2012 Year End Rankings – 16 and Under

This is the next to last article on the year end junior rankings.  We have covered the 10′s, 12′s and 14′s.  16 and Under rankings are the most important for those that want to play college tennis and especially for those who are looking to get a tennis scholarship.  This is what many college coaches look most closely at.  Most players play only one year in the 18′s because they go away to college.  Some players take a break when they get accepted into college.  It’s not uncommon for a player to have his or her best ranking in the 18′s because the field is so much smaller.  So who are the best 16 and Under players in the Eastern Section? Read on!

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Jamie Loeb - From the Ossining Patch

Just how good is Jamie Loeb – Ossining, NY?  Ever since the 12 and Unders I am used to seeing Jamie on the top of her age group.  For the latest Girls 16 and Under standings Jamie is 1st with 3202 points.  Lexi Borr- Westfield, NJ –  is a distant second with 2074 points.  Louisa Chirico – Harrison, NY – is third with 1975 points.  Katharine Fahey – Fair Haven, NJ; Luisa Fernandez – Pittsford, NY and Valerie Shklover – Fair Lawn, NJ  are all bunched together.  Luisa Fernandez is the only one playing the upcoming Sectional Tournament at Sportime.  Nationally, Jamie is ranked 3rd, Lexi is ranked 12th, Louisa is 30th, Valerie is 89th, Luisa is 102nd and Katherine is 216th.

Loeb Chrico and Borr also have world rankings.  Jamie is 753 in the world and Louisa is 887 in the world.  Lexi Borr is 985.

Local players with Eastern Sectional Rankings are:

Claire Schmitz is the highest ranked Northern Regional player at 34th and she is ranked 616th Nationally.  After Claire is Shannon Mukerji – 89th.  Other Northern Regional players with Girls 16 Sectional Rankings are:

Ella Lindholm-Uzzi (127); Hannah Friend (147); Jordan General (194); Nisha Detchprohm (197); Mia Dicaprio (205); Ann Phillips (216); Carriianna Voellm (236); Chassidy King (240); Gabriela peda (253); Stephanie Behrens (255); Keishorea Armstrong ( 257); Christina Lee (289); Kaitlyn Healy (317); Madeline Locke (326); Emma Morrissey (366); Ooha Kambhampati (374); Samantha Blond (392); Katherine Quinn (393); Alexandra Clark (394); Julianne Melita (399); Catherine MacCormick (402) and Alexis Casso (403)

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Noah Rubin - from ElHeraldo - Colombia

Now for the Boys 16 and Unders.  Shawn Hadavi of Dobbs Ferry, NY is the top 16 and Under player in the Eastern Section.  Next is Ncholas Podesta – Rumson, NJ.  The next five players are tightly bunched; Josh Yablon – New York City; Noah Rubin – Rockville Centre, NY; Sam Swank – Bedford, NY; Josh Silverstein – Great Neck, NY and Matt Nardella – Manlius, NY.  Sam Lam of Old Westbury, NY is 8th and Nicholas Crystal of Waccabuc, NY is 9th.

Most of these players have good National Rankings in the top 100. Nicholas Crystal is 13th in the Nation; Josh Silverstein is 34th;  Josh Yablon is 36th; Matt Nardella is 39th; Samuel Lam is 63rd; Sam Swank is 86th.  In addition, Daniel Kerznerman of Brooklyn is ranked 29th Nationally and Vihar Shah is ranked 59th.  Their Sectional Rankings are not as high because they play mostly national tournaments, not Eastern Sectional tournaments.

Some of these players have appeared in this blog before.  We have written about Noah Rubin several times in the past.  I first set eyes on Noah when he was an 8 year old at Eastern Excel Tennis Camp on Long Island.  I have brought kids down there several times.  Noah’s big tie to our area is his dad Eric – a graduate of the University at Albany.  Noah is currently ranked #1 in the country in the 16 and Unders and he is still a month shy of his 16th birthday, which means he has a whole year of eligibility left in the 16′s.  Noah is also ranked 28th in the world – quite a fete for a 15 year old.  ITF rankings do not go by age group, it’s just one big list for all ages.  Noah has only played 7 ITF tournaments so his ranking is likely to go up.  I look forward to seeing how high he can go.  Nicholas Crystal is 727th in the world while Sam Swang is 1577th.  As you can see this is a very talented group of Eastern players.

