The ATA Champ qualified athletes entered the Tennis Express New Year Champ Major Zone last weekend in College Station, coming away with one draw championship and many more impressive results.

 

Julian Sweeney, competing in the boy’s 14s draw, opened the tournament with a 6-2 in the third set win over Chad Nguyen. From there, Sweeney swept his next 4 matches in straight sets to take the tournament title. He finished the tournament with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over the two-seeded Narain Mandyam. 


 

“Julian really showed off the hard work he has been putting in on his mental toughness and physical conditioning,” Coach Brian Notis said. “He battled through a very tough 3 set match in the first round and perfectly executed a 3rd set game plan to beat a solid opponent.  That match gave him a lot of confidence, which he carried throughout the remainder of the event.  He was able to calm himself down after a very shaky start in the semi's to win the first set from 1-5 down saving several set points.  From there he put in a masterful performance, closing out the match and staying in control throughout the finals with focus and intensity.  Julian won huge points throughout the tournament both with aggressive play and great hustle and defense.”

 

 

Mikaela Pope won the girl’s 18s consolation draw with two tough wins including a clutch third set tie-breaker win in the final round.

 

“At the Champ tournament in College Station, Mikaela Pope outplayed her opponents strategically, winning the back draw bracket of Girls 18s draw,” Coach Lucie Schmidhauser said.

 

Justin Allen won his first two matches in the boys 16s to secure a spot in the semi finals. He defeated Anthony Sanchez 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in the quarterfinals.

 

Austin Priess bounced back from a tough first round loss to win two rounds in the backdraw, reaching the consolation semifinals.

 

“Priess showed a strong mental game throughout his tournament to be able to rebound and get two tough wins,” Coach Anthony said.

 

Loli Perim, after losing to a tough opponent in the 1st round, came back winning 3 matches in the back draw of her Girls 12s draw and losing to a quality opponent in the consolation finals.

“Loli came ready to tear up the courts…” Coach Ty said. “Her gazelle like movement and ability to track down every ball played against her was unparalleled compared to her opponents.”

Brennan Foreman battled her way into the semifinals of the consolation of her Girls 12s draw.

“Brennan frustrated her opponents with her unwillingness to surrender very many short lived points, in fact only producing about one error for every three they made,” Coach Ty said.

Ela Raczka, 9, won her opening round match in the girl’s 12s 7-5, 6-0 over Vanessa Vasquez, before going down in a second round battle to the number 4 seed.

“Ela Raczka showed her opponents on Saturday that she is a force to be reckoned with,” Coach Ty said. He explained that after a slow start, “she soon found her groove and fought intensely by lengthening her rally tolerance and forcing errors from her opponents.”

Hannah Harrod opened her tournament by winning 12 straight games to take the match 6-0, 6-0, reaching the round of 16.

“Hannah surprised me this past weekend by showing what giant and deep penetrating ground strokes she is capable of producing under pressure in long rallies,” Coach Ty said. “The next step in her game will be to confidently step further inside the court and apply greater pressure on her opponents as she aggressively attacks their attempts to fend off her heavy topspin strokes.”

Congratulations to all who competed in the Championship Major Zone, and good luck to those competing in this coming weekends’ Spenco Open!