Winter Nationals canceled; Orange Bowl to begin soon

Roger Federer won the Orange Bowl in 1998. This year's tournament is scheduled
to begin on Sunday (16s) and Monday (18s).

   The USTA has canceled the National Winter Championships, a junior tournament that had been scheduled for Dec. 28 to Jan. 3 in Arizona and Florida, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

   However, the Orange Bowl remains set for Sunday (16s) and Monday (18s) through Dec. 13 on clay in Plantation, Fla.

   The top three seeds in the Orange Bowl boys 18s are, in order, Peter Fajta of Hungary, Dali Blanch of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Lukas Neumayer of Austria.

   Also entered is Aidan Mayo, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, Calif. Mayo reached last year's boys 18 doubles final with Lorenzo Claverie of Venezuela.

   Heading the field in the girls 18s are Elsa Jacquemot of France, Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra and Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus. Jacquemot, 17, captured the French Open girls singles title in October, and Kasintseva, a 15-year-old left-hander, won this year's Australian Open girls singles crown at 14. 

   Andorra, situated between France and Spain, is 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C., with a population of about 77,000 and one indoor tennis court.

   The Orange Bowl was founded by Eddie Herr in 1947. It was played on clay until 1998, then on hardcourts until 2011. It has been contested on clay again since then.

   Past winners of the Orange Bowl 18s include International Tennis Hall of Famers Chris Evert (1969-70), Bjorn Borg (1972), John McEnroe (1976), Ivan Lendl (1977), Gabriela Sabatini (1984) and Jim Courier (1987).

   Winners of the tournament on hardcourts include Roger Federer (1998), Andy Roddick (1999) and Caroline Wozniacki (2005).