Cape Girardeau Area Hosts All-New JTT League

Thanks to the behind-the-scenes organizational and recruiting efforts of USTA Missouri Junior Team Tennis Coordinator Kseniya Zonova, the Cape Girardeau area played host to an all-new JTT girls’ league this winter. The five-week indoor league featured four teams with about six to seven players per squad and has Zonova excited about the future of JTT in the district.

The winter JTT league — which took place on two tennis courts inside Freedom Fitness in Jackson, Missouri — ran for five Sunday afternoons beginning in November. Each squad competed in six matches during the regular season plus one or two post-season contests depending on team performance. Cost was just $50 per player for the duration of the season, as Zonova sought to make the league an affordable option for participants.

“I do personally know a lot of those kids between camps and private lessons,” Zonova said. “It definitely felt great to finally be able to provide them with some playing opportunities besides their high school season.”

Zonova was an NCAA Division-I standout at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau prior to taking on the USTA Missouri JTT coordinator role in August. She ranks fourth all-time in SEMO women’s tennis history for career wins and guided the Redhawks to their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship. She also worked as a graduate assistant at SEMO and is currently a tennis teaching pro at Vetta Sports in St. Louis.

Through her connections from six years spent at SEMO and feedback from players she works with, Zonova decided orchestrating a JTT girls’ league in Cape Girardeau was a logical fit. She picked the brain of Mary Beth Gunn, SEMO women’s tennis head coach, and ultimately decided to target high school girls’ competitors.