Southern Boys' & Girls' 18 Closed

Media Report
Media Report
Media Report

The officials and volunteers that worked the Boys & Girls Southern 18s Championships in No. Little Rock, Arkansas would like to congratulate our 2007 Sportsmanship Winners: Alan Donald & Lauren Hammonds. Alan is from Wilmington, NC and Lauren is from Vestavia Hills, AL.

Aaron Decamp, Robert Hall, Anamika Bhargava, Caroline Newman, Mackenzie Swindall, Eric Quigley, Kathryn Talbert, Erin Wilbert, Keri Wong, Michael Browder, Emily Carbone, Sawyer Duncan.

If you are not going to play doubles, please let the tournament desk know by 12 noon. 501-681-3188

Please recognize with us the following players who have won the USTA Southern Achievement Award for participating in the STA Closed for eight consecutive years. Eddie Bailey (AR), Veronica Cardenas (GA), Wade Covington (MS), Ross Moyer(SC), and Emily Mallory (KY) have reached this milestone. Each of these players should contact one of the following people -- Bill Ozaki, Tom Fink, or Patti Googe. If you are still on site at the 18s, please contact them at Burns Park. If you have already left the site, please contact Bill Ozaki at 404-310-0456.

We are having another rain delay. We are moving all main draw matches inside. All conso matches please call the tournament phone, 501-681-3188, at 3:30 central time -- remember, do not leave a message. Call until you reach someone. Doubles have been cancelled for today........

The players' meeting has been Permanently cancelled.....

There have been several changes in the draw. Please re-check your first match times.

USTA requires a medical release SIGNED BY THE PARENT OR GUARDIAN for every player. This form must be presented at the time of tournament registration. Please download and bring this completed with you or fax to us at 501-223-0531 to speed up the registration process. Players are not allowed on court without this signed release. more info

All players must have a copy of a Birth Certificate or Green Card on file in the Southern office. Players should go to this link to see if their name is on file. http://southerntennis.com/cgi-bin/db.cgi?db=default&uid&view_search=1 If your name does not appear here please fax it to 770-368-9091 or e-mail to howard@sta.usta.com. more info

Regulation IV.A.2 now states "The referee may penalize a player who is on site for lateness if a court is available and the player has failed to check in at the tournament desk by the scheduled match time." THIS MEANS, IF THERE IS 1 OPEN COURT AT 10:00 AND THERE ARE 3 MATCHES TO PUT ON; THE REFEREE WILL START THE CLOCK FOR LATENESS FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT CHECKED IN FOR 10:00 - EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH COURTS FOR ALL 3 MATCHES.

Registration will be Friday, June 15th, between 4 & 6pm at Burns Park Tennis Center at the new tournament room. If you have not mailed or faxed your birth certificate or release form, please bring it with you to registration. There will be a mandatory players meeting on Sunday, June 17th, at 6:30 on Johnny Heflin Stadium Court. National endorsement will be discussed at this meeting. College coaches will be at the meeting for a question & answer session about collegiate tennis scholarships.

We will have an ordered alternate list on the web sometime on Wednesday....

The tournament headquarters will be at the new building at Burns Park Tennis Center located by court 10. Registration and check-in will be here. The address of Burns Park Tennis Center is 4000 Joe Poch Lane, No. Little Rock, AR 72118. Take the Burns Park exit (#150) off of I 40 and follow the signs to the tennis center.

Our host hotel is the Wyndham Riverfront in No. Little Rock - 501-371-9000, $79.00 per night. Ask for the Arkansas Tennis Association's NEGOTIATED RATE. Make your reservations as soon as possible -- there are numerous other functions going on in the area.

