SoCal Tennis Marketing by Cari Buck ...................................................... 1

NJTL / Community Tennis ......................................................................... 2

SoCal Juniors .............................................................................................. 6

Jr. Sectional Photos .................................................................................... 8

Adult Tennis ................................................................................................ 9

Senior Tennis ............................................................................................... 11

Adult Leagues Tennis ................................................................................. 13

Wheelchair Tennis ...................................................................................... 14

USTA Tennis On Campus ........................................................................... 15

SoCal Collegiate Report ............................................................................ 16

USTA Pro Circuit .......................................................................................... 17

San Diego District Tennis Association ..................................................... 18

SoCal Names in the News ......................................................................... 19

SCTA Hall of Fame ...................................................................................... 21

In Memoriam ............................................................................................. 23

SCTA Directory ........................................................................................... 25

On the Cover from top left clockwise: Pancho Segura (In Memoriam, page 23); Ashley Kratzer (Juniors, page 6), Claire Liu (Names In the News, page 19), Rod Laver (Hall of Fame, page21); Brandon Holt (Collegiates, page 16); Dana Mathewson and Lauren Haneke-Hopps (Wheelchair Tennis, page 14)

With so many events happen-ing here in SoCal, the Marketing department at the SCTA office was definitely kept on their toes this year.

A new endeavor for the SCTA this year was a sponsorship with Mylan World TeamTennis. Fans could find us at all the Orange County Breakers and San Diego Aviators home matches manning our info booth, as well as the KidsZone, running games for the little ones, giving out USTA gifts and signing up new members. WTT offered a great way to enjoy some pro tennis right here in our own backyard. And what a treat that the league finals were held at La Costa Resort and Spa and featured both our SoCal teams!

Last year the SCTA penned a partnership with Tennis Ware-house as our official Sportsman-ship Sponsor with players being rewarded for great sportsmanship at select events across the section with Tennis Warehouse gift cards. We did a major sportsmanship push this past fall and will contin-ue the drive for 2018, as well with our new sportsmanship campaign #PlayHardPlayFair. “Sports-manship is…” videos, articles and of course gift cards will be used to promote and recognize

follow and like us. And starting at the JTT Sectionals, you will be able to connect with us on snap-chat too with special geo-filters at select events.

Facebook: USTASouthernCalifornia SCTAJuniorTennisInstagram: USTAsocalTwitter: USTAsocalSnapChat: USTAsocal

If you’re looking for events and play opportunities in your area, be sure and check out sctacom-munications.com/tennis-events for a listing of upcoming SCTA events. We hope to see you on the courts! For more info, contact Cari Buck, Director of Marketing and Communications at cbuck@scta.usta.com

good sportsmanship throughout our SoCal tennis community, from juniors to adults, from grassroots to high perfor-mance.

The USTA’s new youth brand Net Gen-eration launched to providers, and will have a full scale launch to consumers early this spring. Net Generation em-braces all aspects of youth play for kids ages 5-18. The objective of Net Gener-ation is to have millions of kids connect-ed to the sport. Net Generation is also dedicated to the safety of all kids, with a guarantee that all of our registered coaches and providers have completed a background check conducted by the National Center For Safety Initiatives (NCSI). For coaches and providers Net Generation offers a comprehensive, customizable curricula delivering high quality instruction, and for parents it of-fers an on-line platform to research and connect with programs and providers.

The SCTA Marketing and Community Departments have been hosting reg-istration workshops for coaches and providers. Educating providers is key for them to understand the Net Genera-tion brand and build excitement behind the campaign.

What’s ahead for the SCTA in 2018? We’ll be launching several new cam-paigns on all our digital and social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, so be sure to

Cari Buck

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Community Tennis celebrated some of its most accomplished partner providers with service awards late in 2017. Among the honorees were Volunteer of the Year Beth Kuney (KCTA), Mark McCampbell for Coaching Excel-lence of the Year, the Commu-nity Program of the Year “First Serve Santa Ana,” and Commu-nity Partner of the Year Braemar Country Club.

In Azusa, the USTA was among contributing sponsors at Babolat Tennis Day at Northside Park in December. The event, presented launched in 2017, an opportunity

for Tennis Service Representatives to engage players and facilitators in a brand new network promot-ing tennis to youth audiences, introducing USTA’s new youth brand and assisting the coaches through the registration process. As Net Generation expands, ex-pect to see more of these informal meetings throughout Southern California during 2018.

USTA SoCal worked with many school districts throughout 2017, including Los Angeles Unified School Adaptive Physical Ed-ucation and Beyond the Bell Middle School, training over 400 teachers and after school staff in tennis-centric programs. Al-most thirty workshops were held

by Azusa Tennis Club, welcomed over 100 participants and attendees includ-ing coaches, sponsors, and guests.

In November at Madrid Middle School in El Monte, USTA held its first Net Gen-eration schools/education training, presenting our school-based curricu-lum to elementary, middle, and high school Phys Ed teachers at Mountain View Unified School District. Net Gener-ation offers equipment and criteria that promote development of interscholastic tennis during gym classes and as af-ter-school activities.

The USTA Net Generation platform

Beth Kuney with Aisling Bowyer

Azusa Babolat Tennis Play Day2

to train school staff, introducing the USTA’s youth platform Net Generation to all tennis coaches and schools after its launch at the US Open. In the coming year, we will continue to register providers of tennis in Net Generation (www.netgeneration.com), outfitting schools with a package of resourc-es designed to start and maintain Phys Ed or after-school programs for teachers, after school staff, and administrators. Training, curricu-lum, equipment, and staff support are among the facets provided to local school instructors.

In Coachella Valley, two-time US Open finalist and 9-time Grand

all of the native tribes in South-ern California. Further outreach efforts in wheelchair and adaptive programs have been successful, teaming with Special Olympics, Wounded Warriors, and other notable organizations.

Slam doubles champion Rosie Casals is working with USTA SoCal to develop a tennis program for children in Coach-ella Valley. Casals and the legendary Billie Jean King offered immeasurable support to USTA Schools outreach by purchasing tennis equipment for Des-ert Sand and Coachella Valley Unified School Districts. The “Kids Love Ten-nis” programs welcomed children ages 4-10 at Monterey Country Club in Palm Desert, and the Mecca and Indio Boys and Girls Club.

In addition, the USTA continues reach-ing out to the Native American commu-nity to offer tennis clinics and instruc-tion throughout Coachella Valley and Temecula, drawing interest from almost

Net Generation School Program

Rosie Casals and the kids of Coachella Valley

Wheelchair and Adaptive Tennis

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The Chase Return the Serve Fun Day event returned to Los Ange-les for the fourth straight year, at StubHub Center in Carson. First Break Acadamy in partnership with JP Morgan Chase Bank and the USTA Foundation, served as the local host of the event, which is a celebration of Chase’s con-tinued commitment to the USTA Foundation and to the Nation-al Junior Tennis and Learning Network. The USTA previously announced that the USTA Founda-tion, in partnership with Chase, is contributing $100,000 total to 10 NJTL chapters nationwide.

The 2017 USTA Southern Cali-fornia NJTL Activity Day was a big success. Over 250 kids playing tennis and having fun, with much thanks to the parents and coaches who are the core of this program.

