Clay Court Champions Crowned; Pierre-Louis Sweeps Titles at ITF Grade 4 in Jamaica; Bobby Reynolds Joins Roddick at Oklahoma; The Lighter Side of Junior Tennis

Rain hampered several USTA Clay Court finals today, but all champions have been decided (result of boys 12s doubles final posted Sunday morning). Two top seeds won singles titles: Sam Riffice in the boys 18s and Alexa Noel in the girls 14s. Riffice, 16, has earned a US Open Junior championships main draw wild card with his victory over Alexandre Rotsaert.  Girls 18s champion Ellyse Hamlin, who like Riffice, won singles and doubles titles today, beat fellow Duke recruit Kaitlyn McCarthy in the singles final. Hamlin is not eligible for the US Open junior wild card, because she turns 19 in November, making her too old by the ITF calendar-year system of eligibility.

Boys 18s:
Sam Riffice(1) def. Alexandre Rotsaert (17) 7-6, 6-3
Vasil Kirkov and Riffice(2) def. William Genesen and Johnathan Small(8)  6-3, 6-4

Girls 18s:

Ellyse Hamlin(6) def.  Kaitlyn McCarthy(17) 6-7(8), 6-1, 7-5

Katherine Fahey and Hamlin(2) def. Madison Battaglia and Victoria Flores 7-6(4), 6-0

Boys 16s:
Danny Thomas(17) def. Aleks Huryn(17) 6-2, 6-4
Blake Croyder and Bradley Frye def. Aleksandar Kovacevic and Robert Maciag 7-6, 6-4

Girls 16s:
Samantha Martinelli(2) def. Natasha Subhash(1) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Subhash and Ann Li(2) def. Anna Brylin and Clarissa Hand(4) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2

Boys 14s:
William Grant(7) def. Jenson Brooksby(4) 7-6(2), 6-3
Garret Johns and Scott Sculley(9) def. Connor Fu and JanMagnus Johnson(7) 5-7, 6-0, 6-1

Girls 14s:
Alexa Noel(1) def. Hailey Baptiste(17) 6-4, 6-3
Chloe Beck and Reilly Tran(2) def. Carmen Corley and Katelyn Thomas(9) 6-1, 6-3

Boys 12s:

Saud Alhogbani(12) def. Karl Lee(4) 6-1, 6-4

Evan Lee and Thomas Navarro(10) def. Benjamin Kittay and Lee(2) 7-6, 5-7, 6-4

Girls 12s:

Elvina Kalieva(9) def. Charlotte Owensby(1) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Owensby and Rachel Arbitman(2) def. Savannah Broadus and Kenadee Semenik(1) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

Kariann Pierre-Louis remained undefeated in ITF junior play this month, sweeping the singles and doubles titles at a Grade 4 for the second week in a row.  The 16-year-old from Miami, seeded No. 1,  lost only 15 games in her five singles victories in Jamaica, beating No. 2 seed Rika Tanaka of Japan 6-1, 6-4 in the final.  Last week Pierre-Louis won the doubles with Naomi Waters, this week she partnered Safiya Carrington, and the No. 3 seeds defeated unseeded Y-kit Tan of Singapore and Elysia Bolton 7-5, 7-5 in the final.  Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina swept the boys titles, with the No. 6 seed beating No. 2 seed William Tutecky of Canada 6-3, 6-4 in the singles final. In the doubles final, Ugo Carabelli and fellow Argentine Valentino Caratini, the No. 3 seeds, beat unseeded Andrew Fenty and Tristan McCormick 7-6(2), 2-6, 10-6.

There has yet to be an official announcement, but former ATP Top 100 player Bobby Reynolds has accepted the men's assistant coaching position at Oklahoma.  Reynolds takes over for Bo Hodge, who is now the men's associate head coach at Georgia. Reynolds, who turned 33 yesterday, spent three years at Vanderbilt, leading the team to the NCAA championship match in 2003 and finishing No. 1 in the singles rankings that year. He turned pro after his junior year, but returned to complete his degree at Vanderbilt this year after retiring from the tour last year.

This post by Avery Shackelford at mytennislessons.com, entitled "Fifteen Things You'll Understand if You Played Junior Tennis", is a humorous look back at some of the experiences that make the competitive side of the sport so memorable for a young competitor.