Austin Tennis Academy News

October 9, 2008

ATA's Juniors Earn Success Statewide

While some of ATA’s junior athletes were spread across north Texas this past weekend, the ZAT and Champ qualified players traveled to San Antonio and Laredo to compete in the McFarlin ZAT and the Laredo Championship Major Zone. The Austin Tennis Academy junior competitors earned success all across the state. From Laredo to Tyler, and Arlington to San Antonio, the ATA community networked out to compete individually, while sticking to the team like support and accountability that has guided each of them in their daily preparation for these events.

In Laredo, Payton Holden tore through his boys’ 12's draw, winning the tournament convincingly.

“Payton brought his entire game to Laredo,” coach Martinez said. “He went through the draw only dropping 6 games along the way.”

Sanjit Kumar won his second round match over Angel Palacios 6-1, 6-4, before falling in three sets the next round.

In the girls’ 12's draw, Megan O’Malley defeated Andrea Karpen 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals where she met the number three seed.

Greyson Brilliant won and lost on the weekend in the boys’ 14's draw, winning his opening round match 6-1, 6-1. Pierce Kelley gained valuable experience while competing in two matches in Laredo. Neel Kumar beat the number three seed for his third win of the tournament earning him a spot in the semi-finals.

In the girls’ 14's, Carli Knezevich won her second round match to get a shot at the number two seed. She battled Christina Rodriguez in three close sets, falling 6-2, 5-7, 7-6. Smrithi Hariharan worked hard to beat Katelyn Whelan 6-4, 7-6 in her second match.

Raymond Traweek rebounded from an opening round loss in the boys’ 16's draw to beat Leonard Shatsman 6-3, 6-2. Colton Malesovas defeated Joel Candelaria 6-4, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals. Ryan Burak won three matches and upset the number four seed, 6-3, 6-4, on his way to the semi-finals.

In the girls’ 18's draw, Christine Schatz went down in a highly competitive match to Rachel Hinkle 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Coach Martinez and coach Brookes traveled to Laredo, while coach Shoenmakers and coach Stockdale accomanied the team in San Antonio.

In the girls’ 12's draw of the McFarlin ZAT, Aarti Bhat backed up her number two seed by winning three matches and earning a spot in the finals where she fell in a very close three set match. Danielle Cuteri faced Hayley Anderson first round, out-lasting her for a 6-3, 2-6, 10-8 victory. In Allie Young’s second match, she fought to win the second set in a close tie-breaker and send the match to a decisive tie-breaker. Lauren Robertson edged her out, taking the match 10-8 in the third. Smrithi Mahadevan competed in two matches this weekend and gained valuable experience. Coming in as the number two seed, Remi Immler worked hard for two victories and a spot in the semi-finals.

In the boys’ 12's draw, Rahul Gorti defeated Chamath Dhramasiri in his first match 6-4, 6-2. Angelo McKinnon rebounded from a first round loss to win his next match 11-9 in the third set tie-breaker. He went on to earn two more victories on his way to the consolation finals. After winning his first match, Zack Knezevich defeated the six seed David Linder 7-5, 6-0 to earn a spot in the quarter-finals. Jacqueline Patterson beat Faith Horan 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 in her opening round before falling to the number one seed in a close match.

Adrienne Zwiener beat Madeline Goltzman 6-7, 6-1, 10-8 in her opening round before falling to the number three seed in her girls’ 14's draw.

In the boys’ 16's, Jaxon Immler defeated Joel Soules 6-3, 6-1 first round before going down to the number eight seed Bryan Tan. James Seward backed up his number four seed by winning two matches on his way to the semi-finals, where he to fell victim to Tan.

From goal sheets and pre-practice routines, to conditioning and proper nutrition, the ATA junior athletes of all ages and skill levels are taught to correctly prepare and compete for each day of practice as if it was a tournament situation. This type of dedication and preparation has translated into success all across the state for these junior competitors of all ages and all skill levels.

Next up for these players will be the San Antonio ZAT, Plano Champ MZ and the Spenco ATA Thanksgiving Open Nov. 7-9. The deadlines are Oct. 19 for the ZAT, Oct. 24 for the Spenco and Oct. 31 for the Champ MZ so enter now!

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