SOUTHERN BELLE’S SPRING BREAK AT THE ASICS EASTER BOWL IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY

Written by: Staff on 13th April 2015

SOUTHERN BELLE'S SPRING BREAK AT THE ASICS EASTER BOWL IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY |

Winner of the Easterbowl Taylor Fritz and his

HALL of FAME and former “top tenner ” Mom Kathy MAY.

Ever since partying a little too hard in her high school days, Southern Belle hasn’t been much for those rowdy Spring Break trips. Kicking back with a good book and her toes in the sand is more her style. But for Spring Break 2015, Southern Belle got to experience something different . . . a trip to the premier event on the junior tennis calendar (outside of the 4 Junior Slams, of course), the Asics Easter Bowl at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

You may be asking yourself, “Hey, wasn’t Southern Belle just at Indian Wells last month for the BNP Paribas Open?” The answer is, “Why, yes! She was!”

Before you get all huffy that Southern Belle got TWO trips to the California Desert within such a short span of time, please remember that this was WORK FIRST, PLAY LATER.

Southern Belle spent her days watching some of the best junior players in the US compete for the coveted Easter Bowl ITF title. This event traditionally was a Level 1 Gold Ball tournament but switched to a Level 1A 2 years ago, meaning the winners receive medals or trophies in lieu of a ball. The kids didn’t seem to mind, though. They played their hearts out, day in and day out, in the breezy and dry desert conditions, each laying it all on the line to vie for the title. For these juniors, getting the opportunity to play where the top pros had been just 2 weeks prior was pretty special. In off-court interviews, they all mentioned how special it was to have the tournament at the Tennis Garden. Even the 12s, 14s, and 16s got to play their final rounds at this beautiful venue. Big congratulations to the singles and doubles winners in each age group – they join an impressive list of past champions.

Asics Easterbowl mobile.

Tournament Manager, Lornie Kuhle, performed a real coup when he got the tournament moved to IW. This year, the players (and their parents and coaches) even got to eat in the same Player Dining area where Southern Belle lunched alongside the likes of Andy Murray, Michaela Krajicek, David Ferrer, and Jelena Jankovic during the BNP. Pretty amazing!

Lornie doesn’t work alone, though. He has put together a crack team of both paid staff and volunteers to make this event shine. From Andres Borowiak and Steve Pratt to Jeanne Riggs and John Bramlett, these folks work hard to bring a professional feel to the Asics Easter Bowl. And presenting sponsor, Asics America, has a huge presence throughout the tournament. Ryan Broccolo – Asics’s Athlete Agent for Tennis, Golf, and Soccer – was on site for most of the event, meeting with players, taking part in the livestream, and manning the serving cage during the Player Party early in the week as well as presenting the winner’s trophy on Sunday. Southern Belle also had the opportunity to be part of the livestream, commentating several of the matches on Court 2 alongside the folks at TempuZ Productions. What a blast!

Major shout-outs, too, to Jay Berger and Kent Kinnear of USTA, Norman Tam of Solinco, Steve Johnson Sr., Rance Brown of UCLA Women’s Tennis, Peter Smith of USC Men’s Tennis, Steve Devereux of Playsight, and Guy Fritz (father of the eventual 2015 Asics Easter Bowl ITF Boys Champion Taylor Fritz) – not to mention the numerous players, parents, and junior coaches – for taking time to talk with Southern Belle both on and off the air. She always learns so much from these tennis-loving folks.

Southern Belles Favorite.

What’s Spring Break without good food? Southern Belle discovered Fresh Juice Bar on her earlier jaunt to Indian Wells and made sure to stop by daily this time for her Desert Delight date smoothie fix. A new addition to SB’s Desert Resto List is Tacos Gonzales on Highway 111. If you go, be sure to try the chorizo tacos on corn tortillas with a side of homemade guacamole – ¡muy delicioso!

The highlight of Southern Belle’s week, though, came on her last day in the desert, getting to hit on the courts of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. After calling several matches on the livestreamed Court 2, SB took a little break and headed over to Practice Court 18 to smack some balls with a buddy. Thank goodness she was already wearing her neon yellow Asics tennis shoes – all she needed to do was borrow a racquet! The thin air and no humidity thing made it challenging for SB to keep the ball in play at first, but she quickly adapted to the desert conditions and wound up having a great workout. Getting to watch the top American juniors all week must’ve rubbed off, too, since she found some sick angles with both her forehand and backhand, even with an unfamiliar racquet. Not a bad way to finish out her Spring Break.

Editors Note : Big congrats to team 10sBalls.com for putting in a monumental effort. Our banners were up. Exposure was everywhere and our pens and swag were placed about. Our small sponsorship goes along way in an event like this. These kids play their hearts out. What a great experience Lorne provides. We have been part of the EasterBowl since its inception and hope to see it hit its 100th ! Special thanks to Southern Belle.

Girls 18s champ Claire Liu. #10sballs.com. – photo by @asicseasterbowl

Topics: ASICS Easter Bowl, Coachella Valley, Indian Wells, Southern Belle, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

April 13, 2015 at 4:48 pm

SOUTHERN BELLE’S SPRING BREAK AT THE @asicseasterbowl IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY- http://t.co/FevL1lyjyA #IndianWells #ASICS #EasterBowl