Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Jersey teen Shaikh begins 14s ranked No. 1
PLANTATION — When Hibah Shaikh was 6 years old, her father took her to the U.S. Open. It was love at first sight.
“It was her first tournament and she watched an Indian tennis player named Sania Mirza, and after that she just wanted to play tennis,” said Riyaz Shaikh, a native of India and Hivah’s father, while watching her practice Thursday at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation.
Hibah’s crush turned into passion. The passion became an obsession, and now the 5-foot-3, 100-pound Teaneck, N.J., native will enter Sunday’s USTA National Clay Court Girls 14s Championships as the No. 1 seed.
“I’m smaller than the other people so I can’t really outhit them or overpower them, so I have to stay in the points and get the balls back,” Hibah Shaikh said. “So I guess I’m faster. But when I have to be, I’ll go aggressive if I get a chance.”
The singles main draw has increased from 128 players to 192, and they’re expecting 96 doubles teams. The boys 16s and 18s USTA Clay Court national tournament at the Delray Beach Tennis Center and several other Palm Beach sites, has grown from a 128-player draw to 224 per division.
The boys 14s will be held at Fort Lauderdale’s Holiday Park and the Lauderdale Tennis Club, while the girls’ 12s will be at the Polo Club in Boca Raton.
“It’s a great testament to the growth of tennis in the United States,” said Lowell Coffman, tournament director of the girls 14s national clay courts. “This gives more kids a chance to participate.
“Most of these players will either play college tennis and some will make the pro tour.”
Previous Grand Slam singles champions Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport played in the girls’ 14s event, as did Grand Slam doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Several American women currently ranked in the top 100 on the WTA Tour played in this tournament, including Madison Keys, Cece Bellis, Christina McHale, Alison Riske and Jennifer Brady.
Shaikh could meet No. 2 seed Katja Wiersholm of Kirkland, Wash., in the final next Sunday. Emily DeOliveira of Bradenton, is the state champion and seeded 16th.
Shaikh (pronounced Shake), who turns 15 in September, is riding the momentum of a title run earlier this month in a level 2 USTA National 16s event at the University of Minnesota. Her coach is Latvian Arvis Berzins, who’s the mixed doubles partner of Joleno Ostapenko, the Latvian 20 year old who won the French Open last month and is now ranked 13th.
Of course, Shaikh said she’d rather be playing in Wimbledon this week, but she isn’t in a rush.
“Obviously, almost everybody wishes they’d be at Wimbledon but I definitely want to play Division I college and if I’m good enough, try to play pros,” Shaikh said.
While prestigious gold balls and ranking points are on the line for all the future champions, the boys 18s winner will also receive a wild-card berth into next month’s U.S. Open junior event as well as the main draw of a USTA Futures Pro Circuit tournament.