One of the most prestigious junior tennis events also happens to be one of the most fun.
The Quiksilver/Roxy tournament has been on the list of favorites for many juniors who play the national circuit for the past 10 years. Held on Memorial Day weekend in Palm Desert, CA, it is one of the best warm-ups for the summer junior circuit one could hope for.
“This is my favorite tournament of the year,” says Alyssa Rudin of Orange County, CA. “I have all my tennis friends here and it is my birthday in a few weeks, so we have such a great time being here and taking part in everything the tournament offers.”
The excitement starts at check-in on Friday with a mixed doubles social; this year over 140 players took part. Although it was not a sanctioned event, clearly the players enjoy just playing tennis – and having fun with their peers. The finals were held Saturday night with Dunlop’s “Dessert and Doubles” which included free cupcakes for all participants and their families. Along with that was a Dunlop “One-Point Tournament” which is just like it sounds: over 80 players lined up to play for a Dunlop racquet bag.
“It was so much fun, they played it four times! They didn’t even want to take a break to eat the cupcakes,” said tournament director Wes Burrows.
Parents enjoyed a college placement seminar which had a surprise guest co-host: the Compliance Officer at UCLA who happened to be the parent of a player. “He definitely kept me on my toes in our discussion of recruiting rules,” said speaker and college placement expert Annette Broersma, M.S.
What makes the Quiksilver/Roxy so tough is the large draw of highly nationally ranked juniors with 64 players per division. This means players must survive five rounds to take the title. More often than not, the highest ranked players did not win their divisions, so it is a great opportunity to break through and improve their rankings significantly. Unseeded and 13-year old Gabrielle Andrews won the Girls 18s over 13th seed Mayo Hibi. Unseeded Warren Wood not only took out the No. 1 seed in the first round, and went on to win the Boys 18s over 4th seed Carlos Bermudez.
Winners of the Main Draw singles were:
Boys 18: Warren Wood (Del Mar, CA) def. Carlos Bermudez (Tucson, AZ) 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Boys 16: Gage Brymer (Irvine, CA) def. Stefan Menicella (Irvine, CA) 6-3, 7-5.
Boys 14: Ernesto Escobedo (West Covina, CA) def. Masayoshi Ono (Ojai, CA) 6-1, 6-2.
Boys 12: Taylor Fritz (San Diego, CA) def. Jay Min (Irvine, CA) 6-0, 6-1.
Girls 18: Gabrielle Andrews (Pomona, CA) def. Mayo Hibi (Irvine, CA) 6-3, 6-2.
Girls 16: Mazy Watrous (Newport Beach, CA) def. Mayci Jones (Coto de Caza, CA) 0-6, 6-0, 12-10.
Girls 14: Erin Larner (Portland, OR) def. Maia Magill (Studio City, CA) 6-1, 6-3.
Girls 12: Savannah Slaysman (Phoenix, AZ) def. Catherine Bellis (Hillsborough, CA) 0-6, 6-4, 10-7.
Winners of the Mixed Doubles were:
Mixed 18: Desirae Krawczyk/Ricky Baylon def. Maryam Eslami/Romar Hernandez 9-8.
Mixed 16: Cassidy Spearman/Gannon Daynes def. Kallie Sperry/Cristobal Rivera 8-4.
Mixed 14: Kenadi Hance/Ernesto Escobedo def. Michelle/Jason Lui 8-2.
Mixed 12: Savannah Slaysman/Nathan Ponwith def. Michaela Gordon/Timothy Sah 6-1.
Topics: 18s, Compliance Officer, Director Wes, Dunlop Racquet, Junior Tennis, Memorial Day Weekend, Mixed Doubles, Orange County Ca, Palm Desert Ca, Placement Seminar, Playing Tennis, Quiksilver Roxy, Ranked Players, Rudin, Surprise Guest, Tennis Events, Tennis Friends, Tournament Director, Unseeded, Warm Ups