In only its third year, Templeton Tennis Ranch hosted the Cen-tral Coast Pro Tennis Open, a $60,000 Women’s USTA Pro Cir-cuit Event. Templeton and Cal Poly Men’s Tennis teamed up for a Pro/Am to help the school raise funds for their program. USTA leagues at the club were expanded in 2017, in addition to a Men’s Tri-level and multiple 4.0 level teams. Temple-ton is gearing up for a great 2018

nity Park in Orange County. The one-day event was sponsored by the Southern California Tennis Association and offered coaching education, resources, and tennis support to approximately forty participants.

Across the Inland Empire, Murrie-ta Tennis Club hosted a Rally for the Cure. Tennis Director Scott Dickey organized the event which included clinic, organized play, and lunch, with all proceeds ben-efitting breast cancer research.

iTennis Andulka Park hosted its annual Open Event, with pro-ceeds to iTennis’ Let’s Teach program. This 501c3 provides funding to City of Riverside’s pub-lic tennis program which enables lessons for free and/or reduced pricing for those unable to partici-pate for financial reasons.

with some excellent tennis (and wine tasting!) on the Central Coast.

In Orange County, the OC Breakers cap-tured their second Mylan World Team-Tennis championship title with a 22-18 victory over the San Diego Aviators in front of a capacity Southern California crowd at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad. The Community Tennis Development Workshop was a smash-ing success, held at Bill Barber Commu-

Chase Return the Serve Fun Day event took place at the StubHub Center in Carson

Pro/Am at Templeton Tennis Ranch

Rally for the Cure event at Murrieta Tennis Club4

The SCTA’s TGA Premier Tennis enrichment program worked with over 2,000 registered students at 40 schools and five camp loca-tions throughout the San Fernan-do Valley in 2017.

The program, managed by Nancy Abrams and Coordinators Amy Feder and Kevin Finkelberg, is dedicated to engaging young athletes from Pre-K through 8th grades on school campuses, tran-sitioning them to camps (includ-ing Early Development Orange Ball Camps), Junior Team Tennis and Level 7 Novice tournaments. 20+ certified coaches work with the students throughout the year. In 2017, the SCTA/TGA Premier Tennis management team was honored for excellence at the National TGA Premier Sports Con-ference. In addition to a $2500 grant for scholarships, the team earned multiple awards, including

Nancy Abrams was awarded the Michael Jacobs Award for work supporting the TGA Sports Foun-dation and its benefactor. TGA stands for Teach, Grow, and Achieve — the foundation of every enrichment class and camp — combining athletics (station-based tennis and fitness activities), academic concepts (in-cluding STEAM), and life lessons (sportsmanship and tennis rules) for a fun and engaging experi-ence.

the Steve Tanner Award (the franchise territory with the highest percentage revenue increase) and TGA / Head Penn Racquet Sports National Coach of the Year (Will Mauriz). TGA Director

TGA After School Enrichment class with coordinator Amy Feder

SCTA / TGA Premier Sports Area Director Nancy Abrams receiving the Michael Jacobs Award

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The focus for 2017 was Team, Sportsmanship and Innovation and this will remain as the focus for 2018, according to SCTA Director of Junior Tennis Trevor Kronemann. Here are some other highlights from 2017:

The Inaugural 2017 Bryan Twins Doubles Race has highlighted doubles competition, the im-portance of teamwork and ca-maraderie throughout Southern California. By the end of 2017, the leaders of the inaugural season are:

B18s: Jack Pulliam/Jacob Bullard; G18s: *Tie Rena Lin/Michelle Deng, Emily Dush/Alexandra Kuo;B16s: Christopher Pappa/Ivan Smith; G16s: Guila Hayer/Amanda Chan; B14s: Kevin Thai/Eric Kats; G14s: Iris Berman/Kaila Wolfe;B12s: Paul Dandler/Avery Tallask-son; G12s: Stacey Samonte/Je-selle Ante; B10s: Rishvanth Krish-na Keaton Hance; G10s: Alyssa Ahn/Rachel Lee

Sportsmanship played a major role in our tournaments for 2017, as we recognized those individ-uals with accolades from Tennis Warehouse. Recipients of Sports-manship honors were recognized based on merit, referees, tourna-

McKenzie Mai and Vianna Sanapa-nya in doubles.

Some of SoCal’s finest 14U play-ers made their first visit to the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Orlando for a camp/com-petition between Southern, Texas, Florida, and Southern California. This camp was highlighted by visits from Martin Blackman, Jose Higueras, and others involved with USTA’s National Player Development camp. Some of the topics discussed on the visit for the camp were Sports Psychology, Racquet and String Technology, and tournament pathways.

Other annual highlights included Junior Team Tennis (JTT) Sec-

ment directors, parents, staff and team recommendations.

Timothy Sah of San Diego was recog-nized as the USTA National Sports-manship Award Winner and honored at the 2017 US Open Awards Banquet in New York. True to form, he also brought home Sportsmanship Awards from the National Boys’ 18s Team Championship and the interstate Maze Cup competi-tion.

Innovation was in full swing as the SCTA ran innovative tournament structure and made changes to team formats such as the Annual Jim Buck Team Tourna-ment and a high school competition for girls called “The Marguerite” to rival the CIF event for boys in Ojai. The first Girls champion was Avery Hopkey, plus

USTA National Camp in February6

tional Fall Championships in Indian Wells, the exciting Henry Talbert Level 1 Event, Junior Satellite Masters, Maze Cup at Stockdale Country Club, ITF Newport Beach Bowl, Carson ITF Spring Championships, and the USTA National Spring Cham-pionships in Indian Wells.

In March, the Competition Train-ing Centers competed ahead of June’s CTC Cup. These teams are led by Mark McCampbell (Ventu-ra), Gary Victor (San Fernando Val-ley), Barry Friedman (San Gabriel Valley), Oliver Messerli (South Bay), and eventual champion Or-ange County, led by Hank Lloyd. The Maze Cup is a long-standing tradition where the best Southern California juniors compete against the best of NorCal. Representing the Southern California team were Hannah Zhao, Rena Lin, Anessa Lee, Britt Pursell, Ryan Seggerman, Timothy Sah, Henry Lovette, and Stefan Dostanic. SoCal lost to Nor-Cal for the second year in a row and Timothy Sah brought home another Sportsmanship Award for 2017.

In an impressive showing of young SoCal talent, both Boys’ and Girls’

Sands, Caleb Chakavarthi, Bryce Periera, and Ivan Thamma. The Girls’ 18s included: Hannah Zhao, Solymar Colling, Salma Ewing, Rena Lin, Cali Jankowski, Kelly Chen, and Jennifer Kerr.

The 10s Exchange-Southern Cal-ifornia was represented in cham-pionship fashion by Kai Beeler, Devin Eisman, Gray Kelly, Roshan Santhosh, Margaret Hui, Iva Jovic, Amy Lee and Kenzie Nguyen and coaches Carlos Cruz-Aedo and Trevor Kronemann. Southern Cal-ifornia brought home the trophy and Margaret Hui won the Sports-manship Award for the entire event.

First Serve High School Team Tennis Programs were held throughout Southern California for both Boys and Girls Interme-diate Level Players. Los Angeles and Orange County had 64 total teams represented with almost 800 players. San Diego area had 24 teams with 300 players. Over-all, a whopping 1100 players and 88 teams participated!

