The USTA announced the acceptance lists for the 63rd Dunlop Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, which begins Sunday, December 6, at the Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Fla. The qualifying draw will take place beginning Friday, December 4. The Dunlop Orange Bowl features singles and doubles competition for boys and girls in 18-and-under and 16-and-under divisions.
“The
Dunlop Orange Bowl provides our top junior players a chance to play world-class competition right here in the U.S. in one of the marquee junior tournaments in the world,” said tournament director Lew Brewer, who also serves as Director, Junior Competition, USTA Player Development. “The tournament traditionally draws a number of the world’s top junior players and often determines the year-end No. 1 players in the
ITF Junior Circuit, and this year we received a record number of entrants in all four draws.”
The Boys’ 18s field includes three of the top 10 players in the world, led by Daniel Berta of Sweden, currently the top-ranked player in the ITF World Junior Rankings and the winner of the boys’ singles title at Roland Garros. Gianni Mina of France, who lost to Berta in the final at Roland Garros and reached the boys’ singles semifinals at the US Open, is also entered.
Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., and Raymond Sarmiento of Fontana, Calif., will lead the American contingent. Kudla captured the Boys’ 16s title at the 2008 Dunlop Orange Bowl, and is currently the highest-ranked American in the ITF World Junior Rankings at No. 22. Sarmiento swept the singles and doubles titles at the International Grass Court Championships in June, and took third place at the 2009 USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships.
The Girls’ 18s field features two of this year’s Grand Slam winners, led by Kristina Mladenovic of France, currently No. 1 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, and No. 3 Heather Watson of Great Britain. Mladenovic won the girls’ singles title at the French Open, and was a finalist in girls’ singles at Wimbledon. Watson won the girls’ singles title at the US Open, and is currently No. 3 in the ITF World Junior Rankings.
The American contingent is led by world No. 29 Beatrice Capra of Ellicott City, Md., who won her first professional title in October at the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Williamsburg, Va.; world No. 42 Ester Goldfeld of Brooklyn, N.Y., who recently won an ITF Junior Circuit event in Lexington, S.C., and won the International Hard Court Championships in August; and 14-year-old Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., who won her WTA Tour debut in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in April, and reached the Girls’ 16s final at the 2008 Dunlop Orange Bowl.
A complete list of American players entered in the Dunlop Orange Bowl is below.
Founded by Eddie Herr in 1947, the Orange Bowl quickly became one of the premier international junior events in the world, and an annual showcase for the global scope of the game. Players from more than 50 countries have competed in the tournament, and champions have emerged from 24 different nations. Often, the race for the year-end world No. 1 ranking – and the title of ITF World Junior Champion – comes down to the Dunlop Orange Bowl, and a number of Dunlop Orange Bowl champions have used the occasion to announce plans to turn professional.
In 1998, the event moved from the clay courts at Flamingo Park in Miami Beach to the hard courts of its current location in Key Biscayne. World No. 1 Roger Federer and 2008 women’s singles Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva were the first 18s champions at this event on hard courts.
Other past winners of the Orange Bowl 18-and-under singles titles include: Chris Evert (1969, 1970), Bjorn Borg (1972), John McEnroe (1976), Ivan Lendl (1977), Gabriela Sabatini (1984), Mary Joe Fernandez (1986), Jim Courier (1987) and Anna Kournikova (1995). Andy Roddick (1999), Vera Zvonareva (2000, 2001), Marcos Baghdatis (2003) and Nicole Vaidisova (2003) all won the event on hard courts.
For more information on the 2009 Dunlop Orange Bowl, visit www.dunloporangebowl.com.
2009 Dunlop Orange Bowl American Entries: U.S. Girls’ 18s Entries – Main Draw Beatrice CAPRA, Ellicott City, Md.
Alexandra CERCONE, Seminole, Fla.
Nicole GIBBS, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Ester GOLDFELD, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Madison KEYS, Boca Raton, Fla.
Grace MIN, Duluth, Ga.
U.S. Girls’ 18s Entries – Qualifying Draw
Brooke BOLENDER, Delray Beach, Fla.
Lauren DAVIS, Gates Mills, Ohio
Courtney DOLEHIDE, Hinsdale, Ill.
Nadia ECHEVERRIA ALAM, Doral, Fla.
Kate FULLER, Suwanee, Ga.
Lauren HERRING, Greenville, N.C.
Rachel KAHAN, Unionville, Conn.
Annie MULHOLLAND, Bradenton, Fla.
Jessica PEGULA, Boca Raton, Fla.
Noel SCOTT, Chicago
Monica TUREWICZ, Saratoga, Calif.
Jessica WACNIK, Orland Park, Ill.
Monica YAJIMA, Greenwich, Conn.
U.S. Girls’ 16s Entries – Main Draw Breaunna ADDISON, Boca Raton, Fla.
Alyza BENOTTO WOOD, Ojai, Calif.
Jacqueline CRAWFORD, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Victoria DUVAL, Bradenton, Fla.
Hai-Li KONG, Potomac, Md.
Kelsey LAURENTE, Miramar, Fla.
