A Few Words of Thanks

There isn't much news--Rachel Kahan beat No. 2 seed and World No. 10 Kristina Mladenovic of France, and Denis Kudla, the No. 2 seed, was also upset at the Yucatan Cup in Mexico (see the tournament website for all results.) Ed Tseng was at the Harlem Junior Tennis Program benefit Tuesday night, and filed this report for his blog.

But as we gather with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to express my gratitude for all those who have shared their tennis lives and thoughts with me in the past few years. I've made great new friends, met inspirational young people and seen innumerable acts of kindness, all with tennis as their common denominator.

I thank you for reading, for supporting me and my sponsors, for contributing your thoughts and ideas to this blog, for doing all you can do to help grow the game of tennis. Coaches, parents, players, tournament directors, officials, agents, manufacturer reps, fans, other tennis media people, all have helped me learn and grow, sharing with me their passion for the game. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you at the courts for many years to come.


Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Colette Lewis

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A Few Words of Thanks

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Melanie Oudin Profile; Roddick Foundation's New Tennis Center

My weekly article for The Tennis Recruiting Network is a profile of Melanie Oudin, the Eddie Herr champion and Orange Bowl finalist.

Although I've had no time to look at what's going on in tennis outside South Florida, I did get word of this new Texas tennis center being planned by the Andy Roddick Foundation.

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Melanie Oudin Profile; Roddick Foundation's New Tennis Center

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No Post Monday July 9

Monday is a travel day, so enjoy the Wimbledon coverage and I'll be back on Tuesday.

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No Post Monday July 9

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Catching up with John Roddick

One of the members of the traveling junior tennis circuit (or is it circus?) I've missed most in the past year is John Roddick. When, after last year's Australian Open, he decided to travel with younger brother Andy, the days of talking tennis with him at every major junior tournament were over. But his interest in junior development hasn't gone anywhere, and at the Eddie Herr, I had the opportunity to meet Myron Grunberg, John's selection to take over the tennis academy in San Antonio that John established five years ago.

Last month in Carson, I had an opportunity to talk to Myron again, and he was very excited about the re-birth of the academy, now called Roddick Total Tennis. Interested in getting the word out about the new facilities and direction of the academy, John called me from Texas late last week, and we talked about his plans.

I asked him why he decided to continue with the academy, and he said that it's something he's always wanted to do, and continues to want to do. John said that he had an offer on the property last summer that would have allowed him to get out without serious financial consequences, but he couldn't envision letting it go. After Andy's retirement, he'll go back to it, he said; he misses the daily interaction with young players.

The courts have been redone, there have been major renovations to the existing buildings, and when the dormitory accommodations are completed there will be facilities for 22 boarders. John was also enthusiastic about their new alliance with Blessed Hope Academy in San Antonio, where John graduated in 1994. Although internet schooling remains an option, Blessed Hope will be sending teachers and tutors to the academy to conduct classes in a more traditional academic environment.

John said that he continues to visit the academy two or three times a week when he's in town, but he leaves the day-to-day development coaching to Grunberg, who worked for the Canadian Tennis Federation for many years and also traveled with Canadian professionals on the tour. With former Roddick students Nate Schnugg and Jamie Hunt now at Roddick's alma mater Georgia, and Kellen Damico and Tyler Hochwalt elsewhere while they await their entrance to the University of Texas and University of Florida respectively, the marquee players at the academy are Vlad Ignatic of Belarus, who recently won the Grade A Gerdau Cup in Brazil, and Alexey Grigorov of Russia, both whom have been associated with the academy for several years.

This post shouldn't be construed as an endorsement of the academy; I've never been there, and the choice of whether to go the academy route, and which one to select if you do, is a very personal decision. But John wants you to know it's a viable option again, and he's proud of the new and improved version.

