Tennis Briefs(3): Anna Bright Profile, Pro Circuit WC Tourneys

Florida Jr. Tennis Profile: Anna Bright, Boca Raton

Anna Bright and her triple-designated-run trophies

Boca Raton teen Anna Bright accomplished perhaps a first this Fall in Florida junior tennis history — winning three consecutive designated-level tournaments in three different age groups — girls’ 14, 16, and 18.

“My initial goal was to play in an 18s designated, but because I hadn’t played hardly any tournaments, my ranking wasn’t high enough to even get into 16s,” says the high school freshman, who is now listed as a five-star blue chip recruit on tennisrecruiting.net. “Because of this, my dad signed me up for the girls’ 14s Summer Smash Championships in August, where I won the whole thing, only dropping five games in the entire tournament. Because I won it, I immediately qualified for the next 16s designated. In October I won the girls’ 16s division of the Seminole County Level 5 designated, thus qualifying me for the next 18s designated. A week ago, I won the Level 5 North Miami girls’ 18s designated.”

Bright in September won the Girls’ 16s doubles Florida state title with Orlando’s Alana Wolfberg at the USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” Junior State Doubles Championships, her second state doubles title after winning the Girls’ 14s in 2012.

She likens her grinding, controlling singles play to that of pros such as Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska.

“I like Wozniacki’s style and how she doesn’t hit the ball as hard as she can all the time,” she says. “I like Radwanska as well, they make watching matches much more fun. For men, [Andy] Murray or Gilles Simon for the same reason.”

The No. 17-nationally-rated five-star Blue Chip player currently on TennisRecruiting.net is coached by her father Kris, a former Division I player, and she has two sisters behind her in the tennis pipeline, Emma (9 years old) and Cindy (12).

This year she had a positive experience going back to public school after being homeschooled for the previous three years, and says she is most excited about the prospect of playing high school tennis.

“No one at my school knows who I am,” she says of her first year at West Boca Raton Community High School. “When I said I played USTA tournaments to my high school coach, he blew me off once he found out I was a freshman. Tryouts really can’t come fast enough. Winning state is one of my biggest goals for next year.”

If her upward arc continues, a goal of college coaches will be to get on her radar.

“College is far away and I really haven’t narrowed down my favorites yet,” she says. “I’m very excited to play college tennis.”

Boynton Beach’s Allshouse Receives USPTA/USTA Florida Tennis Service Award

USTA Florida volunteer and Board of Directors member Susan Allshouse was presented with the USPTA Florida/USTA Florida Division Service Award by the United States Professional Tennis Association during the USTA Florida Annual Meeting & Volunteer Appreciation Weekend, held in November in Orlando.

The USPTA Florida/USTA Florida Division Service Award is presented to individuals that display leadership and vision in promoting both organizations.

The Boynton Beach resident says she enjoys volunteering in tennis because, “It creates smiles and laughter simply by sharing a love for a sport that has given me so much.”

USPTA President Brad Leu and USTA Florida Executive Director Doug Booth presented Allshouse with the award.

Past awardees:

1993 – Paula Scheb
1994 – Barry Curley
1995 – Howard Chodak
1996 – Harry Gilbert
1997 – Tom Kelly
1998 – Dave Richardson
1999 – Kiko Castillo
2000 – Robert Hollis
2001 – Hugh Waters
2002 – Dave Brown
2003 – REB Phillips
2004 – Richard Seman
2005 – Bob Pfaender
2006 – Pat Anderson
2007 – Terry See
2008 – Angel Rodriguez
2009 – Trish Faulkner
2010 – Glen Howe
2011 – Joe D’Aleo & Henner Lenhardt
2012 – Chuck Gill
2013 – Jason Gilbert
2014 – Susan Allshouse

The recognization was one of many this year for Allshouse, who was also named the May 2014 USTA Florida Volunteer of the Month, and in September was honored by Special Olympics Florida with the Outstanding Volunteer Award.

USTA Pro Circuit Wildcard Tournaments in Sunrise, Weston

USTA Pro Circuit men’s events in Sunrise and Weston, Fla., will each host multiple main draw wildcard tournaments in December 2014-February 2015 for entry into the main draws of events.

Sunrise will host four wildcard tournaments with the winners receiving main draw wildcards into the men’s $10,000 Futures F3, F7, or F9 events:

F3 1st Wild Card Tournament: Dec. 13-15
F3 2nd Wild Card Tournament: Dec. 20-22
F7 Wild Card Tournament: Jan. 24-26
F9 Wild Card Tournament: Feb. 16-18

Entry fee for the events is $60, with events held at the Sunrise Tennis Club. To register or for more info e-mail Director of Tennis Justin DiMaio at jpdimaio@gmail.com.

In Weston the Midtown Athletic Club will host two wildcard tournaments awarding wildcards into the main draw of Weston $10,000 Futures F5 tournament on Jan. 20-25, 2015:

F5 1st Wild Card Tournament: Dec. 9-12
F5 2nd Wild Card Tournament: Jan. 12-15

For more information contact Ismael Rosales at ismael.rosales@@midtown.com.

YTF of Florida to Host Battle of the Bays: Tampa vs. Sarasota Tennis

The Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida will present the first Battle of the Bays: Tampa vs. Sarasota on Jan. 11, 2015, at the Sarasota Racquet Club.

The event will pit Tampa juniors (Florida Region 3) against Sarasota juniors (Florida Region 5) in boys’ and girls’ age divisions 10-18.

The fee for the event in $30 per player and includes singles, doubles and a t-shirt.

“This is a ‘team’ tournament,” say organizers. “Winning division players all get a medal. The winning region brings home a trophy cup to be displayed at their tournament host club for the next season.

Registration deadline for the event in Dec. 19, 2014.

For more info go to www.ytf-fl.org or e-mail suezip2@verizon.net.