92 October 2006 - www.tennisweek.com

USTA/EASTERN NEWS

EASTERN’S PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE SHARE U.S. OPEN’S GRAND ST

Young players from New York’s five boroughs participated in the pageantry at the U.S. Open.

Douglaston native and former Easternjunior Mary Carillo, a 1977 Frenchmixed doubles champ with JohnMcEnroe, emceed the christening of U.S.Open headquarters, now the USTA BillieJean King National Tennis Center.

In contrast to Eastern’s Dick Savitt, atwo-time Grand Slam singles winnerand avowed Yankees fan, Queensnative and four-time U.S. Open sin-gles champ John McEnroe apparentlyfavors the N.Y. Mets.

Lena Litvak of the Bronx played inthe singles and was a doubles quar-terfinalist in the Open’s junior event

Brooklyn’s Gail Brodsky lost a close7-6, 7-5 decision to Romania’s RalucaOlaru in round two of singles at thejunior Open.

Marcus Fugate of Fairport, N.Y.,played the GHI Bronx Challenger andcompeted in junior singles and dou-bles at the Open.

USTA National Clay Court 16s champChristina McHale of Englewood Cliffs,N.J., lost to eventual Open girls’ winnerAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.

Stefanie Nunic of New York, N.Y., com-peted in the GHI Bronx Challenger andlost to Lena Litvak and partner, 4-6,6-4, 7-6, in junior Open doubles.

Shinann Featherston of Rockaway Park,N.Y., participated in both the GHIChallenger and junior Open doubles.

Sony Ericsson WTA chief Larry Scott,once a top-ranked Eastern junior outof Merrick, N.Y., addressed the issueof illegal coaching.

Lindsay Clark of Bernardsville, N.J.,played doubles in the junior Open.

www.eastern.usta.com

Bob

Str

aus

October 2006 TW 93

by Nancy Gill McShea

SHARE U.S. OPEN’S GRAND STAGEphotos by Ed Goldman except where noted

D.A. Abrams (l) congratulated artists (l-r) Ricardo Khan, Yolanda Wyns and NeshanKoulian at the Celebration of Artistry awards ceremony. Koulian designed and donat-ed the mural to commemorate the occasion.Justin Gimelstob of Livingston, N.J.,competed in singles, doubles and

reached the mixed doubles semis.

Nikita Kryvonos of Flushing, N.Y.,played the GHI Challenger and theOpen men’s qualifier.

www.eastern.usta.com

Eastern honored three New York area professionals accom-plished in music, design and theater with Celebration ofArtistry awards in a salute to the arts, held Sept. 7 at the GrandHyatt Hotel in Manhattan.

In recognizing Yolanda Wyns of Brooklyn, Ricardo Khan ofNew Brunswick, N.J., and Neshan Koulian from Huntington,Long Island, Executive Director D.A. Abrams said, “[The awardsare] Eastern’s way of recognizing the same traditions that distin-guish great artists and shared by those at the highest levels of ten-nis and the arts: skill, focus, patience and dedication.”

Wyns has performed with Patti Labelle, Stephanie Mills,Natalie Cole and Mariah Carey, and has appeared in New York atthe Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center’s AveryFisher Hall.

Khan is a co-founder of Crossroads Theater, recognized asone of the nation’s premiere African-American companies.Crossroads received the 1999 Tony Award for OutstandingRegional Theatre in America.

Koulian’s firm is an east coast leader in corporate marketing inthe categories of print, package, interactive, online and event design.

In a gesture of thanks to its member organizations, Easternalso awarded free tickets for the Sept. 7 U.S. Open day session tomembers who were randomly selected from participants in a Julydrawing. Fortunate members receiving a pair of tickets were:

Sandeep Rao, CTA of East WillistonBill Mecca, Garden City CasinoTerry Fontana, Hicksville CTADan Dwyer, Point Set Indoor Racquet ClubJohn Rappaport, Bedford YMCAElaina Bantovska, Crotona Park - NYJTLMel Swanson, Junior Tennis ClinicJeffrey Fairbanks, Metropolitan Tennis GroupBill Wiese, New York Junior Tennis LeaguePaulette Clark, PDC Tennis ClubBill Briggs, Youth and Tennis Inc.Bob Schmitz, Schenectady County Tennis AssociationFran Gray, Althea Gibson FoundationDee Dee Roberts, Girl Scout Council of Greater Essex & Hudson CountyJanet Lefkowitz, “Hero, Inc.”Frank Gilligan, Irvington Recreation & ParksCarl Jennings, Long Branch RecreationLinda Russo, Nutley Tennis ClubKit Byron, Rye Racquet ClubMark Savage, SportsplexRichard Foster, Thomas Bull Memorial Park Tennis CenterToni Caldwell, Tri-City Peoples CorporationTanya Johnson, “Union Child Day Care Center, Inc.”Ralph Critelli, Kenmore Schools DaycampRichard Barney, Penn Yan Racquet Club

A CELEBRATION OF ARTISTRY AT THE U.S. OPEN