Fourteen-year-old Lauren Anzalotta has had quite a month pulling off a series of convincing victories on her way to three consecutive ITF Junior titles. The JTCC High Performance player claimed the doubles championships alongside Maria Aguiar in Cabo Rojo, PR and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic respectively before securing the singles crown in Humacao, PR.
Anzalotta’s remarkable run started at the Copa Coqui G5 ITF in Cabo Rojo, PR (September 19th–24th) where she teamed up with fellow Puerto Rican Aguiar for the first time. The unseeded duo fought their way through the top half of the draw by beating the #1 seeds, Hungarian Csilla Fodor and Indian Rhea Verma, 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-7 in the quarterfinals and then going on to win their semifinal over the third seeded team of Yasemin Ada Boru (Turkey) and McKenna Smith (USA) 6-1, 3-6, 10-4. The 7-6(3), 6-0 finals triumph over #2 seeds, Saint Vincentian Khyanna Singh and American Kennedy Bridgeforth, concluded a memorable tournament for Anzalotta and Aguiar in winning their maiden ITF title both as a pair and individually.
Copa Coqui Doubles Winners – Maria Aguiar (L) & Lauren Anzalotta (R)
The Puerto Ricans continued in the same vein the following week when they combined again for the VIII Copa Mangu G5 ITF in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (September 26th–October 1st). Anzalotta and Aguiar defeated the seventh, third and fifth seeds respectively en route to reaching the finals without dropping a set. They maintained their unblemished record as they secured back to back doubles championships with a 6-3, 6-1 finals victory over Americans Rose Dickson and Shelly Yaloz.
Back to Back Doubles Champions in Santo Domingo – Anzalotta (L) & Aguiar (R)
The last event for Anzalotta before returning to JTCC was at the Copa Palmas del Caribe G5 ITF in Humacao, Puerto Rico (October 10th–15th). She breezed through the singles draw by winning all five of her matches in straight sets. This included a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over the top seed, American Catherine Xu, in the semifinals before wrapping up the title by beating compatriot Erika Barquero 6-3, 7-5 in the finals.
“Lauren has worked extremely hard at her game all year and this run of wins is much deserved,” said JTCC Senior Coach and Anzalotta’s mentor Megan Moulton-Levy. “She is now in a great position to continue her progression as she competes in more ITF tournaments during 2017.”
Lauren Anzalotta striking a forehand on her way to winning in Humacao
