April 23, 2009
ATA's Super Champ Qualified Juniors Travel to San Antonio and Houston
ATA’s super champ qualified athletes traveled south to San Antonio and Houston this past weekend. The 12’s and 14s entered the SATA Super Champ Major Zone, while the 16s and 18s entered 2009 Gallery Furniture Houston Open Super Champ JR MZ.
Zane Ritter fought hard for a first round win in his boy’s 12s draw. He defeated the number nine seed, Samuel Giammalva, 6-2, 4-6, 10-8. Next he faced Sugar Land’s Adarsh Koka, earning the win convincingly, 6-1, 6-1 to secure his spot in the round of 32.
“Zane found a great balance of patience and aggressiveness to play some of the best tournament tennis of his life,” Coach Notis said.
His brother, Dylan Ritter, won three rounds to reach the quarter finals. He defeated Collin Alexander 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the round of 16. Jake Berber won two tough matches to reach the round of 16. Berber beat J. Wilson 6-3, 7-5 for his second straight win.
“Jake's all court game was on full display this weekend,” Coach Notis said. “He mixed aggressive ground-strokes, a heavier second serve and several well timed net approaches to keep his opponents off balance.”
Payton Holden took down Dillon Pineda in his first round match, 6-1, 6-0 to reach the round of 32. Ben Smith beat Plano’s Race Collins in his first round match, 6-2, 6-4, also earning a place in the round of 32.
In the girl’s 12s draw, Allie Burak beat M. Tedford 6-2, 6-2 to reach the round of 16.
Sydney Young reached the round of 16 of her girl’s 14s A draw. She defeated M. Rabson 6-0, 6-0 for her second consecutive win. Nicole Karaklis eliminated Melinda Johnson 6-3, 6-3 in her first round match, earning her a place in the round of 32. Maggie O’Meara beat Lauren Bender 6-3, 6-1, also reaching the round of 32. Carli Knezevich competed hard in two tough matches over the weekend.
After dropping his first round match, Breck Spencer bounced back to beat Michael Mckenery 6-1, 6-3, advancing him to the consolation quarterfinals. Neel Kumar earned valuable tournament experience in two high quality matches.
The 2009 Gallery Furniture Houston Open Super Champ JR MZ hosted ATA’s 16s and 18s athletes.
The boy’s 18s A draw saw Blake Davis fight for six straight wins to take the tournament championship. He beat B. Chen in the finals 7-6(9), 6-4. Alex Durham defeated Ryan Spencer 6-4, 6-3 to reach the round of 16. Jeffrey Offerdahl defeated F. Allinson 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(1) to reach the quarter finals. Chris Dale fell to J. Flink 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the round of 32.
Ryan Burak battled for four straight victories and a place in the final round of his boy’s 16s C draw. He beat S. Ybarra 7-6(5), 6-3 in the semi finals.
Brooke Hughes earned two wins in her girl’s 16s A draw. She defeated A. Rabonovich 6-7(), 6-4, 6-3 to reach the round of 16. Brittany Brewster dropped her opening round match to F. Cunningham 6-4, 6-4.
Charlie Shin won two tough matches to reach the round of 16. He beat N. Beasley 7-6(3), 6-3 for his second win. Josh Hagar fell first round, 7-6(7), 6-2 to the eventual tournament champion Stuart Kenyon. Aaron Chaffee fell to Angel Alvarez, 6-4, 7-5 in his first round match. Conor O’Rourke faced the five seed Coy Dobson first round. After splitting the first two sets, Dobson prevailed in the third, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In the boy’s 16s B draw, Raymond Traweek fell to Clevin Cevellos 6-2, 6-2 in the round of 32. Austin Mayo fought to take down the five seed, Voigt Hansberger, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The girl’s 18s A draw saw Claire Cahill and Morgan Barnhill go down in hard fought opening round matches.
There was no consolation draws in the Houston Major Zone due to bad weather issues. Look for all of these super champ athletes to continue succeeding in next months major zones in Houston and Dallas.
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