Sunitha Rao (IND) [256]

Sunitha was the #3 seed in this event but lost in the second round to Lauren Albanese. The still images are from that match. The animations are from the doubles final which she won partnered with Kim Grant (an excellent doubles player). Sunitha and Kim were the #4 seeded team in the doubles event.

Valerie Tetreault (CAN) [275]

Valerie was one of the most solid players I saw in the women's event. She lived up to her #6 seed a by going all the way to the semi-finals where she lost to eventual winner Jessica Kirkland (280), the #7 seed. Valerie got some payback when she and Lauren Albanese defeated Kirkland and Alexandra Mueller in the first round of the doubles.

Lauren Albanese (USA) [290]

Had not heard of Lauren until this event. Saw her play two matches. She did quite well for herself making it all the way to the finals as an unseeded player. Lauren defeated the #3, #5, and #8 seeds before losing Jessica Kirkland [280], the #7 seed in the final. She is 17 years old and plays World Team Tennis for the Newport Beach Breakers.

Amber Liu (USA) [439]

Amber was a collegiate star at Stanford, winning the NCAA singles twice. It's unusual to see a college graduate playing on the pro tour. She's played in events all over the world, so it looks like she's giving the pro tour a try. Apparently it's a big step up from collegiate play to the professional ranks. Amber won her first round match 6-0, 6-0 over Julia Cohen [390]. These images are from her second round loss to the #1 seed Angela Haynes [228]. It was quite a good match, going 3 sets.

Lindsey Nelson (USA) [507]

Lindsey is a local college tennis star playing for USC, where she graduates in 2007. She has lost in the finals of the NCAA singles the past two years. I've seen her play in pro events several times now. She is one of the most unorthodox players I've photographed along side of Evgenia Koulikovskaya (retired). Lindsey's unusual groundstroke production is chronicled here. These images, which are from her second round loss to Alexandra Mueller [734], are more about her ready position. At times she gets so low she looks like a football linesman. Even from these ready position pictures, it is difficult to tell if she's a righty (pics 1 & 2), or a lefty (pics 3 & 4).

Hillary Barte (USA) [541]

These images are from Hillary's second round loss to #6 seed Valerie Tetreault [275]. Have seen her play a few times now. She's always full of enthusiasm. Hillary is a petite lefty who will have trouble making it in the big leagues due to her small stature (though I hope she proves me wrong). She is one of the more photogenic players I've run into. Hillary won the USTA National Girls 18 Championships in 2006.

Jamie Hampton (USA) [596]

Jamie was awarded a wildcard into the main draw of this event. These images are from her first round victory over qualifier Brittany Augustine. This was one of the best matches I saw, featuring long, hard hitting rallies, with good placement of groundstrokes and nice variety demonstrated by both players. Jamie's a 17 year old, born in Germany and living in Auburn, Alabama.

Brittany Augustine (USA) [nr]

At the time the draw was made, Brittany apparently did not have an international ranking, though she is currently (Aug. 8, 2007) ranked #976. She got into the main draw as a qualifier. These images are from her first round loss to Jamie Hampton [596], which was a very good match. Brittany is a 15 year old from the Los Angeles area who was formerly ranked #1 in the U.S. 14 and under category.

Rik De Voest (RSA) [141]

Rik was the #3 seed in the men's singles. He ended up losing in the quarterfinals to qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr., who went on to win the tournament. Got a lot of nice pictures of Rik, particularly #1 and #6. These images are from his second round match with Takao Suzuki. Wish he wasn't wearing those glasses. It seems to be more popular with men than women to wear sunglasses during matches.

Dudi Sela (ISR) [193]

Though I'd never heard of Dudi, he was the #8 seed in the men's singles. He's also the #1 player in Israel. Something about his body language makes Dudi very photogenic. A large percentage of the pictures I took of him turned out to be pretty good (very unusual for me). Dudi was upset by unseeded Sam Warburg in the second round. These pictures are from that match.

Sam Warburg (USA) [198]

Sam is the first male tennis player I've photographed for the purposes of putting on a website. Previous to this event I concentrated on shooting women. Sam did quite well for himself, making it all the way to the semifinals as an unseeded player. These pictures are from his second round victory over #8 seed Dudi Sela.

Takao Suzuki (JPN) [310]

Got some nice pictures of Takao. Too bad he was wearing those sunglasses. Takao is currently the #1 male player in Japan. These pictures are from his second round loss to #3 seed Rik De Voest.

Phillip Simmonds (USA) [314]

Don't know how Phillip can wear such baggy clothes while playing tennis. All that stuff flopping around would distract me. Same thing goes for women who wear dangling earings and loose necklaces. These pictures are from Phillip's second round loss to wildcard Donald Young [364]. On a more positive note Phillip defeated the #5 seed, Zack Fleishman [173] in the first round.

Donald Young (USA) [364]

Donald is a lefty with a lot of natural talent and quickness. He makes some very difficult shots look easy. He's typically inconsistent for an 18 year old. These pictures are from his second round victory over Phillip Simmonds [314]. If you go strictly by rankings this was a mild upset. Donald made it to the semi-finals where he lost to eventual tournament winner Alex Bogomolov Jr. [453] - a good showing for Donald.

Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA) [453]

Alex was born in Moscow but played junior tennis in the United States. In the year 2000 he was the #1 ranked played in the U.S. in the 18 and under category. He looks older and plays older than his 24 years of age. These pictures are from his semi-final victory over Donald Young [364]. Alex won this match on superior concentration and consistency. He had to qualify for the main draw and went on to win the event. Not a bad showing for the lowest ranking man I photographed. He is known for his association with two women: Ashley Harkleroad, to whom he was married, and Anna Kournikova, for whom he served as a hitting partner.

Home Depot Center

  1) This is the first challenger level event I've attended. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Being
     held at the Home Depot Center made it feel like WTA or ATP tournaments. The only differences
     being that the stadium was only used for event finals, fewer linesmen were used per court, 
     manual scoreboards were used (instead of electronic), and fewer ballboys were used. In fact
     there was a short period during the lunch hour one day when NO ballboys were available
     (linesmen were on the job). It was on court 4 too, which is the show court when the stadium
     isn't in use. The women playing at the time picked up their own balls for most of the first
     set. Other than that this felt very much like a professional tennis tournament, except that
     was no charge for admission!

  2) This event represented another first for me in that it was the first time I've photographed
     men with my digital equipment (i.e. for the web). It was a nice change from the women. I 
     found that men tend to be more physically dynamic which makes for interesting actions shots.
     Unfortunately, men also tend to wear sunglasses more than women, making it tough to get
     good shots of their faces.

  3) The weather in the Los Angeles area during May-June is reliably fabulous. It doesn't rain
     and the temperature is perfect for watching tennis. Coupled with the facts that there is no
     admission charge for this event, and that the Home Depot Center is a professional sports
     facility, makes this an excellent tennis tournament to attend. Plus you get to see men and
     women playing, which doesn't happen all that often at the pro levels of tennis.