Center Claims Both Titles for Second Straight Week at J4 in Dominican Republic, Doubles Titles for Eissa and Hance on ITF Junior Circuit; Atlanta J4 Underway; FSU Professor Seeks Research Assistants for Tennis Project; Could Ivy League Schools Start Offering Scholarships?

The ITF JA Osaka Mayor's Cup produced one American champion in boys doubles and a finalist in boys singles, but although those were the biggest events on the ITF Junior Circuit calendar last week, four other Americans captured one singles and three doubles titles.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Center won both the singles and doubles titles two weeks ago at the J4 in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, her first on the ITF Junior Circuit. Last week, the left-hander from California repeated that impressive double, again at a J4 in the Dominican Republic, again unseeded in both draws, again partnering with Ginger Foster for the doubles title. Center, who has not dropped a set in her two singles titles the past two weeks, defeated No. 6 seed Sam Grosjean of France 6-4, 6-1 in the singles final. In the doubles final, Center and Foster defeated the unseeded team of Andrea De Bernardo of Venezuela and Daniela Rubio of Peru 6-2, 6-2.  

At the end of last month, Center's ITF Junior ranking was outside the Top 2000. After her past two weeks and four titles, she is now ranked 521.

At the J5 in Nicaragua, 17-year-old Aida Eissa won her first ITF Junior Circuit title in doubles, with Ece Gencer of Turkey. The top seeds defeated unseeded Gabriela Gomez of Spain and Charlotte Klein of Germany 6-1, 6-0 in the final. 

At the J4 in British Columbia, Keaton Hance won his first ITF Junior Circuit title in doubles, partnering with fellow 14-year-old Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands. The unseeded pair defeated Adam Bojkovic and Canadian Emmett Potter, also unseeded, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 in the final. 

Boogaard, who won the Les Petits As title in January and the European 14s championships this summer, also won the singles title, his first on the ITF Junior Circuit.

After a week off, the ITF Junior Circuit returned to the United States with a J4 underway now in Atlanta. The top two seeds in the boys draw are Santiago Padilla Cote of Mexico and Dylan Charlap. The top two seeds in the girls draw are Christasha McNeil and Brianna Baldi. All four are through to the second round after today's action.

Ryan Rodenberg, a professor at Florida State, recently tweeted about a opportunity available for two research assistants on a tennis-related study he is conducting. In case you missed that tweet, here is his synopsis and contact information. 

Starting Fall 2023, I am excited to offer up to two fully-funded PhD student positions for tennis-specific research. Current/former college and professional players are encouraged to apply.  All applicants must possess a college degree.  The positions would be full-time and in-person at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee.  I have received FSU approval to pursue a major research project focused on how tennis interacts with math/statistics, physics, economics, and law.  For further details, please contact me.  My contact information is below: 

Ryan M. Rodenberg, JD/PhD

Professor

Florida State University                                                              

850-645-9535 (office)

rrodenberg@fsu.edu

It's really exciting to have tennis the subject of academic research, and I look forward to hearing more about the project as it gears up.

Ivy League schools are Division I, but they do not offer athletic scholarships. This Connecticut Post article looks at the expiration of the law that codified that anomaly and what it might mean for the Ivy League in the future. The article focuses on Yale and on basketball, but it does raise interesting points about the advantages and disadvantages of a student-athlete choosing to attend an Ivy League school, and that includes many junior tennis players.