That’s not to say we don’t have a good group of juniors in our own Northern Region.  We have:

Josh Jachuck – 64th

Emerson Kelby – 67th

Rohin Bose – 110th; Lars Olson – 114th; Matt Bunch – 151st; Alex Fedorov – 229th; Russel Santos – 251st; Peter Campito – 260th; Nick lau – 254th; Matthew McCall – 377th; Vishnu Kakuturi – 382nd; Jonas Lindholm-Uzzi – 397th; Bryce Recer – 486th; Sanjay Achar – 490th; James Anania – 502nd; Ned Faist – 548th; Max Benson – 624th; Nick Mashuta – 629th; Anthony O’Connell – 630th and Gabriel Freiberg – 653rd.

I will be updating tournament results for these players in the next few days.

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Winter Nationals

Orange Bowl 3

Orange Bowl 2

Orange Bowl 1

ITF Junior International – USTA Spring

Rafa – Amazing Passing Shot

Ball Boy Makes Great Catch

Aussie Open Animals

The Beauty Of It All

From “Parenting Aces”

a little perspective from Barry Buss:

The beauty of our sport is there is no right way to ‘do’ it… The confounding thing about our sport is there is no right way to ‘do’ it. Two handed one handed cross handed double handled…eastern western continental grips…semi this full that under spin over spin extreme spin no spin…oversized standard sized poly gut blend… 70 lbs 40 lbs, baseliner serve and volleyer grinder bomber… Male female black white brown yellow, grass clay hard carpet, singles doubles mixed team… junior senior pro am… Coach player trainer agent….so many different hats one can wear.. Our common ground is our love for our sport…try as we might, it’s with us til the end.. We are lifers.. Fans to our deepest inner core… trying with all our might to make sense of it all..

..Oliver rochus is ranked 54 th in the world.. Ivo karlovic is ranked 57th.. Rochus is 5’3… Karlovic is 6’10… Rochus has a career record of 2-1 vs Karlovic…

CLICK HERE to read the whole article

Red Ball, Green Ball, Orange Ball or None of the Above – Part 2

Wayne Bryan – his claim to fame is his sons – Mike & Bob Bryan, but there’s so much more.  Wayne’s programs produced many top junior and college players. This is excerpts from a letter he wrote to the USTA about the new 10 and Under initiative.  The letter was reprinted on Johan Kriek‘s Facebook page and many other places.  Excerpts will be posted on the blog over the next several days.

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Dear Anonymous USTA Exec,

Player Development

Again, so very appreciative that you asked my opinion re the U10s Mandate and U10 Initiative.

1) The USTA has built a half mile bridge over a one mile river. Jump Street is age 6 not 10. Ask AYSO soccer. T Ball. Softball. That’s when kids start skateboarding. Playing computer games. Great rodeo stars and singers and dancers are doing their thing at 6, not getting on that horse at age 10 or singing that first tune for grandma at 10. Inner city kids are doing those amazing dance moves at 6, not 10. Incredible NBA stars are already playing on the asphalt courts at 6, not 10. World famous music teacher Dr. Shinichi Susuki has little children playing amazing orchestral concerts. (Editor’s Note:  The USTA initiative is 10 and UNDER not age 10 but Wayne’s point is that these other athlete’s are doing great things with adult equipment at ages younger than age 10) ….

2) Champions are not created by million dollar slick ad campaigns! Tennis will never grow from Madison Avenue! It grows from Main Street. Local parents. Local groups of kids getting going. Local parks. Local schools. Local clubs. Local coaches. Tennis grows from solid and fun and dynamic programming and charismatic parents and coaches and club pros. It grows with bells and whistles. With energy and enthusiasm. With fun. With laughs. With trips. Hit records are purchased because people love the song.  …

3) …  You want to help tennis, have your child or your nephew or that girl next door play the great game. Not trying to be negative, but all those USTA PD (PD = Player Development) coaches through the years? Their kids don’t play the game. Those administrators telling us about this wonderful U10 Initiative? Their kids don’t play. If they play at all, they are sure not champions. “So, my humble opinion is that if you are a good junior coach, you will have multiple, great junior players in your program and if you are a great junior coach, some of those players will be your own children!!” Doug Pielet, South Carolina.

4) The USTA crows that it has gone out and gotten input on this U10 Initiative from across the country? No way. It is all from Committees. That’s why there is such a huge blow back from the tennis people out in the trenches – – – I have a large e mail list of irate parents and coaches. The coaches that are producing players and parents whose children are passionate about the sport and doing well – – – they don’t have time for Committees, but their opinions were never solicited or considered. My Mom always said that “a Rhinoceros is a Horse that was designed by a committee”. My pal at the SCTA Henry Talbert laughing says, “There is nothing worse than two Generals and a Map.” Massive changes in our tournament structure are coming from top down and not bottom up. That’s no way to run a car company the Japanese have taught the world.

