Many of Austin Tennis Academy’s top junior athletes competed in USTA Regional Segment Tournaments this past weekend. The Austin Tennis Academy served as host for the 12s and 14s, while the 16s and 18s traveled to Midland, TX.

 

USTA Regional Segment tournaments are held 4 times a year, and are considered Level 3 National Ranking Tournaments. Eight regional tournaments are held across the country concurrently, with each of the 4 groupings referred to as ‘Segments’.

 

Coach Jack Newman traveled to Midland with Frankie Colunga, Abigail and Spencer Chiu, and Jonah Kral.

 

 

 

Colunga, competing in the boys’ 16s draw, opened play with a convincing 6-1, 6-0 victory over New York’s Sachin Raghavan. In the second round, Frankie faced off against W. K. Skallerud, the number 2 seed out of Minnesota. Frankie fought for a clutch third set win, 0-6, 6-0, 7-6(11), to reach the quarterfinals. There, he faced the number 6-seeded Mark Ihrig out of Indiana, whom he eliminated 6-2, 6-2, to secure his semifinal spot.

 

After dropping a close semifinal match, Frankie won the 3rd place playoff after playing only 1 point.

 

In doubles, Frankie teamed up with Nicholas Agritelley out of Dallas. The duo dominated four straight doubles matches to claim the draw championship. In the finals, the twosome took down the top seeded team of Lam and Silverstein out of New York, 8-2.

 

 

 

"Frankie came to ATA 4 months ago with big goals,” Coach Jack Newman said. “He has done both the volume of work and done that work at the intensity level high enough to make big progress.  This tournament result is important, but the level of play at the tournament was more important.  Frankie competed and played at a high national level.  He performed technically, tactically, physically and mentally at a very high level of performance.  I don't think he has peaked, I see more big tournament results in his future."

 

Also in the doubles draw, Jonah Kral and Spencer Chiu joined forces to face Brooks Kendall and Alex Reinke, from Kansas and Maryland respectively. Kral and Chiu came up short, going down 4-8, while gaining valuable experience competing at the national level.

 

 

 

In the girl’s 16s singles draw, Abigail Chiu shot out of the gates with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Oklahoma’s Nadege Jorda. In the second round, Abigail lost a hard-fought match to Dallas’ Ellie Zogg.

 

In doubles, Abigail teamed up with Madison Tedford out of Dallas. The pair pummeled the team of Huckleby and Thoms in their first match 8-2. In the second round, Chiu and Tedford faced fellow Texans Porter and Zogg, whom they took knocked out 8-6 to reach the semifinals. There, the pair came up with another close victory, taking a 9-7 win over Buck and Yu to reach the final round. 

 

 

 

The 12s and 14s Regional Segment Tournament was hosted by ATA and run by ATA Coach Brian Notis.

 

Jake Berber, competing in the 14s, started strong with a 6-4, 7-6(1) win over Jack Wang. He followed that up with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over A. Jakubowski to reach the quarterfinals.

 

Also in the boys’ 14s, Payton Holden took down Andre Mercado in the first round 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. After dropping his second round match, Payton rebounded to beat A. Poynter 5-7, 6-3, 10-5, followed by K. Khan 6-3, 6-1.

 

In doubles, Jake and Payton teamed up to take down Luis Cuervo and Michal Matusiak in the first round 8-2, before falling to the number four seeds in the quarterfinals.

 

After dropping her opening round match in the girls’ 14s draw, Molly Fisher bounced back to beat Tiffany Hollebeck 6-2, 6-2. She then went down in a three set battle to Chandler Carter, 2-6, 6-2, 10-7.

 

 

 

Congratulations to all of the ATA athletes who competed against their peers from across the country in the Regional Segment Tournaments, and good luck in the upcoming Major Zones!