Peterson Tennis Celebrates

There is big news at the Peterson School of Tennis.The USTA and American Express have teamed up to resurface Burdett Tennis Center in College Park, GA. The facility now includes six 36 foot tennis courts or youth courts. The new "kiddie" courts are part of the USTA's effort to get more children involved in the game. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony July 16th at 10am. The USTA and local officials will be in attendance as well as rising tennis pro Ryan Harrison.

The USTA's grant comes through USTA Serves, the National Charitable Foundation of the Unites States tennis Association. USTA Serves has awarded some 44 community and educational oraganzations grants that total more than $400,000.

Peterson School of Tennis, has also received a grant through Fresh Courts, a joint effort between American Express and he USTA to refurbish existing courts.

Xavier Tennis teams advance to NAIA Nationals

Xavier University of Louisiana's Amber Brown defeated Martin Methodist's Maria Charrys 6-3, 6-1 Saturday to clinch a 5-2 dual match victory for the Gold Nuggets in the championship of an NAIA unaffiliated group women's tennis tournament at Racquet Club of the South.
Brown is a sophomore from Decatur. She was home-schooled before attending Xavier.
Xavier entered the tournament 4-21 but won all three of its duals to earn an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship on May 15-19 at Mobile, Ala. Brown won all three of her No. 3 singles matches and dropped a collective five games. Her three-set loss to Charrys clinched Martin Methodist's 5-4 victory March 9.
"I just wanted to go out there and get revenge for last time," Brown said. "I told myself that I wasn't going to lose to her. I knew that I needed to win for my team to get to nationals."
Martin Methodist is ranked 17th and was the defending champion of this event.
Xavier's eighth-ranked men defeated 16th-ranked Cumberland 5-0 to win the championship for the second consecutive year. The Gold Rush (17-7) took a 2-0 lead when seniors Steffen Giles-Osborn and Sean Richarson defeated Devin Crotzer and Na'im Azhar 8-6 at No. 2 doubles. Giles-Osborn (Atlanta resident, Westlake High School graduate) is 15-0 and Richardson (Ellenwood resident, Stockbridge High) is 12-0 in four seasons of conference/group tournaments.
Xavier's men qualified for the national tournament for the fourth consecutive year, and the women qualified for the sixth time in eight seasons.

Taylor Townsend is tops among juniors

Taylor Townsend, a 16-year-old from Stockbridge, Ga., who trains full-time at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., became the top-ranked junior in the ITF World Junior Rankings (for players 18 and younger) on Monday, making her the first American girl to earn the No. 1 ranking since the ITF combined singles and doubles rankings in 2004.

Donald Young was the last American to reach No. 1 in the boys’ rankings in 2005. Coincidentally, Young’s parents were Townsend’s first tennis coaches.

In January, Townsend swept the girls’ singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open, becoming the first American to sweep the junior singles and doubles titles at a Grand Slam event since Lindsay Davenport at the 1992 US Open. In addition, Townsend captured the prestigious Easter Bowl title earlier this month in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where she also reached the doubles final, and she owns a 19-2 singles record in ITF World Junior Competition in 2012.

Townsend is representing the United States this week at the Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas North/Central American and Caribbean Championships, held in Merida, Mexico, April 26-28. The team is coached by USTA Lead National Coach Kathy Rinaldi, who works with Taylor in Boca Raton.

Washington Park product shines at UGA

ATHENS, Ga. --- University of Georgia men’s tennis freshman Nathan Pasha on Monday secured his fourth SEC Freshman of the Week honor of the season when the league office issued its release this afternoon.

Pasha has now won the award in back-to-back weeks in addition to taking the honors on March 28 and Feb. 22. The Atlanta native is riding a team-best nine-match winning streak in singles with an 18-1 dual match record and a 9-1 mark in conference play.

On Saturday vs. Tennessee in the regular-season finale, Pasha put up two more wins on the day to help the Bulldogs to the 7-0 shutout of their divisional rival, including a straight-set win over Taylor Patrick at six singles that got him off the court first for the sixth time in 2012. He then teamed with Sadio Doumbia for an 8-2 victory at No. 2 doubles, which at that point evened things at 1-1 before Georgia eventually went on to claim the doubles point.

Pasha and the Bulldogs head to Starkville, Miss., this week for the 2012 SEC Championships. Enjoying a first round bye, Georgia will take on the winner of the Auburn-South Carolina match in the quarterfinals on Friday at 9 a.m. ET.

UGA's Pasha Freshman of the Week

Georgia men’s tennis rookie Nathan Pasha went a combined 5-0 last week, including two match-clinching victories for UGA at the ITA National Indoors, on his way to the first SEC Freshman of the Week honors of his career, the league office announced Wednesday morning.




The Atlanta native’s stellar play helped the Bulldogs to a 3-1 week, including a trip to the Indoor semifinals at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va. He recorded three singles victories at line six to improve to 7-0 in dual match play, while adding a pair of doubles wins with Ignacio Taboada at No. 3.



Pasha’s wins vs. 13th-ranked California in the first round and fifth-ranked Florida in the quarterfinal clinched both of those matches, while he also won vs. top-ranked Southern Cal in Sunday’s semifinal, taking down No. 86 Roberto Quiroz to even the overall score at 1-1. It was his second career win over a ranked opponent.

