Brian Baker has been recognized as the Old Spice Athlete of the Month. Brian has held the top spot in the Boys' 18s for most of the last two years, winning 12 singles trophies during that time. Brian has also picked up a number of ITF doubles titles, the latest of which was the Astrid Bowl with partner Brendan Evans.

The LTA International Junior Tennis Championships finished up in time for Wimbledon. In the boys' singles final, Germany's Phillip Petszchner edged by Marcos Bashdatis of Cyprus, 7-6(6),7-6(3). Vera Douchevina had an easier time against fellow Russian Maria Sharapova in the girls' singles, 6-1,6-1. The boys' doubles final was Martin Felder/Martin Vilarrubi of Uruguay over Martin Stiegwardt/Christopher Westerhof, while American girls Carly Gullickson/Jamea Jackson took their doubles event.

Scholarships for the 2002-03 tennis season are still available for the following teams:
Old Dominican Univesity-Men and women's players. Contact Coach Michael Bonnell at MichaelB@columbus.rr.com.
Salem International University-Women's players. Contact Coach Toni Oliverio at Oliverio@faculty.salemiu.edu.

Hometown favorite Anna-Lena Groenefeld took the girls' singles at the 10th Internaitonal Junior Tournament of Frankfurt. The Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych was the boys' singles winner. Doubles titles at the event went to Bastian Koch/Lars Poerschke of Germany, an unseeded pair, and Maarit Nieminen/Piia Suomalainen from Finland.

The match formats for the July and November USTA National Open Championships have been revised to include the following:
Singles-Best of three Tie-Break sets with a Super Tie-Break in lieu of a third set; Doubles-8-game Pro Set with a Super Tie-Break at eight games all.
For more information, contact the USTA Junior Competition Department at jrcomp@playdev.usta.com.

Note: We have begun publishing winners from the Eastern Section tournaments. Photos and listings will be updated at the Eastern Section Page. All winners will be posted when the information is received.