5) USTA Staffers … all said three things over and over …

a) All 10s dink: … I can show you all kinds of kids around the country at 8, 9 and 10 that can flat nail the ball and have very complete games. Mike and Bob play short doubles matches with little kids around the country at all their Exos and Charity Events – – – usually the kids are U10s. The points are astonishing and they always use yellow balls….

b) It doesn’t matter how you do in the 10s:  Did these USTA staffers ever see Tracy or Andre at 6, or Jenny Cap, or Chrissie, or Lindsay, or Michael, or Pete, or Venus, or Serena at 10? Andy, Mardy, Mike, Bob, Sam, Vania, Donnie, or Ryan? Does that mean that every top 10 will be a world class player? Of course not, but every world class player was passionate and getting after tennis as a very little guy or gal. …

c) It doesn’t matter if the top 10s play up:  Players should never play up unless they are flat out dominating their division. Oh, play up every once in awhile to see what it’s like or play up in a weaker tournament – – – sure. …

To Be Continued in the next few days

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I am writing a book, I got the page numbers done – Steven Wright, Comedian

Red Ball, Green Ball, Orange Ball or None of the Above – Part 1

I have had several articles on this blog supporting the USTA 10 and Under programs.  There are a lot of people who don’t agree with that how that program is being run.  We want to present both sides.  This will be the first article on the 10 and Under tennis program that brings in the words of some of the programs critics.

Before he became part of the USTA organization it was hard to find people who had anything negative to say about Tim Mayotte so you have to really look at what happened.

Tim Mayotte Then

Mayotte resigned as the head of a program in Flushing over what he called “very openly spoken reservations” about the U.S.T.A.’s approach. In a recent interview, he criticized “antiquated coaching methods” that emphasize long hours swatting balls rather than learning technique and movement.

“We started working with 16-year-old kids three years ago,” said Martin Blackman, who heads talent identification and development for the U.S.T.A., a program created to help American players catch up with those in other countries.

For decades, American fans were used to waves of fresh-faced stars, many of them teenagers: Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert in the 1970s; John McEnroe in the ’80s; Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Michael Chang and Jennifer Capriati in the ’90s; Andy Roddick and the Williams sisters in the 2000s. Most were taught by private coaches.

But that approach no longer seems to be working, especially now that other nations have developed comprehensive programs.

“Without a system, you’re at the mercy of prodigies and private programs,” Blackman said. “The expense of developing a world-class player from age 10 to 20 is astronomical — training, traveling, equipment.”

“American tennis is in the sorriest state it has ever been,” said Tim Mayotte…

Mayotte also said the U.S.T.A. was too insular, opportunistically luring talented players and putting them under the tutelage of inexperienced staff. He favors the approach of the French tennis federation, which identifies and supports independent coaches who do good work.

“I can’t tell you the overall figure,” Blackman said. “Our regional training centers receive anywhere from $8,000 to $100,000 a year depending on the program and players. I don’t know how that compares to programs overseas.”

Kriek Now

Kriek Then

Johan Kriek Tim Mayotte is a good guy, I played with Tim way back on the Team Rossignol and he was part of the USTA Elite training kids in NY most recently and he left that position, not sure under what steps…

Jack Foster THANKS JOHAN, WE TENNIS TEACHING PROS NEED TO DEVELOP PLAYERS NOT THE ELITES FROM THE USTA. WHERE ARE THE KIDS WHO DONT HAVE THE RESOURSES OR FUNDS BUT ARE GREAT ATHLETES GOING TO LEARN THE GAME?

Sources for this article:

New York Times  - Critics See Drop in Talent as U.S.T.A. Grapples With Player Development

Johan Kriek’s Facebook Page

Related articles

• Looking For John McEnroe (blogs.tennis.com)

Another Neat Video

14 and Unders – Year End Rankings

This article looks at the year end Eastern Section Rankings for the Boys and Girls 14 and Unders.

LADIES FIRST 

Jessica Livianu of Brooklyn, NY is the #1 player in the Girls 14′s.  She has almost a 300 point lead over 2nd place Madison Battaglia of Cold Springs Harbor, NY.  Just 15 points back is another Jessica – Jessica Golovin.  Almost 300 points farther back is Arnelle Sullivan, also of Brooklyn. Less than 10 points behind her is Jacquline Urbinati of Harrison, NY. Anna Ulyashchenko of Brooklyn is 6th in the Section but has the highest National ranking of any Eastern Girl’s 14 and Under – she is ranked 46th nationally.  Livianu is 58th; Battaglia is 69th; Golovin is 51st; Sullivan is 143rd and Urbinati is 67th.

