Greetings!
Headline for the month - "Juniors Dominate Tennis Scene in July". Between the Van Alen and Clothier Cups in Australia, Tuxedo's tennis camp and the U13 -U19s in Newport ---juniors were everywhere! And, we have got it all covered.
The junior activity in July coincidentally coincides with the conclusion of the first year of a multi-year focus on player development. The Player Development Program (PDP) is a joint initiative between the USCTA and the USCTPF focused on top amateurs, juniors, junior elites and women players. Thanks to a gift from Eleuthera and Temple Grassi through the Thornedge Foundation the first year of the PDP was a success as chronicled below.
Are you looking for one last summer getaway? There is still time to enter the Pell Cup later this month - entries close on August 7. Looking ahead to the 2015/2016 season - the action begins in September with the Sears Cup in Boston and continues non-stop for the rest of the year. Challenge yourself by entering one or more events this year.
Also this month, Greg Van Schaack provides the latest update on Charleston. Ivan Ronaldson explains how "to escape from a rest (rally) that you are unlikely to win"...hmmm...interesting. So sit back, relax; enjoy the summer day while catching up on the latest tennis news.
Until next month....
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U.S.C.T.A. PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Jeremy Wintersteen
I hope everyone is having a good summer. A lot has been happening in the world of US court tennis.
Congratulations go out to our American duo of Tim Chisholm and Camden Riviere for winning the World Doubles Championship. The Tuxedo Club hosted an incredible tournament and many thanks go to the organizing committee, supports and sponsors, and committee chairs Josh Scherer, Kevin Shea, and Diane Campbell. Tim and Cam played incredible tennis throughout the tournament and became the first American team to win the title.
The Tuxedo Club hosted a Junior Pro-Am during the World Doubles and juniors from a number of US clubs participated. This is part of the Player Development Program, an ambitious partnership of the US Court Tennis Preservation Foundation and the USCTA. At the USCTA's June Board meeting, a second year of the Player Development Program (PDP) was approved. The PDP is focusing on juniors, women, elite juniors, and top amateurs and there's a lot happening so stay tuned. Congratulations to Erik Barker for winning the Under 19 Championship in late July in Newport and to the other division winners. A big thank you goes out to the Grassi family for their PDP support and to the Preservation Foundation for its partnership.
Click here to read the full report.
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Paul Monaghan (Capt.), Alec Monaghan (Chaperone), Adrian Comacho,
Laurenson Ward and Dylan Ward
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2015 VAN ALEN & CLOTHIER CUPS
by Paul Monaghan and Dylan Ward
After flying for 20 hours and traveling a total of 10,353 miles, the US Clothier & Van Alen Cup team landed in Melbourne ready to take on a pair of strong British and Australian squads. We were carted from the airport to the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club to meet our hosts and get a tour of the club. The teams spent most of the first day getting situated with their host families and stretching out our jet-lagged bodies.
We spent that evening with the British and Aussie team, meandering a few blocks away from the RMTC over to The English Pub where we heard various forms of English "banter," and enjoyed some Aussie pub cuisine and drinks.
We had the court booked for 4 hours the next afternoon. Given we had the morning free, those of us who woke up noon-which proved a bit unseemly for some-wandered down to the center of Melbourne to see the sights. The center of Melbourne seems to have at least two coffee shops per block, which meant that we had to try at least a few before heading back to the RMTC. Fully pumped up on the coffee sampling we had done downtown, The Team had a particularly energetic practice.
Click here to read the full report
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 2015 U.S. U19, U17, U15, U13 SINGLES
by Jane Lippincott
The National Tennis Club hosted the 2015 U.S. Under 19, Under 17, Under 15 and Under 13 Junior Singles. Despite a short downpour on Friday night, the weekend was a huge success.
Thirteen players participated representing Chicago, Boston, Tuxedo, Washington, New York, Newport and the UK. The junior weekend was the first event for Newport's newly installed pros - Camden Riviere and Nick Howell. Both, former junior players, did a wonderful job of organizing a fun-filled competitive weekend of tennis and clinics.
Click here for the full story, results, photos and the court tennis quiz.
Editor's Note: Erik Barker will be traveling to the Queens Club in August to play in the British Under 16s. Good luck Erik ...keep up your winning ways!
