Rising tennis star

William Benton (pictured, on left, with Ernesto Estivariz, tennis director at Giammalva Racquet Club), a third grader at Wilchester Elementary School, is reaching accomplishments in tennis. He started playing at the age of 3 ½ and has continued to work on his skills each year. He is working his way up the national and state rankings in United States Tennis Association (USTA) junior tennis. William started out in the developmental USTA tournaments at age 7, moved up, and is now playing in USTA 12-and-under tournaments. William, who’s left-handed, started out ranked approximately 4,000 in the country in 12 and under, and in the last year, he broke into the top 1,000 in the United States (he is ranked #998). He is ranked number 171 in Texas and quickly climbing in the Boys 12U age bracket. His favorite player is Rafael Nadal who, like William, is a left-handed player.

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