The Road to THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP 2024
Two old Tennis Central veterans came back to face off in the Serve in Paradise Open final last Sunday. After two victories leading to the showdown, including a tight tiebreak semifinal, the return of Renata Cavallo to glory seemed inexorable. That was, until Cameron Lucci proved his top-seed prowess for his first championship of the season.
Lucci took the final 4-2, 4-0, though the match of the tournament belonged to Cavallo and Miguel Zein, the 48th-ranked journeyman getting closer and closer to a breakthrough with few players as committed or consistent. No fewer than three tiebreaks were needed the secure a winner, the maximum possible. Zein grabbed the first 7-5, but Cavallo won the next two 7-3 and 10-7 to book passage to the final.
Cavallo debuts back on the leaderboard at 83rd, while Lucci enters immediately behind Zein at 49th.
The 16U results didn't change the Top 10 at all; in fact the biggest shifter among the contenders was Sumaer Sarangal, thanks to his two-win, silver medal, 20-point performance at the WTN. He hopped four places into the Top 20.
Boys and girls competed separately at the WTN with a number of group winners. Topping Sarangal's group and the boys standings as a whole was Aarav Kyparlis, who dropped only the one game to bronze medalist Vaughn Touw.
On the other side, Robbie Rosado dominated play albeit to a lesser degree, as his match with Alex Yu hung in the balance a bit longer. Yu grabbed silver by virtue of his 4-2 win over familiar foe Nicolas Kidd.
Three groups comprised the girls' tournament, with multiple-time champion Zahra Doriwala taking another crown and rising to seventh in the 12U and 15th at 16U.
Group 2 provided the most drama. Alexis Hall emerged the champion after a 4-2 opening win over Lila Briskin-Watson and then an even more tense 4-3 nailbiter that decided the championship against Bridget Zimmermann. Zimmermann had defeated Briskin-Watson and so the final game decided it all.
Zimmermann, then, had the largest boost to the rankings of all the WTN girls, improving three spots to 9th for her first Top 10 week.
Micah Williams outlasted Savannah Jackson, 4-2, in the decider for Group 3.
Little changed at the 10U and 18U levels given the few players active this week, but Maya Feinberg did gain a spot at 18U after slowing Doriwala better than the rest of the group could.
Meanwhile in league play, the Blue Glove Open kicked off its fall campaign with a full slate of matches. Alexander Toker-Katskee took the early top-group lead defeating Jake Snow 8-1, but more competition will be gunning his way with Jack Mearns and James Reed filling out the group.
In the sun at The Beach on Sunday, the crowd was treated to back-to-back dramatic finishes, first with Siena Auzoux overcoming Vincent Finisdore 6-4. Then came the real classic, a rematch of the previous week's tight finish made even tighter. Finn Koski won the tiebreak set over Rhett Dove to improve to 2-0 over who's become his great rival.
2024 Points Change
A change to the points applied to higher-level tournaments from lower levels should reflect ages and skills better from now on. It used to be that all points were halved when applied to a higher age group's rankings. Now, the points are halved each step up the ladder, not just once.
So a player can no longer earn 80 points at 10U and count them as 40 at 16U. They would be halved at 12U (40 points), again at 14U (20 points), then again at 16U (10 points). It provides the incentive without disrupting the older players' earnings too much.
However, a younger player earning points in an older tournament, much as Arnav Nadikatla did in this Tour Championship edition, is still a sure way to rise faster in those rankings.
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
WTN Girls: Kamsiyonna Udejiofor, Valentina Rosales, Siena Auzoux
WTN Boys Team: Aarav Kyparlis, Robbie Rosado
16U UTR: Cameron Lucci
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.
October
Oct 15: USTA 10U Coed Green & Orange
Oct 21: USTA 10U Coed Green & Orange
Oct 22: 16U UTR - Yann Auzoux Open
Oct 28: 12U & 16U UTR - Halloween Open
November
Nov 19: 16U UTR - Tenniscentral.us Cup
December