Locals Make Impact for U.S. at World Junior Tennis

May 12, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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The United States has qualified for the world finals in all four junior team events this past weekend– The Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas (16-and-under) and boys’ and girls’ World Junior Tennis (14-and-under) – at the North/Central American and Caribbean Final in Montreal, Canada. The U.S. will now go on to compete in the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup world finals, held Sept. 23-28 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and the boys’ and girls’ World Junior Tennis finals, held Aug. 4-9 in Prostejov, Czech Republic.

The Junior Davis Cup team of William Blumberg (16, Greenwich, Conn.), John McNally (15, Cincinnati) and Nathan Ponwith (16, Scottsdale, Ariz.) took the top qualifying position, going 3-0 against Mexico, Guatemala and Canada, with Blumberg winning all three of his singles matches. The U.S. Junior Fed Cup team of Usue Arconada (15, College Park, Md.), Sofia Kenin (15, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Raveena Kingsley (15, Parkton, Md.), also won all three of its matches to finish first among the same countries, with Kenin and Kingsley each winning their two singles matches.

In World Junior Tennis, Elysia Bolton (14, Lake Forest, Ill.), Rachel Lim (14, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) and Claire Liu (13, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) went undefeated against Canada, Guatemala and Mexico, to take the girls’ top qualifying position. Liu and Lim each won three singles matches, while Liu added three doubles victories. On the boys’ side, Andrew Fenty (14, Washington, D.C.), Keenan Mayo (14, Roseville, Calif.) and Steven Sun (13, Glen Cove, N.Y.) went 2-1 to grab the second qualifying spot, beating the Dominican Republic and Mexico and but losing to first-place Canada, with Sun going 3-0 in singles.

Overall, the U.S. has won six World Junior Tennis girls’ 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.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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