.jpg)
.gif)
.gif)
.jpg)
|
|
|
|
TOUGH TENNIS CAN BE FUN AND BRING GOLD! Alpharetta's Ellen Jang-Milsten and Kimberly Yee of Las Vegas, Nevada teamed up together to capture gold balls by winning the USTA National Winter Championship 12s doubles title in Tucson, Arizona. |
|
|
Just days before the tourney started the girls hooked up with the help of tournament director Jeff Brack. Ellen said;" It was so cool how me and Kimberly like the same things in doubles. We both like to end the point at the net and we like making each other laugh in between points. Kimberly added,"By our second round we agreed that we should wear mix-matched knee-hi's to keep it totally fun to the very end!" They said that their toughest match was probably a toss up between their semis and finals. In the semis they went up against #1 seeds Gabrielle Smith and Katrine Steffensen with a score of 6-1, 3-6,6-1. They came out aggressive and sharp crossing at the net and quickly taking the first set. However, as the Tucson sun descended to the west and day turned to night the girl's aggressive net play was neutralized by Smiths and Steffensen's clean winners down their alleys. Fortunately, Ellen and Kimberly got professional coaching by Adam Yee at the split (Kimberly's dad is also a tennis pro). Mr. Yee was able to get the girls motivated to move and finish the match with the same aggressive style of the first set. Ellen and Kimberly edged out a tight victory over #3 seeds Alexis Pereira and Christina Makarova in an exciting 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 to win the championship. The girls felt that everyone was equally nervous with one team being only slightly more aggressive than the other. Aside from having a top doubles's partner, Ellen credits her tennis coach's Gery Groslimond and Jeff Groslimond of Tennis Academy of the South in North Atlanta as helping with her aggressive style in the mid-court. Gery Groslimond explains;"I spend more time on doubles because first of all it helps kids learn to move with the ball which helps them in their singles. Second, if you look at college tennis scores, you'll see a lot of "4-3" results. Todays college coaches are looking for kids who have an all-court game and can help out with the "deciding double"s points". Finally, in Junior tennis, doubles is the only part of the part of tennis that is social,...the only time you see smiles on the court. Why not get the kids good at the "fun part" of the sport." Ellen and Kimberly hope to play together again if their paths should meet. In the meantime, they will continue to have this competitive type of fun with kids from their own region as the USTA has incorporated doubles into overall ranking and more kids are choosing to make the big fun a part of their practice and tournament schedule. Tanya Jang-Milsten 6161 Water Lilly Dr Alpharetta, Georgia 30005 678 634 7269 milstenjang@comcast.net |
.png)
.png)
.jpg){kind=logo}
