April 22, 2006
Easter Bowl/USTA Spring SuperNationals Report
The United States Tennis Association hosts four sets of SuperNationals each year. The are held in December (Winter nationals), April (Spring Nationals/Easter Bowl) July (Clay Court Nationals) and August (Hard Court Nationals or THE Nationals).
128 players in the 12s, 14s and 16s and under are selected for this tournament. In the Boys and Girls 18s only 64 players get into the event. So, just to get invited to the SuperNationals is a big deal.
A number of Austin Tennis Academy players participated in the Easter Bowl Spring SuperNationals:
Brett Ellen Keeler made it to the of the quarter finals of the back draw (SuperNationals use a feed-in consolation, which means you play until you lose twice) and won her first USTA Bronze ball for 3rd place in Girls 14s Doubles. Great job Brett Ellen! With that accomplishment comes a new banner to those on the front walkway of the Austin Tennis Academy with Brett Ellen's name on it.
Zach Nichols had his best showing in a SuperNationals ever with a quarterfinalist result in the main draw and a 6th place finish overall. Zach comes off of two weeks on the road at tournaments and was at evening clinic last night inspiring our junior development players. That might be as impressive as his wins at nationals.
Emily Pietruszynski and Millie Nichols were 1/4 finalists in the girls 14s doubles, a very good showing for their first tournament together. Emily won three rounds in the back draw in the singles and Millie won two rounds in the main draw.
Blake Davis won three rounds in the Boys 16s singles and was a 1/4 finalist in the Boys 16s Doubles.
Daven Brodess in Boys 16s did not have the results he wanted at winter nationals, but competed hard and learned some valuable lessons about developing his game style. His last two months of training indicate that future success at the SuperNationals are coming his way.
Jill Saunders had a good tournament by making it to the round of 16 in the Girls 16s main draw.
Ashley Weinhold followed up her results at the USTA International event with another consistent, high level performance. She was a 1/4 finalist in the main draw of singles and won the Silver ball for 2nd place in the Girls 18s doubles. This puts Ashley at #70 in the world in the International Tennis Federation Rankings world wide.
As a side note, ATA short program player from Houston, Harry Fowler, who spent the week prior to Easter Bowl training at ATA won a Silver Ball in Boys 14s singles and the Gold ball in boys 14s doubles.
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