If recent results are any indication, 16-year-old Caty McNally is going to be playing more and more ITF and USTA Pro Circuit events and less junior tournaments in 2018.
But the Cincinnati native has her sights and focus set on the upcoming 51st annual Adidas Easter Bowl, the USTA Spring National Championships, which kicks off on Saturday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in the Coachella Valley, where all eyes were on the recently completed BNP Paribas Open.
Caty McNally Photo by Dave Kenas / Adidas Easter Bowl
The 18s is an ITF Grade B1 and USTA Level 1 event. It is a closed event meaning only players from the United States are eligible to play. The tournament will include the nation’s top 12-and-under 14s, 16s and 18s players. The 12s and 14s will start play this Saturday, March 24, with the finals taking place on Thursday, March 22. The 16s and 18s begin play on Monday, with the 16s finals on Saturday, March 31, and the 18s finals on Easter Sunday, April 1.
McNally, who lost in the quarterfinals of singles last April at the Easter Bowl to eventual winner Claire Liu, is currently the No. 30-ranked player in the ITF Junior World rankings. She has quickly proven to be one of the toughest doubles players on the USTA Futures Pro Circuit, capturing back-to-back doubles titles at $15,000-level pro events at Orlando and Tampa over the past few weeks.
McNally and the 2017 No. 1-ranked junior player in the world Whitney Osuigwe won the Adidas Easter Bowl ITF 18s doubles title last year, and went on to play in the Wimbledon Championship Junior final. It was the second consecutive year McNally had advanced to the final. In December, McNally and Osuigwe cemented their claim as one of the world’s top junior doubles team by winning the prestigious Eddie Herr International.
McNally won the Orland Pro Circuit doubles title with her former U.S. Junior Fed Cup teammate Osuigwe and won Tampa with Natasha Subhash. It was the third pro title of McNally’s career as she also won the Hilton Head Island event back in October with British partner Emily Appleton.
Alexa Noel is expected to be top-seeded in the ITF 18s event and is currently ranked No 11 in the ITF Junior world rankings. Noel is 15 and from Summit, N.J. She will be followed by Margaryta Bilokin, who ranked No. 27 in the world, and is originally from the Ukraine but trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Following McNally will be top American girls’ Subhash (Fairfax, Va.), Lea Ma (Dix Hills, N.Y.), Hailey Baptiste (Washington, D.C.), Hurricane Tyra Black (Boca Raton, Fla.), Gabriella Price (Montebello, N.Y.), Katie Volynets (Walunt Creek, Calif.), and last year’s USTA National Hardcourt Girls’ 16s singles and doubles champion Angelica Blake (Boca Raton, Fla).
On the boys’ side, Southern California’s Tristan Boyer (Altadena, Calif.) is the top-seeded player coming in with an ITF world ranking of No. 13 and is followed by No. 14 Drew Baird (Holly Springs, N.C.), No. 15 Andrew Fenty (Washington, D.C.) and No. No. 39 Trey Hilderbrand (San Antonio).
Top-seeded players in the Boys’ 16s include: Keshav Chopra (Marietta, Ga.), Max McKennon (Newport Beach, Calif.), and Welsh Hotard (New Orleans , La.); Girls’ 16s: Gianna Pielet (El Paso, Texas), Valencia Xu (Livingston, N.J.), Karina Miller (Ann Arbor, Mich.); Boys’ 14: Samir Banerjee (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Noelle Andrey Ampong (Downers Grove, Ill.), Max Fardanesh (Albany, Calif.); Girls’ 14s: Reese Brantmeier (Whitewater, Wisc.), Alexandra Torre (Brentwood, Tenn.), Elena Yu (Mason, Ohio); Boys’ 12s: Nicholas Mangiapane (Davidson, N.C.); Rudy Quan (Roseville, Calif.), Andrew Salu (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.); Girls’ 12s: Stephanie Yakoff (Fort Lee, N.J.), Clervie Ngounoue (Washington, D.C.), Brooklyn Olson (Kansas City, Mo.).
Adidas Easter Bowl ITF boys’ main-draw wild card include: Jensen Brooksby,
Stefan Dostanic, Jake Sands and Ryder Jackson. ITF girls’ main draw wild cards are: Jaeden Brown, Imani Graham, Elvina Kalieva, Charlotte Owensby, Alexandra Yepifanova and Sara Choy.
The 16s wild cards for the girls are Carson Tanguilig, Danielle Benabraham, Gianna Pielet and Nika Vesley while the boys include Andrew Chang, Jameson Corsillo and Alex Lin.
The Adidas Easter Bowl Player Party will take place at IWTG on Sunday, at the same time as the TEAM USA COACHES RECEPTION, presented by the USTA, honoring some of the best coaches in the history of the game. Among the honorees this year will be:
TEAM USA Legendary Coach Award: Ricardo Acuna, Andy Brandi, and Tom Gullikson
2017 TEAM USA Developmental Coach of the Year: Konstantin Anisimov
2017 TEAM USA Developmental Program of the Year: Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC), College Park, Maryland
2017 TEAM USA Player Development Section of the Year: The Florida Section
The iconic junior tournament started by Seena Hamilton in 1968 and now led by Tournament Chairman Lornie Kuhle. Long considered the Super Bowl of junior tennis, the Adidas Easter Bowl’s status has now been raised to a new level by being played at what is arguably the finest tennis facility in the world, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
No other junior tennis tournament in the United States possesses the same rich history as the Adidas Easter Bowl. The tournament was started in New York City and has been played in Florida, Arizona and California.
To keep up with all the Adidas Easter Bowl news, visit the website at www.easterbowl.com and check out the tournament on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EasterBowl) and Twitter (@easterbowl).
In addition to live streaming the Easter Bowl again this year, the tournament has a new and improved mobile app, which can be found at Match Tennis App http://www.matchtennisapp.com. The live stream commentating duties are being provided by the popular Southern California tennis commentator Marcus Tennis. Check www.easterbowl.com to watch the live stream and for all Easter Bowl news, results and schedules.