Bobby Curtis Junior Elite Program
In honor of Bobby Curtis' long time affiliation with the Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida, Inc., YTF established the Bobby Curtis Junior Elite Program.
Bobby Curtis Elite Program
Consistent with the YTF mission to support and develop youth tennis at the various levels in Florida, the aim of this program will be to identify highly ranked Florida junior players and offer monetary help to supplement the costs and expenses related to training and tournament play at this level.
Program Leadership
The chairperson of this program is Board member Jeff Chambers, a former top ranked national junior player and college All-American. For further information, please contact Jeff.
2024
Kaylan Bigun has made great strides in the last 10 months on the junior and pro tennis circuits as his ranking in both arenas has skyrocketed.
He reached the semi-finals of the Wimbledon juniors last July and then the semi-finals of the Australian Open juniors this past January. This elevated his ITF World Junior ranking to #8 in the World.
Kaylan has committed to play college tennis at UCLA this Fall, but in the interim, he will continue playing this summer in the French Open juniors and again at the Wimbledon juniors.
Kaylan has also been playing ITF professional events with much success. This led to him being awarded a Wild Card into the qualifying of the Sarasota Open, an ATP Challenger event.
He made it through qualifying by beating 2 players ranked in the top 500 in the world. He then won his first-round match in the main draw before succumbing to Zizou Bergs, ranked #105 in the World, in a hard-fought match.
Meecah reached a high on the ITF junior World ranking list of 63 last year. His ITF junior tournament schedule has taken him to Costa Rica, Columbia, and Dominican Republic this Spring. He has committed to play college tennis at Princeton.
Kaylan in action at the Sarasota Open (ATP Pro Challenger event)
Kaylan Bigun pictured with YTF Board member, Jeff Chambers
2022
The YTF Bobby Curtis Elite Junior Prize Money Tournament was held the weekend of November 4-6 at Seminole Lake Country Club in Seminole, Florida.
It was run through the UTR software program under the direction of Erick Chall, Tennis Director at SLCC.
The level of play in both the boys and girls divisions was very high. In the Boys' division, there were 12 players with UTR ratings over 10. In the Girls' division, at least two of the girls have already signed with high level Division 1 programs (UCLA and South Carolina).
Final Results
Men's Winner: Abhishek Thorat
Men's Runner-up: Leonardo Dal Boni
Women's Winner: Sophie Llewellyn
Women's Runner-up: Anna Kantor
Male winners and YTF Board member Jeff Chambers
Female winners and YTF Board member Jeff Chambers
The feedback received from players, parents and coaches was all positive.
2021
Coach Scott Dei, Tanner Povey, and YTF Board member Jeff Chambers
Tanner Povey is the first recipient of the Elite Performance Program award. He is one of the top junior players in the state of Florida.
Tanner trains primarily with coach Dei at the Isla Del Sol Country Club in St Petersburg, FL.