Jose Higueras — the USTA’s new director of coaching for Elite Player Development — has a stock phrase he often tosses about: “We’ve got a lot of kids who can hit the ball,” he says, “but we need to teach them better how to play.”
Those have become words to live by for Higueras, who was tapped by Player Development czar Patrick McEnroe last fall to help identify and develop the next generation of American champions.
“We have a lot of juniors who we’re excited about. But at the end of the day, it’s trying to get them to the highest level, which is into the top hundred in the world,” McEnroe explained. “Our main goal is to try to prepare them as best we can to try to make it into the professional ranks, to have our kids maximize the game that they have. It’s a huge undertaking.”
Part of that undertaking is to develop protocols and parameters for the nation’s top coaches, to create a standardized, systematic approach the likes of which is seen in places like Spain and France. To accomplish that task, McEnroe & Co. will have to circumvent a veritable flotilla of geographical and philosophical obstacles. But with bicoastal training centers up and running in Florida and California, and a dozen more regional facilities (starting with Atlanta and D.C.) set to open over the next five years, the USTA is sending a clear message that it’s up for the challenge.
While still in an embryonic stage, the implementation of Higueras and McEnroe’s collective plan may already be paying dividends. Take the promising display of talent at April’s 42nd Annual Easter Bowl, hosted by Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Palm Desert. Among the top performers were Chicago’s Evan King and New Jersey’s Christina McHale, who took the boys’ and girls’ 18s titles, respectively. Also in the 18s, J.T. Sundling (Thousand Oaks)/Denis Kudla (Arlington, Va.) defeated Frederick Saba (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)/ Jack Sock (Lincoln, Neb.) 6-3, 6-7(2), 1-0(8) to win the boys’ doubles title.
Caroline Price, the No. 5 seed from Duluth, Ga., beat good friend and fellow Georgian Whitney Kay of Alpharetta, Ga. 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 for the girls’ 16s title. Price/Kay came back later in the day to win the doubles title via a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Lorraine Guillermo (Walnut) and Desirae Krawczyk (Rancho Mirage).
Price is the daughter of former NBA star Mark Price, currently the shooting coach for the Atlanta Hawks. (The lefthander is 5-foot-10 and just a half-inch shorter than her father, who played with four NBA teams during his pro career.)
In the boys’ 16s final, Shane Visant of Keller, Texas, overpowered Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks, 6-3, 6-0, to win gold. Asked how he played on a scale of 1 to 10, Visant responded, “Eight or nine.”
“I thought I just went for too many shots I don’t normally go for,” said Giron, who was playing in his first super national final.
Eric Johnson (San Jose)/ Calvin Mark (Union City) defeated Jeremy Efferding (Lake Worth, Fla.)/ Bjorn Fratangelo (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 6-1, 7-6(2) to capture the boys’ 16s doubles title. Lynda Xepoleas of Gold River won the girls’ 16s consolation title, while Giuliana Olmos (Fremont), reached the singles semis.
Mackenzie McDonald (Piedmont) was simply dominant in the boys’ 14s. McDonald took out his doubles partner, Nikko Madregallejo, in the 14s singles final, 6-4, 6-2, then joined Madregallejo to top the No. 9-seeded tandem of Roy Lederman/ Ryan Smith in the doubles final 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, adding yet more hardware to his trophy case.
“As I grow older, the ability to play a good friend gets easier,” said McDonald of his win over Madregallejo.
McDonald assured the Easter Bowl crowd that this wasn’t the last they would hear from him. “My goal is to be the best tennis player who ever played the game,” he said.
Its aspirations like that that will leave the folks in White Plains smiling for years to come. “I don’t believe that you can necessarily create a champion,” said McEnroe. “But I think you can create an environment where you’re setting yourself up to find those champions a little easier.”
