Regional Director’s Letter
Welcome to the 35th Annual USTA Long Island Regional Awards!
Tonight is an evening of celebration as we congratulate and recognize the Long Island junior, adult, high school, and USTA league players who will receive awards based on their play, accomplishments and dedication to the game we all love. As we come together, let’s take a moment to recognize the game itself, which continues to see great participation growth, as we work to reach the USTA National’s goal of 35 by 35 (35 million players by the year 2035). To help make this happen, the USTA LI Regional Council is happy to host an evening that not only gives us an opportunity to recognize you, but more importantly an opportunity to see you and hear from you. It’s a yearly reminder of how diverse and special the Long Island tennis community truly is.
We, the USTA Long Island Regional Council, will work to help reach the USTA’s goal by continuing to reach out to the entire Long Island community to bring tennis to people of all ages and skill levels. We will also provide continued support and education in existing areas including awarding LI Regional Grants to foster new and innovative programing. Without the dedication of our regional council members (all volunteers), who give their time throughout the year, we would not be able to conduct the various activities that allow us to make this happen.
Speaking of activities, during the past year, the USTA LI Regional Council was privileged to again volunteer our time at the tennis portion of the Long Island Special Olympics, and be a sponsor of the Games. We continued our support of Robbie’s Run and their mission of providing CPR training and AEDs. We hosted a chat and book signing by author Robert Lopez at a Court & Cocktails event during Hispanic Heritage Month. We provided a day of introductory tennis to hundreds of children in Nassau and Suffolk County at two Summer Kids’ Days and a Park Day. We co-sponsored “Girls Day” an event with USTA Eastern, the Women's Sports Foundation, and Eisenhower Park to give girls ages 8-12 an opportunity to play/experience tennis. The event saw Genie Bouchard and Epiphanny Prince come down and participate, and culminate with the donation of $50,000 by the WSF to Eisenhower Park to help with the refurbishment of the tennis courts. We also partnered with the Bridges to Adelphi program to provide an afternoon of training to staff and play, for neurodiverse students.
Many of these events would not have been successful without our many partnerships. Thank you to our partner Long Island Tennis Magazine for their ongoing support and publicizing of these initiatives, and to Eisenhower Park, LuHi Camp, Sportime Hempstead Lake and Island Quest Camp for hosting some of these events.
We proudly continue our support of high school tennis. Each Nassau and Suffolk public high school team was provided special plaques that allowed coaches to recognize one player on each of their respective teams for outstanding sportsmanship during the 2024-25 girls’ & boys’ seasons. I was pleased to have the honor of presenting plaques to the winners and runner-ups to the players from Nassau and Suffolk County who competed in the Large Schools and Small
Schools Long Island Championships. Lastly, we also provided sweatshirts to all Long Island girls and boys competing at the New York State Individual Championships.
Our high school tennis teams and their players once again had exceptional seasons. Our girls’ season saw Long Island taking both NYS Individual titles.
USTA Long Island board members and volunteers at the Kids’ Day events this summer
Angel Walia – from Herricks H.S. - won the NY State Singles title while the Suffolk girls’ doubles champions - Emilia Romano & Evie Romano from Bayport-Blue Point H.S. - won the NY State doubles title. In team competition, both the Syosset and Bayport-Blue Point girls’ teams finished as the runner-ups in the Large & Small School NY State Team Tournaments. The boys’ season saw the Nassau teams win the NY State Large Schools and Small Schools Team titles. Syosset H.S. three-peated as the boys Large School Champions while Friends Academy broke thru to win the Small School title after finishing as a runner-up the last two years.
We ask you to pay it forward by sharing, participating in and supporting the sport we all love by working with us on these and other programs and activities. By all of us doing our part, we will reach the goal of 35 by 35 (35 million players by 2035) set forth by USTA National, making the U.S. the world’s number one tennis-playing nation (by population) in the world.
Lastly – On behalf of the Long Island Regional Council and myself, I would like to express my deep gratitude and thanks to Jenny Schnitzer – USTA Eastern Executive Director & CEO for her many years of support of the Long Island Region and to the game of tennis. Without her, this award’s evening and the many activities we provide wouldn’t be possible.
