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Tennis Press Honored in USTWA Writing Contest

Just before quarterfinal matches got under way at the 2011 US Open, the press corps assembled in the media center to present awards to 11 writers whose work placed in the 12th Annual U.S. Tennis Writers’ Association Writing Contest.

“The contest drew about 80 entries from print and online media in the United States and abroad,” says USTWA President Emeritus Liza Horan, who coordinated the contest along with USTWA board member Robin Bateman. “We had the largest judging panel in our history, which provided a thorough base for determining close calls in a variety of contest categories.”

The esteemed judging panel was comprised of Robin Blackburn, former longtime director of Columbia University’s National Magazine Awards and avid player; Mary Conti, a fan and player who works in marketing communications; Darrell Fry, a former sports journalist and WTA Tour staff member who is Sports Media Director for Disney; and Vicki Salemi, a book author and journalist who plays league tennis.

The winners of the 12th annual USTWA Writing Contest, for work published in 2010, are:

FEATURE STORY (Pro Tennis)

1. Doug Robson’s “Life in the Doubles Lane” in USA Today
2. Joshua Rey’s “What You May Have Missed at the Sony Ericsson Open” in Florida Tennis
3. Doug Robson’s “Death Match: The curse of the 2004 French Open lives on” in USA Today

FEATURE STORY (Non-Pro Tennis)

1. Dave Seminara’s “One for the Ages: Davis Cup’s unlikely record holders” on TENNIS.com
2. James LaRosa’s “Tennis Uninterrupted: Nothing keeps Leon Sanit, 97, off the court” in TENNIS Magazine
3. Paul Bauman’s “It’s Schnack Time” in the Sacramento Bee

GAME STORY (Pro Tennis)

1. Greg Couch’s “Isner, Mahut Match at Wimbledon Will be Remembered for its Numbers” on AOL Fanhouse
2. Bill Dwyre’s “Warm Embrace for U.S. Tennis” in the Los Angeles Times
3. Joshua Rey’s “Tipsarevic Rocks Rattled Roddick out of the US Open” on USOpen.org

GAME STORY (Non-Pro)

1. Cindy Cantrell’s “Borg Succumbs to Mac” on TennisLife.com
2. Joshua Rey’s “Sock Rallies past Kudla to Win Boys’ Final” on USOpen.org
3. Joshua Rey’s “Davis Destroys Gavrilova, France and USA Sweep 16s Semis” on USTA.com

HARD NEWS/ENTERPRISE

1. Bill Dwyre’s “Sampras is Robbed of Storied Hardware” in the Los Angeles Times
2. Bill Simons’ “Glam Slam: Glitz, Glamour and the History of Tennis Fashion” in Inside Tennis
3. Douglas Robson’s “New-Look WTA Tour: Teen phenoms rare, veteran thrive” in USA Today

COLUMN/COMMENTARY

1. Greg Couch’s “From Forest Hills to Flushing, Tennis is at Pivotal Moment” on AOL Fanhouse
2. Bryan Graham’s “My Sportsman: Surprise French Open Champ Francesca Schiavone,” on SportsIllustrated.com
3. Greg Couch’s “The Curious Case of Andrea Collarini” on AOL Fanhouse

SERVICE STORY

1. Paul Fein’s “The Importance of Momentum in Tennis,” on TennisOne.com
2. Paul Fein’s “Defend and Conquer” in Australian Tennis Magazine
3. Cindy Cantrell’s “Fit for a King” in USTA Championship Magazine

Stay tuned to www.USTWA.org for news on the 14th Annual USTWA Writing Contest, which covers work published in 2011. The contest is open to all tennis writers; USTWA members pay no entry fee.

Posted on September 15, 2011
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