USTA to Host World Junior Tennis, Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup Qualifiers May 23-25 at USA Tennis High Performance Headquarters in Key Biscayne
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 21, 2003 - The USTA announced the boys’ and girls’ teams that will compete at 2003 North/Central America and Caribbean Regional Qualifying events at the USA Tennis High Performance Headquarters May 23-25 in Key Biscayne, Fla. The USTA will host events in two age groups - the World Junior Tennis Competition, the premier international team competitions for players 14 and under, and Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup for players 16 and under.
U.S. Teams Competing at the North/Central America and Caribbean Regional Championships
World Junior Tennis-Boys’
Dennis Lajola, 14, Aiea, Hawaii
Leo Rosenberg, 13, Manhattan, Kan.
Donald Young, 13, Chicago
Captain: Mike Sell, Marina del Ray, Calif.
World Junior Tennis-Girls’
Kimberly Couts, 14, Bradenton, Fla.
Alexa Glatch, 13, Newport Beach, Calif.
Logan Hansen, 13, Santa Monica, Calif.
Captain: Katie Schlukebir, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Junior Davis Cup
Chris Chirico, 15, Bradenton, Fla.
Michael Shabaz, 15, Fairfax, Va.
Clancy Shields, 15, Grand Junction, Colo.
Captain: Roger Smith, Ft. Lauderdale
Junior Fed Cup
Lindsay Burdette, 15, Jackson, Ga.
Alessandra Jordan, 16, El Paso, Texas
Jessica Nguyen, 15, Chatsworth, Calif.
Captain: Jai DiLouie, Key Biscayne, Fla.
“These players have accepted the honor of representing our country and the challenge of advancing the United States to the World Finals,” said Eliot Teltscher, Director, Tennis Operations, USA Tennis High Performance. “These events give our kids a chance to play on a in a team situation with a coach on court and prepares them for the pressures of Davis Cup and Fed Cup play when they get older.”
The U.S. teams will face three other countries in a round-robin format. Canada and Mexico will compete in all four divisions. Guatemala (World Junior Tennis-boys), Puerto Rico (World Junior Tennis-girls), Panama (Junior Davis Cup) and Dominican Republic (Junior Fed Cup) round out the respective fields. Each match will consist of two singles matches followed by a doubles match.
The top two teams in each division advance to the 16-nation fields at the 2003 World Finals. The World Junior Tennis Finals will be held in Prostejov, Czech Republic, August 11-16.
The Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup World Finals will be played September 16-21 in Essen, Germany.
More than 100 countries participate in the ITF’s junior team competitions each year. The United States boys and girls have qualified for every World Junior Tennis and Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup competition since the events began in 1991 and 1985, respectively.
The American boys’ are the defending World Junior Tennis champions after winning their first title last year. The U.S. also won the World Junior Tennis girls’ title in 1992. The U.S. boys won the Junior Davis Cup (known then as the World Youth Cup) in 1999, but have never reached the Junior Fed Cup final.
Former U.S. junior international team members include: Jim Courier, Vince Spadea, Lindsay Davenport, Lisa Raymond, Jennifer Capriati, Andy Roddick and Chanda Rubin.
The USA Tennis High Performance program features enhanced coaching education programs, top supplemental coaching and training, international junior competition and USTA Pro Circuit and tour events. The USA Tennis High Performance will begin operations at a new state-of-the-are national training center in June in Carson, Calif. The new facility complements the USA Tennis High Performance Headquarters at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Fla., giving the program a significant presence in two of the sport’s hotbed developmental markets, Southern California and Florida.
The USTA owns and operates the US Open and the 96 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. In addition, it selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Pan American Games, Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in America, and is a non-profit organization with more than 670,000 members. It invests all its resources to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from the grass roots to the professional levels. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com.