Austin Tennis Academy News: Four Finalists, Many Positive Results at Waco ZAT

October 28, 2007

Four Finalists, Many Positive Results at Waco ZAT

Under a still sticky and hot early autumn Texas sky, players competed in the Oct. 13-14 Waco Tennis Association’s ZAT. The Austin Tennis Academy entered 24 junior competitors, posting good results and a great experience. Head Coach Jack Newman and Coach John Schoenmakers led the ATA Coaching staff in Waco.

In boys 10s, Zach Knezevich made the final round, beating Ian Yonge 8-4 and (2) seed Samuel Lee 8-4. Rahul Gorti also posted a finalist result in another boys 10s draw, beating Jacob Kudrick 8-6 in the semi-finals. In boys 12s, Sanjit Kumar lost a very close first round match 6-1, 3-6, 10-5 to Mac McCullogh. In the same draw, Sreyas Mahadevan upset (4) seed A. Remschel 2-6, 6-4, 10-7. In boys 14s Casey Shaw earned finalist honors, defeating Ethan McWorter 6-4, 6-4. Casey fell 6-2, 7-5 in the final. Also a finalist, Will Douglass battled his way through the draw, winning two three set matches, including a semi-final win over (2) seed Tan 10-6 in the super-breaker. Garrett Callen beat Joe Soules 6-1, 6-1 in the first round. Pierce Kelley pulled through in the closest of contests: 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 over Cody Kemp. James Seward lost to (2) seed Jonathan Tan 6-4, 6-2. Daniel Howell narrowly lost two close duals, the first 10-7 in the super-breaker and the second 6-4, 6-4 in the back-draw. Weston Jezek beat ATA teammate Jaxon Immler 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. Neel Kumar beat Raymond Traweek 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. Walker Jezek played hard in two matches. In his first 16s ZAT, Ryan Burak cruised through his first round, then barely fell to top seed Mack Lockridge 10-8 in the super-breaker. Cliff Brookshire won two main draw matches, beating Conner Davis and Stephen Kline.

On the girls side, Remi Immler lost to Catherine Canby in the girls 10s final round. Ali Burak won her girls 12s first round 6-2, 6-0, then lost to draw champion Molly Beach. In the same division, Carli Knezevich lost a first round 12-10 super-breaker decision, only to come back strong winning three back-draw matches. In a similarly close back-draw final, Carli beat Miranda Marlin 10-8 in the super-breaker. Meghan O’Malley won two main draw matches, advancing to the quarter-finals. Also a main-draw quarterfinalist, Jessica Clouse beat Kayla Parker 6-2, 6-4.

Congratulations to all players who competed in the Waco ZAT. Also, great work from ATA’s Breck Spencer last weekend at the San Angelo ZAT, Breck Champ qualified!

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