Upcoming Junior Team Tennis Kick-Off Events in Pinellas County

Parents and junior tennis players in Pinellas County can meet news players, enjoy games and refreshments, and learn about the upcoming USTA Florida Junior Team Tennis season at two JTT Team-Up events in North and South Pinellas County in February 2017.

The event is free and all ages and ability levels are welcome. The first 25 players to register will receive a free gift.

Event info:

Feb. 11 — Pinellas North JTT Team-Up, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Henry McMullen Tennis Complex
To register or for more info click here. 

Feb. 18 — Pinellas South JTT Team-Up, 10 a.m.
Treasure Bay Golf & Tennis Center
To register or for more info click here. 

USTA Junior Team Tennis brings kids together in teams to play singles, doubles and mixed doubles against other teams. It promotes social skills and important values by fostering a spirit of cooperation and unity, as well as individual self-growth. JTT provides a fun environment for kids in which they learn that succeeding is really more about how they play the game — win or lose. Nearly 100,000 kids from coast to coast play Junior Team Tennis annually.

For more info on Junior Team Tennis in Florida or to find a league go to www.ustaflorida.com/JTT.

USTA Pro Circuit: Kalinina Wins Daytona, Former USF Star Cid Wins Plantation

Kalinina and Anderson after capturing the Daytona doubles title

Qualifier Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine won the Daytona Beach $25,000 Women’s Open, a USTA Pro Circuit event, in the final last weekend beating American Ellie Halbauer 6-1, 6-2.

In the semifinals Kalinina came from behind to defeat Sofya Zhuk of Russia 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, while the 19-year-old Halbauer likewise needed a three-set comeback to defeat fellow American and wild card Caroline Dolehide 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6).

Kalinina, the 2014 US Open girls’ runner-up, also won the doubles title with American and former UCLA player Robin Anderson. The unseeded pair in the final defeated top seeds Paula Kania and Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-1.
 
Improving to 4-5 in career ITF/USTA Pro Circuit finals, Kalanina takes home her first title since July 2015 in Sacramento, Calif. In her two other finals in 2015 she defeated WTA tour now-regulars Laura Siegemund and Top 10er Johanna Konta.

Kalinina is coached by former WTA No. 1 Dinara Safina at MatchPoint NYC, a tennis academy in a Russian-Jewish neighborhood in New York.

“She [Dinara Safina] is a legend,” Kalanina said of Safina, speaking to ESPN. “But she is very laid back. It is a great pleasure to work with her because she teaches me many things. Most of the time I realize how I should work above 100 percent for all balls. This is because of her professional attitude. Safina is very professional. I’m trying to do the same.”

For Halbauer it was her second time in a USTA Pro Circuit final after winning Hilton Head in 2013 as a wild card entry. In the second round she upset the No. 7-seeded Anderson.

Former Daytona Beach Women’s Open singles and doubles champs:
2017 — Anhelina Kalinina (UKR), Robin Anderson (USA)/Anhelina Kalinina (UKR)
2016 — Ons Jabeur (TUN), Natela Dzalamidze/Veronika Kudermetova (RUS)
2015 — Darya Kasatkina (RUS), Jan Abaza/Sanaz Marand (USA)
2014 — Anna Tatishvili (GEO), Nicole Melichar (USA)/Teodora Mircic (SRB)

In Plantation, Fla., former University of South Florida player Roberto Cid Subervi of the Dominican Republic won his second career USTA Pro Circuit title, in the final defeating 16-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-0 at the USTA Men’s $15K Plantation Community Tennis Open.

In the semifinals Auger-Aliassime outlasted Hungary’s Peter Nagy 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, while Subervi beat Miguel Semmler of Spain 6-2, 6-1.

Auger-Aliassime late in the week simultaneously played his matches in Plantation while driving to nearby Sunrise to play the qualifying tournament at the City of Sunrise Pro Tennis Classic, another USTA Pro Circuit event. On Sunday an exhausted Auger-Aliassime ended up losing the Plantation final 6-0 in the third after serving for the second set, and had to give his opponent a walkover in the final of the Sunrise qualifying.

It was the second career singles title for Subervi after the Colombia F2 Futures in 2016.

For more USTA Pro Circuit info go to www.usta.com/Pro-Tennis/Pro-Circuit.