Southern players and organizations are constantly making their mark in the world of tennis. Here's a list of recent awards, achievements and news in August 2019.
Southern girls make impact in San Diego
By James Beck/Special to USTA Southern
Abigail Forbes
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Talented Abigail Forbes, of Raleigh, NC, continued her red-hot play in doubles to earn a US Open main draw wild card in doubles with partner Alexa Noel, of Summit, NJ.
The Forbes/Noel team scored a 7-5, 6-1 win over Katrina Scott of Woodland Hills, Calif., and USTA Girls' 18 clay courts singles champion Gabriela Price of Boca Raton, FL, in the Girls' 18 doubles final in San Diego.
Forbes already has had a great summer while looking ahead her college career at UCLA starting in a few weeks. She teamed with Savannah Broadus of Carrollton, Texas, earlier this summer to win the doubles title at the Junior Wimbledon championships. Noel was the junior singles runner-up in London.
Bella Payne of Taylors, SC, is looking more and more like a star of the future. She's just a sixth grader at Murphy Payne Tennis in Taylors, SC, but she already is drawing rave notices.
Payne won the Girls' 12 national clay courts in July and was seeded first in the Girls' 12 national hard courts held in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. Payne had to settle for a runner-up finish in Alpharetta to No. 4 seed Claire An of New York City, who took the title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Payne.
Allie Gretkowski of Charleston and Carson Tanguilig of Alpharetta, GA, took third place in doubles in the Girls’ 16 nationals in San Diego, taking the battle for the bronze medal from Charleston's Emma Charney and Carrie Beckman of Louisville, Ky.
Gretkowski and Tanguilig aren't rushing to make college decisions since both have some time before entering college.
Charleston's Emma Navarro didn't bring a US Open main draw wild card back for USTA Southern juniors, but she did earn a coveted consolation prize: a US Open qualifying tournament wild card from the USTA's Billie Jean King Girls’ 16 and 18 National Hard Courts Tennis Championships in San Diego.
The 18-year-old high school senior earned the qualifying wild card by finishing as runner-up in Girls’ 18 singles in San Diego in a 6-2, 6-4 loss to No. 2 seed Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek, CA, in the final of the Tennis Channel-televised event.
"I'm really excited about playing the US Open qualifying. It's an amazing opportunity and a dream come true," Navarro said.
After her sterling performance in San Diego, Navarro changed her verbal commitment for college from Duke University to the University of Virginia which her mother attended.
Pro Circuit results
Catherine Harrison won the Fort Worth (TX) ITF World Tennis Tournament. Harrison, who is from Germantown, TN, and played at UCLA, defeated Chanelle Van Nguyen 6-4, 6-0.
Atlanta's Nathan Pasha joined American Max Schnur as they advanced to the Nordic Naturals Challenger final in Aptos, CA. They were defeated by top-seeded Marcelo Arevalo/Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela 5-7, 6-3, 10-8. The tournament was a Challenger 90.
Hayley Carter and Jamie Loeb were finalists in the $60k Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge in Landisville, PA. Vania King and Claire Liu won the final 4-6, 6-2, 10-5. Carter grew up in Hilton Head Island, SC.