North Shore Towers hosts juniors tournament

Youth tennis players showed off their skills during a United States Tennis Association (USTA) juniors tournament, held at the North Shore Towers Country Club in Floral Park.
The five-day tournament, which ran from Thursday, July 13 to Monday, July 17, was an Eastern Sectional Level One B Challenger for boys and girls between the ages of 10 through 18. Young athletes came from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to compete.
The winners of the tournament, which began with 156 players, were Victoria Zoha (girls 10-and-under), Robert Levine (boys 10-and-under), Katherine Yao (girls 12-and-under), Samuel Lam (boys 12-and-under), Shelby Talcott (girls 14-and-under), Teddy Margules (boys 14-and-under), Jessie Rubin (girls 16-and-under), Bryan Roberts (boys 16-and-under), Katherine Hanson (girls 18-and-under) and Joseph Michalisin (boys 18-and-under). &#8220The kids have been great,” said Annelies Karp, a North Shore Towers resident who is also a Ranking Coordinator for USTA.
After beating best friend Zach Dean, Roberts, a Commack resident who has been playing tennis for four years, said, &#8220It feels awesome [to win].”
The tournament was sponsored by the Charles H. Greenthal Management Corporation, which provided the junior players with bottles of water and t-shirts.
Despite the heat, the tournament participants also seemed to have a good time. &#8220I really liked the environment of the tournament,” said Margules, who began playing tennis competitively this year. &#8220I don't get to play [on] outside [courts] much so I liked that and I also [just] like to play.”
North Shore Towers will host a second level one tournament the beginning of August. Holliswood resident Imran Choudhury, who played against eventual winner Joseph Michalisin in the final round for the boys 18 category, said that he will be coming back for it.
For more information about the United States Tennis Association and its junior program, visit www.usta.com.