October 24th, 2017
Top Boys, Girls Raise Trophies at USTA Florida Green Ball Tennis Championships
The Top 32 10-and-under boys and Top 32 girls green-ball tennis players gathered at Sanlando Park over the weekend to determine the 2017 USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” Green Ball Sectional champions, Oct. 21-22, 2017 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Delray Beach’s Kayden Collins won the boys’ title, and Hallendale Beach’s Nicole Krinickas captured the girls’ title.
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This year for the second time, players qualified for the USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” Green Ball Sectional Championships by winning or finishing runner-up at one of the 16 designated Level 6 Regional Qualifiers held January-September 2017.
The event also attracted a number of players who were already playing adult “yellow ball” competition but returned to the green ball for a final shot at a state championship title.
The No. 6-seeded Collins in the boys’ final upset No. 5-seeded George Rangelov of Largo 4-2, 4-1 in the abbreviated scoring format. Collins in the quarterfinals also upset No. 2-seeded Benjamin Saltman of Winter Haven after getting blanked in the first set 0-4, 4-2, 1-0(3).
The No. 2 seed Krinickas in the girls’ final defeated No. 4 seed Alex Ackman of Winter Garden 4-1, 4-1. The dominant Krinickas dropped only two games through the first three rounds, and only six games total throughout the entire tournament.
Krinickas follows in the footsteps of notable past Florida Girls’ 10s state winners such as current US Open juniors champion Amanda Anisimova, USTA Pro Circuit winner Katerina Stewart, and college stars Alexandra Kiick, Lauren Embree and Julia Cohen.
Regional consolation winners and other top finishers in the compass draw format were (listed boy, girl):
3rd Place: Felix Puyplay, Berklie Simmering
4th Place: Nicholas Rizzo, Gabriela Almanza
NE Bracket Winner: Benjamin Saltman, Alba Martinez
North Bracket Winner: Tomas Velez, Daniela Chica
NW Bracket Winner: Stanislav Valenteychik, Kayla Wheeler
South Bracket Winner: Lucas Turcanu, Sreenidhi Poonjolai
SW Bracket Winner: Maddox Bose, Zaire Clarke
SE Bracket Winner: Zachary Cooper, Jada Hutto
West Bracket Winner: Noah Kulendran, Tatiana Martinez
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“I couldn’t be more impressed by the high level of play and great sportsmanship that was evident throughout the entire tournament from our Florida players,” said USTA Florida Director of Competitive Tennis Jason Gilbert.
For full results and draws go to http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=202718#&&s=0.
For more information on the USTA Florida green ball circuit and championships go to www.ustaflorida.com/event/2017-bobby-curtis-green-ball-sectional-championships.