At Pacific Cup Team competition in November, the team finished second to rival NorCal. The SoCal squad was represented by Max McKennon, Alexander Petrov, Tristan Sarap, Alan Ton, Solymar Colling, Amanda Chan, Kayla Mer-az, and Madeliene Jessup.

18s won the National Intersectional Team Championships in Champaign, Ill., and Claremont, while Boys’ and Girls’ 14s finished fourth in Alabama, and 16s finished fifth in Louisiana. The Boys’ 18s roster included: Timothy Sah, Ryan Seggerman, Jacob Bullard, Jake

Boys’ 18s National Championships

Sportsmanship Award Winner Camp

First Serve Girls 7

G10s Doubles Winner: Mikayla Hickman/Layla Reyes

B10’s Doubles Winner: Keaton Hance/Rishvanth Krishna

Mxd 10’s Doubles Winner:Shifali Dinesh/Rishvanth Krishna

G12s Doubles Winner:Makaila Cheng/Anna Peterscu

B12s Doubles Winner:Alan Ton/Andy Nguyen

Mxd 12s Winner:Isabella Chiv/Lucas Coriaty

G14s Doubles Winner:Lauren Friedman/Cara Ung

B14s Doubles Winner:Tristan Sarap/Sundeep Chakladar

Mxd 14s Doubles Winner: Chase Thompson/Cara Ung

G16s Doubles Winner:Vivian Cheng/Rachel Wagner

B16s Doubles Winner:Matthew Sah/Timothy Li

Mxd 16s Doubles Winner: Matthew Sah/Amy Huang

G18s Doubles Winner:Michelle Deng/Rena Lin

B18s Doubles Winner:Eric Hahn/Matthew Tsolakyan

Mxd 18s Doubles Winner:Robert Baylon/Rena Lin

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Warren Wood, a former CMS star who completed the single great-est individual season in school history in 2015, claimed the Open Sectionals title this summer. He entered the tournament as a 5th seed and took out an unseeded Daniel Kosakowski — a former pro-fessional player and UCLA Bruin alum. Former SoCal junior stand-out Kelly Chen took the women’s title, beating third-seed Jwany Sherif. The win sent the Girls’ 18s Hard Courts finalist into her first year at Duke University on a high.

At the Open Sectional Cham-pionship, former Cal Poly San Luis Obispo teammates Garret Auproux and Jayson Amos con-quered Men’s Doubles, and sisters Maya and Regina Pitts (Inglewood) captured the Women’s Doubles title.

Robert Baylon and Katreina Cor-puz won in Mixed Doubles, while Peter and Colter Smith won the

League in Los Angeles, engag-ing more than 120 players. The league included combo rating leagues (7.0, 8.0, 9.0) to allow for a wider range of rating levels for the inaugural year. The league kicked off with a player party at Mountain Gate Country Club and was followed by an eight-week league season at Cheviot Hills and Griffith Park. During the season, multiple social mixers took place so that players had a chance to further get to know their team-mates and opponents off the ten-nis court. The season was capped off with a season-ending player party in Westwood.

The section also hosted four Sip

Father/Son Doubles title.

The NTRP Grand Prix was held at Lakewood Tennis Center in February. This event is reserved for the top Grand Prix point earners from the previous year Winners include: MEN — 3.5: Carlos Chavez; 4.0: Jerry Sabio; 4.5 Steve Harmon; 5.5: Esteban Altuna. WOM-EN — 3.0: Juliette Tamkin; 3.5: Yolanda Huapaya; 4.5: Amanda Lean NTRP Sectionals were played in June at Lakewood. Champions include: MEN — 3.5: Grady Shon; 4.0: Steven Linden-felser; 4.5: Joel Diaz; 5.0: Tony Hs; 5.5: Quynh Tran. WOMEN — 3.5: Karen Bron-son; 4.0: Laura Zoelle; 5.0: Tricia Mar. The USTA launched its inaugural 18-39

Former Cal Poly San Luis Obispo teammates Garret Auproux, above, and Jayson Amos won the Men’s Doubles at the Open Sectionals.

Warren Wood

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‘N Serve Series events in 2017 – San Diego, Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, and Irvine. The program runs as part of the USTA’s initiative to engage millennials in tennis – with low-pressure, high energy tennis clinic for players 18-39. Each series runs for 3+ weeks and

gram. Over 5,500 incoming stu-dents participated in WOW, which is the top-ranked university orien-tation program in the country. In an effort to showcase the bene-fits of recreational tennis to young adults, the SCTA secured a USTA national grant to pilot a program with new students (WOWies) and their student WOW leaders. In May, SCTA staffers, including Madeline Segura, Nancy Abrams, and Gina Havelka tested the program with 50 WOW student leaders and program directors, resulting in enthusiastic reviews and a “go” for WOW week. This year, 100 students participated in one on one red ball team tennis challenges, group games, and center court orange ball matches. From future collegiate track stars to budding architects and engi-neers, all had a great time while playing tennis and cheering on their fellow students.

includes a 1.5 hour of fun, sweat-pro-ducing tennis class followed by socializ-ing and networking at a local tavern.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) kicked off the new school year in September with the 60th annual Week of Welcome (WOW) new student orientation pro-

Wow: Week of Welcome at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Sip ‘N Serve Event10

Top-seed Ros Nideffer, the former two-time French Open doubles champion, won in straight sets to claim the 50s title at the USTA National Women’s 50-90 Hard Court Championships in San Di-ego. Other champions at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club included Susan Wright (60s), Brenda Car-ter (70s), Roz King (80s), and Rita Price (90s). Doubles champions include another win for Nideffer, who paired with Debbie Spen-ce-Nasim to claim the 50s tandem title, along with Robin Harris/Carolyn Nichols (60s), Catherine Anderson/Liane Bryson (70s), Roz King/Dori Devries (80s), and Eliza-beth Cookson/Rita Price (90s).

The Claremont Club hosted the 131st Southern California

Val Wilder in the 55s finale. Luiz Penna took home the Bronze Ball for singles. The No. 3 seeded team of Ross Hessler and Greg-ory Hing captured the Gold Ball in a 3-set thriller against the No. 1 seeds Fedderly and Tammen. Congratulations to Neil Levinson and Jeff Goldfien for winning the Bronze Ball. In what has become a favorite part of the Men’s 55s event Mike Fedderly and Mike Tammen defeated Brian Denny and Doug Ditmer in the Doubles tiebreak shootout. This year set a record for participation with 16 teams participating.

At the Ted Smyth USTA National Men’s 50s Hardcourts in Santa Barbara, fourth seed Peter Smith won 50s singles and then teamed with Mark Wooldridge to win the doubles crown. Smith did not lose a single set in either division

Senior Sectional Championships in March, where fourteen sectional titles were awarded. William Casas, the top seed, won Men’s 40s singles in straight sets as did No. 1 Larry Loeb (65s) and No. 1 Logan Jenkins (70s). Elson De Cantuaria (50s), Jerry Shevick (55s), Rollin Rhone (60s), Karel Placek (75s), and Johnny Sanchez (80s) were all title winners in 2017. Doubles tandems who reached the winner’s circle include Frank Seaberg/Wesley Simmons (75s), Chuck Nelson/Dennis Nielson (80s), Ken and Steven Landis (Father/Son), and Carl and Katie Chang (Father/Daughter). Curtis and Maria Cochran won the Hus-band and Wife Combo 100 Doubles.

