Laura Granville Update; Anderson Seeks US Citizenship; Kriek Academy to Relocate; Edmund Downs Krueger in Zurich; US Teens Out at Sony Ericsson

A former member of the WTA Top 30 and a two-time NCAA champion at Stanford, 30-year-old Laura Granville retired from professional tennis two years ago and returned to Palo Alto to finish her degree. She will graduate soon, and this lengthy feature from the Peninsula Press explores her post-tennis life (marriage to former Northwestern tennis player Scott Kurtis, new job, new city) as well as what she meant to the Stanford tennis program. Several of the team's current players are interviewed, as is head coach Lele Forood and former players Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette. Although no two players' circumstances are alike, there's no question Granville serves as a role model for young women who want to attend college, play on a team, get an education and play professional tennis.


Earlier this week, the South African tennis federation announced that ATP No. 28 Kevin Anderson would not be playing Davis Cup for that country next month against Slovenia. The former NCAA doubles champion while at the University of Illinois recently married an American, and is pursuing a US green card and citizenship. His decision not to play obviously did not go over well with captain John-Laffnie de Jager, as is evident from this article, but it is not the first time Anderson and the South Africa federation have had a disagreement about his participation. This also means, according to this article, that South Africa will not be represented in tennis at the London Olympic games this summer.

One of South Africa's greatest players, two-time Australian Open champion Johan Kriek, is moving his junior tennis academy from Roanoke, Virginia to Charlotte, North Carolina. Kriek initially started his Academy in Sarasota, Florida before moving to Virginia in 2010. For more on the move, see this Charlotte Observer article.

John Isner will be playing Davis Cup for the US next month, against France in Monte Carlo, but this New York Times article by Ben Rothenburg emphasizes Isner's recent rise and how his college tennis career at Georgia helped him prepare for it.

The final of the 8-player junior "talent" draw at the BNP Paribas Zurich Open was between Mitchell Krueger of the US and Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, with Edmund winning 6-3, 4-6, 10-6. This round robin competition was an exhibition held in conjunction with the ATP Champions tour, which was won by Carlos Moya over Stefan Edberg. For complete results, see the tournament website.

It was a good tournament for young Americans this year at the Sony Ericsson, but Madison Keys, Ryan Harrison and Sloane Stephens have finished their runs in Key Biscayne. Keys and Stephens both qualified, with Keys losing her second round match to No. 5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-1 yesterday, and Stephens losing her third round match to No. 2 Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-2 today. Wild card Harrison lost to No. 3 seed Roger Federer 6-2, 7-6(3) in the second round today. For complete results, see the tournament website.