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PLAYER DEVELOPMENT A USCTA/USCTPF JOINT INITIATIVE
The Player Development Program (PDP) has been a major focus for the USCTA and USCTPF in the past year. The areas of focus are: Top Amateurs, Juniors, Elite Juniors and Women. We have just completed year one of a multi-year program. While there is still much to be done, we have made tremendous progress in the first year.
The following are excerpts of a document that was produced in May for the USCTA and USCTPF. Not included in the reviews are some notable recent events including: the World Doubles Junior Pro/Am, the U13-U26 championships and an upcoming women's clinic weekend in Tuxedo. We are continually on the move! Read on to find out more.
Player Development Overview
By James Zug
Bathurst Academy (Top Amateur)
By Jeremy Wintersteen and Barney Tanfield
Junior and Junior Elite Program
By Jane Lippincott, James Zug, Ivan Ronaldson and John Lumley
Women's Development
By Jane Lippincott, Mary Livingston and Tony Hollins
Player Development Committee
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| | 2006 Junior Handicap & Clinic - Tuxedo |
JUNIORS - "WAY BACK" IN 2006
The photo shown above was taken in Tuxedo at the Junior Handicap/Clinic weekend in 2006. If you look carefully, you will find three of the four members of the 2015 Clothier/Van Alen team - Dylan Ward, Laurenson Ward and Paul Monaghan. They were between 12 and 14 years old.
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COURT TENNIS CAMP - TUXEDO
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GEORGIAN COURT VISITORS
A team from the Netherlands recently visited Georgian Court. The Dutch team included Andreas van Braam (organizer), Linda Crapts, Theo Bollerman, Lucia Douwes Dekker, Kim de Groot and Huun van Boeckel.
We hope they enjoyed their visit and will come back again!
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AUGUST
13-16
NEWPORT
Doubles round robin for pros & multiple amateur levels
SEPTEMBER
24-27
SEARS CUP
BOSTON
Doubles round robin for pros & multiple amateur levels
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TIPS FROM THE PROFESSIONALS
Escaping from a rest (rally) that you are unlikely to win
As a right hander on the hazard end you will often find yourself in a cross-court backhand to backhand rest. More often than not you'll be losing those exchanges. Your opponent has the tambour and grille to aim for while you're just hoping to hit a nice shot and force a racket error, or maybe have him set you up with an easy put-away ball. The fact is that most of us are losing at least 60% or more of these exchanges when we are on the hazard side.
One solution is to learn to hit a slow paced ball for the base of the second gallery post. Your target area of goodish shots is now huge. Anything high should get you last or second gallery (and the serve). Anything low should still give your opponent some trouble in the corner. Having this large target area to aim for is especially useful when returning a difficult ball off the tambour.
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Charleston Court Tennis, LLC is happy to announce that the permitting process for building permits on Daniel Island has begun. We are fortunate to be able to "piggyback" on an application being submitted by the Daniel Island Club to build 6 new har-tru tennis courts. Our project is being billed to the city planners as "indoor tennis building". In addition, the construction company that Daniel Island is using is the company that we have chosen, Hill Construction. They have done many projects in the past for DI and since DI has consented to be our project manager, construction should run smoothly. We are planning on breaking ground in the first quarter of 2016!!!!
Architectural plans are being firmed up and the architect and construction company are in increasing contact to make sure the project is perfect before we start construction. The builder is planning on making trips to Aiken and Chicago - Aiken for dimensions and finishing's; Chicago for testing the Armourcoat (British Company) surface material used in their renovation.
US Court Tennis Community, get ready to welcome a new member to our family; however, we still need financial support and help from the entire Court Tennis Community. Go on line and make a pledge today. Every pledge counts and it all adds up!!
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RTO STATS
Matches recorded in
Real Tennis Online in the last 30 days. Remember, it's important to record match scores to have an accurate handicap!
(as of 8/1/15)
NEWPORT 91
WASHINGTON 75
NEW YORK 58
BOSTON 37
PHILADELPHIA 27
CHICAGO 8
AIKEN 8
TUXEDO 1
LAKEWOOD 0
Compared to:
RADLEY 193
MELBOURNE 244
CAMBRIDGE 115
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Q: So how does the #1 ranked U.S. Amateur spend his summer?
A: Working by day, relaxing at the beach by night.
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