The holiday season is going to be a very busy one for 17-year-old Ashley Hall junior Emma Navarro.
As if she hasn’t already had a great fall season despite last month’s abdominal strain injury, Navarro vaulted into the No. 1 national ranking for girls 18 again in October.
Navarro will leave after Thanksgiving to compete in the Nov. 26-Dec. 2 Eddie Herr International Junior Championships at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. It’s a Grade 1 Junior ITF event.
She then will move over to Plantation, Fla., to compete in the Orange Bowl’s Grade A Junior ITF, which is scheduled to start on Dec. 3.
In January, Navarro will head to Australia to compete in the Junior Australian Open.
If all of that isn’t enough to keep Navarro occupied, she has just been selected by the Southern Tennis Association as the winner of this year’s Ozaki-Hastings Junior Sportsmanship Award. She is scheduled to receive the award at the Jan. 19 Southern meeting in Atlanta, but she likely will be in Australia at that time.
The sportsmanship award couldn’t go to a more deserving recipient.
If you’ve watched Navarro in some of the big local competitions such as the national clay courts, the $80K U.S. Women’s Pro Circuit and other pro circuit events held at LTP Tennis, you’ve never seen Navarro demonstrate anything other than good sportsmanship while never throwing rackets, never hitting balls against the fence in disappointment and always being courteous to the line crew and her opponent.
Making Navarro even happier, her regular doubles partner, nationally sixth-ranked Chloe Beck of Watkinsville, Ga., and Beck’s family have been named recipients of the Southern’s Mickey McNulty Family of the Year Award. Beck also won the 2016 Ozaki-Hastings Junior Sportsmanship Award.
Along with all of this latest news, Navarro won five straight matches en route to the quarterfinals of a $25K pro circuit event in Lawrence, Kan. After going through qualifying, Navarro scored a first-round victory over left-hander Gabriela Talaba, the winner of the recent $25K Pro Circuit tournament at LTP Tennis.
When the points from the Kansas tournament are entered, Navarro is expected to advance from No. 763 in the WTA Tour world rankings to around 700.
LCTA COMBO SUCCESS
The Lowcountry Tennis Association had a successful combo season that produced two state championship teams and six other finalists. Captain Mike Cladakis’ men’s 40-plus 8.5 team out of Mount Pleasant Rec and Elyssa Snelgrove’s women’s 40-plus 5.5 team from Family Circle Tennis Center won state titles.
The local state finalists were: Ben Fleming’s men’s 18-plus 7.5 team from St. Andrew’s, Cladakis’ men’s 18-plus 8.5 team from Mount Pleasant Rec, Frank Cuoco’s men’s 40-plus 8.5 team from I’On, Sherry Ferguson’s women’s 40-plus 6.5 team from Maybank Tennis Center, Allison Pickhardt’s women’s 40-plus 8.5 team from Family Circle, and Sue Verner’s women’s 55-plus 6.5 team from the Daniel Island Club.
LOCAL NOTES
— Former Bishop England star Jared Pratt has been named the boys winner of the Southern’s
DeWitt Redgrave III Junior Achievement Award. Pratt, the No. 1-ranked boys 18 player nationally at the start of 2018, is currently a freshman on the University of Wisconsin’s tennis team.
— Charleston’s Anna Ross has jumped up to No. 27 in the girls 18 national rankings. Sophie Williams has a No. 3 ranking in girls 14, although she has now moved up to girls 16.
— Jessie Pegula, who resided locally and trained at Family Circle Tennis Center a couple years ago, made the semifinals in singles and won doubles with American Maegan Manasse in the $125K Oracle Challenge in Houston. Pegula has climbed to No. 125 in the world in singles, and still climbing in time possibly for a direct entry into the Australian Open.
— There has been no word from Shelby Rogers about when she will rejoin the WTA Tour from her knee injury or the result of her planned appeal to the WTA Tour to protect her ranking. Rogers hasn’t played a WTA Tour match since hurting her knee on March 7 during the Indian Wells tournament when she was ranked 78th. Without the ranking protection, Rogers is currently ranked No. 776 in the world.
— It’s too bad that last week’s SCHSL state singles tournament had to be called off due to the recent rains. “Postponed until after Thanksgiving” is the current word on the competition.
— Area clubs are once again giving local juniors the chance to stay home and play the junior circuit. It may not be the nationals or the Orange Bowl, but these tournaments are great opportunities for players who may not be headed to the pro ranks or major college tennis. Registration for each of the three tournaments listed below is available online for boys and girls ages 10-and-under through 18-and-under at tennislink.usta.com.
— Sunday (today) is the deadline to enter next weekend’s annual Charleston Thanksgiving Junior Classic (Southern L5, tournament number 700045918) at Charleston Tennis Center. Contact tournament director Peggy Bohne (843-766-7401).
— The Snee Farm S.C. L4 (tournament number 700119718) is scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 2. Contact tournament director Richard Shy (843-345-8338). Registration is available through Nov. 27.
— The S.C. State Open Junior Holiday Championships (Southern L4, 700017518) will be held Dec. 14-16 at The Citadel, with Kiawah pro Jonathan Barth serving as tournament director (843-568-1468). Registration is available online through Dec. 9.
Reach James Beck at [email protected]. See his latest columns on the Grand Slams at ubitennis.net/author/james-beck
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