At the USTA National 55s Hardcourts in Indian Wells, Mike Fedderly garnered yet another Gold Ball after winning a 3 hour, 25 minute marathon match against

Hiromi Sanano

Ros Nideffer

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throughout the event.

In Westlake Village, the USTA National Men’s 45s Hardcourts were won by San Jose’s Oren Motevassel, in straight sets over Jeff Tarango. SoCal’s Arthur Her-nandez and Carsten Hoffmann reached the final in doubles competition, falling to top seeds Brooks/Nadebaum.

American teams including six Southern Californians had a his-toric week at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla. as teams won seven of the nine titles at the 37th Internation-al Tennis Federation (ITF) Su-per-Seniors World Team Cham-pionships. Local competitors include Tina Karwasky of Glen-dale, part of the Team USA win over Austria to claim the Women’s 35 and over Kitty Godfree Cup. Charleen Hillebrand (Harbor City), Cathie Anderson (Del Mar), and team captain Suella Steel (La Jolla) claimed the Queens’ Cup over Great Britain in Women’s 75 and over. Roz King was part of the championship team that defeat-ed Canada to earn the Doris Hart

the trifecta that included previous wins with sons Tanner and Riley, both currently playing under the tutelage of their father at USC. San Diego’s Matthew Sah joined with his grandfather Poh Seng Tang to triumph as the No. 4 seed in the Grandfather/Grand-son competition. Their win over top-ranked Bruce and Ivor Man Son Hing (Calabasas/Glendale) capped a streak of eight consecu-tive sets to sweep the title. Other notable winners included Men’s 40s Doubles champions Neil Grover (Laguna Beach) and Arthur Hernandez (Huntington Beach), and Ros Nideffer and Debbie Spence-Nasim (Carlsbad), earned their top seed and triumphed in Women’s 40s Doubles.

Cup in the 80 and over division.

In both Women’s 75s and 80s, Southern Californians won trophies at the USTA Women’s Intersectionals at Boca Ra-ton. The 75s team, comprised of Cather-ine Andersen, Suella Steel, Teri Eggers, and Judy Janc, defeated Florida, while the 80s squad of Roz King, Shiela Palm-er, Barbara Oldfield, and Barbara Millik-en, knocked off Texas in the final.

At the Men and Women’s 40s Hard Court USTA National Championships, defending champion Hiromi Sasano (La Mesa), the Women’s 40s top seed and No. 3 seed in Mixed Doubles, did not drop a set en route to both champion-ship crowns, defeating Dina McBride (Valencia) in the final. She then teamed with Dann Battistone to secure the Mixed Doubles win over Tracie Currie (Ventura) and William Quest (Ventura). The 40s were not the only attraction in La Jolla, which annually hosts the Na-tional Father/Son and Grandfather/Grandson competitions as well. This year, USC Men’s Head Coach Peter Smith (Long Beach) accomplished a rare feat by winning Father/Son for the third time, with his third son, Colter. Their championship win over Kai and Kip Brady (Redondo Beach) completed

Peter Smith, pictured with son Tanner, won the National Father/Son title with his youngest boy Colter in 2017

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Tina Karwasky

The USTA Southern California section mixed doubles team from Manhattan Beach, Calif., was crowned champion at the USTA League 18 and Over 9.0 Mixed Doubles National Cham-pionships. Southern California defeated the Texas section team from Abilene, Texas, in the cham-pionship match, 2-1. Southern Cal-ifornia secured its spot in the final by defeating the Northern section team from St. Louis Park, Minn., 2-1, in the semifinals. Jarrod Quan captained the Southern California squad, which plays out of Live Oak Park After School Facility in Manhattan Beach. The team fea-tured members Royce Kim, Gayle Hollenbaugh, Kevin Wang, Katie Moore, Eugene Zhou, Patricia Sny-der, Margaret Adler, Helen Robin-son, Roy JR Bryan, Aya Sugimoto,

The USTA Southern California Sec-tion mixed doubles tennis team from San Diego captured the national title at the USTA League Adult 18 and Over Mixed Doubles 6.0 National Cham-pionships. The San Diego team defeated the Pacific Northwest section squad from Seattle, 2-1, in the 6.0 final. Earlier in the day, Southern California defeated the Mid-Atlantic section team from Highland, Md., 2-1, to secure its spot in the title match. The USTA Southern California mixed team was captained by Dahn Dang and featured Nguyen Nguyen, Kevin Nguyen, Vinh Dang, Kathy Nguy-en, Anne Dang, Kim Anh Nguyen, Nhuan Do and Sylvia Do.

Daiki Kumasegawa, Barry Dylewski, Jamie Chan, Hseih, Megan Nguyen, Catherine Knutson, JR Sarmiento, Emily Lu, Kyle MacLelland, Grant L. Chen, and Preethika Venugopal.

Quan Team 9.0 Sectional Champions

Mixed 18 and Over National Champions from San Diego13

There were plenty of highlights during 2017 for all the wheelchair and adaptive tennis players in Southern California. USTA SoCal sent a talented squad to meet our counterparts in North-ern California at the North South Wheelchair Challenge in Fresno. Defending champs Team SoCal was geared up to retain the cup, but the NorCal team was equally determined to bring the cup back home with them.

Led by co-captains Jerry Russell and Todd Hanover for the SoCal team and Dave Van Brunt for the NorCal team, the competition was friendly but intense. It’s more than competition for these players, as they know each other from play-ing in tournaments in California and throughout the western re-gion. As friends and competitors they attended a banquet after the first day of competition, discuss-ing the day’s matches, recognizing a player on each team for their sportsmanship and generally hav-ing a great time.

After 2 days of completion, Nor-Cal came up with the win, and a final score of 17-7. Tennis Ware-house Sportsmanship winners were Michael Garafola for the South and Fabian Acosta for the North, both popular choices

nis players.

On the International front, the World Team Cup is the Davis Cup and Fed Cup of wheelchair tennis, an annual affair that brings to-gether countries from around the world to compete in the men’s, women’s, quad and junior divi-sions. SoCal was well represented with Dana Mathewson and Lauren Haneke-Hopps, both from San Diego, representing Team USA at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Sardinia, Italy. Team USA entered the competition seeded 10th (out of 12 teams) but battled past the competition and earned their first medal at a World Team Cup since 2003.

among the players.

USTA Southern California once again teamed up with First Serve Santa Ana, Kiwanis Club of Santa Ana and Santa Ana Unified School District for the 2nd Annual Adaptive Tennis Day. Held at McFadden Intermediate School, more than 125 kids hit the courts to give tennis a try. Kids in wheelchairs, deaf kids, kids with Autism spectrum disor-der, they all hit the courts and a great time was had by all. Lunch was served, a DJ played live music, and all the kids received medals. It was truly a magical day, bringing tennis to so many kids who had never even imagined they could play a sport. Not only did they have a fun day, but more importantly they learned that they too could be ten-

Dana Mathewson, Lauren Haneke-Hopps (pictured at left) and the US Team

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UCLA Bruin Tennis Club leaders Arjun Sarkar and Kelly Chan orga-nized the 2nd Annual Tennis On Campus (TOC) Charity Tourna-ment, welcoming 80 players and raising more than $2,000 for L.A.-based Shelter Partnership Inc., an organization that battles the city’s growing homelessness rates. Sark-ar and Chan’s work earned them both SCTA Tennis On Campus Service Awards.

