The 35 honorees were selected by the USTA Tennis & Education Foundation from applicants around the country on the basis of their commitment to academic success, their local community and the game of tennis.

The MassMutual Foundation's support of the USTA Tennis & Education Foundation began last year and continues through 2007 with 35 college scholarships awarded annually for a total contribution of $525,000. Each year, at least two scholarships will be awarded in each of the USTA's 17 sections throughout the country. The program builds upon MassMutual's current association with the USTA as a Corporate Champion Sponsor of the US Open Championship and a sponsor of the US Open Series.

"On behalf of MassMutual, I'm pleased to once again award these scholarships and help support the academic endeavors of these fine young men and women," said Copes. "They are all talented and deserving students and we are delighted to provide these scholarships to make their college education more affordable."

Through all organization-wide educational initiatives, MassMutual and the MassMutual Foundation are providing more than $1.5 million in scholarship funding to students in 2006.

Here's a list of the 2006 honorees and their USTA section:

Section Name High School Hometown Caribbean: Cristian Cruz Luis Perez-Abreu Notre Dame Catholic Colegio San Ignacio Caguas, PR San Juan, PR Eastern: Lauren LaMura Karen Laurent Tottenville HS St. John's Prep Staten Island, NY East Elmhurst, NY Florida: Elise Greer Jocelyn Lucier Bartow Intl. Bacc. Holy Trinity Bartow, FL Indialantic, FL Hawaii: Joelle Tanaka Marie Tanaka Kailua HS Kailua HS Kailua, HI Kailua, HI Intermountain: Christine Barnes Nicholas Von Der Ahe Mt. Crest HS Park City HS River Heights, UT Park City, UT Mid-Atlantic: Quentin Logan Chelsi McCalla Louisa County HS Bowie HS Louisa, VA Bowie, MD Middle States: Andrea Edwards Vaughan Morgan Roxborough HS Cab Calloway School for Arts Philadelphia, PA New Castle, DE Midwest: Amanda Heinrich Jason Stuckey Fowlerville HS Walnut Hills HS Fowlerville, MI Cincinnati, OH Missouri Valley: Janet Buntain Bruce Maytubby Fort Scott HS Anadarko HS Fort Scott, KS Anadarko, OK New England: Tamara Prairie Karrie Sirois HS of Science & Technology Georges Valley HS Springfield, MA Thomaston, ME Northern California: Camelia Dumitras Kevin Liang Rachel Suh Live Oak HS Mira Loma HS Ygnacio Valley HS Live Oak, CA Sacramento, CA Concord, CA Northern: Joseph Fragodt Jaimie Klemish Benson HS Bloomer HS Benson, MN New Auburn, WI Pacific Northwest: Ben Johnson Alyssa Morrison Lakeridge HS Anacortes HS Lake Oswego, OR Anacortes, WA Southern California: Daniel Debbini Joshua Khalili Canyon HS Canyon HS Canyon Country, CA Anaheim, CA Southern: Justin DiFeliciantonio Lauren Kulp Hardaway HS RJ Reynolds HS Columbus, GA Winston-Salem, NC Southwest: Andrea Schams Kyle Anderson Corona del Sol HS University HS Chandler, AZ Scottsdale, AZ Texas: Hannah Fordham Colleen Lucas Canyon HS Round Rock HS Canyon, TX Round Rock, TX

About MassMutual Financial Group
MassMutual Financial Group is the fleet name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliates, with more than 13 million clients and over $395 billion in assets under management at year-end 2005.

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a mutually owned financial protection, accumulation and income management company headquartered in Springfield, Mass. MassMutual's major affiliates include: OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; MML Investors Services, Inc., member FINRA and SiPC (www.finra.org www.sipc.org) and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

The MassMutual Foundation for Hartford, Inc. (MassMutual Foundation) is an independent, private foundation under Code section 501(c)(3). Its primary function is to financially assist organizations operated exclusively for charitable, educational and other permitted purposes.

About the USTA Tennis & Education Foundation
Established in 1994, the USTA Tennis & Education Foundation promotes - through tennis - educational excellence, good citizenship and self-improvement to at-risk and other special needs youth. The Foundation awards hundreds of scholarships to American youth, and supports new initiatives that reach out to inner-city youth. It also supports community tennis programs that link tennis with education to provide positive role models, academic assistance, and life skills for the prevention of substance abuse, violence and school-dropouts.

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. It owns and operates the US Open, the largest annually attended sporting event in the world, and launched the US Open Series linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. A not-for-profit organization with 665,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. In addition, it owns the 94 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S., and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information on the USTA, log on to www.usta.com.