Tennis Players Training In College Park Compete At Wimbledon

Alison Riske and Denis Kudla may not be household names just yet, but for the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Riske and Kudla are the hometown heroes who made it to Wimbledon.

Riske, 22, is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, according to ESPN. She recently moved to College Park to train with her longtime coach Yves Boulais, who is a senior coach at JTCC, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Before Wimbledon, Riske had never won a Grand Slam match, but after reaching the Birmingham semifinals two weeks ago she was offered a wild card to compete at Wimbledon, according to Sports Illustrated.

Entering the tournament with a ranking of 126, Riske advanced to the third round of ladies’ singles but was defeated Saturday by Estonian player Kaia Kanepi, Sports Illustrated reported.

Kudla, 20, was born in Kiev, Ukraine and raised in Arlington, VA, according to the Wall Street Journal. From age 8 to 18, Kudla trained at the JTCC with coach Frank Salazar, WSJ reported.

Kudla qualified for Wimbledon after participating in the French Open and reaching the quarterfinals of the Queen’s Club Championships this year, according to WSJ.

Kudla ranked 105 in the world when he entered Wimbledon, according to ATP World Tour. He was defeated Thursday in the second round of gentlemen’s singles by Croatian player Ivan Dodig, the Washington Post reported.

Riske and Kudla outlasted the majority of American competitors. After their eliminations, the rest of the American men were defeated, the Post reported. As of Monday afternoon, the only remaining American woman is Sloane Stephens, ranked 17 in the world, Sports Illustrated reported.

A third student from JTCC, Luca Corinteli, participated in the Wimbledon Junior Championship but lost to Johan Sebastien Tatlot of France, according to the Wimbledon results.