The Tennis Never Stops!

Parker Cuevas-Woodall

Parker Cuevas-Woodall Takes State Title
Just in case you missed the write up in the News-Press this past Friday, I just wanted to give a shout out of congratulations to Parker, a senior at Cypress Lake High who helps out at Steve Hedrick's Park Meadow junior camp. Parker won the individual state singles title by defeating Lakeland’s Danny Mack 6-1, 7-5 Thursday in the Class 3A state tournament in Altamonte Springs.

Kyle Yates

Parker also teamed with Kyle Yates to make it to the final of the individual doubles championship before falling 6-1, 7-5 to Leon’s Albert Alaya and Josh Record.  I'm not at all surprised by Parker's success given how much he has improved over the past few months. A couple of months ago I managed to squeak out a set amongst the several that he won. These days, I'd be struggling to get games. Congrats and keep up the good work Parker!

USTA Florida Wants You!
Love tennis? Would like to see more kids having a terrific time on the courts, perhaps developing into tournament players? Wouldn’t mind traveling Lee County developing playing opportunities for kids? Well USTAFlorida might have just the thing for you.

Susie Bessire- USTA Florida
Tennis Program Coordinator

The United States Tennis Association and its local sections, USTA Florida in our area, have been making a major push to attract youngsters to tennis, and to make the game fun, interesting , and age-appropriate. Toward that end, USTA Florida has announced a part-time position, 10 & Under Tennis Target Market Coordinator, who will be responsible for developing 10 & Under Tennis in Lee County.

Chances are the individual assuming the position will work closely with the Lee County Community TennisAssociation (LCCTA) and Susie Bessire, if efforts to make the initiative a success. Some of the main responsibilities for the position include:

• Design a business plan to develop 10 and under tennis from schools to tennis facilities in the assigned geographic community via the USTA 10 and under tennis target market initiative.
• Develop and build relationships with local tennis partners such as schools, parks, youth organizations and tennis facilities in building the infrastructure of 10 and under tennis.
• Help develop both in school and out of school tennis informal play opportunities via Kids Tennis Clubs and Play Days as well as more formal play opportunities via USTA Jr. Team Tennis.

All interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to Andy McFarland at mcfarland@florida.usta.com. 

FGCU Men's Tennis Season Ends

Coach Weber advises Matt Rock
and Lance Lvovsky vs. Stetson

Florida Gulf Coast University's Men's Tennis Team showed tremendous promise in its first season in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the team's first Division I season. With just two seniors on the team, the Eagles finished one win shy of .500 and qualified for the A-Sun Conference Tournament. Nice work from first-year coach C. J. Weber.

USPTA Pros Van & Alex of Gateway
support the Eagles

The Eagles faced Stetson, last year's Conference Tourney Finalist, in the the first round of the tourney. They fell 4-0 after coming up just short for the doubles point. On the road, first Conference Championship, I think it was a bit too much for the young team. 

Don Ackerman- FGCU Booster

FGCU posted a winning dual-match record at home this season (6-5), but only a 1-5 record on the road. Given what we saw this season, with a bit more experience, we can expect advances on the road from the Eagles next year. 

Jerry "Duke" Babson-
FGCU Booster

I intend to do a full post season wrap-up of the team in the near future, and plans for a booster club are underway. If you are interested in helping the Eagles get to the next level, shoot me an email.


 ATP Tour

Rafael Nadal- courtesy of
olympics.wikia.com

"Nobody beats me eight times in a row!" That's probably what Rafael Nadal was saying to himself after he dropped a 6-3, 6-1 drubbing on Novak Djokovic. Prior to that loss, Novak had won seven in a row over Nadal, including two on clay last year during his dominant run. 

Novak Djokovic- courtesy of
sporterinfo.blogspot.com

Novak has returned to the "Land of Humans" and that makes Rafa the man to beat on the dirt again. Rafa won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event (means it's a biggie) for the 8th consecutive time! He can bequeath this thing to his kids, cuz he definitely owns it!


Rafa didn't drop a set during the event, while Novak struggled to tow three-setters en route to the Final. In all fairness, Novak's portion of the draw appeared to be fraught with quite a bit more danger than Rafa's. The two aren't likely to be in the same draw until the next Masters 1000 event in Madrid early next month. 


WTA Tour

Victoria Azarenka- courtesy
of onthebaseline.com

Maria Sharapova- courtesy
of trendytennis.com

If you're more interested in the women's game, a big one with most of the heavy hitters is on tap this week at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. The top eight women in the World Rankings will be in the draw including top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, who is having almost as good a start as Novak did last year, and Maria Sharapova who has fought her way back to No.2 in the world. 


Azarenka will be coming off her first loss of the year (to Marion Bartoli in Miami) after having gone 26-1, so we will see if she returns as dominant as she was prior to that loss. 

Aggie Radwanska- courtesy
of  wtahotties.blogspot.com   

Fourth-seed Aggie Radwanska returns for her first event after beating Maria in the Final of the Sony in Miami. Radwanska is on Azarenka's half of the draw, however, and hasn't been able to get past Azarenka this season, going down four consecutive times. 


With defending Wimbledon Champ Petra Kvitova also in the mix, the fireworks should be flying even though we're quite a ways away from July 4th.