Neff, McNally lead U.S. juniors competing in World Junior Tennis Finals

July 28, 2015 01:15 PM

By Sally Milano, USTA.com

The World Junior Tennis Finals kick off next week in Prostejov, Czech Republic, and six of the top young American boys and girls have been selected to compete for the U.S. in the premier 14-and-under world team event, which will take place Aug. 3-8.

Top young prospect Adam Neff, 14, from Bradenton, Fla., will lead the boys’ team, which will also include 13-year-old Brandon Nakashima of San Diego and 14-year-old Govind Nanda of Redlands, Calif.

Reigning USTA national champion Caty McNally, 13, from Cincinnati, will headline the girls’ team. She will be joined by 13-year-old Amanda Anisimova of Hallandale Beach, Fla., and 14-year-old Hurricane Tyra Black of Boca Raton, Fla.

USTA national coaches Eric Nunez and Kathy Rinaldi will coach the boys’ and girls’ teams, respectively.

Each three-player team will compete with 15 other nations from around the world, first in round-robin matches, then in a knockout bracket. The full list of teams competing can be found here.

Neff (pictured above) won the boys’ 14s singles title at the prestigious Easter Bowl in April and advanced to the round of 16 at the USTA Boys’ 16s National Clay Court Championships in July. Nanda is the reigning USTA boys’ 14s national winter singles champion, and he also won the 14s doubles title at the Easter Bowl this spring. Nakashima is ranked No. 6 in the USTA Boys’ 14s national standings.
 
McNally swept the USTA Girls’ 14s national singles and doubles titles last summer, while her brother, John, also swept the 2014 USTA Boys’ 16s national singles and doubles championships. Black, the younger sister of former US Open girls’ finalist Tornado Alicia Black, won the USTA Girls’ 12s national title in 2013. Anisimova is the No. 3-rated high school freshman in the country according to TennisRecruiting.net.

The U.S. has won six World Junior Tennis girls’ titles (1992, 2007-10, 2013) and four World Junior Tennis boys’ titles (2002-03, 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 also have represented their respective countries in junior international team competition.

 

 

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