Austin Tennis Academy News: ATA Serves as Host to Texas' Champ Qualified Juniors

December 15, 2008

ATA Serves as Host to Texas' Champ Qualified Juniors

ATA’s championship qualified juniors didn’t have to travel far as their Academy served as host to the Austin Junior Championship Major Zone this past weekend. Coaches Notis, Newman, and Schmidhauser accompanied the team around Austin.

Kate Cahill came out strong, earning three straight wins on her way to the semi finals. She defeated J. Gassiott in the quarter finals 6-0, 6-4 before falling to the number one seed.

In the boys 16s, Ryan Burak beat Z. Hall 7-5, 6-3 in his first round match. Colton Malesovas defeated C. Beard 6-2, 6-3 to earn a spot in the third round. Garrett Callen competed to the last point in his first round match, going down in two tight sets, 7-6(4), 7-6(3).

Greyson Brilliant dropped a tough three set match to J. Jacob 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the boys 14s, before being forced to pull out due to an illness. Rohan Makhija rebounded from a tough first round to win two matches and earn a spot in the consolation finals. He faced W. Jezek in the semi finals, winning convincingly 6-1, 6-0.

Andrew Levitan beat M. Ramadan in his first round match, 6-3, 7-5. Next he faced the number eight seed, M. Douglass. Levitan lifted his game and defeated Douglass 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. After dropping his first match, Neal Kumar came back to earn four wins and claim the consolation championship. In the consolation finals he beat J. Chavarria 6-1, 6-3.

“Neal had very good intensity and movement,” coach Newman said.

Lauren Schulte came out strong, claiming her first match in the girls 16s. She defeated S. Pantuso 6-0, 6-1. Next she battled the three seed J. Crane in a tight three set match, with Crane ultimately moving on.

In the boys 14s, Sreyas Mahadevan played two tough matches earning valuable experience at this level. After winning his first match, Breck Spencer faced the number eight seed B. Slay. Spencer claimed the match convincingly, winning 6-1, 6-1.

“Breck was energetic, he has great mastery over his topspin forehand and used it awesomely,” coach Newman said.

Sanjit Kumar came back from a first round loss to earn a tough three set victory. He defeated P. Siller 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to earn a spot in the consolation quarter finals.

Smrithi Hariharan competed in two tough matches in the girls 14s. In the consolation quarter finals she faced M. Margiotta. After fighting for the first set, Margiotta claimed the next two and the match, 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-3.

Carli Knezevich came in as the number four seed. She defeated E. Welsh in her first match 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarter finals. Allie Carlisle came in as the number five seed. She faced A. Levy in her first round, claiming the match 6-2, 6-3.

In the girls 12s, Meghan O’Malley defeated E. Tedford 7-6, 6-4 to earn a spot in the quarter finals. Aarti Bhat faced N. Jackson in her first match. She claimed the first set in a tight tie breaker, but Jackson rebounded to claim the next two sets. Remi Immler earned valuable experience at the championship level.

While their teammates were traveling all over the state, ATA’s championship qualified players enjoyed the ease of a tournament played in Austin. There is a comfort level that comes with competing in your home city, and the success earned by these junior athletes is a testament to it.

Next up for these junior athletes is the College Station Champ Major Zone. The deadline is Dec 30 so enter now!

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