Local Tennis Stars at the U.S. Open: Now and Then
The New York Metropolitan area has a storied history of great tennis players and today’s current crop of rising junior stars continues that tradition of excellence. Notable juniors in this year’s U.S. Open junior draw include Noah Rubin from Rockville Centre, N.Y., a quarterfinalist at the 2012 French Open Juniors and currently ranked number one in his class by Tennis Recruiting; Jamie Loeb from Ossining, N.Y., ranked 465th by the WTA and quarterfinalist at the 2013 Wimbledon Juniors; and Louisa Chirico from Harrison, N.Y. who is ranked ninth in the ITF Juniors and was a Junior French Open and Wimbledon Semifinalist this year.
All three of these players are fantastic and promising. Hopefully one day they will join the ranks of New York Metropolitan greats. On the men’s side, Rubin has enjoyed tremendous success in the junior ranks and is one of the top American juniors. Perhaps one day Rubin will make his mark on the game the way local greats before him have, and will be able to compare him to local tennis legends such as seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe.
Some of the local greats and near greats from our area’s history include: Vitas Gerulaitis, 1977 Australian Open Champion; Fritz Buehning from Summit N.J., former 21 in the world in singles and number four in doubles; and Peter Fleming from Chatham, N.J. who, along with McEnroe, won seven Grand Slams and 52 titles overall. Peter Rennert from Great Neck, N.Y. was 40th in the world in singles and eighth in doubles. Jimmy Gurfine, also from Great Neck, N.Y., was ranked 96th by the ATP and Marcel Freeman from Port Washington, N.Y. was ranked 46th in the world.
A few years later John’s brother, Patrick McEnroe, achieved a singles ranking of 28th in the world and a doubles ranking of number three. Paul Annacone from East Hampton, N.Y. was number 12 in singles and third in doubles before achieving coaching fame with Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. Richard Matuszewski from Newark, N.J. proved that you do not have to be a great junior to be a successful professional. Hard work at Clemson University helped Richard achieve an ATP ranking of 49th in the world in singles and 87th in doubles. John Sullivan from Rockville Centre, N.Y. was a student of mine early in my career and also a Clemson product. He was ranked 371st in singles and 101st in doubles. I watched another early student, Howard Endelman from Roslyn, N.Y., play in the main draw of doubles on Court 14 at the Open. Howie was ranked 603rd in singles and 183rd in doubles.
Merrick’s Scott Lipsky in doubles action at the 2011 U.S. Open
More recently, Tennis Channel’s own, Justin Gimelstob from Livingston, N.J. rose to a world ranking of 63rd in singles and 18th in doubles. Scott Lipsky from Merrick, N.Y. was the 2011 French Open mixed-doubles champion along with Casey Dellacqua. I gave Scott lessons for a few years as a young junior, and he loved to come forward even as a little boy. How many players can put a Grand Slam title on their resume? Several years ago, my long-time student Bryan Koniecko from Jericho, N.Y. was ranked 651st in the world and was the number one-ranked college player in the country for almost two years at Ohio State.
Jamie Loeb and Louisa Chirico are top American juniors who might one day be rival some of the local women’s stars who have come before them. Mary Carillo from Douglaston, N.Y. was number 33 in the world and was the 1977 French Open Mixed-Doubles Champion with John McEnroe. They were both young and it made it for an even more amazing accomplishment. Melissa Brown from Westchester, Terry Phelps from Larchmont and Mollie Van Nostrand from Brightwaters, N.Y. all arrived on the world tennis scene at about the same time, and they certainly left their mark. Brown was a French Open quarterfinalist in 1984, Mollie was a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 1985, and was ranked 37th in the world. Terry was ranked 20th in singles and 37th in doubles on the WTA Tour.
In 1988, my long-time student Sandra Birch was a U.S. Open Junior Singles Finalist. Sandra went on to win two NCAA singles titles for Stanford and achieved a world singles ranking of 187th, and a doubles ranking of 163rd (I cannot help but add a ranking of number one in the world for hard work, sportsmanship and class). Another student of mine, Bea Bielik from Valley Stream, N.Y. won the NCAA Singles Title in 2002 for Wake Forest and had a great run at the U.S. Open that year, reaching the third round. Bea was ranked as high as 130th in the world.
Christina McHale from Englewood Cliffs, N.J. in action at the 2011 U.S. Open
Recently, Christina McHale from Englewood Cliffs, N.J. was ranked 24th on the WTA Tour and reached the third round of the U.S. Open in 2011. Irina Falconi from New York, N.Y. played in The City Parks Foundation Academy on the outside practice courts in Flushing Meadows before achieving a ranking of 73rd in the world in singles and 71st in the world in doubles.
As a coach of highly-ranked juniors and a club owner just 20 miles from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, I have had some wonderful personal experiences watching and coaching players at the U.S. Junior Open. Of course, I’ll never forget the roar of the crowd as Sandra Birch came back from a big deficit to win 7-5 in the third on a packed Court 17. A few years later, Jordan Richman, who lived just a few miles from the National Tennis Center, dropped his court maintenance broom and rushed to change when his name was called from the junior alternate list. It might be the first and only time in U.S. Open history that a player has swept the court before playing on it. In 1997, Kyle Kligerman from New York, N.Y. was selected as a doubles alternate, and despite being matched with a partner he had never met, beat the number two seeds in the first round!
I hope the rising local stars, as well as their coaches and families, have an equally memorable time in 2013 on their way to the top.
