2017 USTA Hawaii Pacific Yearbook September

2016 SPORTMASTER TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS OF MAUI ROYAL LAHAINA TENNIS RANCH, KAANAPALI, HAWAII | January 23-31, 2016 2016 WOMEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION CHRISTINA MCHALE 2016 MEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION DI WU 2016 WOMEN’S DOUBLES CHAMPIONS ASIA MUHAMMAD & MARIA SANCHEZ 2016 MEN’S DOUBLES CHAMPIONS JASON JUNG & DENIS NOVIKOV 2016 WOMEN’S SINGLES FINALIST RAVEENA KINGSLEY 2016 MEN’S SINGLES FINALIST KYLE EDMUND 2016 WOMEN’S DOUBLES FINALISTS JESSICA PEGULA & TAYLOR TOWNSEND 2016 MEN’S DOUBLES FINALISTS FRANK MOSER & ALEX BOLT 8 HAWAII PACIFIC YEARBOOK 2017 The 2016 Sportmaster Tennis Championships of Maui, formerly the Royal Lahaina Challenger, went above and beyond the success of past years. The level of tennis was extremely high and the excitement and talent on the court mesmerized the over 3,000 fans that attended the event. The USTA Hawaii Pacific Section, who is the only USTA Section to host a Pro Circuit Challenger tournament, also added a Women’s draw in 2016. As the only Men’s and Women’s professional tennis event Hawaii, the tournament attracted world-class athletes to the island paradise of Maui. The USTA Hawaii Pacific Section was fortunate to garner the support of major sponsors including the Tennis Media Company, Royal Lahaina Resort, Island Air, Lexus Maui, Maui Now and KITV to name a few. With Sportmaster Sport Surfaces as the tournament’s title sponsor, the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch saw new court surfaces on all 11 courts. New to the 2016 tournament, American coaches Jose Higueras, Tom Gullikson, and Adam Petersen set aside time from their busy schedules to coach a handful of Hawaii junior players. The coaches all have impressive resumes. Higueras, a former top player in the world, has coached the likes of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Gullikson has a mixed doubles US Open title under his belt. Petersen was the coach of former world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport. The junior players who participated not only had a lot of fun, but also gained valuable tennis knowledge from some of the best coaches in the world. The coaches showed them new drills that gave the players an alternative look at technique and strategy. After the clinic, the coaches stuck around to talk story with players and give them inspiration for their tennis futures. Thanks to the sponsorship from Kahiau: A Tennis Foundation, over 300 kids from the Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, as well as two local elementary schools, were invited to participate in clinics and photo opportunities with the pros. Many of the kids were playing tennis for the first time, and they watched with awestruck wonder as the same pros they had met during the meet- and-greet later competed fiercely on the courts. These community outreach efforts are put in place to enrich the sport of tennis through the local community and grow the game and interest in the youth of Hawaii. Let’s not forget to mention the tennis. Taking home the Women’s Singles crown was 23-year-old Christina McHale from New Jersey, who has a career-high singles ranking of 24 in the world. On the Men’s Singles end, 24-year-old Di Wu fought relentlessly to become the first contender representing the country of China to win an ATP Challenger tournament. In the Women’s Doubles Final, top seed Asia Muhammad (USA) and Maria Sanchez (USA) took the match in a tiebreak final. For the Men’s Doubles, Jason Jung (TPE) and Denis Novikov (USA) also gave their fans an exciting final match with a 10-8 tiebreak. Coverage of the event was ever-present, with daily stories in Maui News, stories in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Maui Now, KITV, Tennis World, the ATP and WTA. The tournament had successful promotion through various radio, print, and television sources and even had coverage in Tennis Magazine, which circulates over 600,000 copies nationwide. The event was covered via live web streaming so that anyone across the world who has access to Internet

2017 USTA Hawaii Pacific Yearbook September | Page 10