December 12, 2007
ATA a Force at SCMZ Cotton Bowl, Offerdahl and Saunders Champions in Dallas
“Tough ain’t enough”. Muhammad Ali’s instantly famous 1971 quip on the perceived grit of Joe Frazier applies very well to tennis. On Monday, two of ATA’s toughest, Jill Saunders and Jeff Offerdahl, combined their hardened mental approach with increasingly complete technical and tactical styles to earn Cotton Bowl SuperChamp Major Zone (SCMZ) Championships in Dallas. In addition, ATA boasted strong success with six main-draw quarter-finalists. ATA Head Coach Jack Newman, along with JD Director Kendall Brooks and Coach Loren Collins caught the action firsthand.
The transition does not usually happen this quickly. Often, moving from 14s to 16s at the top tier of junior tennis is the most difficult transition for junior boys. Jeff Offerdahl is not following that trend, winning a 16s Major Zone as a first year 16s. Jeff beat the top two seeds, (2) Roger Anderson in three sets and (1) Jose Martinez in a one-sided 6-2, 6-4 final. “Jeff has always been very mentally tough. Now, he is adding that toughness to a more complete technical game, especially the ability to attack and finish points,” commented Head Coach Newman. In other 16s boys action, Taylor Shamshiri tempered what Coach Newman describes as a “napalm” like forehand to win two main-draw matches, beating Carlos Aguilar 6-3, 6-2 to make the quarter-final round. Conor O’Rourke played one match and then was forced to retire due to injury. Matthew Sparks outlasted Ryan Sweezey 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, his second main-draw win of the weekend. Quarter-finalist Sparks narrowly lost to Ryan Cady 3-6, 6-1, 10-5. Matthew's energy level was high and his movement prior to returning is something he has been focusing on.
Jill Saunders combined her brutalizing baseline game with a rugged mental approach to win the Cotton Bowl 16s title. In her semi-final contest, Saunders dropped the first set to top seed Megan Horter, then won the next two sets 6-3, 6-0. The middle of that second set saw two or three games that lasted 7-10 minutes each. It was a war. In the final, Saunders overwhelmed Blair Shankle 6-4, 6-2. In the same division, Claire Cahill beat Sarafina Nance 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the back-draw. Kate Cahill lost a heart-breaking match against Kourtney Chambley 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. Hailey Posas competed in two matches while Zoe Kearl was also on the court for two matches. Shannon McLellan won two very close matches, “using a heavy forehand to set-up her powerful attacking shots,” noted Coach Collins. Shannon beat Megan Evetts 7-5, 7-5 and Kaitlin Reynolds 6-4, 7-5.
In 18s, senior Jon Stockdale played “a very complete game, attacking with appropriate consistency,” noted Coach Collins. Stockdale won two main-draw matches, including a 6-3, 6-1 win over (5) seed Jonathon Sessom. In girls 18s, Coach Brooks saw Blair Jones “winning the energy battle,” coming back from 2-5 down to win the first set of two matches. Blair won three main-draw matches and advanced to the semi-finals on Monday, her best performance as a superchamp player.
While toughness is always necessary for success, it is not sufficient. Many ATA players proved that in Dallas, combining their mental toughness with improving technical and tactical awareness and game-plan execution. Congratulations to ATA competitors. Sign up now for the January SCMZ in San Antonio, the deadline for entry is December 23.
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