Fratangelo, Price Capture USTA Singles Titles
July 26, 2010
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Bjorn Fratangelo of Pittsburgh, and Caroline Price of Duluth, Ga., captured the USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 18s National Clay Court Championships singles titles Sunday at the Delray Beach Tennis Center in Delray Beach, Fla., and the Racquet Club of Memphis (Tenn.), respectively.
The nation’s top junior tennis players competed in eight USTA National Championships across the country last week. The winners of the USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 18s events will each be invited back to the sites of their tournaments for pro events next year. Fratangelo will receive a wild card entry into the qualifying draw of the 2011 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, and Price will be given a wild card into the qualifying draw at the 2011 Cellular South Cup.
Fratangelo, who turned 17 during the event, entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and solidified his ranking as the No. 1 player in the USTA Boys’ 18s National Standings. After capturing last year’s Boys’ 16s National Clay Court title, he defeated unseeded Alexios Halebian, a 16-year-old from Glendale, Calif., who trains full time at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., 6-4, 7-5, in this year’s 18s final. Fratangelo partnered with Nathan Pasha of Atlanta to reach the doubles final as well, but the team lost to top seeds Emmett Egger of Issaquah, Wash., and Shane Vinsant of Keller, Texas.
Price, 17, the daughter of former NBA star Mark Price, was seeded No. 13, and defeated local favorite Catherine Harrison of Germantown, Tenn., in the semifinals before upsetting top-seed Whitney Kay of Alpharetta, Ga., 6-3, 6-3, in the final. This marked the first 18s championship for Price, who swept the girls’ 16s titles at the 2009 Easter Bowl, teaming with Kay to win the doubles title.
Highlights from other USTA National Junior Clay Court Championships
No. 8 seed Michael Redlicki, 16 of Hawthorn Woods, Ill., won the first national title of his career at the USTA Boys’ 16s National Clay Court Championships. Redlicki came from a set down to defeat No. 5 Gordon Watson of Naples, Fla., 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the final.
After reaching the singles final at a USTA National Championship in each of the last three years, top-seeded Daniel Kerznerman, 14, of Brooklyn, N.Y., broke through at the USTA Boys’ 14s National Clay Court Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Kerznerman beat No. 9 Benjamin Tso of Lexington, Mass., 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Kerznerman, who trains full-time at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., also reached the doubles final.
In a match featuring two 12-year-olds from Bradenton, Fla., Tornado Ali Black beat Maria Shishkina 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), to win the USTA Girls’ 14s National Clay Court Championships in Plantation, Fla. The win gave Black her second national title, and helped avenge a loss to Shishkina in the girls’ 12s final of the Eddie Herr International in November.
Below is the complete list of championship results from this week’s USTA National Clay Court Championships. The complete draws are available on www.usta.com.