Austin Tennis Academy News

May 17, 2007

May Georgetown ZAT, Kerrville Champ, Houston and Dallas SCMZ Summary

The Texas heat ushered in the first 90 plus degree days of the year as Austin Tennis Academy competed in important sectional events. Many ATA students competed hard and played well through the natural and competitive adversity. Congratulations to players and parents who traveled and competed in the Georgetown ZAT, Kerrville Champ, Houston SuperChamp and Dallas SuperChamp tournaments.

The Georgetown ZAT 

Congratulations to all Georgetown ZAT players who battled the heat and strong opposition. Many ATA students showed tremendous progress with both their performances and their results. Three ATA players took home the top prize in their age group and 2 of them qualified for the champ level! The draw winners: B10’s Payton Holden, 12s Jake Berber and B14’s Austin Doyle, played with discipline and focus to take down all their opponents.

Payton’s game really came together in a great semifinal win over the top seed and then in his final, he dominated an opponent (8-0) that he had lost to just the week before in a CATA Tour event. Jake Berber cruised through the tournament without dropping a set, but did a great job calming his nerves after letting 3 set points slip away in the first set of his semifinal. Jake then went on to beat fellow ATA teammate Pierce Kelley in the final in a hard fought match.

Pierce, too, played a great tournament, showing tremendous progress in his game. Pierce battled through a 10 minute scoring dispute in his semifinal match (in the 3rd set tie-break, no less) and closed out the match with his biggest serve of the tournament! Austin Doyle made us all forget that he’s only been playing tennis for 9 months with his gutsy performance all weekend. Austin’s willingness to keep on fighting got him through a quarterfinal and a final where he was down nearly the entire match. Watch out fellow ATA players, you’ll be surprised to see Austin at the net putting volleys and overheads away like Patrick Rafter or Tim Henman!

ATA posted a number of additional noteworthy performances this weekend. Bryan Mitchell played well and hard, reaching his first ZAT semi-final before falling in a 3rd set tie-break. Casey Shaw, in his first round match against a player who had beaten him love and love just a few months ago, battled to make his opponent win. Shaw then went on to raise his level of play and take home the consolation championship in his first 14’s ZAT.

Ford Rylander made an absolutely incredible comeback, an instant classic. Ford saved 8 consecutive match points in the third set tie-break of his second round match and came back to win the match. How’s that possible? Ford was down 9-1 in the 10 point tie-break and won 10 straight points! Molly Fisher and Carli Knezevich competed very well and advanced to the quarterfinals of the G12’s. Camden Lemond was a semi-finalist in the B10’s.

Meghan O’Malley, Savannah Brilliant and Smrithi Hariharan battled hard in the backdraw, gaining valuable experience. Meghan and Savannah competed well against older, stronger players and Smrithi took down the #1 seed in a match where she played very well. Garrett Callen also played the top seed in his second round main draw match and though he lost, he came away feeling like he could compete at that level.

Look for many of our ATA players to be following in the footsteps of Jake and Austin and their predecessors in the coming months! Way to go at the Georgetown ZAT

Kerrville Championship Major Zone

The lush green hills of Kerrville and Fredericksburg were alive with Championship Major Zone action on Saturday and Sunday. Many ATA students competed hard and well, making important progress.

Three players Super-Champ qualified with their results: Kate Cahill in the girls 16s, Charlie Shin in the 14s and Nick Thompson also in the 14s. Kate, playing with determination, faced her toughest match in the semifinal round against ATA teammate Jessi Waite, with the winner qualifying for the Super-Champ division. It was a great contest, both girls playing higher level tennis and showing their readiness for Super-Champs. The match went the full three sets, with Kate claiming the final set 6-2. Though Jessi did not qualify at this tournament, "she showed consistency in tournament play and is now close and ready to qualify for Super-Champs," commented ATA Coach Kendall Brooks.

Charlie Shin played on a mission, surging towards the top Texas division. Charlie’s focused mental approach, combined with a pressuring all-court game brought him the title and a Super-Champ qualification. Shin did not drop a set through the draw. Nick Thompson battled his way to Super-Champs. Dropping the first set twice before the finals, Thompson relied on superb conditioning, relentless determination and a steady baseline game to overcome his opponents.

