2019 USTA TEXAS JUNIOR AWARDS

USTA Texas announced its annual junior tennis award recipients on Sunday, June 9 at Rose Park Tennis Center in Abilene, Texas. The players were recognized as part of The Texas Slam, a week-long tournament featuring over 1,000 competitive juniors from across Texas.

Eleven players in total walked away with hardware, as the section honored junior players throughout the state for their tennis prowess, as well as their sportsmanship on and off the court. Awards are presented for outstanding juniors across four age brackets in both boys and girls divisions.

“As we all know, sportsmanship is very important in tennis,” said USTA Texas Executive Director Van Barry to hundreds of players and parents at the event’s player party. “It’s really the life blood of our sport. One of the neat things about tennis is when you’re on the court with your opponent, you have to work together to have a great match.”

The USTA Texas Awards Committee introduced four new awards for the 12-year-old and 14-year-old divisions, honoring four individuals whose contributions to Texas tennis all span decades, from volunteering to playing. Paul Christian, Ken McAllister and Emily Schaefer were in attendance to present the awards named in their honor.

Abhinav Chunduru of Plano received the inaugural Paul Christian Sportsmanship Award and Victoria Zhao of Houston received the Barbara Smith Sportsmanship Award. Each trophy is awarded to a 14-year-old boy and girl, respectively. Both awards highlight players demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship and fair play both on and off the court. Final selection is made by the players at The Slam tournament.

“I was kind of shocked -- I wasn’t really expecting it,” Zhao says. “After I lose a point, obviously I’m angry but I try my best not to show it. I just think about the next point. If I get beat by a good shot, I recognize she worked hard for that shot and I’ll let her know. I can’t really do anything about it, so I just move onto the next point.”

Fredericksburg’s Benjamin Sparks won the Ken McAllister Sportsmanship Award and Houston’s Karina Zaharieva took home the Emily Schaefer Sportsmanship Award. These newly-christened awards each honor a 12-year-old boy and girl selected by the players at The Slam tournament.

Caden Moortgat of Plano received the Art Foust Sportsmanship Award while Hadley Doyle of Colleyville received the Maureen Connolly Brinker Award. These awards honor a Super Championship 18s Boy and Girl for outstanding sportsmanship and fair play both on and off the court, with the final selection being made by the players at the tournament. Doyle also won the award in 2018.

Marcela Lopez of Frisco won the Zina Garrison Sportsmanship Award, while the Bob McKinley Sportsmanship Award ended in a tie, marking the first time ever the award was shared. Lucas Brown of Plano and William Kesterson of New Braunfels tied in player voting, both getting the McKinley Award. These are given to a Super Championship 16s Boy and Girl.

Houston’s Kenner Taylor won the John McFarlin Award, presented to the outstanding junior boy in Texas who exemplifies outstanding sportsmanship and leadership, civic responsibility, character and a good tennis ranking due to superior tournament play. Fiona Crawley of San Antonio earned the Mary Lowdon Award, which honors an outstanding junior girl in Texas who has shown exceptional ability, a good ranking, a willingness to work with up-and-coming players, cooperation and proper respect, and a sportsmanlike and competitive spirit.

Finally, Savannah Broadus of Carrollton earned the Chuck McKinley Award, honoring a USTA Texas junior tennis player who achieved the most outstanding results at the National and/or International level, during the previous calendar year. Broadus was unable to attend this year’s Texas Slam as she was competing in Paris at the Junior French Open.

The Texas Slam tournament is the largest junior tennis tournament in Texas and one of the largest in the country. The event has headlined USTA Texas junior schedule for over 20 years. This year’s tournament, hosted in Abilene, Texas, includes over a thousand players competing at over twelve sites including Wylie High School, McMurray University and Hardin-Simmons University. This year’s event began on June 6 and concludes with the boys and girls finals on June 16 at the Abilene Christian University tennis facility.