junior Spotlight of the Week--
I haven't focused much on the girls side of tennis lately, so I thought I'd link to the current Junior Spotlight of the Week for Lauren Embree. 
First, I owe her an apology as my headline from the Easter Bowl had her finals opponent Connie Hsu as the champion (it's now corrected). I can only plead exhaustion as that was after 14 straight days of junior tennis reporting. Anyway, that Easter Bowl final is the only time I've seen her play, but I was impressed with her grit and her poise. As the number one seed in Palm Springs, she was the target, as she will be in the Florida State Closed Sectional, which begins today. But she's not playing the 14s, rather the 13-year-old is top seed in the 16s division, a definite step up in maturity levels for her.
And, there is this interesting item from the tournament home website: EXCITING INCENTIVE FOR 16'S AND 18'S PLAYERS - ALL 16'S AND 18'S FINALISTS WILL RECEIVE $1250 FOR EXPENSES TO BE USED AT THE 2005 SUMMER NATIONAL CLAY COURT OR HARD COURT CHAMPIONSHIPS. MONEY WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO 3RD PLACE PLAYER IN CASE FINALISTS ELECT NOT TO PLAY NATIONALS. RECEIPTS MUST BE PROVIDED.
I don't know enough about sectional tennis (my one exposure a year is in Florida in January) to know if this is unusual, but it has me raising an eyebrow. I'll need to call my friend Bobby Curtis after he's done directing this mammoth tournament, to get more details on the reasoning behind this "incentive."
1 comments:
An update on this story--Lauren Embree won the Florida Closed girls 16s.
Secondly, I spoke to Bobby Curtis (who told me there was rain nearly every day, which is why they resorted to shortened scoring, with a tiebreaker instead of a full third set) about that $1250 expense money for finalists in 16s & 18s. He said this was the second year they've done it, and it was an idea floated and adopted by the Florida Junior Tennis council.
Post a Comment