USTA Announces Travel Teams for Aegon Teen Tennis and Les Petits As 14-and-under Trip This Month
The USTA announced today the names of the four girls and four boys selected to travel to Europe for the Aegon Teen Tennis tournament in Bolton, England and Les Petits As tournament in Tarbes, France.
The Bolton tournament begins January 14th and runs through January 20th, with Les Petits As the 21st through the 27th.
The girls traveling with USTA coach Leo Azevedo are CC Bellis, Jaeda Daniel, Michaela Gordon and Claire Liu 12.
The US boys have had great success recently in both events. Francis Tiafoe swept both singles titles last year, defeating Michael Mmoh in Bolton and William Blumberg in Tarbes. The US also won both doubles titles in 2012. In 2011, Stefan Kozlov won Teen Tennis and Henrik Wiersholm won Les Petits As.
Last year Tornado Alicia Black reached the finals of both tournaments and won both doubles championships with Nicole Frenkel.
The complete release from the USTA is below:
TOP AMERICAN JUNIORS TO COMPETE IN ELITE INTERNATIONAL 14-AND-UNDER EVENTS IN EUROPE
American Boys Look to Sweep AEGON Junior International Teen Tennis and Les Petits As Titles for Third Straight Year
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., January 8, 2013 -- The USTA today announced the eight top American juniors selected to represent the United States in two premier 14-and-under events in Europe: AEGON Junior International Teen Tennis in Bolton, England, Jan. 13-18; and Les Petits As in Tarbes, France, Jan. 21-27.
Patrick Kypson (13, Greenville, N.C.), Noah Makarome (13, Wesley Chapel, Fla.), Sam Riffice (13, Roseville, Calif.) and Gianni Ross (13, Burr Ridge, Ill.) will compete in each boys event, while Catherine Cartan Bellis (13, Atherton, Calif.), Jaeda Daniel (13, Port Charlotte, Fla.), Michaela Gordon (13, Los Altos Hills, Calif.) and Claire Liu (12, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) will play for the girls. USTA National Coach Andy Brandi will accompany the boys, and USTA Lead National Coach Leo Azevedo will accompany the girls.
The two events annually feature some of the world’s best players aged 14-and-under. A number of former Les Petits As champions have gone on to become No. 1 in the world, including Rafael Nadal, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis. Former American winners include Michael Chang, Donald Young and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, while Lindsay Davenport was a finalist.
Kypson advanced to the third rounds of the USTA Boys 14s National Championships and the Eddie Herr International Championships Boys 14s draw in 2012. Makarome reached the Boys 14s quarterfinals of the 2012 USTA National Winter Championships. Riffice reached the third round of the 2012 USTA Boys 14s National Championships. Ross was a finalist at the USTA Boys 14s National Championships in August and a Boys 14s semifinalist at Eddie Herr in December.
Bellis was a Girls 14s finalist at the Easter Bowl and a Girls 14s quarterfinalist at the Junior Orange Bowl in 2012. Daniels reached the quarterfinals of the USTA Girls 14s National Championships in August and the Girls 14s doubles semifinals at Eddie Herr in December. Gordon was a semifinalist in the USTA Girls 16s National Championships this summer and reached the third round of the Girls 16s draw at the 2012 Orange Bowl. Liu won the 2011 Junior Orange Bowl Girls 12s title and was a Girls 14s semifinalist at this December’s USTA National Winter Championships. She also beat an NCAA Division I college freshman at the USTA Collegiate Invitational this fall.
American boys have won both the AEGON Junior International Teen Tennis and Les Petits As singles titles each of the past two years. Francis Tiafoe captured both in 2012, while all four Americans reached the semifinals of last year’s Les Petits As, marking the first time in the tournament’s 30-year history all four semifinalists were from one country.
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