Austin Tennis Academy News

January 27, 2009

Fifty seven ATA Athletes Compete at Spenco ATA Winter Junior Open

Austin Tennis Academy served as host to the Spenco ATA Winter Junior Open. Directed by Coach Brian Notis, the ATA juniors entered a weekend of tournament competition while avoiding the troubles of travel.

Josh Hagar won his first boy’s 18s tournament before the age of 15. He won four straight matches to take the tournament, defeating friend and teammate John Stockdale in the finals. Stockdale, the three seed, took down C. Brash in the semi finals 6-2, 6-2. Donny Hackett fell to M. Streeter in his second match. He took the first set 7-6, with Streeter taking the next 4-6, and the breaker 7-10.

Jaxon Immler rallied in the boy’s 16s NQ draw to earn four straight wins and claim the tournament championship. In the finals he beat the two seed B. Whitten 6-2, 6-2. James Seward, the number one seed, beat B. Milburn 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter finals. William Leddy defeated S. Snider 6-0, 6-2 to earn a place the quarter finals.

Jake Berber jumped passed the competition in the boy’s 12s Q draw. He fought to earn four straight wins on his way to taking the tournament crown. Conor O’Meara earned three wins on his way to a spot in the finals. He beat teammate Ben Smith 6-7, 6-0, 6-4 in the semi finals. Smith beat teammate Sanjit Kumar in the quarter finals 6-2, 6-1. Kumar overcame Aidan Angelovich in his first match 7-6, 6-2. Erik Kerrigan defeated S. Kim 6-4, 6-4 in his first round. Zane Ritter defeated the four seed Henry Adams to reach the quarter finals. He then defeated A. Rajan 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semi finals. Payton Holden beat J. Cobb 6-1, 6-2 to earn a place in the quarter finals. Matthew Milliken fell in his second match to Henry Adams in a battle, 4-6, 7-6, 11-9.

In the boy’s 16s Q draw, Aaron Chaffee earned three straight wins to reach the finals. He defeated the four seed P. Fumagalli in the semi finals, 6-7, 6-0, 6-3. Conor O’Rourke came in as the number three seed. He defeated Kevin Vo, the six seed, 6-2, 6-2 to earn a spot in the semi finals. Austin Mayo won two matches to reach the quarter finals where he met Aaron Chaffee. Rob Steinwedell beat the seven seed J. Gonzalez 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter finals where he fell to the eventual champion P. Allen. Ryan Burak, Raymond Traweek and Grayson Brilliant also competed in this draw, each earning valuable experience in two tough matches on the weekend.

In the boy’s 14s Q draw, Neal Kumar won four straight matches to reach the finals. He beat K. Kapoor 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in his semi final match. Breck Spencer beat N. Gonzalez 6-0, 6-3 to earn a spot in the round of 16. Pierce Kelley, Sreyas Mahadevan and Rohan Makhija each played two high level matches on the weekend.

Michael Holder bounced back from a first round loss in the boy’s 14s NQ draw to earn three straight wins and the consolation championship. In the finals he defeated R. Mitamura 6-1, 6-4. Rahul Gorti reached the quarter finals of the boy’s 12s NQ draw with an impressive three set win over P. Mannem. After splitting the first two sets 6-4, 4-6, Gorti stepped up to take the third 6-4. Also reaching the quarters was Zach Knezevich. He defeated teammate Angelo McKinnon 7-5, 7-5. He defeated teammate Ankith Kondikonda 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter finals. Keaton Qualls reached the consolation quarter finals where he fell to the number one seed, G. Jordan. Tyler Wilkie competed in two tough matches on the weekend.

Ethan Krieger defeated N. Phan 8-2 to reach the semi finals and live up to the seeding prediction. After falling in a tight first round match, Tyler Anson rebounded to win two matches and claim the consolation crown. He defeated J. Spiers 8-2 in the finals. Grant Stevens took down C. Aduru 8-2 to earn a place in the quarter finals. After both dropping their first match, Reese Watson and Jay Spiers advanced to the consolation semi finals where they faced each other. Spiers won the match 8-6 to reach the final round.

In the girl’s 10s, Ela Raczka beat M. Batchinsky 8-3 to earn a place in the consolation semi final. Georgia Wright earned valuable experience in two tournament level matches.

Sydney Young, the number one seed of the girl’s 14s Q draw, won three straight matches while only dropping two games to reach the finals. In the semi finals, she defeated the three seed K. Vo 6-1, 6-0. Carli Knezevich beat Kristen Murphy 6-0, 6-0 to reach the quarter finals. Allie Carlisle rebounded from a first round loss to defeat Y. Astapova 2-6, 6-2, 15-13. She then faced teammate Smrithi Hariharan in the semi finals. Smrithi beat M. Moeller 6-1, 6-1 to earn a spot in the semi’s. Carlisle came out on top 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the consolation finals.

Mikeala Pope, the number three seed of the girl’s 14s NQ draw, beat Abigail Bowling 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter finals. There she fell to the eventual tournament champion, A Henderson, 6-3, 6-2. Adrienne Zwiener defeated H. Cantalupo 7-5, 6-0 to earn a place in the consolation quarter finals.

Remi Immler won two matches in the girl’s 12s Q draw to earn a place in the semi finals. She defeated the four seed P. Niezgoda in the quarter finals 6-0, 6-4. After falling to the number one seed first round, Meghan O’Malley responded by winning two matches and reaching the consolation finals. She defeated teammate Aarti Bhat 7-5, 7-5 in the semi finals. Jacqueline Patterson defeated M. Shkolnaya 6-4, 6-2 to join her teammates in the consolation semi finals.

In the girl’s 12s NQ draw, Allie Young won two matches to earn a spot in the quarter finals. She defeated V. Fletcher 6-0, 6-0 for her second win. Smrithi Mahadevan faced Meredith Jackson in her first match. After splitting the first two sets 6-3, 4-6, Smrithi earned the third 6-2 to advance to the quarter finals. Georgia Stevens defeated I. Almazan 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the quarter finals. After dropping her first match, Katherine Spencer defeated D. Cuteri 6-1, 6-2 to reach the consolation semi finals. Haarika Somarouthu won two tough matches to earn a spot in the semi finals.

Fifty seven ATA junior athletes competed in the Spenco ATA Winter Junior Open, placing finalists in five of the eight qualified draws and earning three draw champions. Look for these athletes to build on this success in their upcoming tournaments at the Corpus SC MZ 16s and 18s, the Laredo SC MZ 12s and 14s, and the Deer Park CMZ.

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