The different sections will compete and players will be selected to represent the United States in the World Junior Davis/Fed Cup competition where the U.S. will compete against the main tennis development countries in the world. Stela will be one of twelve of the nation's top 9 and 10 year olds who will all be vying for a spot on the 2014 US Davis Fed Cup Junior Squad as they descend on Oklahoma for the Junior Fed Cup Challenge. The event will be held at the beautiful Grand Health and Raquet Club in Tulsa Oklahoma. "The facilty has plenty of indoor courts in case it rains and the kids will be competing on red clay," stated Tony Sifuentes, Stella's coach and proud father who along with Karla, her mother and Head Tennis Coach at CC Winn High School in Eagle Pass, are both looking forward to this once in lifetime opportunity to rub shoulders with players such as Stevens and Serena Williams, "The identical surface played at the French Open instead of our typical Deco-Surface used at the U.S. Open and in the majority of tournaments held in the U.S." The USTA is investing in their up and coming junior prospects and competing against the best players in the world to establish where the U.S. is in development compared to the other countries who are developing numerous Top 100 WTA (Womens Tennis Association) players. We all hope that this will be the first and definitely not the last big event in what her parents and all of us who encourage young people to practice, play and participate in sports here in Eagle Pass. In two weeks we can say we too have a representative on the hard courts and the clay courts of the world as one of our upcoming world class tennis players as Stela will travel with the US Davis Cup Team, which last year boasted names like Bob and Mike Bryan, the Bryan Brothers, the #1 doubles team in the world, John Isner, Sam Querry on the men's side and Serena and Venus Williams, Melanie Oudin and Jamie Hampton on the women's side. Good luck and Godspeed Stela, we're all behind you 110%. Take us with you and bring something back.
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Davis Fed Cup awaits local phenom
- Saturday, 05 October 2013 16:56
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A.D. Ibarra
-Sifuentes Tennis Academy, Rio Rd.
It takes a special kind of kid to dedicate four hours a day to a craft mostly performed by true professionals such as Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The long hours and grueling pace in the perennially hot South Texas sun day in and day out can discourage most average american youngsters who would rather opt for the latest X Box video game or in Stela Sifuentes' case, the latest programs on The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network, but for Stela, it's another day on the cinder of her father's blue training court for forehands and backhands, volleys, serves and overheads. What she has her sights set on every time she strikes the felt off the tennis ball with impeccable accuracy and racquet speed is the same goal a young girl by the name of Sloan Stevens and her coaches had not too long ago. Sloan is most recently known for her stunning victory over Serena Williams at the 2013 Australian Open 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Stevens also participated in what is known as the junior circuit of the US Davis Cup Team. Stela was selected to participate in the level 2 RTC camp in TBAR M in North Dallas where the numbers were dropped from the first level of 24 players to 18 players based on their USTA winning records and their performance at the level 1 RTC training camp. This time their main goal was to select, based on their performance at the camp 3 girls and 3 boys to represent the Texas section for the Junior Davis/ Fed Cup competition to be held in Oklahoma on October 18-21, 2013.