Eight U.S. boys named to 2017 Team USA National Junior Team

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April 19, 2017 02:32 PM

By Sally Milano

Eight of the top junior boys' players in the country have been named to the 2017 Team USA National Junior Team, a training program that gives these players the opportunity to train together during the summer and to travel to play against top junior competition from around the world.

Only players born in 2001 and 2002, age 16 and younger, are eligible to compete on the team.

Seven of the eight players qualified for a spot on the team last weekend at a playoff that was held at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla., while one player had already secured his position by meeting criteria prior to the playoff.

Players were invited to compete in the playoff based on tournament results and their USTA national or ITF world rankings.

The girls’ national team will be selected in May.

The boys named to this year's team include: Blaise Bicknell, 15, from Miami; Andrew Dale, 15, from Leesburg, Va.; William Grant, 16, of Boca Raton, Fla.; Cannon Kingsley, 15, from Northport, N.Y.; Alex Lee, 15, from Oak Brook, Ill.; Govind Nanda (pictured above), 16, of Cerritos, Calif.; Marcus McDaniel, 14, from Vacaville, Calif.; and Siem Woldeab, 15, of La Mesa, Calif.

Here is a little more on each player:

  • Bicknell is rated a five-star recruit in the Top 50 nationally of the Class of 2019 by TennisRecruiting.net.
     
  • Dale, ranked No. 3 in the latest USTA Boys’ 16s national standings, recently reached the 16s singles final at the USTA International Spring Championships and the semifinals at the Easter Bowl.
     
  • Grant is rated the Class of 2019's No. 9 prospect by TennisRecruiting.net.
     
  • Kingsley, ranked No. 5 in the USTA Boys’ 16s national standings, was a boys’ 16s semifinalist at the USTA National Winter Championships in January.
     
  • Lee was an Easter Bowl boys’ 16s quarterfinalist and is ranked No. 15 in the USTA Boys’ 16s national standings.
     
  • Nanda, who is the only player to have automatically qualified for the team before last weekend's playoff and is on the team for the second straight year, is the No. 4-rated prospect in the Class of 2019 on TennisRecruiting.net. He started playing this year primarily on the USTA Pro Circuit.
     
  • McDaniel, the youngest player on this year’s team, is the No. 4-ranked player in the USTA Boys’ 14s national standings and is a five-star freshman on TennisRecruiting.net.
     
  • Woldeab is the highest-ranked player on the team in the USTA Boys’ 16s national standings, at No. 2, after winning the 16s singles title at the USTA International Spring Championships.

USTA Player Development will provide members of the National Junior Team with training opportunities and coaching and travel assistance to select USTA National Championships and ITF junior tournaments throughout the summer, beginning with a hard-court training camp at the USTA National Campus, June 11-15.

Click here for round-robin and final results from the playoff.

 

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