For more information, see the Roddick Total Tennis website, or email: info[at]roddicktotaltennis.com

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, John Roddick, Myron Grunberg, Roddick Total Tennis

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Unstrung's Website; Other Odds & Ends

The documentary Unstrung, which opens Thursday at the Tribeca Film Festival, now has a website where a trailer in available for viewing. Any reviews, however short, from someone who has seen it are welcome.

I've enjoyed reading all the comments lately about the 1991 birth year (actually, I'm not comfortable with using birth years as labels, but I can't figure out a better alternative) players. One of the more recent additions to this list of standouts, Lawrence Formentera, warranted a thorough story in the Los Angeles Times, after his Easter Bowl win.

The Desert Sun wrote about Rhyne Williams' win in the ITF boys division. And the Knoxville News Sentinel gave us a chance to read up on Nick Wood's win in the 12s at Delray Beach.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Lawrence Formentera, Nick Wood, Rhyne Williams, Unstrung

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Unstrung's Website; Other Odds & Ends

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McClune Signs with IMG; Inside Junior Tennis Podcast now Available

An early post today, before we catch our flight back to Kalamazoo, just to pass along the news I heard at the Easter Bowl that 17-year-old Michael McClune of Irvine, Calif., has signed a professional contract with IMG. IMG hasn't issued a press release announcing the signing yet, but when they do, I'll mention it again.
Also, I managed to squeeze in another Inside Junior Tennis podcast in the middle of last week's Easter Bowl and it is now available at The Tennis Podcast website.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Mike McClune, Inside Junior Tennis, The Tennis Podcast

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McClune Signs with IMG; Inside Junior Tennis Podcast now Available

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Michael Kosta, Comedian

It's likely to be another late evening post here from the Easter Bowl, so I wanted to put up a quick link to the story I wrote about former Michigan men's assistant Michael Kosta and his new career as a stand-up comedian.

Originally scheduled to appear it SMASH, the story never ran, so I'm thankful that The Tennis Recruiting Network found a home for it. I understand that the May issue of TENNIS magazine will feature a profile of Kosta by Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated. If that is posted online, I'll link to that too.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Michael Kosta, The Tennis Recruiting Network

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Michael Kosta, Comedian

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High School Tennis, Southern Cal style

It's difficult to juggle school and national-level tennis in any case; to find time for a varsity sport seems a lot to ask of any junior. But Southern California seems to have figured out how to make it relevant and possible for their top players.

The North County Times talked with two of its recent junior stars, Bradley Klahn and Steve Forman, and several top area coaches about the challenges and rewards of playing high school tennis. Click here to read that story.

And Erik Boal, who covers the Southern California junior scene for the Los Angeles Daily News, filed back-to-back stories recently about the No. 2 ranked Harvard-Westlake team, headed by Ryan Thacher, and its match with University High of Irvine. The preview is here, the account of the match the next day is here.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Southern California high school tennis, Bradley Klahn, Ryan Thacher

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High School Tennis, Southern Cal style

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"Unstrung" to debut at Tribeca Film Festival

UPDATE: The dates, times, theaters and admission charge for "Unstrung":
[UNSTR] Discovery
2007, 95 mins

Thu, Apr 26, 7:15pm
AMC 34th Street Theater 12
| $18

Sat, Apr 28, 2:30pm
Regal Cinemas Theater 5
| $18

Sun, Apr 29, 10:30am
Tribeca Cinemas Theater 1
| $18

Thu, May 3, 6:30pm
AMC Kips Bay Theater 13
| $18

Sat, May 5, 3:00pm
AMC Kips Bay Theater 11
| $18

We're back in Kalamazoo after our usual game of hide-and-seek the airlines seem to want to play with our luggage every time we fly.

One of my minor objectives during the week I spent around the Media Center at the Sony Ericsson was to find out if any of the New York-based tennis journalists there knew anything about the junior tennis documentary Unstrung that I'd heard about on a non-tennis sports blog. No one did, and I was mystified, until Lynn Berenbaum at Off The Baseline posted this link.