Make sure to visit our web site, Facebook and Instagram pages frequently, and if you don’t already, please subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, “On the Ball: News from LI.”
I look forward to continuing the work we are doing and to reaching out and creating new pathways for those who have never had the opportunity to play and experience the “World's Healthiest Sport”.
Michael Pavlides
Long Island Regional Director (volunteer)
35th Annual USTA Long Islan
Prestigious Awards Excellence Awards
Hy Zausner Lifetime Achievement Award
Maureen McFadzen
Vitas Gerulaitis “For the Love of Tennis” Award
Amy Gillen
Rose Buck Scalamandre Tennis Family of the Year
The Lombardi Family
Arthur Ashe Multicultural Award
Fernando Juguera
Adult Volunteer of the Year
Bon Koo
Daniel Burgess, Sr. Community Service Award
Kevin Boston-Hill
Junior Volunteer of the Year
Graydon Archondo
Tennis Club of the Year
Deer Park Tennis Club
Daniel Burgess, Sr. Community Service Award
Kevin Boston-Hill
nd Region Awardees (2025)
Excellence Awards
Private Club of the Year
Huntington Crescent Club
Tennis Professional of the Year (Adult)
Gary Gaudio
Tennis Professional of the Year (Junior)
Anna Bielen Zarska
Long Island High School Tennis Team of the Year
Commack H.S. Girls Team
Birdie Tarulli League Captain Award
Jacqueline Peiffer
Blane Magee League Captain Award
Don Jackson
Anuj Agarwal Junior Sportsmanship Award
David Meyers
Jennifer Sherry Junior Sportsmanship Award
Sofia Kedrin
Madeline Zausner Junior Tournament Director Award
Rong Ma
Good Samaritan Award
Felipe Sobrinho
Vitas Gerulaitis “For the Love of Tennis” Award
Amy Gillen
35th Annual USTA Long Islan
2024-25 High School Champions
Nassau County Boys Singles Champion
Manhasset H.S. - Max Golubenko
Nassau County Boys Doubles Champions
Garden City H.S. - Ben Wiese & Christian Bravo
Suffolk County Boys Singles Champion
Walt Whitman H.S. - Sam Lopez-Cardenas
Suffolk County Boys Doubles Champions
Half Hollow Hills East H.S.
Lohit Madisetty & Marcus Gonzales
NYS Girls Singles Champion
Herricks H.S. - Angel Walia
Nassau County Girls
Singles Champion
Garden City H.S.
Angelina Bravo
NYS Girls
Singles Champion
Herricks H.S. Angel Walia
Nassau County Girls Doubles Champions
Great Neck South H.S. - Gabrielle Alexa Villegas & Madison Lee
Suffolk County Girls Singles Champion
Smithtown East - Anya Konopka
NYS & Suffolk County Girls Doubles Champions
Bayport-Blue Point H.S. - Emilia Romano & Evie Romano
Nassau County Coach of the Year
Friends Academy - Owen Kassimir
Suffolk County Coach of the Year
Bayport-Blue Point H.S. John Selvaggio
Nassau County Coach of the Year
Friends Academy
Owen Kassimir
nd Region Awardees (2025)
National Rankings
(as of 8/6/25)
Boys/Girls
Boys 12 singles: #1 Yifan Nie, #2 Shuo Li
Boys 14 singles: #1 Jacques Chen, #2 Kanin Michael
Boys 16 singles: #1 Rocco Roti, #2 Kurt Sayan
Boys 18 singles: #1 Jack Kennedy, #2 Zavier Augustin
Girls 12 singles: #1 Catherine Chan, #2 Aya Iwata
Girls 14 singles: #1 Blake Chang, #2 Gabrielle Brereton
Girls 16 singles: #1 Paige Wygodzki, #2 Anabelle Janczyk
Girls 18 singles: #1 Sophia Holod, #2 Paige Wygodzki
Men
Open Singles: #1 Dillon McKenzie
35+ Singles: #1 Mickey Nisar
40+ Singles: #1 Mickey Nisar
