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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year! Winter Nationals; Jr. Orange Bowl Wrap; Mark Bey on Tennis Channel Saturday; Oudin Bump


Just a few quick items as we say goodbye to 2009:

The finals are set for 16s and 18s USTA Winter National Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., with Ellen Tsay the only No. 1 seed still with a chance for a gold ball. The 16-year-old Tsay plays 15-year-old Anna Mamalat, the No. 12 seed for the girls 18s championship. In the boys 18s final, No. 2 seed Daniel Kosakowski, who has committed to UCLA, will play Notre Dame recruit Billy Pecor, the No. 23 seed. In the boys 16s, Junior Orange Bowl 14s finalist Mackenzie McDonald has continued his excellent play this month; the No. 19 seed faces No. 6 seed Ace Matias in his second final in nine days. There are two new faces, at least to me, in the girls 16s final, both unseeded: Kourtney Keegan of Georgia and Rachael Reed of Texas.

For the complete draws, see the TennisLink site.

The 12s and 14s results from Tucson today have not yet been posted, but if you are reading this post Friday, you can find out the finalists at the TennisLink site.

As I mentioned yesterday, my Junior Orange Bowl recap for the Tennis Recruiting Network is available today. I would like to thank them for providing me with a regular outlet for my tournament recaps, my recruiting profiles and all the other miscellaneous junior and college tennis stories that surface while I'm covering tournaments. Without their support, my regular travel for tournament reporting would be nearly impossible to sustain.

One of the junior developmental coaches I see regularly in my travels, Chicago's Mark Bey, is a frequent contributor to the Tennis Channel, and on Saturday, January 2nd, he will be featured on the USPTA series On Court in back-to-back half-hour segments. The first, entitled "Competitive Drills and Games", will air at 11 a.m. EST, followed by "The All-Court Player." For more on the series, click here.

And finally, for an interesting story on what the breakout success of a young tennis player can do for a local club, see this article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the Racquet Club of the South, where Melanie Oudin trains.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Regarding Oudin's article. Those "puppy mills" have put out most of the 50 players ranked above her. The girls who were brave enough to leave home and train against the best every day are ranked above her.

Sam said...

Another idiotic comment, ranks up there with some clown not knowing India was in Asia. So Amtex, back it up with some facts, lets see how much you really know

Durango said...

Sorry- de Villiers lost all my respect when he broke a core ethic of getting involved with a players mom. Seems like he was acting more like the 18-25 year olds. I like Oudin but lets wait and see if she does anything. She had two great showings at two very big events-thats the jump in the ranking; however, the players know her now. I do wish her the best.