The main site will be Burns Park Tennis Center, 4000 Joe Poch Lane, No. Little Rock. Exit 150 off of Interstate 40. We may have one additional site on Monday -- TBA -- directions will be in your tournament packet. Indoor courts will be available at Burns for $5 per 1/2 starting on 6/16. Ourdoor practice courts are available free of charge, space available, starting on 6/16. Practice courts will also be available at Lakewood on a limited basis. Directions will be in your packet. Practice courts will also be available at Walker Tennis Center on W. Markham on a first come basis.

Boys and girls singles 160 draw with Feed-in championship through quarterfinals and playoff matches for 3 / 4 places. Play in the FIC is mandatory. Semifinal losers in the main draw are required to play the 3 / 4 playoff match. The Singles official draw will be posted at noon on Thursday June 14th. NO INFORMATION ABOUT THE DRAW WILL BE GIVEN BY PHONE. One round of Main Draw singles will be played each day. Two rounds of Consolation begin on Tuesday. Boys and girls doubles will be single elimination and the draw will be posted the June 17th, by 9 am.

Scoring: Singles main draw will be the best of three sets. In the event of inclement weather, this format may be changed to best of 2 sets with a match tiebreak in lieu of the third set. Singles Consolation will be best of three sets with a 3rd set match tiebreak in lieu of the third. Doubles will play the collegiate format ( 8 game pro-set) with a match tiebreak played at 8-all. The match tie-break is a 10-point format.

All players must enter through the TennisLink On-line Registration. Players may enter only one division even though each age division is at a different site and listed as a separate tournament on the schedule. Players should play in the age division they are seeking Southern Endorsement. Fourteen of the selections will be based on the most current Southern Standings of the age division only. (No selections based on the younger age group). All other selections are based on the quotas and endorsements of the States.

Doubles registration closes at 10:00AM on Sunday, June 17th. Doubles play will begin on Sunday, June 17th. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR DOUBLES IF YOU DO NOT INTEND TO STAY FOR THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT. Alternates are encouraged to participate in doubles - DOUBLES PLAY WILL BEGIN ON SUNDAY You MUST sign up with a partner. You may fax your entry to the Arkansas Tennis Association, 501-223-0531, through Thursday, June 14th. After that point, you may sign up during registration. NO ENTIES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 10AM ON SUNDAY -- NO EXCEPTIONS! YOU MUST SIGN UP WITH A PARTNER -- the tournament staff will NOT match you up.

Thirty-two seeds will be “block seeded” into the third round of the singles tournament and will thus not play SINGLES until Monday, June 18th. Seeding will be done and posted online on Tuesday, June 12, by 6:00PM Cetnral time. SEEDED SINGLES PLAYERS, CAREFULLY NOTE THE DATES FOR DOUBLES! Doubles will begin on Sunday.

Please check under tournament message. Click on Players by event link.

All applicants NOT admitted to the main draw shall be listed in order, to be moved into the main draw if/when spaces become available. The order will be based on Southern Standings. To find out the order, go to Alternates by Events lists no later than noon on Wednesday, June 13th and daily thereafter. If you are an alternate and do NOT get in on Wednesday, you may do any or all of the following: 1) Stand by as an on-site alternate on Saturday 16th for any of the 128 unseeded positions 2) Come to play doubles on Sunday June 17th 3) Stand by as an on-site alternate on Monday June 18th for the 32 seeded players

Prior to the deadline, players should withdraw on-line. Players should note all rules on withdrawing from a tournament. After the deadline players needing to withdraw should notify the tournament immediately 501-227-7611, ext. 11, and email ASAP their official withdrawal to camille@arktennis.com or fax to 501-223-0531. Please be prompt if you must withdraw because Alternates are waiting to enter the tournament and need to know quickly to make plans. No refunds will be made for players withdrawing after the draw has been made. Alternates wishing to enter another tournament should withdraw from the Alternates list before entering another tournament. Alternates are not charged the entry fee. more info

Draws & first match times will be posted to the searchable schedule on Friday, June 15 at 10am Central time.

Doubles will start on Monday -- there is a possibility of two rounds on Monday.