West Orange junior tennis player earns top USTA ranking

Photo Courtesy of WOSD
Liberty Middle School student Rohan Belday, left, with professional tennis player Justin Gimelstob

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Liberty Middle School seventh-grade student Rohan Belday, currently ranked No. 1 in the USTA Eastern Boys 12-Year-Old Division and No. 19 nationally, was honored at the United States Tennis Association Eastern Junior Awards Gala on Aug. 27.

Rohan received his award at the U.S. Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. His second-place award represented the standings at the time the awards were announced, though he is now ranked No. 1.

The event celebrates the top three Eastern junior players in each USTA age division — boys and girls ages 10 to 18. To receive an invite, players must be ranked in the top three as of the first standing list published in July, where Rohan was ranked No. 2 at that time.

“It is great to see the results of my hard work,” Rohan said. “I was training and traveling for tournaments throughout the school year and I was in all honors classes at Edison Middle School. It was tough to balance the school work and the tennis training. Thank you to my teachers and principals at EMS and Mount Pleasant Elementary School for their continued support with my journey.”