Complete news and feature stories on these and other subjects are found on the AMD website at www.amd.usta.com
The Headlines:
- PNC International Returns to Monroeville Nov. 3-11
- Compton, Yocca Win AMD Director's Cup Open Titles
- Allegheny County Seeks Private Operators for Park Tennis Courts
- Your Vote Counts: Nominations for 2007 Annual Awards Due Oct. 15
- New "Combo" League Is Forming for AMD Women
- Fall USTA Mixed Doubles League Begins This Saturday
- Pittsburgh City Juniors Tennis League Begins Oct. 7
- Pitt's Borza Wins Two Fall Tennis Tournaments
- Cal U Tennis Coach Pablo Montana Featured On NCAA Website
- Greco, Stewart Win WPIAL Girls' Singles Titles
- College Day for High School Tennis Players Set for Nov. 17 at Club4Life
PNC International Returns to Monroeville Nov. 3-11
The $75,000 PNC International Tennis Classic returns to its original home in Monroeville at Club4Life Nov.3-11.
The 32-player main draw singles and 16-team doubles begin Monday, Nov. 5 following a weekend qualifying tournament, which is again expected to showcase promising district and sectional players.
The tournament will feature some of the best young women pros in the world. Most of the field will have international rankings in the 50 to 150 range.
The tournament is best known as Maria Sarapova’s breakthrough tournament. In 2002, as an unseeded 15-year-old, Sharapova battled through the qualifier to reach the finals of the main draw, placing second to Maria-Elena Camerin, of Italy. Eighteen months later she won Wimbledon.
For more information, watch the AMD website: www.amd.usta.com or the Challenger website: www.pittsburghchallenger.com.
Compton, Yocca Win AMD Director's Cup Open Titles
Chris Compton and Jennifer Yocca, both of Pittsburgh, won the men's and women's open titles of the AMD Director's Cup that concluded last weekend.
Compton defeated Mark Panepinto of Wheeling in the open finals, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1. Panepinto won the Men's 35 Singles title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Gerald Cannon of East Liverpool, Ohio in the final.
Yocca was undefeated in a six-player round-robin to win the open title and also won the Women's 35 singles title, defeating Jane MacArtney, 6-1, 6-0. Nafari Vanaski was second in the Open round-robin.
Other winners were:
Men's 45 Singles: Thomas Sparta, defeating Alan Timko in the final, 6-3, 6-0;
Men's 55 Singles: Andrew Lach won the round robin.
Men's 35 Doubles: Keith Kamalich and Eric Solverson defeated Harry Buss and Frank Haley, 6-1, 6-0 in the final.
Men's 45 Doubles: Harry Buss and Jeffrey Weisband won the round robin.
Allegheny County Seeks Private Operators for Park Tennis Courts
Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato recently unveiled ambitious plans to raise private funds to upgrade the county's nine regional parks and to establish public-private partnerships to operate some of the parks' major attractions and amenities.
Onorado also announced that the country will seek a private operator for tennis courts in North Park, Boyce Park and Settler's Cabin Park. The dilapidated courts at South Park, once home to a 30-court complex, were not mentioned
"First and foremost, this is about the quality of life in Allegheny County," he said at a news conference unveiling the plans. "These parks are among the biggest assets we have.
"We are now going to make the parks a priority for this government going forward. We are serious about getting our assets up and running."
The USTA has offered its assistance in this effort.
Your Vote Counts: Nominations for 2007 Annual Awards Due Oct. 15
Nominations for the 2007 AMD Annual Awards are being accepted through Oct. 15. The AMD Board of Directors will make the final selections and announce the winners in December.
Please send your nominations along with a paragraph or two highlighting the qualifications of your nominee to: AMD District President Tom Benic at: tom@benic.net
The categories are:
- Coach
- Professional
- Organization
- Family
- Media
- Tournament Director
- Community Tennis Association
- Senior Service
- Volunteer
Adult Leagues
New "Combo" League Is Forming for AMD Women
A new league of Combo doubles is forming for AMD women for this winter.
Teams of three women's doubles teams (six players total) will play each other under this format. The levels of play are:
- 6.5 Women (combining a 3.0 player with a 3.5 player)
- 7.5 Women (combining a 3.5 player with a 4.0 player)
Players must be USTA members and at least 19 years old.
