Year in Review: The Top USTA St. Louis Stories from 2022

Sara Decker Gregerson found her calling with The Covering House, a nonprofit organization that assists survivors of child sex trafficking. The USTA St. Louis standout competitor serves as chair of The Covering House’s annual gala.

Washington University in St. Louis captured the USTA Missouri Valley Tennis On Campus Section Championship. The Bears defeated Iowa State University and then the University of Iowa to secure a spot in the USTA Tennis On Campus National Championship.

April

Barbara Criner began playing tennis 50 years ago, and she’s still active in several USTA St. Louis leagues today. The tales of her unwavering dedication to the sport are legendary — like the one where she tore her meniscus mid-match but battled through to finish before having to crawl off the court afterward.

Local standout junior competitor Emerey Gross had a scintillating start to 2022, which vaulted her to a top-10 national ranking in the girls’ 14U division. Gross has accumulated four coveted USTA National Championship Balls during her illustrious junior career.

May

Bohan Li took over the long-running Chinese Tennis League to ensure it kept humming the same year his father — who got him into the league — passed away. Li also launched an all-day, nonprofit summer camp called Top Performance Tennis Academy, the first of its kind in St. Louis.

A record-breaking 362 kids participated on a record-tying 53 teams during the USTA St. Louis spring Junior Team Tennis season. JTT was again a huge hit throughout 2022 for the district, which continues to produce one of the top JTT programs in the Midwest.

June

Alywn Mushonga — who got his first taste of tennis as a 4-year-old in his home country of Zimbabwe — became the tennis service representative for USTA St. Louis and USTA Missouri. Check out his fascinating journey by clicking here.

Des Peres Park’s renovated tennis courts played host to a USTA St. Louis Level 6 junior tournament in June. Corey Newgent discussed the nine-year journey it took to rejuvenate the facility to help make it one of the top tennis destinations in the area.

July

One of the premier wheelchair tennis players in America, Kevin Green, approached friend and coach Mark Zolman about helping him form and run a St. Louis-based wheelchair tournament. The result was a highly successful event with local players dominating the proceedings.

The 11th rendition of the Edwardsville Futures USTA Pro Circuit event — the St. Louis area’s lone professional tennis tournament — was well-received among players and fans. The late July tourney featured an array of fun activities beyond the tournament itself that involved the community.

August

A community-wide effort dating back two decades finally culminated in the creation of the Washington High School girls’ tennis program, which started its inaugural season this month. Head Coach Bill Stahlhuth detailed how the team finally came to fruition and looked ahead to the season.

After three years away from the USTA St. Louis community, Megan Kovacs returned to the district as its executive director.

“I’m excited to be back,” Kovacs said. “It was the right place, right time. It’s like a good tennis shot. Things just lined up for me. I have a lot to learn. I’ll be the first to admit that. And I have big shoes to fill. With some time and patience, I hope to continue what we’ve got going here.”

September

Darian Banks believed he’d one day relocate to Florida and told his mom as such. That dream came to be this year. The East St. Louis Community Tennis Association head director and tennis pro accepted a full-time role as manager of community outreach in the grassroots department of USTA National. Read Banks’s feature story here.

As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month USTA St. Louis featured Jorge Flores, a tennis and soccer coach who works with low-income families. Flores’s nonprofit, low-cost soccer club — Dream Big Foundation — has made a giant impact on the Latino community and beyond.

October

USTA St. Louis had a trio of teams progress to USTA Nationals — an 18+ 2.5 women’s team captained by Brooke Cusumano/Ellie Straub; an 18+ 4.5 men’s team captained by Brett Hartig/Bryan Rigby; a 65+ 8.0 men’s team led by Will Bealke/Dean Williams.

The 2.5 women’s squad, named the Ward Stars, went on a remarkable run to capture the USTA National Championship. The 8.0 men’s crew plays for their former captain, Rick Constance, who passed away in November 2020 due to complications from Covid.

November

Donna Stauffer, who first got involved with USTA in 1987, has spent the past few years as a roving umpire for USTA St. Louis. She detailed her enjoyment in that role and encouraged others to become a tennis official in this article.

After a one-year hiatus, winter Junior Team Tennis returned to USTA St. Louis. A pair of first-year organizations joined the competition and the district was selected by USTA Missouri Valley to run a pilot program this session.

December

Connie Weiss looked back on her five years as USTA St. Louis mixed league coordinator and pushed interested individuals to apply for the open position to become her successor.

Executive Director Megan Kovacs wished everyone involved with the district a happy holiday season and reflected upon 2022 in this letter.

The 2022 calendar year featured many standout performances and quality sportsmanship from individuals. The district honored several of its top competitors with USTA St. Louis awards recognition, and you can see the list of winners here.