ATA athletes earned four semifinal spots in the USTA Texas Excellence tournament this past weekend. Jake Berber, Payton Holden, Charlie Shin and Josh Hagar each capitalized on a major opportunity to take on the best players in the state in one weekend.

 

Texas Excellence invites the top ranked 16 players in each age division to compete for Texas glory, with the final 4 spots determined through a draw of the next 16 highest ranked players.

 

Jake Berber battled his way to a victory in a trio of three set matches to earn a spot in the finals of the boy’s 14s draw. He took down Andre Mercado 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, before eliminating the top-seeded Charles Tan 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. In the semifinals, Jake faced teammate Payton Holden, winning in his third straight three set match to reach the final round.

 

Payton played six matches through the weekend coming through qualifying, fighting for wins in 4 of the 6 to earn a semifinal spot. He defeated Xavier Oshinowo 7-6, 6-1 in the round of 16, and out-played Artur Jakubowski in the quarterfinals 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“Both Jake Berber and Payton Holden had break out events,” Coach Jack Newman said. “Both played with a higher level of ball quality and higher level of confidence than previously seen in tournament play.  Jake upset the #1 seed in the quarters and fell in the finals.  Payton came in 4th place.  Both these results are better, at a more challenging tournament, than either has done before.  Payton’s performance was very solid given he played six high level matches in three days as he had to come through the qualifying.”

In the boy’s 18s draw, another ATA duo outplayed the top players in the state to both finish in the final four. Josh Hagar and Charlie Shin each worked their way to the semifinals of the main draw with two high-quality main draw wins.

Hagar hustled his way to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Gandhi Bhakthavachalam in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, Josh beat Karim Arem 6-3, 7-5 to secure his semifinal spot.

Charlie Shin opening the tournament with a clutch win over Maximo Agoglia 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Shin fought for a 6-4, 6-2 win over Evan Nix, which earned him a spot in the final four.

“Josh Hagar and Charlie Shin both played extremely high-level tennis to make it to the semis where they fell to high level opponents,” Coach Newman said.
 
In the girl’s 16s main draw, Abigail Chiu won 3 out of her 4 matches, with her only loss coming to the #2 seed in the quarterfinals.

“Abigail had a very good tournament,” Coach Brandon Davis said. “Abigail made some really good strides throughout the tournament, focusing on growing and improving her game. This will help her throughout the rest of the year.”

In the girl’s 16s Qualifying, Carli Knezevich opened the tournament with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 victory over Brittini Jentz.

“At the Excellence qualifying, Carli Knezevich competed extremely well, losing in a tough battle in the qualifying round of the tournament,” Coach Lucie said. “Carli impressed me with her fearless game and her ability to apply information given to her to implement against her opponents.”

Just making it to the Excellence, either qualifying or main is a big statement of a player’s level in the Texas Section.  Top 12 into main with next 16 into qualifying means you are in the top 30 players in your age group in Texas.

Congratulations to all who competed at Excellence! : Kristin Kerrigan, Alex Mjos, Meghan O’Malley, Payton Holden, Erik Kerrigan, Austin Mayo, Sam Loudon, Andrew Parks, Carli Knezevich, Molly Fisher, Abigail Chiu, Brittany Brewster, Brooke Hughes, Jake Berber, Josh Hagar, Jacob Herndon and Charlie Shin.