Pietersz and Dias lead the way to a good performance at the tennis tournament

Form July 22nd, 2009 till August 2nd, 2009, the tennis delegation of the Netherlands Antilles participated the in the yearly JITIC tournament which was held this year in Sto. Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The Delegation consisted of a total of 13 players representing the Netherlands Antilles. The players and in their respective age group were:

Boys 18 and Under:
David Catalina (Cur) Coach: Niko Guizar
Gino Meeuwsen (Bon) Coach: Bill Adams

Boys 16 and under:

1. Claudio Dias Conduto (Cur)
2. Kelly Jones Academy
3. Michael-John Every (Cur)
   Jared Getrouw (Cur)

Boys 14 under:

1. Timothy Blok (Cur)
2. George Samander Jr. (Cur)
3. Timothe Dol (Cur)
4. Denzel Elhage (Bon)

Girls 18 and Under:

Fausthyara Pietersz (Cur) Coach: Bill Adams

Girls 16 and under:

1. Andreina de Andrade Pereira (Cur)
2. Thalissa Lourens (Cur)
3. Kim Verschueren (SXM)

Coach : William Mau-Asam

Overall the delegation of the Netherlands Antilles did well at the JITIC 2009; especially the players currently attending tennis academies in the United States of America. In the categories 18 and under is an Open Tournament where players acquire world ranking points. In the 18 and under David Catalina reached the 2nd round and Gino Meeuwsen reached the third round of the main draw. In the Doubles David Catalina and his Mexican Partner Alexis Carlos reached the semi-finals where the lost to the ultimate winners; Brandon Burke (JAM) and Darian King (BAR).

In the Girls 18 and under, Fausthyara Pietersz was the star of the delegation reaching the finals where she ultimately lost to K. Cartwright of the Bahamas. Fausthyara’s amazing performance, especially in the semis finals where she (in a match that lasted 3 hrs and 45 minutes) defeated Marcela Zacarias of Mexico, propelled her all the way to 245 in the world. We should emphasize that this feisty young lady from Curacao just celebrated her 16th birthday and is already in the top 250 on the world.

In the Boys 16 and under, Claudio led the way for boys, where his end result was number 6 of the best 45 boys in the region of Central America and Caribbean. Claudio lost in the quarterfinals to the winner of the 16 and under: Wilfredo Gonzales of Guatemala. Claudio lost 4-6 6-3 and at 4-2 had to retire due to cramping. We should note that Claudio is only 15 and will be turning 16 years old this month.

Timothy Blok and George Samander Jr., also had remarkable performances in the boys 14 and under. From the 50 boys in this age category, both players reached the main draw and ended 19, and 20 respectively.

As mentioned, overall the delegation of the Netherlands Antilles was able to compete but a lot needs to be done on order to reach the elite status we once had. As can be seen, we have extraordinary players such as Fausthyara and Claudio and all support especially financially, need to given to them. But both the CLTB and NTAF are well aware and working together to set up training and matches in order to get our local level up to a competitive level and the Netherlands Antilles to be recognized as tennis force in the region.