_________2011 Herb Cup Doubles Invitational_________
After many weeks of advance planning and organization, the 6th Annual Herb Cup Doubles Invitational final got underway at the Harbor Bay Club in Alameda on December 10th. Top ranked NorCal doubles players competed for the Cup while gaving a great time with the fast faxed format. This year was the first year that the 10's divisions were added to the event. The 10's divisions used green level balls during play.
The top eight players in the 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18s, from both boys' and girls' divisions were invited to participate. Four pairs were established within each division. In each of the eight divisions, doubles teams competed against each other in a unique round-robin format. Each team played the other three teams in their age division for exactly 45 minutes, recording how many games each team lost when the 45 minutes was over. After three rounds, the doubles team with the least amount of games lost was declared the winner. If there was a tie for first place a head-to-head would determine the winner.
The day began with check-in and the traditional Herb Cup sweatshirts given to each of the participants; this year’s color were Chocolate (10s) and Dark Grey (12-18s). Each player also received a bag tag with his or her name printed on it. The 10's, 12’s and 14’s divisions were the first to be on court. After 45 minutes, the foghorn was blown and all matches were stopped. After a 5-minute break, the 16’s and 18’s then rotated onto the courts, allowing the 10's, 12’s and 14’s to spectate.
The goal of this event is to encourage junior players to compete in doubles events throughout the year achieving a top 8 ranking by October end. Players were selected from the doubles Final Ranking Lists from January 1, 2011 to the last tournament(s) that started in October of 2011.
USTA NorCal staff, Jen Pitzen, Amy Jensen and Tommy Tu, thank the Harbor Bay Club in Alameda for the use of their courts for their help to make this year’s Herb Cup a successful event. We look forward to seeing new and old faces in 2012!
What a Diverse Group of Juniors!
The Seventh Annual Herb Cup Doubles Invitational featured players with family roots in Turkey, China, France, Norway, Spain, India, Italy, Vietnam, Ireland, Japan, England, Philipines, and Russia, among other countries.
Congratulations to the eight winning doubles teams and to all the players, parents and other supporters for a fun-filled day of tennis. Below are the results, facts and photos.
Boys' 10 & Under
Champions: Mayson Fung & Aditya Gupta (6 games lost)
Runners-up: Aidan Mayo & Ravi Nelson (13 games lost)
Third Place: Hugo Hashimoto & Philip Martin (14 games lost)
Fourth Place: Luke Casper & Nathan Nguyen (22 games lost)
Girls' 10 & Under
Champions: Jacqueline Bautista & Genesis Huizar (9 games lost)
Runners-up: Caroline Beard & Georgia Beard (11 games lost)
Third Place: Alise Pedersen & Brooke Pedersen (18 games lost)
Fourth Place: Julie Foley & Jennifer Foley (20 games lost)
Boys' 12 & Under
Champions: Andrew Ton & Jenson Brooksby (9 games lost)
Runners-up: Coby McCaig & Paul Barretto (10 games lost)
Third Place: Austen Huang & Andre Xiao (13 games lost)
Fourth Place: Drew Davison & Siddharth Chari (19 games lost)
Girls' 12 & Under
Champions: Avanika Narayan & Denise Arendain (8 games lost)
Runners-up#1: Sarah Bahsoun & Ashley Vielma (15 games lost)
Runners-up#2: Ratheya Rajakumar & Alice Yao (15 games lost)
Fourth Place: Naveena Attota & Jessi Muljat (16 games lost)
Boys' 14 & Under
Champions: Alexander Hwang & Lane Leschly (11 games lost)
Runners-up: Andrew Gu & Sean Ko (14 games lost)
Third Place: Jayson Fung & Reed Fratt (15 games lost)
Fourth Place: Andy Zhou & Sreyas Kolachalam (22 games lost)
Girls' 14 & Under
Champions: Emily Zheng & Rebecca Li (10 games lost)
Runners-up: Seriana Saltzen & Darya Possokhova (11 games lost)
Third Place: Arianna Chen & Stephanie Nguyen (17 games lost)
Fourth Place: Eirene Granville & Effie Jia (20 games lost)
Boys' 16 & Under
Champions: J.T. Nishimura & Sean Talmadge (6 games lost)
