News & Features

My Players

|

My Lists

|

My School

|

My Notifications

Team Home

It's Mid-June. School's out, and the swimming pool beckons to many across the country. But for junior tennis players, this is time to get out on the court and earn points at the district, section, and national level. Many players worked hard to improve during the offseason - some of which will be featured in the Prince Hot 100.

The Prince Hot 100 lists are published each month, and the June Hot 100 lists feature the one hundred boys and girls who most improved their ranking during the month of May. You can find out more about the Prince Hot 100 - and how the lists are calculated - by reading here.

The latest lists, published earlier this week, are available here:

• Boys' Hot 100
• Girls' Hot 100

Let's take a look at some of these top performers...

Roundup

Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.)

Over the past few weeks, 4-Star senior Ryan Shane has been more than just hot... he is red-hot. Shane went into this past weekend riding a 15-match winning streak spanning three tennis tournaments.

Those wins have come in big-time tournaments as well. The 6'3" right-hander won the Mid-Atlantic Championships and Challenger in his home state before travelling to Georgia to win the title as an unseeded player in the May National Open. Shane is 8-0 against Blue Chip and 5-Star opponents over those tournaments, and his ranking is now #25 among rising seniors.

Moving from #87 to #25 over the past six months is an impressive feat. Shane has been improving his game to be sure, but he may finally have gotten past a string of injuries that have hampered his game for more than a year.

"I injured my rotator cuff when I was 14 pretty badly, and I was in physical therapy the spring of my sophomore year," said Shane. "In the fall and winter of 2010, I injured my elbow - I was out for a few months with that. Fortunately, I have been injury-free for the past few months and able to train hard."

Shane's parents, Alaine and Jack Shane, are proud of their son's workmanlike efforts to both overcome injury and improve his tennis.

"Ryan is dedicated to his workout routine and his physical therapy exercises," said his father. "He's been working very hard on improving his serve and his ground strokes. He's able to hit a consistent heavy ball on both his forehand and his backhand."

Shane comes from a family with a strong tennis background. Both of his parents play, with his father Jack serving as one of his coaches. He trains with his younger brother Zach at the 4 Star Tennis Academy in Falls Church, Va., and Potomac, Md. And older brother Justin just finished his freshman year as a regular starter in singles for the national runner-up Virginia Cavaliers.

Shane has been working with Steve Miguel - as well as with his father - to develop more weapons on the court.

"I have been working very hard on improving my serve and ground strokes," said the younger Shane. "I have improved the speed on my first serve and so it can be a real weapon in matches. I'm also working hard on my foot work - because I have a pretty big shot when I can set up for the ball."

As he enters his senior year, Shane is excited about the future - as well as the prospect of playing college tennis.

"I am looking for a college program that will allow me to continue to develop my game with good coaching and good academics. I think it is really important to have good teammates to work out with day in and day out because that provides a real opportunity to get better."

And his parents are just excited to see him healthy - excelling and enjoying himself.

"[Ryan] really enjoys playing tennis - and that seems to be where his natural talent lies."