Catching up with the Amazing Parks Sisters

Man, it's been awhile, but I'm finally back at my blog with more details about Mikayla Parks, who is now 11, and Alycia Parks, now 10. The Parks family has been living in Florida for just over a year and the Parks Sisters have been turning heads and raising eyebrows wherever they go to train. Perhaps one of the biggest highlights came last October, when they met one of their heroes. The girls, along with their dad, Michael Parks, visited the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Palm Gardens where WTA superstar Venus Williams was signing copies of her book, "Come To Win." Williams' eyes lit up when she saw the family approach her table. "Mr. Parks?" she asked, confirming this was indeed the Parks family. "Yes," he answered. Then Venus leaped from her seat to give Mr Parks and the girls big hugs! "Oh my goodness," she said as finally met the tennis-playing sisters she'd heard so much about. "They are beautiful, and very strong," Williams said, who had been given a head's up to expect a visit from the sisters during her book signing.  The tennis legend had seen pictures of Alycia and Mikayla and even heard their voices by phone, but had never met them face to face.  Clearly the youngsters impressed Ms. Venus, who couldn't take her eyes off them. She presented them autographed copies of her book.  Mikayla, who I'm told is a huge fan of Venus, started reading the book immediately. It was a meeting that the Parks Sisters will long remember.

Meanwhile, on the court, Alycia and Mikayla have seen their abilities soar after a year of working with some of the nation's top coaches and instructors. A visit to their old haunt,"Racquet Club of the South," for a USTA Regional Level 2 showcase only confirmed what many had believed. Bill Ozaki, Director of Programs and Player Development for the USTA Southern Section, was pleased with what he saw as Alycia and Mikayla showed a mastery of all the strokes, with serves that clocked around 90 miles per hour. Mr Parks told me those serves sound like a rocket going off ! The sisters also showed off the ability to hit a swinging volley which is a difficult shot to execute consistantly. Oh, and by the way, the showcase in Norcross was for the top junior players in the region, ages 12 to 14. Remember, the Parks Sisters are only 11 and 10. It was also dertermined at that time that the girls would begin tournament play early this year and that's been a success so far. The sisters combined to take the doubles title with an 8-0 score in a 12's tournament. Then it was on to the Polo Club for their first singles tournament playing in a year and a half. It was a 14's tourney and Mikayla made it to the semifinals, while Alycia finished the job beating the second seed 6-0, 6-0 and then taking down the top seed 6-2, 6-3. The 14's is where the Parks Sisters are expected to play most of their tournaments this year, and they've already served notice they won't just be satisfied with playing well. They are coming to win.

The month of March started with a trip to Bradenton, Fla., to work out at the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy under the watchful eye of tennis guru Nick Bollettieri. It was the sisters' second time visiting the Bollettieri Academy and the man known for his expert eye for tennis talent was very pleased with their progress. There's a chance this could mean more trips to IMG in the future. I'll keep you up to date on all the latest.  In the meantime, be on the lookout for next issue of USTA magazine. It will feature a story on the Amazing Parks Sisters! This could be an interesting spring and summer – very interesting indeed.

Parks Sisters Visit New York

As promised, I have an update on the Amazing Parks Sisters, who will take a break from their training in South Florida this weekend to attend a Junior Tennis Combine in the Washington, D.C. area .Martin Blackmon of the USTA has told Michael Parks that Alycia and Mikayla will likely begin tournament play early next year. Mr. Parks says that in January Mikayla will be 11, and Alycia will be 10, and he expects them to play level 4, 14's. It should place the Parks Sisters in direct competition with some of the top Juniors in the country, and prepare then for international events. Remember, Alycia and Mikayla have been playing tennis for just two and a half years, and have been based in Florida for less than a year. They've come a long way in a very short period of time.

The eyes of the sports world turned to New York City for the US Open, and the Parks Sisters were there for Opening Day. According to their dad, it was great experience for the girls.While on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the Parks Sisters got to watch matches and see how the top players in the world prepare to play in the final slam of the year. While at the Open, the girls also got to take pictures with Katrina Adams, former WTA Tour player turned commentator for the Tennis Channel, and with ATP tour player Donald Young. Young, who lives in Atlanta, has seen his ranking rise during 2010, and came into the US Open listed among the top 100 players in the world. The sisters are big fans of the Bryan Brothers, and they got to say hello to the world's top ranked doubles team while in New York, too. Let it be noted that the media was aware of the Parks Sisters' visit, as former ATP player and coach Brad Gilbert gave them an enthusiastic wave from his perch in the ESPN broadcast booth. Can you just imagine the look on the faces of these two young phenoms as they laid their eyes on Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time? No doubt it inspired them to play, not in the future, but right then! Michael Parks says he and family friend Keith Mitchell were at the hotel the next day when the girls found a ball and started bouncing it around the room. They just couldn't hold it in any more...Alycia and Mikayla had been watching tennis for two days and wanted to play. Mr. Parks shouted, "Keith, let's get them out of this room and find them a court, quick!" Together the four hopped into a cab and drove to a tennis court not far from their hotel, and there in the heart of the Big Apple, the Amazing Parks Sisters worked their magic. No, it wasn't Arthur Ashe Stadium, or Louis Armstong Stadium. It wasn't even on the grounds of the National Tennis Center,  but for that moment in time, it could have been. You might think this would be enough for a first time visit to New York, but the best part was yet to come. Alycia and Mikayla were special guests of Solomon Smallwood at the Madison Square Garden performance by Justin Bieber. In addition to being in the house for one of the hottest concerts on the planet, the young ladies got to meet a long list of celebrities that included Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West. The girls took pictures with Boys To Men, Jaden Smith, Usher, and of course, Justin Bieber. It was an amazing evening, but while they enjoyed the music, their father was totally taken with the building itself. Madison Square Garden has long been known as the "Mecca of Basketball." A star basketball player in high school and college, Michael Parks took a moment or two to admire the banners that hung from the longtime home of the New York Knicks. After three days in New York, Michael Parks and his daughters headed back to Florida, and back to their daily workouts on the courts in Boca Raton. The family had taken just a small bite out of the "Big Apple" and the taste was sweet indeed!