Kalamazoo, Mich ... The United States Tennis Association's Boys' 18 and 16 National Championships will have a new name when match play begins at 8 a.m., Friday, August 4 at Stowe Tennis Stadium on the campus of Kalamazoo College.

The USTA has changed the name to the Boys' 18 and 16 Super National Hard Court Championships. With the addition of four new regional tournaments on the junior schedule that are called "National Opens," the USTA felt it would be easier to recognize the Open tournaments from the Championships. Also, adding the new regional tournament will give more players an opportunity to qualify for Kalamazoo. Timon Corwin, tournament director said, "The USTA wanted to give junior players another opportunity to qualify for the Nationals. So as not to confuse the National Opens with our tournament, they gave us the name "Super Nationals."

This will be the 58th year Kalamazoo College has hosted the championships. The 10-day tournament will begin with match play on Friday morning, August 4 and culminate with the singles' championships on Sunday, August 13. More than 400 players will vie for the top USTA ranking and junior title. They will include last year's 18 and-under-age-division champion Phillip King and Robby Ginepri the 16 and-under-age-division champion. Ginepri will compete in the 18-age division this year.

Other players to watch in the 18 age division are Eric Nunez who was runner-up at the Easter Bowl to Ginepri, Ryan Newport, Alex Bogomolov, Joseph Lesley and Kalamazoo's Eric Hodgman in the Boys' 16-and-under-age-division.

The annual National City Bank Exhibition and opening ceremonies will be held on Friday evening. Exhibition play will feature a singles match between two top professional players followed by a doubles match between the pros and the top seeded 18-and-under junior team.

For ticket information call (616)337-7343.

Source: Tournament Office