Tag: College Tennis

Best College Tennis Players in Country Go Unnoticed in Boulder

horvath 1 Comment

The best college tennis players in the country recently went unnoticed in Boulder. The  city has a poor track record of supporting (watching) great sports performances.  Boulderites would rather play than watch – which isn’t all bad.

Over a 10 day period (March 14th to March 24th) Colorado tennis fans had an opportunity to see the future of American women’s professional tennis in Boulder as the 74th-ranked Lady Buffs tennis team played USC (12th), Cal (16th), UCLA (2), and Stanford (4). Eleven of the PAC-12 visiting opponents are currently in the top 30 of the ITA singles rankings.

Zoe Scandalis, #1 Player USC, against CU Buffs. Scandalis is one of the top college tennis players in the country.
Zoe Scandalis, #1 Player, University of Southern California, in match against CU Lady Buffs.

The USC powerhouse is led by #1 player Zoe Scandalis (see photo) and includes a group of 9 elite junior players from California and 1 player from Mississippi. All were highly-ranked junior players who participated in a variety of USTA programs.

On the other hand Cal’s team is comprised of a mix of accomplished American and International players. For example, Hungarian Zsofi Susanyi, #3 singles player, advanced to the singles finals at the 2009 Junior Wimbledon.

The Stanford team includes 5 Californians, two East Coast players, and a Canadian. Three of the six players (Krista Hardebeck, Carol Zhao, and Carolyn Doyle) played in various junior Grand Slams and Kristie Ahn, #1 player, played in the main draw of the U.S. Open.

UCLA is coached by Stella Sampras, older sister of Pete Sampras. All six Bruin players (Robin Anderson, Jennifer Brady, Catherine Harrison, Chanelle Van Nguyen, Kyle McPhillips, and Courtney Dolehide) played in multiple junior Grand Slam events. In addition, one player played in the main draw of the U.S. Open. All of the players except Dolehide are currently in the top 50 of the singles ITA rankings.

It is disappointing that there weren’t more people in attendance to watch some great college tennis by the Buffs and their opponents. (Average estimated attendance for the four matches was less than 200 people.)

It is an even greater travesty that the Colorado tennis community doesn’t give the Lady Buffs the ongoing support the team deserves!

 

 

Are Women’s College Coaches Looking for Mercenaries to Fill Their Tennis Rosters?

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Right or wrong, PAC 12 women’s tennis coaches are looking outside their state to fill their tennis rosters.

The short report “Gender of Coaches and Residence of Players – PAC 12 Tennis 2013” looked at the rosters of PAC schools during the month of April 2013 and found that 32.7% of the players were in-state. Of the 101 players, 26.7% were out-of-state and the remaining 40.6% were foreign players.

A majority of the USC and Stanford players were in-state (8 of 11 and 7 of 8). Four schools did not have any in-state players, including both Washington schools, Arizona, and Oregon. ASU only had 1 in-state player.

Stanford had no foreign players and USC only had one player from out of the country.  More than half the players on the Arizona, Oregon, California, Washington, and WSU teams were from foreign countries.

For a similar analysis on men’s tennis go to the post “Are There Too Many Hired Guns in Men’s College Tennis?“

Are There Too Many Hired Guns in Men’s College Tennis?

horvath 1 Comment

The short report “” evaluates whether PAC 12 schools are bringing in “hired guns” to make their men’s tennis programs successful. The analysis evaluated rosters published on athletic websites in April 2013.

Only 8 schools in the PAC 12 had men’s programs (ASU, CU, OSU, and WSU did not have men’s programs).  Of the 88 players listed on the rosters, 32 players, or 36.4%, were in-state and 17 players, or 19.3%, were out-of-state.  In other words, 55.7% of the players were Americans and 44.3% were from other countries.

All schools had at least 1 in-state player. Only UCLA and California players had 50% or more in-state players.   Stanford and Washington had the least number of foreign players (3 of 13 and 3 of 11). At least half of the USC, Oregon, Arizona, and Utah players were from other countries.

Clearly, most men’s programs (at least in the PAC 12) look outside their state to find players to build their program. The effectiveness of this tactic might be debatable in situations where programs need to build local fan or alumni support.

For a similar analysis on women’s tennis go to the post “Are Women’s Tennis Coaches Looking for Mercenaries to Fill Their Rosters?”

 

College Tennis in Jeopardy?

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On the heels of a report by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the Tennis Industry Association (TIA), the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released an update on the number of programs that have been dropped in college tennis.

The ITA report stated, “During the first decade of our research study (1970-1980), we have record of 6 programs being dropped. In the next decade (1981-1991), the rate of elimination increased ten-fold, with 60 known programs dropped. In the next decade (1992-2002), the rate of program elimination almost quadrupled, with 209 known programs dropped and more than 40% of these programs (92) dropped in the last three years of the decade. In addition, 175 programs were dropped over two decades (1981-2002), with precise years unknown. The trend of dropped programs appears to be continuing, with 120 programs known to have been dropped during the past eight years.”

College tennis is essential to the tennis industry. Many teaching professionals are former college players and a few even go on to play of the circuit. In many areas, college players coach in community and recreation programs and add to the quality of play in local tournaments during the offseason.

The ITA has provided a list of schools that have dropped programs, added them, and programs that are in jeopardy. It is UGLY!

On a positive note, the ITA is seeking advocates to speak out on behalf of college tennis. If you care about the sport then go to the ITA website and complete a form indicating your willingness to support their efforts.

http://www.itatennis.com/AboutITA/Advocacy.htm