La Jolla, CA–Tournament officials have announced seeded players and draws for the United States Tennis Association National 40 Hard Court Championships scheduled for Monday through Sunday at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in La Jolla.
Henry Choi of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada has been named top-seed in the Men’s Singles Division. The 41-year-old Canadian is currently ranked No. 4 in the International Tennis Federation Singles 40+ Rankings. In 2019, Choi achieved the No. 1 spot in the ITF Singles 35 and over rankings.
Choi has won 18 ITF Masters Tour singles titles including the USTA National Men’s 35 Hard Court Championships in 2019. He has also represented Canada in an international senior competition. This past August, Choi captured the 40 plus doubles title at the ITF World Individual Championships in Portugal.
San Diego’s Hiromi Sasano is the No. 1 seed in the Women’s Singes Draw. The 47-year-old San Diegan is the five-time defending champion after winning singles titles in 2016-2019 and 2021. (The tournament was not played in 2020 due to the pandemic.) Sasano is currently the Director of Tennis at San Diego’s Balboa Tennis Club.
Tennis Hall of Famer Dorothy “Dodo” Cheney holds the record for most consecutive National 40 Hard Court singles titles, having won 13 straight championships from 1957 through 1969.
Three-time defending champions Stuart Duncan of Aliso Viejo, Calif., and Simon Shen of La Jolla, Calif., are the top-seeds in the Men’s Doubles Division. Duncan and Shen teamed to win the title in 2018, 2019 and 2021. (The event was not played in 2020 due to the pandemic.)
Jenny Keller of La Jolla, Calif., and Millie Yablonicky of Encinitas, Calif., were named the top-seeds in the Women’s Doubles Division. Sasano and fellow San Diegan Trent Miller are the No. 1 seeded team in the Mixed Doubles Draw.
Former ATP Tour doubles star Pablo Albano will play in the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles competitions. The 55-year-old native of Argentina reached a career-high No. 25 in the ATP doubles rankings in 1997 and won nine career ATP Tour doubles titles. A two-time French Open doubles semifinalist, Albano holds doubles victories over notable players such as Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. He also reached the US Open Mixed Doubles final in 1997.
Albano will team with Peter Davidson of Laguna Beach, Calif., in Men’s Doubles and Carolyn Barber of La Jolla, Calif., in Mixed Doubles in the USTA National 40 Hard Court Championships.
“The National 40s has always been a highly-competitive division and we are anticipating a very entertaining week of championship tennis for players and spectators,” said Tournament Director Bill Kellogg. “We invite fans to come to the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club and enjoy the matches.”
To view the complete list of seeds for each division and tournament draws, click here.
Starting times for each day of the tournament will be as follows: Monday, Nov. 28 – 9 a.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 29 through Friday, Dec. 2 – 8 a.m.; Saturday, Dec. 3 and Sunday, Dec. 4 – 9 a.m.
The USTA National Father/Son and Grandfather/Grandson Hard Court Doubles Championships will also be played at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club with matches beginning Friday, Dec. 2, and concluding Sunday, Dec. 4.
The top-seeded team in the Father/Son Division is Peter Smith and Tanner Smith of Long Beach, Calif. Peter Smith, the former Head Coach of the USC men’s tennis team, is attempting to win his seventh Father/Son Championship. He has won the title twice with each of his three sons (Riley 2013, 2015; Tanner 2014, 2016 and Colter 2017, 2021).
Defending champions Jimmy Parker of Santa Fe, N.M., and Heys Parker of Atlanta are the No. 1 seeded team in the Grandfather / Grandson Division.
La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club welcomes tennis spectators to the tournament with free admission. Onsite parking is available for a nominal fee.
