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| Lesly St. Louis in action during the tournament.© |
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| Enjoying the kids' clinic.© |
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| A participant waits for a return during the tournament.© |
Rain didn’t stop the 9th Annual Jana Hunsaker Memorial Tennis Tournament from taking place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Friday.
Over 50 wheelchair tennis players from around the world competed in singles and doubles play in the center’s new indoor building to vie for a spot in Sunday’s final to be played on center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The event, which started on Thursday, is sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation, and is part of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour. Wheelchair tennis follows the same rules as able-bodied tennis except that wheelchair players are allowed two bounces of the ball instead of one.
The tournament was created to carry on the legacy of Jana Hunsaker, who passed away in 2000 and was a tennis instructor at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. She was an advocate for wheelchair tennis and instrumental in starting a wheelchair tennis program at the National Tennis Center. Players and coaches remember Jana as soft spoken and reserved, but always looking out for others and devoted to her players and her programs.
“Jana was always there for you” says Aki Takayama, Tournament Director for the Jana Hunsaker Memorial Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, “She was more than a tennis director and coach. She was like a mother to all of us.”
Lesly St. Louis, 23, of Bayside, N.Y., competing in the singles and doubles draws, has played in all nine Jana Hunsaker Memorial Wheelchair Tennis Tournaments. He worked with Hunsaker as a youth and knows the importance of playing in this tournament each year to remember her impact on the wheelchair tennis program at the National Tennis Center.
St. Louis sees Hunsaker’s lasting influence on her players as well as many of those competing in the tournament who worked with Hunsaker prior to her passing.
“Tennis has built my character and focus,” said St. Louis, “I use some of Jana’s values each and every day no matter if I’m on or off the court. Seeing the amount of players out here today really shows how much Jana meant to everyone.”
One highlight of the annual tournament is the kids’ clinic, which brings dozens of disabled youth from the New York City Department of Education out to experience tennis for the first time.
“I have seen tennis on TV, but I have never played before,” proclaimed one of the participants, “It’s fun!”
Some children found it easy to play as balls were fed to them on mini tennis courts, while others enjoyed just holding a racquet for the first time.
“This tournament allows everyone to be able-bodied,” said John Hamre, Tournament Chairman and President of the Wheelchair Sports Federation, “No one here in this tournament or on these grounds is disabled here. That is what we want.”
Play continues through Sunday with the finals commencing at 10 am.
For more information on the tournament:
http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=78010 Click here to view more photos from the tournament and kids' clinic