SAN DIEGO, December 9, 2023 (Press Release)

Youth Tennis San Diego, which inspires and leads the international tennis community in transforming the lives of youth, has named rising tennis stars Katherine Hui (H-way) and Trevor Svajda (SVY-duh) as the 2023 Players of the Year.

The 18-year-old Hui, who graduated from Santa Fe Christian High School in Solana Beach, Calif., earlier this year, reached the singles final of the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships at Barnes Tennis Center this past August where she fell to reigning Wimbledon girls’ singles champion Clervie Ngounoue 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The following month, Hui won the biggest title of her young tennis career at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, as she came through a tough international field to capture the US Open girls’ singles championship. Hui joined a long list of junior champions which include former No. 1 players Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport and Victoria Azarenka.

This past year, Hui also competed on the 2023 SoCal Pro Series, a series of professional events to give up-and-coming tennis players an opportunity to gain experience and ranking points. She advanced to one singles semifinal and three singles quarterfinals.

Hui, currently ranked No. 896 in the WTA singles rankings, began her collegiate tennis career at Stanford University earlier this fall.

Svajda is the younger brother of current ATP player Zach Svajda, who is ranked in the Top 150 in the word. The talented 17-year-old from the San Diego community of Pacific Beach had quite a summer this year as he earned his first ATP ranking point at the SoCal Pro Series event at the University of San Diego.

In August, Svajda, who trains at Barnes Tennis Center, reached the singles final of the USTA Boys 18s National Championships at Kalamazoo, Mich.  In September, he defeated reigning Wimbledon boy’s singles champion Henry Searle on his way to advancing to the third round of the US Open boys’ singles competition.

Svajda, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2024, will attend Southern Methodist University starting in January.

“Youth Tennis San Diego is very proud to honor these two young distinguished San Diegans with the 2023 Player of the Year Award. Katherine and Trevor have worked very hard on and off the court to accomplish what they have achieved,” said Steve Adamson, Director of Tennis at Barnes Tennis Center. “They are an inspiration to many young tennis players in San Diego and they both have very bright futures.”

Hui and Svajda will receive their Player of the Year awards at the 2023 San Diego Junior Tennis Awards Ceremony presented by Esther Belinsky on Sunday, December 17 at Barnes Tennis Center.

The recipients of the Most Improved Player of the Year, Sportsmanship Award, Service Award and the Angel Lopez Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Award will also be announced during the ceremony.