Who's Hot?
Prince Hot 100 List - February '11
by Amelia Thomas, 16 February 2011
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Although Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring this year, it's still cold outside. However, the Prince Hot 100 recognizes players who have been heating things up, regardless of the weather.
The Prince Hot 100 lists are published each month, and the February Hot 100 lists feature the one hundred boys and girls who most improved their ranking during the month of January. You can find out more about the Prince Hot 100 - and how the lists are calculated - by reading here.
The latest lists, published earlier today, are available here:
We talked with a few of these players...
Roundup
Eleanor Bullock (Dublin, Ohio)
You will never see three-star seventh grader Eleanor (Ellee) Bullock wearing a dress or skirt. Bullock defies the stereotypes that the average twelve-year-old girl bears. She is distinguishable even from several courts away, in her long shorts and Roger Federer ball cap. "My grandmother is Swiss and always gives me a new Federer hat at Christmas and on my birthday," Bullock said. She is confident in her tomboyish mentality.
Bullock carried this confidence into her match against four-star eighth grader
Halle Hyman at the
Midwest Championships. "We both had just come through two tough matches that afternoon, and I could tell [Hyman] was not excited to start a third match," Bullock said.
Their match began at 8:30 PM, but Bullock has always been most energetic at night. "And it showed," she said. "Everything was on for me, and I felt faster and more confident than ever." Bullock won the match by a score of 6-2, 6-2.
Bullock also commended Hyman's performance, saying, "I could tell she was getting tired, but I liked that her confidence never went away."
This wasn't Bullock's only victory of the month. She participated in three tournaments in January, winning both the Elysium Winter Compass Showdown and the consolation event of the Midwest Championship, bringing her total record for January to 12-3.
The 5'6" athlete's parents, Lesley and Robert Bullock, credit their daughter's recent success to an increase in conditioning work. "Now, when she plays three long matches a day," Lesley Bullock said, "she isn't getting tired."
In addition, Eleanor Bullock and her coach, Kevin Hornik of Elysium Tennis, have been working on footwork, ball placement and consistency.
Bullock's dedication has truly helped her excel, and her parents are very proud. "The thing that stands out with Ellee's tennis is how much fun she is to watch," Lesley Bullock said. "She is quick on her feet and her strokes are beautiful."