Welcome back to the roundup! August was a crazy month, but a good one, so let's dive right in!
The 9th Annual Edwardsville Futures was held at Edwardsville High School from Aug. 5-11, with more than 1,500 attendees, with more than 250 people attending both semifinal Saturday and Championship Sunday. Petros Chrysochos from Cyprus was the singles champion in a thrilling three-set match over American Nathan Ponwith. Ponwith had a great week, as he and partner Liam Caruana were crowned doubles champions Saturday night with an exciting three-set win over George Goldhoff and Alfredo Perez. Caruana became the first player in Futures history to repeat as singles or doubles champion; the young Italian won the doubles title last year with Nicolas Alvarez of Peru.
Huge thanks go out to everyone involved with the Futures for a successful tournament! The Edwardsville Futures is the only professional tennis tournament in the world held at a high school, and every year we hear from officials and players how great the tennis community and atmosphere is here. Particular thanks to the ball kids, nearly all of whom were Edwardsville Tennis Academy members, and who did an outstanding job.
Girls tennis season has officially begun! The EHS girls team has been practicing for two weeks now, and will get the first opportunity to test themselves this coming week, with a home JV match against Waterloo on Thursday before Varsity heads north to the New Trier Invitational to kick off the year. This girls team is a hungry bunch of young players combined with a few steady veterans, and looks to have a great year of constant improvement. Check out the season preview by the Intelligencer's Scott Marion here: https://www.theintelligencer.com/sports/article/GIRLS-TENNIS-Tigers-look-strong-again-14375035.php
Now, buckle up for the August juniors recap!
Dia Kannan continues to have an awesome summer. Having transitioned from orange ball to green ball, Dia's dominance is unabated in the green ball, as she won the Girls 10 Green Ball Forest View Single Day Showdown Aug. 3.
Katie Woods had a great August, making the finals in the Girls 12s at Forever Tennis III Aug. 2-4, before winning the Highlands Clay Classic Aug. 9-11. Katie currently has a section ranking of 63 in the Girls 12s.
Hannah Colbert and Chloe Trimpe took 2nd place in the Aug. 6 Mobile Doubles Girls 18s.
Colton Hulme had a fantastic August, starting the month off by placing 6th in the Boys 14 Futures in Omaha, as well as taking home the tournament Sportsmanship Award. In the Belleville August Open, Colton won the Boys 14s, defeating fellow ETA player Michael Karibian in the finals. Colton closed the month by playing up in the Boys 16s in the Webster Fall Open, where he placed 6th and took home the Sportsmanship Award again; his only two losses were to the 1 and 2 seeds. Colton currently has an all-time high Section ranking of 55 in the Boys 14s.
Jesse Hattrup won the Boys 12s division at the Belleville Open as well. He played up in the Boys 14s at the Webster Fall Open, where he placed 3rd, losing to the champion in the semifinals. He currently has an all-time high Section ranking of 44 in the Boys 12s.
Jade Dynamic received the Boys 14s Sportsmanship Award at the Webster Fall Open.
William Nativi played both August Smashers tournaments, taking 3rd place in the Aug. 10 Smashers and 4th place in the Aug. 24 Smashers.
