LI’s Julia Elbaba wins Collegiate Invitational opener
Julia Elbaba hits a backhand against Jamie Loeb in the first set of the Women's Collegiate Invitational final at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing on Sept. 6, 2014. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Julia Elbaba of Oyster Bay won her opening match in the Women’s Collegiate Invitational on Thursday, defeating No. 3 seed Hayley Carter, 6-2, 6-1. Elbaba turned pro after graduating from the University of Virginia in the spring. She was runner-up in the competition last year and trains at the National Tennis Center. She lost in the first round of qualifying for the Connecticut Open in August, which was her first official WTA match.
Coming to the National Tennis Center feeds her pro dream.
“Every single time I come out here it’s like the first time, so amazed by the atmosphere and the nerves are really going,” Elbaba said. “This place never fails to keep my adrenaline going.”
USTA National Campus
The USTA previewed its National Campus that will open in January in Orlando, a sort of Disney World for tennis. On 64 acres with 100 courts of varying surfaces and sizes, it is meant to enhance and advance the game of tennis and provide a centralized facility to help produce the next generation of American stars. It will host USTA Pro events, collegiate events, juniors and amateur play. The campus will be saturated with technological innovation and is open to the public.
