Stonington 10-Year-Old Makes Racquet In US Teens Tourneys

Scott Hill, pro, trained with Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova when they were pre-teens at Nick Bollettieri's famed tennis academy in Florida.

"By age 10, they all knew they wanted to be pros," Hill said. "You can see a couple of things when evaluating talent—the quickness of hands and feet. Those are genetic attributes you need. The third quality is heart or desire. It takes 10 years or 10,000 hours of practice to become a pro. If you have the ability and the desire to put the time in, it can happen."

So when Hill says his latest prized pupil, 10-year-old Gabby Dellacono of Stonington, has potential to become pro, he's not a coach blowing smoke to butter up parents. He knows a tennis diamond when he sees it.

Dellacono has already created a lot of gab on the United States Tennis Association teenage tournament national circuit. A  fifth-grader, Dellacono has outgrown all area competition in her age group. Hill sought a grander stage and learned of an opening on an under-14 USTA Junior Tennis travel team in Stamford, the heart of Gold Coast tennis country.

Dellacono teamed with a Darien 13-year-old in doubles, helping Stamford win the USTA U14 Advanced State and New England Championships. Stamford moves on to the USTA Nationals in Arizona next month.

"She’s a 10-year-old playing in the 14-and-under division and not familiar with our kids, but she fit in tremendously, winning three matches and performing really well," Stamford coach John DeFillippo said.

When she first walks onto the court, her opponents may tell her, "Kid, this is the U14 tournament, not U10. You're in the wrong place."

They soon discover she belongs.

"The girls look at me as if to say, 'How old are you?'" Dellacono said. "Then they see me start whacking the ball and they know it's serious."

Standing 4-foot-7 and weighing 74 pounds, Dellacono gives up half a foot and 30 or so pounds. One can only imagine what kind of player she'll develop into when she turns 14.

"Gabby is very quick," Hill said. "She's already learned to serve and volley with what is called the 'continental grip,' which is usually learned much later on. She's definitely ahead of the game."

Dellacono is hardly the stereotypical tennis prodigee. She plays soccer and softball, recently for the Pawcatuck Little League 9-10 All-Stars this summer. Her parents, Frank and Lauren, were never competitive racquet athletes.

"I coached all sorts of baseball and basketball teams," her father said. "One day when she was five, I started tossing her a tennis ball and she hit it. She asked me to keep tossing her the ball. That turned into her taking lessons at Mystic Indoor Tennis and playing almost every day."

Hill convinced the Dellaconos that Gabby had "something special" and recommended Gabby make a commitment to attend Bollettieri's academy and train three hours a day. She will enter regional U12 tournaments this fall in an attempt to gain a USTA New England rating. The U10 division features QuickStart spongeball introductory tennis, which shows how advanced Dellacono is for her age.

"The best part of my game is a strong serve," she said. "I can serve top-spin, flat and sliced. My forehand is a weapon and I have a consistent backhand. My coach told me I'm going to be a pro, and that's what I'm shooting for some day."

Hill says a tennis pro can project how a 10-year-old will develop based on talent, work ethic and the fortune of staying injury free."She can be No. 1 at Stonington High as a freshman," Hill said. "She's going to be good enough to get a Division I scholarship to any school."

Dellacono's immediate goals are to gain a USTA U12 ranking in Level 6 (New England) and then Level 5 (National) in the next two years before she actually turns 12.

"For a talented youth player to reach their full potential, there has to be a coach-parent-player team," Hill said. "All three parties have to want it, and I think we have that here."