Winter Nationals Lives Up to Its Name:: The Tennis Recruiting Network

Julie Wrege of The Tennis Recruiting Network has a great summary of the entire Winter Nationals, and it couldn't have been easy to cover the 18s, 16s, 14s and 12s, as the latter two divisions were played in Tucson, while the older players were in Phoenix, two hours away.

There are photos of all the winners, including those that I didn't have for the slide show: Emily Gelber (18s), Nathan Pasha (14s) and Jerricka Boone (12s). And if you wonder how Sponge Bob became a spectator at the girls' 12s final, Wrege has the details.

Marcia Frost of collegeandjuniortennis.com is now in Tucson covering the Copper Bowl, which includes both girls and boys in all age divisions. Her updates and photos are here.

TAGS: tennis

British Tennis Magazine interview: Graeme Dyce

I stumbled across this story which is from the November issue of British Tennis, a publication I admit I didn't know existed until today. I also didn't know who Graeme Dyce was until this year's Eddie Herr tournament, where I started to recognize him as part of the Bollettieri "Top Gun" group, as this story describes the highest level of juniors at the IMG Academy. At the Eddie Herr, Dyce beat the sixth seed, Jose Roberto Velasco of Bolivia, in the first round then lost a long three-setter to Radu Albot of Moldova in the second round.

It's interesting that he's from Scotland and "managed" by Judy Murray, Andy's mother. The reason why he chose Bollettieri's over the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, Murray's alma mater, is understandable; it's interesting that Murray is now training often at Bollettieri's and that Murray's coach, Brad Gilbert, has a son there, who is Dyce's roommate. Dyce is also wisely keeping his college options open, and I'm sure there were many coaches watching his two matches at the Eddie Herr with great interest.

I had to chuckle though, when the story referred to Dyce's getting away from a country where tennis is a "minority" sport. Although tennis is big in Bradenton, it's certainly not a "majority" sport in most of this country.

TAGS: tennis, Graeme Dyce

Tomic and Orlik Harvest Jr. Orange Bowl Titles

My first article for The Tennis Recruiting Network in 2007 is my tournament report on the Junior Orange Bowl, and like most of my tournament reports for TR.net, it's a handy synopsis for those who missed the daily reports I filed when I was in Coral Gables last month. My article next week for Tennis Recruiting will be something completely different--a look back at my 2006 "Intriguing Questions."

TAGS: tennis, Junior Orange Bowl

Cohen Claims Third Casablanca Crown

The first ITF Grade A, the Casablanca Cup, is played during the holidays (it's officially a 2007 tournament, even though it finished on December 31) and just weeks after the last Grade A, the Orange Bowl, assuring that the event in Mexico will be given less attention than it usually warrants.

But the ITF staff in London did this wrap-up, and there is a small slide show of photos on their site, so there is some information to be had.


There is something about the Casablance Cup that agrees with Julia Cohen. She has won three of the last four singles championships, the first when she was just 14 years old, and her success there has helped keep her in the top twenty of the ITF rankings for a long time. This year she also won the doubles title, with Valeria Pulido-Velasco, who like the boys' champion, unseeded wild card Eduardo Peralta-Tello, was from the host country.

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WInter National Winners

As promised, a slide show of most of the winners of the Winter Nationals in Arizona. I wasn't there, of course, but I've searched through my photo archives and found most of the older competitors. I apologize for having no photos of the girls 18s winner, Emily Gelber, the unseeded 14-year-old from New York, who didn't lose a set on her way to the championship, and the boys 14s winner, No. 9 seed Nathan Pasha of Georgia, who also didn't drop a set en route to his gold ball. Although I had the boys 12s finalists, thanks to the recent Florida tournaments, I didn't have either of the girls in the 12s final.

Eric Boal of the LA Daily News followed the Southern California contingent throughout the tournament, and filed this story about Ryan Thacher's victory in the boys 18s.

I also added photos of Julia Cohen, who just won her third straight Casablanca Cup, the ITF Grade A tournament in Mexico, and took the doubles title as well. Kellen Damico teamed with Jonathan Eysseric of France to take the boys doubles championship.

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TAGS:Winter Nationals, tennis, junior tennis

Happy New Year!

The Tennis Recruiting Network begins 2007 with an interview with Will Guzick, who is publicly announcing that he's selected Harvard for his higher education.

I wrote a story about Guzick for Smash in early 2006, and I never doubted he would choose a school that would challenge him intellectually and athletically. Today he goes for a gold ball in 18s doubles at the Winter Nationals.

We have a Rose Bowl party this afternoon, so this post is early, but tomorrow I'm planning a recap of the Winter Nationals, with as many photos as I can find of those in today's finals.

TAGS:Will Guzick, tennis, junior tennis