Young people are always looking for ways to give back, and the SCTA TOC group is now tapping into tennis resources to make it happen. SoCal TOC players partic-ipated in two other charity events in 2017, both hosted by Courts for Life, which was founded by a UC Irvine TOC alumnus.

At the SCTA Tennis On Campus Sectionals, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo claimed the Southern Cal-ifornia title, beating out UCLA in the finals for the second-straight year. The tournament was held at Barnes Tennis Center and Penin-sula Tennis Club in San Diego, a big change from previous years in Claremont. Overall, 23 teams competed and five Southern Cal-ifornia schools earned bids to the National Championships in April, including Cal Poly’s Mustangs,

In the end, the Anteaters might have lost their final match, but the team did end up winning over an entire stadium full of people with their gracious demeanors and hopeful hearts.

As the 2017-18 school year opened, students began to lay the groundwork for another jam-packed TOC season. Each individual school started work-ing on team recruitment, held tryouts, and began coordinating team practices. Major changes for the year included a revamped Tennis On Campus website and new parameters for hosting SoCal tournaments.

During the last few months of the year, TOC SoCal schools hosted three tournaments in the so-called “offseason.” Cal Poly San Luis Obispo held their annual event to kick off the fall calendar. San Diego State and Pepperdine held events back to back in November.

We anticipate another exciting year for Tennis On Campus in 2018, starting with the 3rd Annu-al Charity Tournament and UCI’s annual winter warm-up ahead of Sectional Championships. The Championships will be held again this year at Balboa Tennis Club in San Diego.

UCLA, UC Irvine, USC, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara.

The 2017 National Championships were held at the USTA’s new National Campus at Lake Nona Orlando. South-ern California schools had a strong showing, with two teams finishing in the top three in the nation.

The UC Irvine Anteaters ended their season as TOC National finalists. For many, the team was unexpected con-tenders for the title. The Anteaters placed third at the Sectional Champi-onships, but forged through Nationals with the title in mind. They were the No. 2 seed in their pool, but easily won their match against top-seed University of Virginia and the three other teams. In the Gold Draw, UCI beat UPenn, Geor-gia, and Minnesota. They faced a domi-nant team from University of Michigan in the finals. Throughout the entire match, TOC players from all over the country were cheering for the SoCal underdogs.

UC Irvine TOC National Finalists

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College tennis just does not get any better than it did on a warm late April evening in Ojai where the final of the Pac-12 Men’s Championship was contested. In a match for the ages at the history-steeped Ojai Tennis Tour-nament, USC freshman Brandon Holt outlasted UCLA senior Gage Brymer, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, at No. 1 singles to clinch the conference title for No. 7 USC, 4-3, over No. 5 UCLA before a standing-room-on-ly crowd at Libbey Park.

With Los Angeles resident Emma Higuchi in the starting lineup all year, No. 1 Stanford captured the inaugural 2017 women’s tennis team championship with a 4-1 win over No. 2 California at The Ojai. The regular season champions secured the first ever conference team title and an automatic NCAA bid in the victory.

Other 2017 Highlights:

Competing in only their sec-ond tournament together, the top-seeded duo of Oklahoma State seniors Lucas Gerch and Arjun Kadhe captured the 128th Annual Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Stanford’s Jack Barber and William Genesen in the final at La Jolla Beach and

Southern California was well rep-resented at the in the annual Mas-ter’U BNP Paribas International Collegiate Team Competition held in Marcq-en-Baroeul, France. Team members included UCLA’s Ena Shibahara, Pepperdine’s Ashley Lahey, USC’s Brandon Holt and UCLA’s Martin Redlicki.

The best of college tennis were welcomed to the desert for the first annual Oracle ITA National Fall Championships played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Flor-ida International University senior Andrea Lazaro beat Duke’s Sa-mantha Harris to win the women’s singles final. Nuno Borges of Mis-sissippi State claimed the men’s singles title with a straight-set victory over No. 3 Petros Chryso-chos of Wake Forest. Borges, the top seed in the tournament, did not drop a set all week en route to the national championship.

Former Loyola Marymount coach Jamie Sanchez helped bring men’s and women’s tennis back to Marymount California University, the small private college located in Rancho Palos Verdes. Mary-mount has grown substantially since ending its tennis program in 2006 as enrollment has dou-bled, with about 1500 students from more than 20 states and 20 countries.

Tennis Club.

USC women’s tennis head coach Rich-ard Gallien, a 5-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, announced in March that his 22-year tenure with the Trojans would end at the conclusion of the 2017 season. During his USC career, each of Gallien’s teams advanced into the NCAA tourney, with 3 appearing in the semifinals and 5 others making it to the quarterfinals. Under his watch, USC has finished in the national Top 20 rankings 19 times, including 11 Top 10 placings.

Alison Swain, who built a women’s ten-nis dynasty at Williams College by lead-ing the Massachusetts school to eight NCAA Division III championships, was named Gallien’s replacement at USC.

At the SoCal Intercollegiate Champi-onships, Azusa Pacific University’s Oliver Frank defeated USC No. 1 Brandon Holt in the singles final at USC, 6-3, 6-4.

Holt did pick up a big win during the fall season as he captured the ITA Oracle Masters event played at the Malibu Rac-quet Club. Ena Shibahara was a singles finalists, falling to North Carolina’s Allie Sanford.

Qualifier Fernanda Contreras of Vander-bilt won the annual Riviera/ITA Wom-en’s All-American Championships with Duke’s Ellyse Hamiln and Kaitlyn McCar-thy taking the doubles title.

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The rising and future stars of the ATP and WTA Tours returned to the Southern California courts in 2017 as numerous USTA Pro Circuit events were contested, from Templeton to Ranch Santa Fe. Young players looking to earn valuable ranking points, including many top juniors and local college players, entered qualifying tour-naments and tried to earn their way into the main draw to get that first-round win and earn their first coveted ATP or WTA Tour point. SoCal names were in headlines among Pro Futures in 2017, including champions Kayla Day (Santa Barbara), Keegan Smith (UCLA), Bradley Klahn (Poway), Karue Sell (UCLA), and Deiton Baughman (Carson). Two former UCLA Bruins, Mackenzie McDon-ald and Marcos Giron (Thousand Oaks) won the Third Annual Southern California USTA Pro

Doubles: Austin Krajiceck (USA) / Jack Withrow (USA)

Los Cab Pro FuturesSingles: Ronnie Schneider (USA) Doubles: Ronnie Schneider (USA) / Elliott Orkin (USA)

Templeton Tennis Ranch ChallengerSingles: Sachia Vickery (USA) Doubles: Kaitlyn Christian (USA / Giuliana Olmos (USA)

Futures events in Los Angeles and Long Beach, respectively. The action began on the first day of the year and local SoCal fans were treated to 14 days of non-stop pro tennis action.