Kyle MCPHILLIPS, Willoughby, Ohio
Stephanie NAUTA, Bradenton, Fla.
Elizaveta Anna NEMCHINOV, Rye, N.Y.
Riko SHIMIZU, Ojai, Calif.
Denise STARR, Boca Raton, Fla.
Holly VERNER, Sarasota, Fla.
Sachia VICKERY, Miramar, Fla.
Caitlyn WILLIAMS, Knoxville, Tenn.
U.S. Girls’ 16s Entries – Qualifying Draw
Meghan BLEVINS, North Charleston, S.C.
Julia CASSELBURY, Lititz, Pa.
Ashley DAI, Temple City, Calif.
Caroline DAILEY, Sarasota, Fla.
Catherine HARRISON, Germantown, Tenn.
Olivia HSU, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Jacqueline KATZ, New York
Whitney KAY, Alpharetta, Ga.
Mia KING, Hendersonville, N.C.
Megan KUREY, Alpharetta, Ga.
Spencer LIANG, Potomac, Md.
Amanda LIN, West Chester, Ohio
Madeline LIPP, Lake Forest, Ill.
Stephanie LOUTSENKO, Bellmore, N.Y.
Skylar Alexandria MORTON, Bethesda, Md.
Molly O’KONIEWSKI, Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Akiko OKUDA, Tenafly, N.J.
Deborah SUAREZ, Southwest Ranches, Fla.
Shelby TALCOTT, Sea Cliff, N.Y.
Kate VIALLE, Leawood, Kan.
Ronit YUROVSKY, New Kensington, Pa.
Jacqueline ZUHSE, Boca Raton, Fla.
U.S. Boys’ 18s Entries – Main Draw
Sekou BANGOURA, Bradenton, Fla.
Harry FOWLER, Houston
Mitchell FRANK, Annandale, Va.
Denis KUDLA, Arlington, Va.
Dennis NOVIKOV, Boca Raton, Fla.
Junior ORE, Gaithersburg, Md.
Raymond SARMIENTO, Fontana, Calif.
Johannes Robert VAN OVERBEEK, Boca Raton, Fla.
U.S. Boys’ 18s Entries – Qualifying Draw
Garrett BRASSEAUX, Covington, La.
Nick CHAPPELL, Indianapolis
Emmett EGGER, Issaquah, Wash.
Campbell JOHNSON, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Nathan PASHA, Atlanta
Shane VINSANT, Keller, Texas
Dane WEBB, Richardson, Texas
Michael ZHU, Princeton, N.J.
U.S. Boys’ 16s Entries – Main Draw
Jeremy EFFERDING, Lake Worth, Fla.
Connor FARREN, Hillsborough, Calif.
Bjron FRATANGELO, Pittsburgh
Eric James JOHNSON, San Jose, Calif.
Mitchell KRUEGER, Aledo, Texas
Morgan MAYS, Longboat Key, Fla.
Daniel MCCALL, Santa Monica, Calif.
Trey STROBEL, Bradenton, Fla.
Mac STYSLINGER, Birmingham, Ala.
U.S. Boys’ 16s Entries – Qualifying Draw Andrew ADAMS, South Richmond Hill, N.Y.
Matthew ALVES, Gold River, Calif.
Rickey BAYLON, Buena Park, Calif.
Boris BOGOMOLOV, Miami
James BOYD, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Terrell CELESTINE, Atlanta
Brett CLARK, Naples, Fla.
Dominic COTRONE, Bradenton, Fla.
Chase CURRY, Wichita Falls, Texas
Lucas DA SILVEIRA, San Mateo, Calif.
Trey DANIEL, Leawood, Kan.
Gannon DAYNES, Trabuco Canyon, Calif.
Richard DELNUNZIO, Forest Hills, N.Y.
Coy DOBSON, Corpus Christi, Texas
Ramario FRANCIS, Miami
Tyler GARDINER, Novi, Mich.
Marcos GIRON, Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Alexios HALEBIAN, Glendale, Calif.
Hunter HARRINGTON, Spartanburg, S.C.
Balaji JOTHISHANKAR, Bradenton, Fla.
Casey KAY, Alpharetta, Ga.
Daniel KHANIN, Bradenton, Fla.
Andrew KORINEK, Mansfield, Texas
Tony KOSTADINOV, La Grange Highlands, Ill.
Robert LIVI, Miramar, Fla.
Dennis MKRTCHIAN, Reseda, Calif.
Juan MOREIRAS, San Antonio
Spencer NEWMAN, Palmetto Bay, Fla.
Erik NORDAHL, Bloomington, Minn.
Mitchell POLNET, Churchville, Pa.
John RICHMOND, Pawleys Island, S.C.
Michael RINALDI, Palm City, Fla.
Corey ROBINSON, Philadelphia
Austin ROBLES, Naples, Fla.
Matt SAIONTZ, Miami
Ognjen SAMARDZIC, Bradenton, Fla.
Andrew SCHOLNICK, Winnetka, Ill.
Spencer SIMON, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Julian TUROSIENSKI, Sarasota, Fla.
Gordon WATSON, Naples, Fla.