Austin Tennis Academy News

January 16, 2008

Hagar, Mayo, Shin Shine in Austin, Barnhill Bangs to Quarters, Offerdahl 2 Titles

      The top tier of Texas junior tennis played two Major Zone level tournaments January 11-13. The Austin Tennis Academy was well-represented at the 12s and 14s, played in Austin and the 16s and 18s played in San Antonio. ATA Head Coach Jack Newman, Academy Coach Lucie Schmidhauser, Academy Coach Doug Davis and Junior Academy Director Brian Notis were on site at the 12s and 14s AUSTIN SUPER CHAMPIONSHIP MAJOR ZONE, while Academy Co-Director Cristina Moros and Academy Coaches Simon Boyce and Estevam Strecker staffed the 16s and 18s SAN ANTONIO SUPER CHAMPIONSHIP MAJOR ZONE. 
 
      In what Head Coach Newman described as a “solid, well played match,” Maggie O’Meara beat Brittini Jentz 6-3, 6-2 in the girls 12 and under division. Maggie won another main draw match before dropping in the round of 16 to Princess Gbadamosi. In the same age division David Parke outlasted Conor O’Meara 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-0. 
 
      The Austin Tennis Academy made a statement in the 14s division, blowing up chunks of several draws, boys and girls. Josh Hagar came in as the (9) seed, dismissing two players before doling out a 6-1, 6-1 beating to top seed Nathaniel Lammons. Coach Notis described Hagar’s play as “very disciplined, mentally tough and the best focus he’s ever shown in competition.” In the bottom half of the draw, Charlie Shin mirrored Hagar’s mauling, beating two, then trouncing (2) seed James Martell 6-2, 6-3. Coach Notis saw Shin “playing very solid, competing well and still working on becoming a bit more aggressive to help him get to the next level.” Austin Mayo posted what Coach Notis’ said was a “break-through tournament, he played awesome,” earning two main-draw wins, first over Ryan Meek 6-2, 6-0 and then over Nicolas Erturkuner 6-2, 6-3. Liam Woolley-MacMath lost a close first round match, then showed “good progress,” according to Coach Notis, beating Csimma 7-5, 6-1. Eliot Blatt beat Drew Reid 6-1, 6-0 and lost close to David Saa 6-2 in the third. Matthew Sparks played hard in two matches. In girls 14s, Morgan Barnhill barnstormed for three rounds, advancing to the quarter-finals. Said Coach Davis, Morgan “showed how good she can be when she fights through matches, regardless of adversity,” beating (9) seed Nan Porter 7-5 in the third, then assaulting Aranxta Hernandez 6-2, 6-0. Even in her quarter-final round loss to (5) Marcelli Magday 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, Morgan played her opposition very close. Brittany Brewster fell to Portland Oregon’s Arianna Fardanesh 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. Brewster bounced back to beat Kayla Kasey and then Kristeen Mee in three sets.
 
      Avenging a Cotton Bowl loss with an 8-2 final round decision over Salazar and Ramirez, Chase Curry and Jeff Offerdahl worked together, dominating the doubles draw. In singles, Coach Strecker saw Jeff “play better every match,” rolling through Saturday and advancing to a semi-final 6-2, 6-2 win over partner Curry.  In the final, Jeff felled (5) seed Andrew Korinek 6-3, 6-1, proving Strecker’s statement: “Jeff faced no challenges through the draw,” but will “face the cream of 16s next weekend,” at the USTA Texas Section Super Championship Excellence. In other 16s action Taylor Shamshiri outclassed Austin Dean 6-3, 6-2, then took (2) seed Ford the distance with Ford escaping 7-5 in the third. Conor O'Rourke won a main-draw contest 6-1, 1-6, 6-1. In girls 16s, Kate Cahill bounced back from a first round loss to (9) seed Micah Hermsdorf 6-1, 6-0, beating Madison Rabson 6-4, 6-1. Shannon McLellan, Hailey Posas, Claire Cahill and Zoe Kearl all played in two matches each. 
 
      In boys 18s, Jon Stockdale lost 6-3, 6-3 to William Collins. In girls 18s action Mary Bain beat Mackenzie Doran in the back-draw, while Blair Jones and Jessica Waite each played two matches.
 
      Congratulations to ATA’s competitors in San Antonio and Austin. The Austin Tennis Academy staff looks forward to the February Super-Champ Major Zones at the Laredo Super Champ Major Zone Winter Classic for 12s and 14s and at the CORPUS CHRISTI OMNI CLASSIC for 16s and 18s. Play begins February 1st. Register now, the deadline for entry is midnight January 15th.

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