Morgan Run Women’s OpenBianca Andreescu (Canada)Doubles: Kayla Day (USA) / Carolina Dolehide (USA)

Laguna Niguel Pro FuturesSingles: Ryan Shane (USA)Doubles: Ronnie Schneider (USA) / Ryan Shane (USA)

Southern California Pro Futures Singles: Mackenzie McDonald (USA) Doubles: Yannick Hanfmann (Germany) / Roberto Quiroz (Ecuador)

Bakersfield Men’s OpenSingles: Dmitry Popko (Kazakhstan) Doubles: Patrick Kawka (USA) / Keegan Smith (USA) Calabasas Pro FuturesSingles: Sebastian Fanselow (USA) Dou-bles: Bradley Klahn (Poway) / Connor Smith (USA)

Claremont Club Pro ClassicSingles: Karue Sell (USA)Doubles: Deiton Baughman (USA) / Karue Sell (USA)

Long Beach Pro FuturesSingles: Marcos Giron (USA)

SC Pro Futures Winner: Mackenzie McDonald (center)

Morgan Run Open Singles Finalists: Bianca Andreescu & Kayla Day

Templeton Tennis Ranch Challenger Doubles Champions: Kaitlyn Christian

(left) & Giuliana Olmos (right) 17

The SDDTA is the local affiliate of the SCTA and the USTA.

The Rancho Penasquitos Tennis Club was named as one of 12 winners in the 36th annual USTA Facility Awards program, which recognizes excellence in the construction and/or renovation of tennis facilities throughout the country.

Four deserving San Diego Coun-ty residents were honored at the SCTA Annual Meetings for their contributions to the game, includ-ing: Alberto Ramos (Eugene Jung Multicultural Award), Neil Johnson (Grassroots Junior Tennis Award), and Cheryl Olivas-Deili and Lois Sczepaniak (Community Tennis NJTL Award). At the San Diego USPTA Awards in March, the following were honored: Pro of the Year: Juan Garcia; Player of the Year: Franco Castejon; High School Coach of the Year: Keith Barksdale; Com-munity Service Award: Steve Kappes; Facility of the Year: El Toyon Tennis Club. It was a big year for USTA Adult Leagues in San Diego. Top honors were earned by nine teams at the Southern California Sectionals,

pro Amanda Fink, a former tour player and ITA All-America pick. The goal was to hear from the professionals about many types of tennis opportunities at the collegiate level including NCAA Division I, II and III schools, USTA’s Tennis on Campus program, NAIA opportunities, the importance of fitness, and the benefits of Community College tennis.

Two Southern California high school students -- Julia Ronney of Patrick Henry High and Eunice Lei of Scripps Ranch High – were honored by the USTA Foundation for outstanding achievement in community service and junior tennis. The USTA Foundation, which is the national charitable division of the USTA, granted a total of 31 scholarship to deserving high school students totaling $300,000 in college scholarships.

The 17th Annual San Diego District Tennis Association Tennis Fest honored Dick Enberg, a longtime area resident and famed tennis commentator, with the prestigious Ben Press Award. Hall of Famer Pam Shriver, presented Enberg with the award during a special on-court presentation. Sadly Mr. Enberg passed away later in the year (see page 24).

and they qualified to represent SoCal at USTA Nationals. Rancho Bernardo Sum-mit earned the 6.0 Mixed Doubles Na-tional Championship. The Tierrasanta Tennis Club Tri-level Ladies Team cap-tained by Debbie Fitzgerald took home the SoCal Section Championships in Claremont. The team format combines players at the 4.5, 4.0 and 3.5 levels competing as a team against players at the same level. Tierrasanta’s win was the first season San Diego teams competed in this league.

The combined efforts of an enthusias-tic tennis community and key support groups rallied to renovate the Valley Center Tennis Club, where a play day and ribbon-cutting ceremony were held to celebrate the six-court facility in North San Diego. The community event featured a Family Tennis Day followed by the unveiling of the newly resurfaced facility to enhance tennis opportunities in the area.

It was history in the making as age and experience reigned at the 89th Annual San Diego District Championships at Balboa Tennis Club. Veteran players and coaches Ryan Keckley and Curt Wheeler were crowned the Men’s Open Doubles Champions in a tough 32-team draw.

A College Knowledge workshop was held at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego. The event was sponsored by the USTA and organized by USPTA

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There were many memorable mo-ments, both off and on the courts in 2017 with Southern Californians making headlines both at home and abroad.

Laguna Beach businessman Eric Davidson purchased the My-lan WorldTeam Tennis Orange County Breakers. Davidson who was born and raised in Southern California and is an accomplished tennis player and was once ranked at the senior level.

The Easter Bowl celebrated a milestone year as the tournament turned 50 years old in 2017. The tournament is played each year end of March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) named the City of Irvine as its Public Facility of the Year during the 2017 PTR International Tennis Symposium. The City offers the only free public tennis courts in Orange County and is one of the largest city run tennis program in the United States with a popula-tion under 250,000.

SCTA Executive Director Bruce Hunt announced his retirement. Serving in the role since August of 2013, Hunt retired to San Diego where his wife is an administrator at San Diego State University.

son Colter to win the father-son and Robert Baylon and Katreina Corpuz took the mixed doubles.

Ashley Kratzer of Newport Beach won the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego beating Kelly Chen of Cerritos in three sets. Kratzer won a USTA gold ball and a wild card into the US Open main draw. Redondo Beach’s Taylor Johnson and Clair Liu of Thou-sand Oaks won the doubles title.

UCLA Associated Men’s Coach Grant Chen traveled with four UCLA players as members of UCLA as part of the World Uni-versity Games in Taipei, Taiwan. Logan Staggs, Martin Redlicki,

San Diego resident Lornie Kuhle was named the new tournament director of the USTA Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships. Kuhle said he hoped to raise the profile of an already presti-gious event, just like he has the annual Adidas Easter Bowl.

Warren Wood of Del Mar defeated Daniel Kosakowski of Downey to win the 131st Annual Southern California Open Sectionals. In men’s doubles, Robert Baylon (Buena Park) and Patrick John Tierro (Costa Mesa) beat Cecil Ma-miit (Pasadena) and Jack Pulliam (Man-hattan Beach). Kelly Chen of Cerritos won the women’s title, beating Jwany Sherif of Huntington Beach. Regina Pitts and Maya Pitts of Inglewood took the doubles title. Peter Smith teamed with

Taylor Johnson 19

Terri Fleming and Jada Hart represented the United States admirably, with Staggs and Hart taking home the bronze medal after falling in the semifinals to Slovakia, 10-7, in a super tiebreak-er after splitting sets. Staggs and Redlicki advance to the Round of 16 in singles and doubles and Fleming and Hart won two rounds in singles.

For the second straight season, the two Mylan World TeamTen-nis franchises advanced to the year-end championship with the Orange County Breakers aveng-ing their 2016 loss to the San Di-ego Aviators by taking the title in 2017, 22-18, at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad.

National Award Winners

Hollis Smith of Indio was selected as the recipient of the USTA Eve F. Kraft Community Service Award. Smith was honored at an awards luncheon involving community tennis leaders during the annual Next Generation Workshop in Orlando. Smith has been a fixture in the Southern California tennis world for more than five decades, playing an integral role in making tennis available to minorities in

impressive array of Sportsman-ship Awards throughout his junior career, most recently at the 2017 Maze Cup competition between USTA’s Northern and Southern California sections, where Sah was voted the unanimous winner by the opposing NorCal team.

Former USC star Daniel Nguyen had an amazing three-week span during the month of June on the ITF Pro Circuit reeling off 15 straight singles wins to capture three Futures titles in Korea and Chinese Taipei.

