The Anguilla Tennis Academy (ATA) kicked off its inaugural ITF Junior Championships on Monday, November 14th 2016. Regular matches commenced at 9:00am through 3:00pm daily with feature single and double matches commencing at 6:00 each evening.
The ATA is pleased that twenty-two (22) different countries are participating in its inaugural event and over 250 persons (players, coaches, family members, and supporters) are visiting Anguilla for the event. The participating countries include Anguilla, Venezuela, USA, Europe and Asia. There are over 100 (100) under-18 juniors and over 35 seniors combined participating in the Anguilla ITF Junior and Senior Championships. It is also worthy to note that Alec Deckers, son of Wimbledon Champion, Richard Krajicek will also be participating in junior event. The Tournament Directors of the ITF Junior and Senior events are Mickey Williams and Raphael Harper respectively.
President of the ATA, Mr. Mitchelle Lake is thrilled about this event. He stated: “We at the ATA are pleased to be the host of this prestigious tournament and to have 22 countries participating. This is our first time hosting this event and to have 22 countries participating is a remarkable achievement. The ATA’s staff did an amazing job preparing the facility for the ITF event and we trust that the Anguillan community will visit the facility to witness first class tennis displayed by top ranking international players.”
On Saturday, November 19 there will be a free tennis clinic for children in Anguilla ages 5 through 17 beginning at 5:00pm. This clinic will be followed by a men’s exhibition match featuring Phipp Kohlschreiber from Germany who is currently ranked #32 in the world in singles versus Nicholas Monroe from USA currently ranked #62 in the world in doubles. Following the men’s exhibition match the ITF tournament will culminate with the boys under-18 finals.
Tournament organizer, Mr. Karl Hale who is also the Tournament Director for the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada stated “We are thrilled to be hosting this event in Anguilla. We have world class juniors and professionals lead by world renowned ATP Pro Phillip kholshreiber who defeated Novak Djokovic. Thank you to the Anguilla Tourist Board for supporting and investing in youth development.”
