Stewart, Daniel Repeat at Florida Closed; US Open/National Tennis Center Upgrades Announced; Nuts and Bolts of Using Tennis Recruiting

The Florida Closed, which was recently renamed the Bobby Curtis Junior State Championships in honor of the USTA section's legendary junior competition director, wrapped up today and Katerina Stewart and Jaeda Daniel were repeat winners.

Stewart, who had won the 16s as a 13-year-old last year, took the 18s this year, beating University of Virginia recruit Maci Epstein 6-2, 6-3, and Jaeda Daniel, who had won the 12s last year, took the 14s title this year over Adriana Reami 6-3, 6-3.  Dominic Cotrone, who is a rising sophomore at Florida State, won the boys 18s championship.

Below are the results of the finals.  For extensive coverage, see this article from the Florida section's website.

Boys' 18
Dominic Cotrone Bradenton, FL def. Grayson Goldin (15) Bradenton, FL 6-4, 6-2
Boys' 16
Alfredo Perez (7) Coral Gables, FL def. Mirko Radosevic (11) Miami, FL 6-3, 6-2
Boys' 14
Gabriel Pilones (2) Bradenton, FL def. Kaden Funk (1) Windermere, FL 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(1)
Boys’ 12
Mason Beiler (3) Palm Harbor, FL def. Robert Hammond (7) Boca Raton, FL 6-3, 6-3
Boys’ 10
Mark Dancuart, Boca Raton, FL def. Nicholas Ayala, Coral Springs, FL 4-2, 4-0 (10 and Under Tennis scoring)

Girls' 18
Katerina Stewart (3) Miami, FL def. Maci Epstein (2) Windermere, FL 6-2, 6-3
Girls' 16
Bennett Dunn (1) Plantation, FL def. Julia O'Loughlin (2) Lighthouse Point, FL 6-4, 6-2
Girls' 14
Jaeda Daniel (8) Wesley Chapel def. Adriana Reami (1) Miami, FL 6-3, 6-3
Girls’ 12
Sophia Edwards (3) Sarasota, FL def. Whitney Osuigwe Bradenton, FL 6-3, 6-3
Girls’ 10
Kassandra Di Staulo, Weston, FL def. Tallia Russell, Weeki Wachee, FL 4-0, 4-1 (10 and Under Tennis scoring)

The USTA announced plans today for a substantial renovation of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, including a new Louis Armstrong Stadium, a new Grandstand Court, a practice viewing area, and many other changes, but not, unfortunately, any roofed stadiums.  For a complete list of the proposed improvements, which will begin next fall and be phased in over the next six to eight years, see this article from usta.com.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about the Tennis Recruiting Network, the people behind it, its policies and procedures, and most of all, how they come up with their rankings, head over to the Parenting Aces blog. Lisa Stone has done a great job of explaining how it works and provides a timeline for getting the most out of the service they offer. I've been working for Tennis Recruiting for over six years, and yet there were still facts in the article that were news to me.