Three SoCal students were award-ed with grants based on their submissions of USTA Multicultur-al Individual Essays. These are prestigious awards emphasizing scholar/athlete balance, with en-tries from all USTA sections across United States. Kaylee Kang, a 16-year old from Fullerton, penned an essay entitled “Deuces over Doubts” to earn the Asian-Amer-ican Scholar Athlete Leadership Grant. Jourdan Wallace, 16, of Pasadena authored “Why I Em-body the Spirit of Althea” to earn the Althea Gibson Leadership Grant. Ethan Lopez, a 13-year old from Alhambra, was awarded the Pancho Gonzalez Scholar-Ath-lete Grant for his essay on reflect-ing the courage and leadership of the two-time US Open champion.

Los Angeles.

Steve Solomon of Palm Springs received the USTA Annual Seniors’ Service Award. Solomon was recognized during the USTA Annual Meeting and Conference for his outstanding ded-ication and contributions in growing the sport of tennis at the local level. For many years, Solomon has hosted some of the most popular senior tournaments in the nation, including the Husband and Wife Doubles Championships in Rancho Mirage.

Timothy Sah of San Diego was the recipient of 2017’s Bill Talbert Junior Sportsmanship Award. The highly prestigious national honor was present-ed at a ceremony during the U.S. Open in New York. Sah, 17, has compiled an

Jourdan Wallace

Hollis Smith and Katrina Adams

Kelly Chen

20

Back row, l to r: Stella Sampras-Webster, Bill Kellogg, Rod Laver, Ken Stuart, Bob Kramer, Lornie Kuhle (for Bobby Riggs). From row, l to r: Debbie Graham-Shaffer, Fran

Talbert (for Henry Talbert), Annette and Jim Buck.

On a picturesque autumn evening overlooking the Pacific Ocean, twelve champions of Southern California tennis were inducted to the SCTA Hall of Fame, with hun-dreds of friends and colleagues in attendance.

Held at the Hyatt Regency Hun-tington Beach Resort and Spa, the gala continued a tradition which began in 1968 and brought the total number of Hall of Fame hon-orees to ninety-six. Hosted by the great Grand Slam doubles cham-pion and tennis broadcaster Pam Shriver, the evening’s festivities brought both laughter and a few tears, across a spectrum of names representing professional, colle-giate, and regional tennis greats.

Jim and Annette Buck

Jim and Annette Buck, long a part of Southern California’s tennis tapestry, have enjoyed successful careers as coaches and mentors for decades.

Debbie Graham Shaffer

Debbie Graham Shaffer, a former Stanford standout, ranked as high as No. 5 in the world doubles rankings and No. 35 in singles.

William “Bill” Kellogg

William “Bill” Kellogg, served as co-chair of the USTA Davis Cup and Fed Cup Committee, and on the Board of Directors of USTA Southern California since 1982. Robert “Bob” Kramer

Robert “Bob” Kramer, former Execu-tive Director of SCTA, and Tournament Director for the ATP Men’s professional event in Los Angeles.

Bob Kramer

21

Rod Laver

Rod Laver, eleven-time Grand Slam and two-time US Open champion.

Stella Sampras-Webster

UCLA women’s head coach Stella Sampras-Webster, a four-time All-American for the school, only the second player in school histo-ry to attain this status.

Ken Stuart

Ken Stuart, former NCAA All American at Long Beach State University, who also competed in the US Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open during his career.

Posthumous inductees include Helen Pastall Perez, who was ranked in the World Top 10 in 1949, and Herb Flam, the first Bruin tennis player to capture individual NCAA titles in both singles and doubles in the same year. Bobby Riggs was most notable for his role in the “Battle of the Sexes” with Billie Jean King,

award to a boisterous ovation. And Jim Buck, with his wife An-nette, regarded their Hall of Fame induction as a celebration of his entire family’s accomplishments in the game.

Lornie Kuhle spoke glowingly of his colorful friend Bobby Riggs while also praising the accom-plishments of other posthumous inductees, including UCLA great Herb Flam and two-time Pacific Southwest champion Helen Pastall Perez.

Rod Laver, the Aussie legend who now lives in Carlsbad as a staunch supporter of SoCal tennis, capped the evening with memories of ten-nis greats including Roy Emerson, who was in attendance.

The SCTA also acknowledged three talented juniors, each a re-cipient of USTA National Multicul-tural Scholar Athlete Essay Grants in 2017. Kaylee Kang of Fullerton, Jourdan Wallace of Pasadena, and Ethan Lopez of Alhambra received warm praise as represen-tatives of student-athlete achieve-ment in Southern California.

provoking awareness of gender equality in the game. Former SCTA Executive Di-rector Henry Talbert, a life-long tennis player with a game developed on pub-lic park courts, first began working for the USTA in 1974, and became the first African-American to be a USTA adminis-trator on the national level.

It was a night full of memorable mo-ments. Stella Sampras Webster, the leg-endary head coach of UCLA Women’s Tennis, was emotional when remember-ing her former mentor and coaching predecessor Bill Zaima. Debbie Graham Shaffer treading heavily on her Rod La-ver tennis shoes as a youngster, so her parents would buy her new ones — yet what she got was a bottle of ShoeGoo to mend the damage. Then there were the tender moments, like Ken Stuart recounting a time when his son reluc-tantly conceded an important match to his opponent over a questionable call, simply because his father had taught him the gentleman’s rule.

Bill Kellogg and Bob Kramer, each from well-known tennis families, remembered their fathers with generous tributes. The family of posthumous inductee and former SCTA Director Henry Talbert, including his wife Fran, received his

Jim and Annette Buck

Ken Stuart

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Steve Johnson, Sr.

Steve Johnson, Sr., of Orange, the beloved mentor, coach, and father to ATP pro “Stevie” John-son, Jr., passed away peacefully in May. He was 58. Johnson was a well know Southern California tennis coach, offering guidance and wisdom to eager students for nearly 40 years. He operated the Steve Johnson Tennis Academy in Orange County, and most recently helped guide the Golden West Tennis Academy in Huntington Beach. Among the most recogniz-able figures around ATP events, Johnson followed the career of

US Championship finals seven times, passed away in Carlsbad in November, at the age of 96. A native of Ecuador who overcame multiple physical hardships as a child, Segura was known for his speedy footwork and powerful stroke. In an era which included Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzales, and Bobby Riggs, Segura played brilliantly against his most tal-ented contemporaries, with that same combination of speed and power, studying his opponent’s grips and movement to negotiate even the most difficult of winning

his son from childhood, to collegiate play at USC, and to the pro ranks as young Stevie’s number one fan. Yet his influence as a personable and experi-enced coach to players of all ages will serve as his lasting legacy. In the week before his passing, Johnson logged more than fifty hours on court, devel-oping young athletes and urging his elder students to compete and enjoy the game.

Pancho Segura

Francisco Olegario “Pancho” Segura, staunch competitor who reached the

Steve Johnson, Sr. at the Ojai Tennis Championships

Pancho Segura23

to bring tennis to underserved youth just like the children she taught at the Raymond Avenue School in South Los Angeles. Since 2008, Kimmelman has served on the USTAF Board of Directors and co-chaired the USTAF West Coast Pro Am. She was an annual support-er of the US Open Opening Night Gala. Mrs. Kimmelman was a grad-uate of the University of Southern California and played on the Tro-jans’ 1983 national championship team.