Besides the qualifiers, many Austin Tennis Academy students performed well and gave fantastic effort. Blair Jones nearly qualified, everyone watching her semifinal loss “was very impressed with the overall level of play. Emily Lampman had to play her very best match in order to beat Blair,” noted ATA Coach Kendall Brooks.  Matthew Lee and Greyson Brilliant each won matches before falling to tough opponents in great matches. They are primed to continue improving.

Allie Carlisle won a very close first round match 7-5, 7-6. She then made top seed Audra Bell play solid tennis to beat her in the next round. Ian Kocher won two close back-draw matches before falling in a 3 set battle. Cliff Brookshire played better tennis every round, winning two back-draw rounds before falling in a good match. Cliff came away knowing that he can play at the champ level, and very focused on what he needs to do to succeed.  Drew Weinstock nearly won a great back-draw contest, falling 6-4, 7-6. Will Douglass also dropped a close back-draw match, falling 6-3, 7-6.

Jonathon Stockdale advanced to the semifinal round before falling in two close sets to William Collins, 7-5, 7-5. At the CMZ Amarillo, Daniel Wang won three main-draw matches, including two in three sets. He advanced to the semifinal round before falling to eventual champion Jason Turnwald.

Congratulations to players who competed hard and played well in Kerrville. Look for more great results from these players in their next events! In addition to the ZAT and Champ level tournaments, the weekend offered Super-Champ play in both Dallas and Houston.

Houston Super-Champ Major Zone 12s and 14s

The 12s and 14s Super-Champs kicked off in Houston Saturday morning.  Conor O’Rourke won a closely played match 6-3, 7-5 over David Weiner in the first round. Conor then followed up with another win before falling in the third round to finalist Abraham Hsu. Austin Mayo nearly won his back-draw match, losing a close one to B. Bulger in a second set tiebreak. Matt Sparks lost a close first round match to semi-finalist Michael Reichmann before going on a 3 match winning streak in the back-draw. “Matt is very close to breaking through into the upper tier of Super-Champs,” praised Coach Ryan Simme. Sparks eventually fell in a 3 set dual to A. Frye. Eliot Blatt advanced to the round of 16 with a 7-6, 6-1 win over Hunter Lightner.  Colton Malesovas battled hard in the back-draw, falling to B. Galon.

Brittany Brewster won her first round match before falling against a very tough opponent in the second round. Coach Simme was very impressed with Brittany’s desire to play despite being knocked out of the draw. Maggie O’Meara played to the distance in her back-draw match, falling to Jocelle Rudico 7-6 in the third set. Brittany and Maggie teamed up to win an 8-4 doubles match.

Dallas Super Champ Major Zone 16s and 18s

Each month when we return from a tournament weekend, we assess what went well and what went wrong.  We try to help our players set goals for the next month to be better.  This past month of practice was very focused and the level of intensity was very, very high.  Consequently, this month's tournaments showed significant progress.
 
In the Dallas superchamp major zone for 16s & 18s players, we almost had a perfect first round series of  matches.  Ethan Horn, Jeffrey Offerdahl, Cameron Relic, Claire Cahill, Shannon McLellan, Mary Bain, Jill Saunders and Este Kaufmann all made it through their first rounds.
 
Mary Bain, Jill Saunders and Este Kaufmann advanced to main draw play on Sunday.  Hailey Posas and Cameron Relic continued on Sunday in the back draw.  Este did a great job of staying focused on his performance goals of moving forward and being on balance on his serve.  Both he and his opponent were getting tired as we competed in our first 90 degree day of the year.  Jill Saunders struggled with her serve, but not with her composure or poise.  She battled in two main draw matches, got victories in both, then went on to beat the #1 seed in the semis.  Hailey battled late into sunday night with a great match in the back draw.
 
Mary Bain dispatched her first round opponent in less than an hour.  Claire Cahill and Shannon McLellan were very solid in their first round appearances.
 
Hailey Posas and Shannon McLellan posted three rounds in the main draw of girls 16s doubles.
 
There was excellent progress with many players on tactical issues and poise and composure were high with all ATA players this weekend.
 
We go into our next month of training getting ready for the biggest superchamp tournament of the year...the summer Grand Slam in College Station.

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