Easter Bowl Spotlights Junior Tennis Talent

After several years of agonizing decline, the pendulum may be on the uptick again for American tennis.

Andre Agassi, a 17-year-old brother-in-law of legendary Pancho Gonzalez, recently won the U.S. Indoor Championships and has climbed to the No. 16 world ranking; 16-year-old Mary Joe Fernandez reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year and the semifinals of the recent Lipton International; and Michael Chang, at the age of 15 last year, became the youngest player ever to win a singles match at the U.S. Open.

Another 17-year-old, Pete Sampras, defeated Eliot Teltscher and Ramesh Krishnan at Indian Wells, Calif., earlier this year.

Along with them, there are a number of amateurs who have shown the potential to make a breakthrough, some of them not yet in their teens. Several of these prodigies will be on display at the 21st Omega Easter Bowl Tournament starting Monday at the Doral Hotel and Country Club in Miami.

The field of 384 boys and girls, competing in 18, 16, 14-and-under divisions, represents 34 states and Puerto Rico.

“I see a dramatic resurgence in American tennis talent, the best that I have seen since the days of (Tracy) Austin, (Andrea) Jaeger and (John) McEnroe,” said Seena Hamilton, the tournament founder and a sports marketing consultant who recently was recognized as one of the 20 leading powers in tennis.

“Some of this is already evident in the emergence of Chang and Sampras. The kids coming up are extremely sophisticated and their games are being developed as total games, not just as baseline specialists. If they are groomed correctly, these kids have the capability of restoring American dominance on the tennis scene.”

Among the potential prodigies entered in the Omega Easter Bowl are 11-year-old Jennifer Capriati of Lauderhill, Fla., 12-year-old Ann Mall of Libertyville, Ill., 14-year-old Tommy Ho of Winter Park, Fla., 13-year-old Brian Dunn of Brandon, Fla., 16-year-old Jonathan Stark of Medford, Ore., 16-year-old Jared Palmer of Wesley Chapel, Fla., and 15-year-old Brian MacPhie of San Jose, Calif.

“Capriati is a phenomenon,” Hamilton said. “She won a pre-qualifier for a pro tournament in Tampa and got to the finals of the qualifier, losing by 7-6 in the third set to Donna Faber, a 16-year-old. Capriati is without a doubt the most promising player since Austin and Jaeger.

“Moreover, she is being brought along with the focus on development of her game rather than how she does in a tournament.”

Ho, the country’s top 14-and-under, recently won the 16-and-under National Indoors and already is ranked No. 1 in the 18s in Florida. He is 6-foot-1 and despite his age is seeded in the 18 division.

“The Omega Easter Bowl will bring out two things that are very important,” Hamilton said. “One is the tremendous amount of talent that is playing at a very young age, but that is much more savvy of the pitfalls that lie ahead based on the lessons learned from the generation that preceded them. They are all aware of the burnout problem, and just as important, their parents are aware of the problem.

“Second is that a dominant theme in the entire spectrum of junior tennis and, in fact, any junior individual sport such as the Olympics is the need for financial support. The burden on these youngsters and their parents is enormous. A survey conducted by Omega Watch Corporation has shown that it costs $10,000 to $30,000 a year to develop a national tournament junior. The Omega Fund has raised $60,000 this year and is giving out travel grants to more than 65 nationally eligible junior players to travel the junior circuit this year. This is a major step, and we’re hoping this will lead to further support.”

Hamilton, perhaps the country’s leading authority on junior players, is boldly optimistic of a bright American future in tennis.

“There definitely is evidence of a turnaround, and future American champions are waiting in the wings,” she said.