Austin Tennis Academy News

September 5, 2007

Round Rock ZAT Highlights: Entry Level Success, Competitive Education and a Great Time!

Round Rock ZAT action kicked off Saturday, Sept 1st with competition across the north Austin suburb. ATA’s future stars played in the boys and girls 12s and 14s, with many great results and an educational experience for players and parents. ATA Coaches Brian Notis, Kendall Brooks, Anthony Martinez and Loren Collins caught the action firsthand.

In her first USTA tournament, Ali Burak fell in the first round to Chuyang Guan in two close sets. In her next three matches, Coach Brooks saw “Ali play great consistent tennis,” defeating two-match winner and ATA teammate Savannah Brilliant 6-4, 6-1 in the back-draw semi-finals. In the final, Ali met another ATA teammate in Carli Knezevich. In a razor close contest, Coach Brooks watched as “Carli’s ‘refuse to lose’ mentality and all around consistency” sealed a 7-6, 7-6 win over Burak. Young Meghan O’Malley also competed in Round Rock, “fighting hard in two matches,” said Coach Brooks. On the boys 12s side, Seung Min Kim won three matches, including a quarter-final 6-0, 6-3 win over Tanner Rowley. Payton Holden won an amazing four matches in the third set super-breaker advancing to the final with a 6-4, 5-7, 10-3 win over Alex Minca. In his final, Coach Brian Notis looked on as “Payton served out the tournament with an ace up the ‘T”, winning the 12s title. Breck Spencer competed hard in two matches, nearly overwhelming Holden in a 5-7, 7-5, 10-6 first round battle.

In the girls 14s draws, Smrithi Hariharan advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Nicole Johnson. Jessica Clouse also made the quarters, defeating top seed Meredyth Wiegand 3-6, 6-4, 10-7. In boys 14s, Ryan Burak advanced to the final with a reported score of 6-3, 7-5. Burak actually led 5-2 in the second set when a scoring dispute was resolved to show the score as 3-2. Ryan actually won his quarter-final match over Lutz 6-3, 9-5. Through out the tournament, “Ryan varied his forehand effectively, moving his opponent or stepping in and attacking”, noted Coach Collins. Will Douglass also employed an improving forehand and sharp net skills effectively. A confident Douglass won three matches to advance to the semi-finals where he faced off with Burak. The match did not disappoint as Burak edged out Douglass in a fantastic 12-10 super-breaker contest. Burak finally fell to Joe Reedholm 6-4, 6-3. Garrett Callen battled his opponent and a back injury, competing hard in a 3 set loss. Pierce Kelley won two matches in one-sided fashion before losing to James Banner 3-6, 6-4, 10-7. Walker Jezek played with more consistency in his second match, while Weston Jezek had good footwork in two matches. Neel Kumar picked up a back-draw win, playing well from the baseline.

Congratulations to players and parents who competed in the Round Rock ZAT. As important as results, ATA players and parents became more familiar and comfortable with competitive tennis this weekend. Sign up now for the October 6-7 ZAT in San Antonio.

Back to News Summary