Local players who are ranked are:

Nisha Detchprohm (75)

Mia Fallati (97)

Lesley Santos (119); Ann Phillips (127); Mia Dicaprio (138); Julianne Melita (142); Christina Lau (197); Nadia Suguitan (199); Grace Oliver (246); Victoria Pelligrino (249); Margaret Kallus (271); Emily Farrell (332); Mackenzie Spross (334); Aubrey Hodnett (338); Juliana Rosati (339)

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BOYS

Mwendwa Mbithi of Succasunna, NJ is #1 in the Boys 14 and Unders.  This talented player compiled a record of 129-67 last year often playing in the upper age groups including a finals appearance at the Level 1 Spring Tournament at Capital Region where he played in the 16′s where he lost in the finals to Artem Khrapco. He teamed with Kraphko to win the doubles.  Close behind at #2 is Brendon Volk of Dix Hills, NY.  Brendon’s record was 71-45 for the year. He went to the round of 16 at Winter Nationals.  James Wasserman of New York City is right behind him.  He also went to the round of 16 at Winter Nationals.  Robert Levine of Bedford, NY and Alexander Lebedev of Island Park, NY round out the top 5.  only 167 points separates 1st and 5th in this age group.  Michael Chen of Holmdel, NJ is 6th in the rankings.  All of these players have good National Rankings.

Lebedev (24); Wasserman (25); Volk (30); Chen (34);  Levine (45); Mbithi (46)

Local players who are ranked are:

Alex Fedorov (78)

Michael Haelen (84)

Anthony O’Connell (103); Jason Tang (143); Nick Lau (150); Jonas Lindholm-Uzzi (209); Max Benson (240); Michael Zhu (279); Jeffrey Shen (282); Ziqing Dong (308); Jeffrey Martin (312); Alex Demetreus (314); Albert Lee (356); Ritwik Mishra (359); Rafael Ortega (370); Jack DeRizzo (404); Danny Jasarevic (420); Larry Matt (428); Matt Jonas (434); Michael Zhang (435); Justin Hsu (439); Scotty Bruce (481); Nick Spoor (511); Ronan Jachuck (545); Danial MacCormick (558); Josh Sagaille (603)

Some Australian Open Pictures from Grand Slam Gal

These pictures appeared in a post on the “Grand Slam Gal” Tennis Blog – CLICK HERE to see all of the pictures.  CLICK HERE for the Blog’s Home Page.

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Maybe Novak had too much time on his Hands

Novak Djokovoc and Marian Vajda made a video before the Australian pen during their down time.

 

Do you know a Junior Tennis Player with Diabetes?

WORLD TEAMTENNIS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR WTT NOVO NORDISK DONNELLY AWARD SCHOLARSHIPS TO SUPPORT YOUTH TENNIS PLAYERS WITH DIABETES
WTT accepting applications through April 16

NEW YORK , N.Y. (January 18, 2012) – World TeamTennis is currently accepting applications from youth tennis players with diabetes for the Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards. The Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards annually distribute $25,000 in scholarships, including two one-time $5,000 national scholarships and six one-time $2,500 regional scholarships.

The scholarships are awarded to male and female athletes ages 12-21, who have diabetes and play tennis competitively in tournaments or on their school team. Applications must be received by April 16, 2012, along with two letters of recommendation and a short essay explaining the significance of diabetes in the applicant’s life. The awards are to be used for education, tennis development and/or medical care.

The recipients of the $5,000 national scholarships will receive their awards at a World TeamTennis Pro League match this summer from WTT co-founder Billie Jean King. The scholarship program was established by King, through WTT Charities, in 1998 to encourage children with diabetes to lead an active life and compete in tennis.

The Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards are named after two long-time World TeamTennis executives and tennis champions, Diane Donnelly Stone and Tracey Donnelly Maltby, who are sisters. Stone was an All-American and NCAA doubles champion at Northwestern University , and Maltby earned All-Big Ten honors at the University of Iowa . Both women have lived successfully with diabetes since childhood.

Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care, has been the title sponsor of the award since 2002. For more details on the Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards and to download an application form, visit www.WTT.com/DonnellyAwards. For more information, contact Diane Donnelly Stone at dstone@wtt.com or 212-586-3444, x. 20.

About Novo Nordisk:
Headquartered in Denmark , Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with more than 88 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The company also has leading positions within hemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. For more information, visit novonordisk-us.com.

About World TeamTennis (WTT):
World TeamTennis (WTT) showcases both the best in professional and recreational team tennis. Co-founded by Billie Jean King, the WTT Pro League presented by GEICO features the biggest names in the world playing WTT’s innovative coed team format. The WTT Recreational League presented by GEICO also operates coed team leagues and events. The United States Tennis Association is a minority owner and promotional partner of World TeamTennis. For more information, visit www.WTT.com.