News & Features

My Players

|

My Lists

|

My School

|

My Notifications

Team Home

In the U.S. and around the world, December 17th is a day where things are winding down. Colleges are already out, and K-12 schools will break later this week. Late December is a time when people are thinking about holiday parties, visiting family and friends, and (of course) shopping.

Not always so for the junior tennis player family. The longer break from school means you can compete in tournaments with larger draws. And there were many such tournaments last month as well - around fall breaks and the Thanksgiving Holiday.

All that play has made for some nice movement in the rankings. We feature the biggest movers in our Holiday edition of the Prince Hot 100.

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

The latest lists, published last week, are available here:

• Boys' Hot 100
• Girls' Hot 100

We visited with a few of these top performers...

Roundup

Molly Sandberg (Hudson, Ohio)

After a busy summer of tournament tennis, Four-star sophomore Molly Sandberg played high school tennis in the fall, leading her team to a 2nd place finish while also finishing 2nd in Division 1 singles at the state of Ohio championships. She took this momentum into November - when Sandberg posted an 11-2 record in sectional and regional tournaments, winning two titles.

"I have been working very hard in my training, and I think it is showing in my results," said Sandberg.

Sandberg played up in the 18s and won a championship at a Midwest Level Four in Cincinnati, and she also won the title as the No. 5 seed at the National Regional Open in Michigan - where she found herself in some tight matches. Those results were good enough to lift her ranking more than 30 spots from No. 149 up to No. 115 in the Class of 2017.

"At the Level 4, I went to a third set tie break in every single match - all five of them - and somehow prevailed. It was a fun tournament."

Sandberg works with Rich Mostardi of the Northridge Racquet Club as well as Todd Wojtkowski, the Case Western Reserve men's coach who also teaches at the Cleveland Racquet Club.

"Rich has been an encouraging, dynamic coach," said Sandberg. "He is a high-energy coach who expects my best at each session. Todd's clinics are fun, and he pushes all of his students to go to the next level."

Sandberg comes from an athletic family. Her father, Hugo, played tennis and football at Bluffton University in Ohio, where he was an Academic All-American in both sports. Older sister Anna played college tennis at Lee University, while Aaron is a freshman playing for Brown University this year.

"I got into tennis due to my siblings and my dad," said the younger Sandberg. "I was taken to lots of tournaments, and I finally was old enough to play one myself. Both my older sister and brother have been very supportive of me, and I am so happy to be able to have them to motivate me. And my mom is our biggest cheerleader."

Sandberg's mother, Kathy, is understandably proud of her daughter.

"We are happy for Molly as she had some good results over the past month," said Kathy. "She has set some goals for herself and is working hard to attain them. She is doing the best she can - and has overcome some challenges and grown significantly as a person over the past few months."