Mike Walden

Mike Walden, of Tarzana, the for-mer voice of tennis’ Los Angeles Open and best known for his cov-erage of the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins, passed away in February 12 following a stroke. He was 89. After starting his broadcast career in the Midwest, Walden came to the west coast to become the voice of Trojan athletics. He briefly worked as a broadcaster for the Los Ange-les Dodgers before bringing his voice to Westwood as play-by-play announcer at UCLA, the first person in history to serve as the broadcast voice of both universities. Decked out in his trademark colorful jack-ets, Walden served as the voice of the LA Open in the 1990s, and was an avid tennis player himself.

shots. Segura won the US Cham-pionship three consecutive times on three different surfaces, begin-ning in 1950. In total, Segura won more than 1200 singles matches and captured 66 career titles, including three US Pro titles and a French Pro title, while reaching four championship matches at the Wembley Pro. As an amateur, he reached the US Open final four times, and appeared in four Grand Slam doubles finals in the 1940s. He is regarded for having shaped the game of Grand Slam cham-pion Jimmy Connors, and taught tennis at the Beverly Hills Country Club to a who’s who of Hollywood greats.

Dick Enberg

Dick Enberg, of La Jolla, the Hall of Fame broadcaster whose voice painted the picture of nearly every competitive broadcast sport, died suddenly in December at his Southern California home. He was 82. The longtime voice of Wimble-don broadcasts for two decades, and the US Open for eleven years, Mr. Enberg called play-by-play for all four tennis Majors during his illustrious career. He was in the booth when two undefeated college basketball teams, UCLA and Houston, met for a nationally televised showdown in 1968 that spearheaded network coverage

of college athletics for television. The press booth at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion is named in his honor. Mr. Enberg also called San Diego Padres baseball at the end of his broadcasting career, until his retirement in 2016.

Carol Richardson Kimmelman

Carol Richardson Kimmelman, a mem-ber of the USTA Foundation Advisory Board and recipient of the Foundation’s inaugural National Service Award, passed away at her home in Rancho Santa Fe on January 6 following a long illness. A former teacher, gifted ath-lete, and mother of four, Kimmelman’s passion was tennis, and her dream was

Mike Walden

Carol Richardson Kimmelman

Dick Enberg

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SCTA General Information(301) 208-3838 info@scta.usta.com

SCTA Staff Linda Milan: Interim Executive Director (310) 824-5139 lmilan@scta.usta.comFlorence Nakao: Controller (310) 209-5911, florencen@scta.usta.comCari Buck: Marketing Director(310) 824-1633, cbuck@scta.usta.comDarryl Nash: Communications Coordinator (310) 209-5914, dnash@scta.usta.comMarjorie Levin: Office Coordinator (310) 824-7640, mlevin@scta.usta.comWill Mauriz: Finance Assistant(310) 824-7625, whifflers@scta.usta.comLoren Nelson: Digital Communications & Media (310) 208-3838, sctatennis@nelsonecom.com

Adult TennisLinda Milan: Director, Adult Tennis (310) 824-5139, lmilan@scta.usta.comMadeline Segura: Assistant Director, Adult Tennis (310) 208-3668, segura@scta.usta.com Ali Ordonez: Section League Coordinator (310) 208-3582, alio@scta.usta.comMary Gastro: Coordinator, Adult Competition (310) 209-5900, gastro@scta.usta.comMaria Goldberg: Adult Tennis Coordinator (310) 209-5913, goldberg@scta.usta.com

Junior TennisTrevor Kronemann: Director, Junior Tennis (310) 208-3942, tkronemann@scta.usta.comAi Takamori Malawy: Assist. Dir., Jr. Competition (310) 824-7630, takamori@scta.usta.comKen Grassel: Manager, Junior Team Tennis (310) 209-5915, grassel@scta.usta.comMegan Heneghan: Coordinator, Junior Tennis (310) 824-2559, heneghan@scta.usta.com

Megan Broccolo: Coordinator, Red/Orange/Green Ball (310) 209-5916, broccolo@scta.usta.comBarbara Estes: Coordinator, Jr. Tournaments and Ranking (310) 209-5917, barbarae@scta.usta.comMartha Katsufrakis: Coordinator, Jr. Tournaments (310) 209-5912, marthak@scta.usta.com

Community TennisMelanie Bischoff: Director, Community Development (310) 824-5126, bischoff@scta.usta.comEvan Smith: Assist. Director Community TennisNJTL/Diversity & Inclusion Manager (310) 824-5660, esmith@scta.usta.comTiffany Geller Reed: Manager of Schools Tennis (310) 209-5909, geller@scta.usta.com

TGA Premier Youth TennisNancy Abrams: Area Director, Area Director/Program Manager (310) 209-5910, abrams@scta.usta.comAmy Feder: Administrative Coordinator (209) 824-5905, amy.feder@scta.usta.comKevin Finkelberg: Coaching & Program Coordinator (310) 823-2970, finkelberg@scta.usta.com

Tennis Service RepresentativesCentral Coast TSR: Gina Havelka (310) 209-5902, havelka@scta.usta.comCoachella Valley TSR: D’Wayne Begay (310) 209-5901, begay@scta.usta.comInland Empire TSR: Tony Chatfield (310) 209-5906, chatfield@scta.usta.comLong Beach/South Bay TSR: Tiffany Mai (310) 209-5903, tmai@scta.usta.com Los Angeles County TSR: Aisling Bowyer (310) 208-4101, abowyer@scta.usta.comOrange County TSR: Spencer Wayman (310) 209-5907, swayman@scta.usta.comSan Diego/Imperial Counties TSR: Karen Ronney (310) 209-5904, ronney@scta.usta.comSan Gabriel Valley TSR: Donald Wong (310) 209-5908, dwong@scta.usta.com

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Tennis TournamentA Big Society Event At Santa Monica This Week.

The first annual tournament of the Southern California Tennis Association begins atSanta Monica tomorrow, and lasts four days. It will be a gorgeous affair socially, and will be contested by the leading tennis players of the southern coast. The grounds are fitted up “regardless,” and a large turnout is anticipated. There will be a grand ball at the Hotel Arcadia tomorrow evening. The lady patronesses of the tournament are Mrs. Senator John P. Jones, Mrs. Srcadia B. de Baker, Mrs. John E. Plater, Mrs J. Downey Harvey, Mrs. Patrick Robertson, Mrs. Thomas Rhoades.

LoS AngELES, TuESDAy MoRnIng, AuguST 30, 1887

ph: (310) 208-3838 | www.scta.usta.com | fax: (310) 824-7691Facebook: USTASouthernCalifornia & SCTAJuniorTennis

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The Aug. 30, 1887, front-page edition of the Los Angeles Times first mentioned the Southern California Tennis Association before its first tournament in Santa Monica. The SCTA has come a long way since then, and in July of 2018 the 132nd edition of the SCTA Open Sectionals will be played. The SCTA looks forward to another amazing year in 2018, and we hope to see you on the courts!

Edited by Steve Pratt, Darryl Nash and Cari Buck; Designed by Jessica Roland PrattEdited by Steve Pratt, Darryl Nash and Cari Buck; Designed by Jessica Roland Pratt