Once I saw Rob Klug's name as the director (and the photo of Clancy Shields), I knew that "The Zoo" had undergone a name change, and this is the long-awaited Mike Tollin-Jim Courier production filmed in 2005.

I won't be able to go to New York for the premiere, but if any one in that area can, I'd love to post your impressions of the documentary on this site.




TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Unstrung, Jim Courier, Mike Tollin

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Blogging Challenges; Pantic, Muhammad Weigh Turning Pro

I hope you are all seeing the logo that I'm including in this post permanently atop the the website. If you are not, please let me know via the comment option! Being an Apple user, I don't have access to Internet Explorer and so I don't know quite how the site looks to those of you using Windows PCs. The hacks necessary to put a graphic in a blogger template header are complicated, but I do want to get it right.

I do have a little junior news to pass along, about two different girls who are weighing the decision about turning pro.

James Beck in the Charleston Post and Courier has this piece about Nina Pantic, contrasting her with her good friend Reka Zsilinszka.


The Las Vegas Review Journal talked with Asia Muhammad, who sounds as if she will be going the professional route soon. On Tuesdsay, Muhammad, who received a wild card into the $75K challenger in Las Vegas, played Yulia Fedossova of France, ranked 119 by the WTA, and lost 2-6, 7-6(1) 6-4.


TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Nina Pantic, Asia Muhammad, Zootennis.com

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Blogging Challenges; Pantic, Muhammad Weigh Turning Pro

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January Aces (and a word from our sponsor)

My weekly entry for The Tennis Recruiting Network is a monthly version of the weekly SMASH online column I did in 2006, but with more photos and less words. I'm very happy to have signed on for a regular Thursday article for tennisrecruiting.net, and have much to thank them for, including my recent affiliation with Tennis Warehouse.

When I started this blog over two years and 829 posts ago, I didn't know where it would lead. Zootennis started as a place to explore issues in junior tennis that interested me, and a space where I could regularly report on the accomplishments of young players. The more I did those things, the more I enjoyed them, and what started as a hobby quickly turned into a second career. I am writing regularly for SMASH and The Tennis Recruiting Network, occasionally for Tennis Magazine and doing a weekly podcast, Inside Junior Tennis. Those things help support the travel I do, but one of the main questions I get when talking to parents and coaches at tournaments is "how do you make money on your website?"

The answer has always been a straightforward "I don't." (Quite a few people think I'm employed or somehow compensated by the USTA). But this Christmas, my Amazon store experiment turned out more profitably than I could have hoped, encouraging me to explore an affiliation with a partner that would have an interest in my visitors. That partner, Tennis Warehouse, is not an advertiser. Rather, like Amazon, I will benefit if sales are made through the link on my site.

As far as traffic goes, I'm never going to approach the numbers of tennis.com or si.com, but I'm happy as long as I have readers and commenters who care about junior tennis and junior tennis players. Juniortennis.com has now gone to a paid subscription for anyone but junior players. I'm not going to adopt that model--I want the site to be as widely read as possible--but I would like to see ZooTennis contribute to the travel fund.

That's a long way of saying please use the link at the top, but I did want you to understand the background on its sudden appearance.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, Tennis Warehouse

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January Aces (and a word from our sponsor)

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Junior Tennis documentary coming soon (no, not that one)

Still no word on the release date of the Jim Courier-backed documentary on junior tennis, tentatively titled The Zoo which was filmed throughout 2005 and culminated in Kalamazoo that August.

But there is another documentary on its way, called 50,000 Balls, that focuses on junior tennis from the 12-and-under perspective. It was filmed last spring and summer, and although there isn't a release date yet, there is a website where you can view a trailer and get other information regarding the film. To visit the website, click here.

Hoop Dreams set the bar for sports documentaries awfully high, but tennis has plenty of inherent drama too, and I'm glad there are entrepreneurs willing to take a shot at getting it on film.

TAGS: tennis, junior tennis, 50Kballs

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