— About 670 young tennis players aged 10 to 18 competed against each other in the Georgia State Junior Open on Saturday at the Rome-Floyd Tennis Center to improve their game, have fun and, for some of the older participants, possibly catch the eye of college coaches.
The tournament, which is an official United States Tennis Association (USTA) event, is Rome’s largest junior tennis competition in terms of number of participants. Calhoun’s Adrian Lively played in the tournament.
Most of the young tennis players are from Georgia or its surrounding states, but some competitors came from states as far away as Pennsylvania or even Hawaii.
Jaime Martin, 15, and her mother, Joanna Martin traveled from Foley, Alabama,. to compete in the large regional tournament.
Joanna said that while travel distance always factors into which tourna- ments her daughter competes in, she is more interested in Jaime improving her game.
“We average two of these tournaments a month,” Joanna Martin said. “Proximity is certainly a factor, but you want to put your child in the best competition available for them. And that doesn’t even mean they have to do well, you just want them to compete well.”
Joanna Martin explained that sometimes it’s better for Jaime Martin to play a girl who is more skilled than she is, because that allows her daughter to improve as a player as well.
Jaime Martin echoed her mother’s thoughts and agreed that winning is not the most important aspect of competitive tennis.
“My goals today are to compete well,” Jaime said. “It’s not about winning; it’s about playing well.”
Jamie Martin, who was a No. 5 seed in the Girls’ 16 Singles Blue draw, won her match Saturday (6-0, 6-0).
Some of the older competitors who may be nearing a college decision are in the tournaments to win, and gain some attention from college coaches and scouts.