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SAN JUAN TENNIS TEAM FINISHES SECOND AT
USTA LEAGUE ADULT 55 & OVER 7.0 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
SURPRISE, Arizona– A tennis team from San Juan, P.R.,
representing the USTA Caribbean Section, finished second at the USTA
League Adult 55 & Over 7.0 National Championships held at the
Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.
The
San Juan team lost to a team from Cerritos, Calif., 3-0 in the
Championship match. Earlier in the day, the San Juan team defeated a
team from
St. Louis, Mo., 2-1 in the semifinals. They advanced this far by
winning their round-robin flight contested Friday and Saturday.
The
team is captained by Ernesto Agosto and features Alejandro Hernandez,
Miguel Rivera, Juan Emmanuelli, Enrique Vera, Antonio Mongil, Ivan
Otero,
Miguel Ramirez, Dennis Gonzalez and plays at the Arraq Tennis Club.
The
USTA League Adult 55 & Over division is for men and women 55 years
of age and older. Teams are formed by combining the two player’s
individual
National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) ratings. The team’s total rating
must equal: 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0. The total NTRP rating cannot exceed
the level of the team. For example, a 7.0 team could be a combination of
two 3.5 players, or one 4.0 partner and one
3.0 partner. Play format consists of three doubles matches.
Established
in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts
of the country in its first year, to over 820,000 players across
the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis
league.
USTA
League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players
throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players
of
similar ability levels. Players participate on teams in a league
format, which is administered by the USTA through its 17 Sections. The
league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP)
levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced). USTA
League is open to any USTA member 18 years of age or older.
Last
year, USTA League changed its structure and format. The change offers
USTA League participants three age categories (Adult 18 & Over,
Adult
40 & Over and Adult 55 & Over and Mixed 18 & Over) to
better align participants with players their own age. The restructuring
guarantees more frequency of play opportunities at more appropriate age
groups.
Head Penn Racquet Sports is in its 26th year as official ball of USTA League.
# # #
The USTA
is
the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United
States and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis
at every level, from local communities to the
highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization
with more than 750,000 members, it invests 100 percent of its proceeds
in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the
highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and
launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking eight summer
tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro
Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis
Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The
USTA’s national charitable foundation, USTA Serves, provides grants and
scholarships and helps underserved youth and people with disabilities.
For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow
@usta on Twitter.
SECOND PLACE: 7.0 CARIBBEAN SECTION (San Juan, P.R.) L to R: Alejandro Hernandez, Miguel Rivera,
Juan Emmanuelli, Enrique Vera, Ernesto Agosto (Captain), Antonio Mongil, Ivan Otero, Miguel Ramirez, Dennis Gonzalez (Photo credit: Garrett Ellwood / USTA)
