From junior standouts to Senior Games: Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month

Check out a roundup of feature stories spotlighting the players, leaders and award winners impacting tennis across the USTA Missouri Valley.

🎾 Bea Acena — who grew up in Dubai and started playing tennis as an 8-year-old — competed at D-I Alabama State University before becoming a tennis teaching pro at Genesis Westroads in Omaha. See what USTA Nebraska award she won last year and her view on the importance of AAPI Heritage Month by clicking here.

🎾 After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Nick Bal used tennis to help him build back his strength and stamina during recovery. Bal — who is from Ames, Iowa — was selected to carry the torch at the 2025 National Senior Games in Des Moines. Learn how that continued on a family legacy by viewing this story.

🎾 High-performing junior and Liberty High School singles state champion Ava Beltran is fueled by a competitive spirit and a loving tennis rivalry with her younger brother, Andrew. Beltran competes nationally and has won prestigious USTA Missouri Valley tourneys as well as sportsmanship accolades. Find out what drives her to excel on and off the court here.

🎾 High-performance junior and Jenks High School standout Krishna Bhadriraju of Tulsa won the 2025 Outstanding Diversity Achievement Award from both USTA Oklahoma and USTA Missouri Valley. Bhadriraju organized a doubles tournament fundraiser for First Serve Tulsa for his Eagle Scout project. See how the community pitched in by reading this story.

🎾 Alongside her younger brother, Kate Kim started Enduring Scholars, a nonprofit that has helped the contaminated ghost town of Picher, Okla. Kim, who competes on the Harvard University women's tennis team, runs free tennis clinics in her hometown of Joplin, Mo., to raise awareness for the situation. Learn more about her efforts here.

🎾 USTA St. Louis 2025 Male Adult Player of the Year Brian Santos captains multiple league teams and is a frequent tournament competitor. He’s also been a high school Spanish teacher for the past 20 years. See how his tennis and teaching roles share many of the same traits by reading this story.

🎾 After moving from China to Iowa, Huafeng 'Shirley' Shi found tennis later in life when her daughter began taking lessons. Shi joined a USTA Iowa league four years ago, and at the recommendation of one of her captains, became certified as an official. See how that fulfilled a childhood dream by checking out this article.