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Boys, girls, men, women, clay courts, hard courts, professional and amateur - the city of Tampa courts at Hillsborough Community College were crammed with tennis during the first two weeks of January.

Starting with a wild card qualifying tournament for the year's first U.S. Pro Circuit Futures event and ending with a Florida junior sectional tournament, the 28 courts were rarely idle, giving the sun-warmed spectators an opportunity to compare the different stages of the game side by side.

Located across the street from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium and next door to the spring training home of the New York Yankees, the tennis complex is surrounded by reminders of sports at the highest levels, and several of the participants in the men's $10,000 and women's $25,000 tournaments have had their own moments of glory on tennis' biggest stages.