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Victoria AzarenkaA 5-foot-10 right-hander from Belarus, Azarenka continues the Lasers’ tradition of drafting young female players (she will turn 17 on July 31). Azarenka caught the eye of future teammate Anastasia Myskina in two matches earlier this Season. Myskina beat her at Miami in March, and then again in Rome in May (in three sets). Other highlights on Azarenka’s 2005 resume include winning both the U.S. Open and Australian Open junior singles championships and playing Fed Cup with Belarus. She is currently ranked No. 101 in the world in singles |
Nick MonroeThe closest thing the Lasers have to a local product this season, Monroe was born in Oklahoma City and calls Olathe, KS, home. Monroe, 23, attended high school at Pembroke Hill in Kansas City, but didn’t play prep tennis, choosing instead to focus on USTA junior competition. After high school, he attended the University of North Carolina and was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast conference pick for the Tar Heels. He is ranked No. 304 in singles. Earlier this year, he won Futures singles titles at stops in San Jose and Nigeria. |
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Alex VlaskiThe 23-year-old native of Yugoslavia just graduated in June with at degree in business from the University of Washington, where he was a three-time All-American. Vlaski, a 6 –foot-2 left-hander with a big serve, has reached the quarterfinals or better in 11 ITF Futures and Challenger events since the beginning of 2005. He is currently ranked No. 315 in the world in singles. |
Andreea VancThe 32-year-old left-hander from Romania is a doubles specialist, with 24 career ITF titles and one WTA championship, at Stasbourg in 2005. She is currently ranked No. 47 in the world in doubles, and she and teammate Anastasia Rodionova were eliminated in the second round at this year’s Wimbledon. |
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Trevor Kronemann“The Tank” has been a part of 10 of the 11 Lasers squads, the first three as a player, and now the last seven as coach. Kronemann, also the head coach at Cal Poly University, was named to WTT’s all-time team in 2005. |
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By Joe Cress Trevor Kronemann enters tonight’s World TeamTennis season opener with maybe 100 total minutes of first-hand nowledge on his team, but the Springfield Lasers coach says it’s enough to have him excited. Springfield has four new players on its roster, but will also welcome back the most decorated player in franchise history-2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina- for four matches next week. For now, though, it’s Kronemann and a bunch of new faces. WTT rookies Nick Monroe, Alex Vlaski and Andreea Vanc arrived in Springfield on Wednesday, as did Kronemann. The fourth newcomer, 16-year-old Victoria Azarenka, is ill, however, and will not arrive until Saturday, at the earliest. Azarenka will be replaced tonight-and perhaps Saturday-by Kaysie Smashey, who played for the Lasers last season. Kronemann watched Monroe and Vlaski practice for 90 minutes at Cooper on Wednesday afternoon, and liked what he saw of the recent college All-Americans. “I saw two guys who were excited and ready to go,” Kronemann said. “I saw a little of myself in them. There was that effort of (former Laser) David Macpherson, or T.J. Middleton, or Glenn Weiner. You have to have that effort every night.” Vlaski, who graduated in June from the University of Washington and is just beginning his pro career, said he jumped at the chance to get back into team sports. “I’m more of a team guy,” Vlaski said. “The more I learned about (WTT), the more I like it.” Monroe and Vlaski are friends from their days of competing against each other in college tournaments, and were excited to find out they would be teammates. Each also said they look forward to watching top-flight players, including Myskina, up close and using the experience to learn, as well as win. “Obviously I’ve seen (Myskina) on TV,” Monroe said. “It’s going to be great to be around a player like that. We just have to elevate our game.” |
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