Eleven champions crowned with one week to go

Michael Augsberger
Aug 24, 2023
5 min read

The Road to THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

Aug 19: 10U & 16U Singles & Doubles UTR - Travel Team Classic

Aug 20: 12U & 18U Singles & Doubles UTR - Tenniscentral.us Open

Only one week remains in the race for the Tour Championship, and an almost-record number of champions means more points handed out with players keen on booking their tickets.

Archer Pollak took the most impressive of all victories in a five-player round-robin for the Tenniscentral.us Open 12U, topping a group that included silver medalist Abir Kedar, whom Pollak took care of quickly. But it was Alex Yu and Lilikith Gaddipati who pushed the champion to three sets, where he needed 10-8 tiebreaks on both occasions to seal the title.

The 12U victor reached third in the rankings and barring any surprises should be invited to the big dance in September. Kedar currently clings to one of the last slots given out to the 10U tour.

At the weekend's 16U Travel Team Open, an old NFL-style playoffs draw ended with tour veteran Caroline Peterson claiming the crown over Shiloh Auzoux. Both players had worked their way from the "Wild Card round" to topple the higher-seeded Lindsay Kossoff and Natalie Teague (the latter had withdrawn) and meet in the final, where Peterson won 4-0, 4-0. The win solidified Peterson's bid for the Tour Championship as one of the top six girls at both 16U and 18U.

The doubles team of Leighton Rogers and Lily Venzke won the crown over sibling pair Shiloh and Siena Auzoux, 4-2, 5-4 (7-3 in the tiebreak). All four come out on top in the rankings, however. While Venzke likely punched her ticket to the Tour Championship at the 18U level with those extra thirty points, Shiloh and Siena both entered the 16U rankings thanks to their entry into the 16U event. And with all their points at other levels, they have their pick for Tour Championship events.

But most players over the weekend chose the USTA orange and green ball events, which attracted seven groups of four. There they each played three matches, with each undefeated group winner a TCJC champion earning 30-40 points. In his third TCJC bid, Sanjay Ramiah finally took home a gold in claiming Group A at the Green tournament, by the skin of his teeth. Each of his matches went 4-2 or 4-3.

In Group B it was Madison Arita who gave the eventual champion Talib Akanbi the biggest scare, going 4-3 against the undefeated winner despite finishing fourth in the group.

Most of the players were just embarking on their tour careers, and so the matches had little effect on the 10U Tour Championship qualification, except one major storyline: Depending on the girls' entrants into the Tour Championship, Yiyi Liu may earn an automatic bid thanks to her forty-point championship performance in which she defeated Nico Nyarunda 4-3 to win it all. She's tied with last-to-qualify Adura Akiwumi and Shannon Bu on those forty points.

With only this next weekend's three tournaments left to grab the points needed to qualify, here are the current rankings. The top six boys are marked with *, the top six girls with ^.

Remember the newly added feature to the rankings: the Plus / Minus, which will tell you how far up or down the player has moved within the last week.

Champions

8/20 UTR 16U: Caroline Peterson

8/20 UTR 16U Doubles: Leighton Rogers and Lily Venzke

8/20 USTA 10U Green: Sanjay Ramiah, Talib Akanbi, Dylan Lee, Henry Lilly

8/20 USTA 10U Orange: Vivian Wang, Ethan Grover, Yiyi Liu

8/20 UTR 12U: Archer Pollak

The full tables now look like this.

Each weekend this spring and summer, Tennis Central is bringing you USTA and UTR tournaments at Holton-Arms School. Earn points for advancing through each round, just like on the pro tours, and qualify for the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP at season's end.

Bigger events offer more points, with the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP offering the most, as well as prizes.

Check here for updates each week to the Tennis Central Tour Rankings, a 52-week points system based on the pro tours, as well as recaps of all the action and photos.

2023 Tour Schedule

March

Mar 18: USTA L7 Boys and Girls 12U

Mar 19: USTA L7 Boys and Girls 14U

April

Apr 8: UTR 14U - Sweet Spotter Open

Apr 16: USTA L7 Boys and Girls 12U

Apr 16: USTA L7 Boys and Girls 14U

Apr 23: UTR 14U and 16U - Potomac Spring Tennis Festival Open

Apr 29: 15U UTR - Teen World Open Classic

Apr 30: 12U UTR - Anguilla Service Trips Open

Apr 30: 10U Green Dot UTR - Anguilla Service Trips Open