45+ Singles: #1 Gerry Bohner
50+ Singles: #1 Gerry Bohner
55+ Singles: #1 Adrian Chirici
60+ Singles: #1 Jonathan Klein
65+ Singles: #1 Steven Brill
70+ Singles: #1 Steven Brill
75+ Singles: #1 Marshall Hubsher
Women
Open Singles: #1 Tracey Gottlieb
35+ Singles: #1 Morgan Milleisen
45+ Singles: #1 Betsy Bickar
50+ Singles: #1 Betsy Bickar
55+ Singles: #1 Ellen Markowitz
60+ Singles: #1 Ellen Markowitz
65+ Singles: #1 Lisa Jett
70+ Singles: #1 Lisa Jett
Family
Father/Son All Ages: Jack Varghese & Vishal Varghese
Father/Son 60+: Adam Rosen & Benjamin Rosen
Father/Son 70+: John Titcomb & Brett Titcomb
NYS & Suffolk County
Girls Doubles Champions
Bayport-Blue Point H.S. Emilia Romano & Evie Romano
35th Annual USTA Long Island Region Awardees (2025)
USTA League Team Awards Eastern Sectional Champions
Spring 2024
18 & Over 3.0 Women – Sectional Champions
Point Set Indoor Tennis - Captain: Laura Crain
40 & Over 3.0 Women – Sectional Champions
Point Set Indoor Tennis - Captain: Laura Crain
Summer 2024
65 & Over 8.0 Women - Sectional Champions
Sportime Syosset – Captains: Lydia Eitel & Mona Giovanni
Fall 2024
18 & Over 4.0 Men - Sectional Champions
Huntington Indoor Tennis – Captains: Stephen Weiss & Neil Hyman
40 & Over 6.0 Mixed Doubles - Sectional Champions
Christopher Morley Tennis – Captains: David Ng & Peter Tam
55 & Over 8.0 Men - Sectional Champions
Sportime Syosset – Captains: Shyam Shivdasani & Marc Mandelbaum
65 & Over 8.0 Men - Sectional Champions
Sportime Syosset – Captains: Harish Khullar & Sarabjit Lamba
Fall/Winter 2025
18 & Over 6.0 Mixed Doubles - Sectional Champions
Sportime Lynbrook – Captains: Donna Healy & Angelo de Bourg
2025 Eastern Team Tennis Sectional Champions 12U L6 Champions
Christopher Morley Tennis – Ricardo Aguirre & Salomon Levy
Regional
Mike
Jonathan
Council
Karen
Jason
Sharon
Fabiana
Clark
David
Michelle
Jacki Binder, Newsletter Editor
Neil Thakur, Manager, Schools Tennis and Long
Milly Keighery & Becky Bellino, USTA
Leagues Coordinator(s)
2025 USTA Long Island Highligh
High School Sportsmanship
Klee Selected As USTA Eastern Vice President
USTA Long Island Celebrates at Kids Days
High School Tennis, Special Olympics and Family Day
Congratulations
to All Award Winners from The USTA Eastern Long Island Region’s 35th Annual Awards Ceremony
Maureen, you have been an anchor in the tennis community for so many years, and you couldn't be more deserving of this award. Your leadership, dedication and unwavering love for tennis has had a profound and lasting impact on the sport in the region, and you embody the very spirit of the Hy Zausner Lifetime Achievement Award.
From Marc Kemp (Point Set owner), Lori Sarnelli (Club Manager) and your entire Point Set family
Congratulations to All Award Winners from The USTA Eastern Long Island Region’s 35th Annual Awards Ceremony
Congrats to the Sectional Champions out of Point Set captained by Laura Crain! Keep up the great work ladies!
Lohit and Marcus, congrats on an incredible accomplishment. Proud to be your coach!
- Coach Steve Ferrantello
Congrats to the 18 & Over 4.0 Men team captained by Stephen Weiss & Neil Hyman on winning the Sectional Championships!
Congratulations Anna Bielen Zarska
USTA Eastern Tennis Junior Professional of the Year
