New Yorkers Lim and Sun Selected for U.S. World Junior Tennis Team

May 1, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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The USTA has announced that 14-year-old Rachel Lim of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., along with Elysia Bolton (14, Lake Forest, Ill.) and Claire Liu (13, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) have been selected to represent the United States States at the World Junior Tennis competition (14-and-under) North/Central American and Caribbean Final, set for May 8-10 in Montreal, Canada. Also from the area, 13-year-old Steven Sun of Glen Cove, N.Y. will be joined by Andrew Fenty (14, Washington, D.C.) and Keenan Mayo (14, Roseville, Calif.) to represent the U.S. for the World Junior Boys Tennis competition.

Sofia Kenin, the second-youngest player in the top 30 of the world junior rankings, and 2014 Easter Bowl finalist Nathan Ponwith are among the top young Americans selected to represent the U.S. in Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas (16-and-under) and the boys’ and girls’ World Junior Tennis competition (14-and-under) North/Central American and Caribbean Final.

This round of each premier world team competition serves as regional qualifying for the World Finals. The Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup Finals will be held Sept. 23-28 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The World Junior Tennis Finals will be played Aug. 4-9 in Prostejov, Czech Republic.

All three Junior Fed Cup team members are in the Top 70 of the world junior rankings for players ages 18 and under (Kenin, No. 29; Arconada, No. 35; and Kingsley, No. 62). Liu, meanwhile, returns to World Junior Tennis, where she helped the U.S. win its sixth WJT girls’ title last year.

On the boys’ side, Ponwith took world No. 2 junior Francis Tiafoe to three sets in the Easter Bowl Boys’ 18s title match earlier this month. Blumberg was a quarterfinalist there, while McNally swept the 16s singles titles at the Easter Bowl and International Spring Championships.

Overall, the U.S. has won six World Junior Tennis girl’s titles (1992, 2007-10, 2013), four World Junior Tennis boys’ titles (2002-03, 2008, 2012), two Junior Davis Cup titles (1999, 2008) and two Junior Fed cup titles (2008, 2012).

Former U.S. junior international team members include Jim Courier, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport and Sloane Stephens. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have also represented their countries in junior international team competition.

Junior Davis Cup
William Blumberg (16, Greenwich, Conn.)
John McNally (15, Cincinnati)
Nathan Ponwith (16, Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Coach: Erik Kortland

Junior Fed Cup
Usue Arconada (15, College Park, Md.)
Sofia Kenin (15, Pembroke Pines, Fla.)
Raveena Kingsley (15, Parkton, Md.)
Coach: Kathy Rinaldi

World Junior Tennis – Boys
Andrew Fenty (14, Washington, D.C.)
Keenan Mayo (14, Roseville, Calif.)
Steven Sun (13, Glen Cove, N.Y.)
Coach: Jay Devashetty

World Junior Tennis – Girls
Elysia Bolton (14, Lake Forest, Ill.)
Rachel Lim (14, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.)
Claire Liu (13, Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
Coach: Jamea Jackson

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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