By Brent Shearer, TPN contributor
New York, New York (August 15, 2022) – As the New York City tennis community prepares to celebrate the return of New York Junior Tennis and Learning’s Bronx Open this week, Tennis Panorama News (TPN) will offer coverage of the $60,000 womens’ pro event to be held in Crotona Park at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center.
This site will offer match results and analyses and supply some of the colorful background of this unique pro tennis event that runs from August 15 – 21 and is free to the public.
One highlight will be the expected participation of the Italian player Sara Erani, a former top five player in singles and the No. 1 player in doubles. She reached the finals of the French Open in 2012.
TPN will also provide readers with an exclusive series of vignettes that will focus on members of the tournament community whose work behind the scenes is often not acknowledged.
Our first subject is thirteen-year-old Elim Seyoum from Washington Heights who will be a ball kid at the event. The rising eighth grader is a participant in NYJTL’s Intensive Training Program.
Elim said she has been playing tennis for seven years and first picked up a racquet at her father’s suggestion. He played on his college tennis team.
One of her favorite practice sites is a handball wall that is only five minutes from her home. At her sessions at the Cary Leeds Center, Elim says she enjoys the Life Skills portion of the program, which is an off-court component of the NYJTL.
“The Life Skills classes have taught me that I can have more control over my mind and my body and have helped me keep a positive attitude toward school and tennis,” she said.
Even though her favorite player is Coco Gauff, she acknowledged that in light of the news that Serena Williams will be retiring, the former world No. 1 has had a huge impact on and off the court. “She’s done a lot that has helped other black girls. She’s been a big inspiration for me and a lot of people.”
Elin plans to play professional tennis after completing what she expects will be four years of college tennis.
She said she likes tennis “because everybody can play whether you’re a boy or a girl, big or small, young or old.” In other after-school enhancement programs, Elim recently completed the Millionaire Book Club, a program in which grade schoolers read as many age-appropriate books as they need to in order to reach the million word total.