Runners-up: Cody Rakela & William Griffith (12 games lost)
Third Place: Sriman Kolachalam & Andy Huang (21 games lost)
Fourth Place: Winston Limhengco & Logan Staggs (24 games lost)
Girls' 16 & Under
Champions: Bridget Guenard & Ayla Aksu (11 games lost)
Runners-up: Felicity Maltby & Grace Lin (17 games lost)
Third Place: Chloe Forlini & Lily Forlini (19 games lost)
Fourth Place: Anna Romeka & Paulina Bajet (22 games lost)
Boys' 18 & Under
Champions: Daniel Morkovine & Ivan Kravtchenko (12 games lost)
Runners-up: Richard Pham & Brandon Sutter (15 games lost)
Third Place: Timothy Tan & Trevor James (17 games lost)
Fourth Place: Brian Sun & Nathan Law (19 games lost)
Girls' 18 & Under
Champions: Christiana Ferrari & Stephanie Lin (13 games lost)
Runners-up#1: Iris Lin & Kassidy Jump (15 games lost)
Runners-up#2: Samantha Polayes & Crystal Yen (17 games lost)
Fourth Place: Tiffany Pham & Miriam Lane (19 games lost)
By the Numbers
Tournaments are not just about wins and losses:
0 – Retirements or withdrawals – no one retired and withdrew during the event
6 – Pacific Cup representatives – Brandon Sutter (B18s), Logan Staggs (B16s), Sean Ko (B14s), Austen Huang (B12s), Kassidy Jump (G18s), and Emily Zheng (G14s).
6 – Fewest games lost – Mayson Fung & Aditya Gupta (B10s) and JT Nishimura & Sean Talmadge (B16s) both lost only 6 games total in their division.
12 – Siblings participating – twin sisters Lily and Chloe Forlini, brothers Jayson and Mayson Fung, sisters Iris and Grace Lin, sisters Caroline and Georgia Beard, sisters Julie and Jennifer Foley, and sisters Alise and Brooke Pedersen.
15 – Alternates – players wanted to be considered as alternates if one of the top eight players was unable to play
91 – Herb Cup hooded sweatshirts given out – one for each player with 11 parents buying them as well
Questions & Answers about the Herb Cup
Why put on this tournament?
By having a fun, season-ending doubles event, it inspires our NorCal juniors to participate in doubles throughout the year. This is the sixth year that we’ve offered the Herb Cup, and it’s a big part of why we have seen a big increase in doubles participation. The kids and their parents always look forward to the Herb Cup, and they get very excited when they get invited to participate.
Who is Peter Herb?
Peter Herb is the former executive director of USTA Northern California—originally the Northern California Tennis Association. He dedicated his adult life to expanding the sport of tennis. He started in the mid-1960s and worked as Executive Director for over 40 years. He was extremely creative and was responsible for many innovations in both junior and adult tennis. He introduced the concept of having different levels of play for juniors and then extended that to adult tennis. He started the NCTA as a one-man show, and when he left, there was a staff of over 30. He was a quiet, calm leader.
Why is doubles important?
Doubles improves the major components of the singles game, namely the serve, return, volley, and forward movement which is something that is seldom worked on in singles. You will also develop softer hands and quicker reflexes around the net making you a well-rounded player. Playing doubles forces you to pick your shots as they are open. Instead of just hitting the ball to the other side of the court you must hit a cross court, ally, or lob thus making you work on placing your shots and see them when they're open.
What’s up with this unusual format of timed matches for the Herb Cup?
USTA NorCal wanted to run the entire event in just a day. In today’s lifestyle, this works best. Rather than having kids spend eight hours playing two or three matches, with hours of waiting, the kids get to play three matches within five hours, with 45-minute break in between matches to talk over strategies and hang out with friends while other divisions play. Every new round is a new opponent. The foghorn to signal the end of each period and all matches will have to stop once it’s blown. It’s important to innovate and try new formats.
At close of the 7th Annual Herb Cup Doubles Invitational, it was a full day of play, fun and friendship.