If you are interested in this league, please contact Nancy Pecor or Kelle Cunningham
Fall USTA Mixed Doubles League Begins This Saturday
The USTA Mixed Doubles League begins this weekend in the Allegheny Mountain District for the fall season. Individuals interested in joining existing teams with openings should contact:
Marilyn Miller
AMD Mixed Doubles
League Coordinator
volleygirl@atlanticbb.net
Matches are played on Saturday evenings. Players must have a current USTA membership to participate. Winners of each division will advance to the Sectional Championship held in Landisville, PA, and then to the Regional Championship, held last year in Puerto Rico.
If you are looking for a fun and competitive way to play tennis this fall, contact Marilyn.
Pittsburgh City Juniors Tennis League Begins Oct. 7
The Pittsburgh City Juniors Tennis League begins this Sunday, Oct. 7. It is open to players of all abilities, 8 years old and older. Previous match experience is not necessary. Experienced tournament and high school players are welcome. The cost is $15 for each two-hour session.
For more information contact Jane Famali at jfamili@aol.com .
College News
Pitt's Borza Wins Two Fall Tennis Tournaments
Kristy Borza of Beaver, playing No. 1 singles at the University of Pittsburgh, opened the fall collegiate tennis season by winning both the 31-team Women's Eastern Collegiate Invitational Tournament at West Point and the 4-team Carnegie Mellon Invitational tournament.
Borza, a junior, won five consecutive matches in Flight A of the Eastern Collegiate tournament, including a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Denise Harijanto of the University of Buffalo in the final. It was the best showing in this tournament of any Panther in the school's history.
Borza defeated freshman teammate Elizabeth Adams of Reading, Pa. in the final of the CMU tournament to open the season Sept. 9. Duquesne and Robert Morris also competed.
Cal U Tennis Coach Pablo Montana Featured On NCAA Website
California University of Pennsylvania women's tennis coach Pablo Montana discusses the advantages of international recruiting on a blog featured on the NCAA "Double-A Zone" website. Montana has transformed Cal U from a local tennis lightweight to a national NCAA Division II power through international recruiting in recent years.
The Lady Vulcans boost three players from France, and one each from Armenia, Germany, England and Russia in the starting line-up. There is not a single Pennsylvanian on the team's roster this year for the first time in school history.
Montana discusses his recruiting strategies and the impact of having international players on his roster at this link:
http://www.doubleazone.com/2007/09/coaches_corner_the_internation_1.html
High School News
Greco, Stewart Win WPIAL Girls' Singles Titles
Lauren Greco, a senior at Shady Side Academy, won the WPIAL Class AAA singles title Sept. 28, defeating Sarah Lynch of Pine-Richland in the finals, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Greco, ranked No. 1 in the USTA/Middle States Girls'18 division, defeated Peters' Township's Julie Stroyne, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the semi-finals. Lynch defeated Latrobe's Joelle Kissell, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Greco and Lynch will represent the WPIAL in the PIAA state championships. Kissell defeated Stroyne 6-1, 7-5 to take third place.
In the Class AA division, Cate Stewart, of Quaker Valley won her third straight WPIAL championship with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Beaver's Kimmy Borza. Gabrielle Catanzariti of Sewickley Academy took third place with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tanya Timko of Chartiers-Houston and also will go to the state championships.
Stewart began her high school career at Shady Side but transferred to AA Quaker Valley in her sophomore year.
College Day for High School Tennis Players Set for Nov. 17 at Club4Life
High school students are invited to participate in the USTA/Middle States' Pittsburgh College Day 2007 at Club4Life in Monroeville on Saturday, November 17 or the Philadelphia College Day in Philadelphia on Nov. 10 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Representatives from dozens of colleges and universities are expected to be on hand. High school seniors also may participate in a Senior Showcase doubles event to demonstrate their abilities to the assembled coaches.
Players must register online or fax in a registration form by Oct. 22 to Mike Kennedy in the USTA Middle States office. The form can be obtained at this web address: http://www.middlestates.usta.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsID=367049&itype=&iCategoryID=
Directions can be found at:
http://www.middlestates.usta.com/juniors/home.sps?itype=1400.