Michael Augsberger
Van Horne wins battle, but Ozenci wins war
The Road to THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP 2023
June 3 - UTR 10U Green Ball and 12U - Anguilla Service Trips Open
June 4 - UTR 14U and 16U - String48 Open
A record fifty players took part in the Tennis Central Junior Circuit events over June 3-4, the most ever for UTR tournaments and rivaling the most-attended USTA weekends in Tennis Central history. Jon Ozenci's performance may have brought him just short in the final against William Van Horne, but it means he now leads the top four divisions on the Tour.
The fifty points awarded for second place catapulted Ozenci to pole position in the 14U and 16U leaderboards. He'd already led 12U and 16U. Van Horne took the 14U final to improve three places in 12U to sixth, and eleven places in 14U to 13th.
The greatest match of the weekend saw Alvaro Orlove clinch the 16U championship in a tiebreak that went all the way to 12-10 against newcomer-to-remember Riece Grice-Thomas, who with those fifty points debuts in the Top 40 in the rankings.
Nicolas Kidd cooly sauntered through the round robin at Saturday's 10U tournament, dropping only four games in three matches. The biggest challenge came from Shannon Bu, who at this time last year had only just begun playing competitively. Her massive strides placed her second for the first time, and she hopped 46 places in the rankings.
Another newcomer made an even more lasting impression. It was Jake Bowman who claimed the 12U tournament, pushed to a long first set and a tight second in the final by Amol Kedar. The 5-3, 4-2 finish gave Bowman the championship.
Though idle, Ilan Faraci and Kiran Mathura moved into the Top 10 at 16U thanks to the shifting plates underneath the rankings. Last year's results around this time of June were dropped. Devin Leung earned his entry into the Top 10 at 10U by grabbing a quarterfinal finish at the 12U.
Those were the only new Top 10 entrants on the entire Tour, save for 18U, which saw a massive adjustment to its leaderboard. Aside from Ozenci claiming first, Faraci, Van Horne, and Benjamin Kaufman all landed firmly among the best of the 18U players.
Only Shiloh Auzoux remains in first place apart from Ozenci, though Siena Auzoux took one step closer to catching him. The gap is cut to forty points after her first-round breakthrough at the 12U, while Shiloh bowed out in the Round of 16.
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
6/3 UTR 10U Green: Nicolas Kidd
6/3 UTR 12U: Jake Bowman
6/4 UTR 14U: William Van Horne
6/4 UTR 16U: Alvaro Orlove
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
Apr 30: 10U Green Dot UTR - Anguilla Service Trips Open - rescheduled for June 3
May
May 6: USTA Junior Circuit Orange & Green
May 7: USTA L7 Adult NTRP
May 13: USTA Boys' and Girls' WTN 12-18U
May 20: USTA Junior Circuit Orange Dot (16)
May 21: USTA Boys' and Girls' WTN (Rankings 28-34, 34-40)
May 21: UTR Doubles 14U presented by The Beach Tennis & Pool
June
June 3: 10U Green and 12U UTR - Anguilla Service Trips Open
June 4: 14U and 16U UTR - String48 Open
June 10: 10U and 12U UTR - Tennis Curator Open
June 11: 16U UTR - The Beach Open
June 17: 10U and 12U UTR - Happy Tennis Parents Open
June 18: 14U and 18U UTR - Travel Team Open
June 24: 10U & 12U UTR - Anguilla Tennis Academy Open
June 25: 18U Singles & Doubles UTR - Tennis Central Foundation Open
July
July 1: 10U Singles & Doubles UTR - The Incubator Open
July 2: 14U & 16U UTR - Central College Placement Open
July 8: 12U Singles & Doubles UTR - Holton Creative Summer Open
July 9: 15U & 18U UTR - Varsity Open presented by Yann Auzoux Try-Out Camp
July 15-16: Adult UTR / USTA - Tennis Central Open
July 22: 10U & 14U UTR - BGO Cup
July 23: 18U Singles & Doubles UTR
July 29: 10U & 12U UTR
July 30: 15U Singles & Doubles UTR
August
Aug 5: 12U & 16U Singles & Doubles UTR
Aug 6: 18U Singles & Doubles UTR
Aug 12: 10U Singles & Doubles UTR
Aug 13: 14U & 16U UTR
Aug 19: 10U & 16U Singles & Doubles UTR
Aug 20: 12U & 18U Singles & Doubles UTR
Aug 26: 10U UTR
Aug 27: 14U Singles & Doubles UTR
September
September 2: 12U & 18U UTR
September 3: 15U Singles & Doubles UTR
September 9-10: THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP