American Teens Tiafoe and Liu Win First Pro Titles at USTA Pro Circuit Events

March 25, 2015 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Francis_Tiafoe
Photo credit: USTA

American teens Claire Liu, 14, and Francis Tiafoe, 17, both won their first professional singles titles on Sunday at USTA Pro Circuit events. Liu, at 14 years, nine months and 25 days old, became the youngest female player to win a USTA Pro Circuit tournament since Anna Kournikova in 1996 and the sixth-youngest to do so since the Circuit's inception in 1979.

Liu, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., defeated Hungarian Fanni Stollar, 6-1, 6-3, in the singles final of the $10,000 women's tournament at the Orlando Tennis Centre in Orlando, Fla. Liu, ranked 1,215th, trains with personal coach Mike Gennette and USTA National Coaches Leo Azevedo and Adam Peterson out of the USTA Training Center—West in Carson, Calif., and has represented the U.S. in international junior play, winning gold at the 14-and-Under World Junior Tennis competition in 2013.

Tiafoe, of College Park, Md., beat France's Maxime Tabatruong, 6-1, 6-2, to win the $15,000 Men's Futures at the Bakersfield Racquet Club in Bakersfield, Calif. Tiafoe, ranked 816th, made history in 2013 by winning the Metropolia Orange Bowl Boys 18s title at the age of 15, becoming the youngest player to ever win the prestigious junior tournament. He trains with coaches Misha Kouznetsov and Frank Salazar out of the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., a USTA Regional Training Center.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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