Juniors

JTCC High Performance Player Shristi Selvan set a personal goal in 2024 to become a “top 25 player in the country” in Girls’ 14s by the end of 2025. Just 30 days into the new year, Selvan now can aim even higher, having now achieved a career-high USTA national ranking of #15.

At 15-years-old, Kalista Papadopoulos is quickly making a name for herself in the tennis world. A relative newcomer to competitive tennis, Kalista began taking the sport seriously only after COVID-19 disrupted her involvement in other team sports such as lacrosse and field hockey. What started as casual rallies with her older brother Jordan during the pandemic has now evolved into a dedicated pursuit of excellence on the court.

JTCC High Performance Players Reiley Rhodes and Kalista Papadopoulos both captured their first Junior ITF titles at the J60 Arequipa Open that took place last month in Peru.

After attaining the status as one of the most coveted Juniors in the nation, JTCC High Performance player Kase Schinnerer has chosen the University of North Carolina as his next destination to pursue his athletic and academic dreams.

In preparation for the Junior Boys’ and Girls’ US Open, 200 of the Top Junior players in the world from 35 different countries battled at JTCC and competed in the J300 ITF Wayne K. Curry Prince George’s County International Junior Tennis Championships presented by Laurel Springs School.

JTCC players certainly didn’t let any grass grow under their feet at Wimbledon as three alumni raced to victories on the hallowed grass courts. Robin Montgomery fought through three matches in qualifying to earn her first entry into the women’s singles main draw. She followed up with an impressive first round defeat of Olivia Gadecki, 6-4, 6-4, to achieve a personal milestone winning her first Grand Slam main draw match.

Thirteen JTCC graduates in attendance were dressed to impress in front of the more than 100 proud parents, families, alumni, and friends who gathered in the JTCC lobby for the May 29 graduation ceremony for the Class of 2024. The new alumni received their diplomas and portraits which will hang on the JTCC Walk of Fame hallway. This year’s class included four additional graduates who were unable to attend. The group joined the more than 330 other successful alumni.

Leaving behind her family and hometown of Yonkers, NY, Stefanie Smart-Abbey, at 13-years-old joined JTCC’s Full-Time High Performance program in late 2022 to pursue her dream to be the best player she could be. Smart-Abbey’s father, a seasoned tennis coach from Ghana, taught his 10-year-old daughter how to play tennis. She began making her mark at a young age in local tournaments by holding her own and competing in older age groups despite having only two years of tennis experience.

The dreams of seven hard-working student-athletes have been fulfilled with their commitments to play college tennis at prestigious institutions in the fall. A signing day ceremony was held at JTCC on Thursday, January 11, with players, family members, and media in attendance.

For JTCC High Performance players Kase and Erik Schinnerer, their dominance on the court shouldn’t be a surprise. Born into a family of athletes, with their mother Lessia, a former professional tennis player, and their father Dan, a four-year letter winner at Yale University, the Schinnerer brothers have quickly forged an identity of their own at JTCC.

JTCC High Performance player Stiles Brockett started training at JTCC in 2020 with a goal “to become the best player he could be”. Three years later, Brockett not only is one of the country’s best junior players and Boys 16 National champion, but he recently verbally committed to join one of the best collegiate programs in the country at the University of Virginia.