Mao cruised in his first match against Anish Gangavaram (Mason, OH) winning 6-1; 6-1. Next, he played Xavier Ecarma (Louisville, KY) who beat 7th seeded Nishanth Basavareddy first round. Mao would go on to win 7-6(5); 6-3 to set up a semifinal matchup against Presley Thieneman (Floyds Knobs, IN). Mao needed a second set tiebreak to secure a win 6-3; 7-6(3).
After taking down fourth seeded Thieneman, Mao faced the defending champion and top seeded Daniel Sharygin (Newburgh, IN). Sharygin was ranked top 50 in the nation at the start of the tournament. Mao lost the first set 4-6 only to recover and take the second set 6-0. The third and final set was decided by a match tiebreak which Mao won 10-4.
Despite losing in the finals, Sharygin and his partner, Xavier Ecarma, captured the Doubles Championship. The duo never lost more than 3 games in any of the first three rounds. Sharygin and Ecarma received a walkover in the finals.
Champion – Nathan Mao
Finalist – Daniel Sharygin
Third Place- Nishesh Basavareddy
Fourth Place – Presley Thieneman
Sportsmanship Award – Frank Thompson
For the completed draw please visit the tournament page.
Upcoming National Tournaments:
]]>This year’s field is strong, with more than half the draw being a 4-star recruit or better. What makes this event unique, is it brings a lot of the best players in the Midwest and the country to Evansville. Due to its “Level 3” status several players are 14 years of age and are looking to improve on their future 16 and Under rankings. The Evansville Tennis Center is one of only six facilities in the country to host this event. Other locations include Las Vegas, Bronx, Scottsdale, Irvine and Hilton Head.
Daniel Sharygin (Newburgh, IN) returns to defend his 2017 title. The top ranked and top seeded player is teaming up with fellow 5-star recruit, Xavier Ecarma (Louisville, KY). Sharygin and Ecarma are seeded #2 in doubles and will begin play at 9:00am on Saturday. Sharygin, who is a 5-star recruit is the #4 recruit in the Midwest and #55 National for his graduating class. Sharygin won the prestigious Easter Bowl title in 2014.
The top seeded doubles team of Ian Brady (Indianapolis, IN) and Presley Thieneman (Floyds Knobs, IN) are 4-star and 5-star recruits respectively. They are scheduled to play at 8:00 am on Saturday.
Daniel Schmelka (Hinsdale, IL) finished 3rd in this years Winter National Championships, looks to continue to play at a high level. Schmelka beat the #1 ranked player in the nation, Noelle Ampong to secure the third place finish. Schmelka currently has a ranking of #14 in the nation for “14 and Under”. The 5-star recruit is seeded fifth in singles and third in doubles. His partner Alan Matyjas (Northfield, IL) is currently ranked #44 in the nation for “14 and Under”. Matyjas is also a 5-star recruit.
Eli Gordon and Nishesh Basavareddy are both Blue Chip recruits. Gordon (Highland Park, IL) is the #3 recruit in the Midwest and #15 recruit in the country for all 8th graders. Fellow 8th grader, Nishesh Basavareddy (Indianapolis, IN) enters this tournament after playing several national and international tournaments. Basavareddy made it to the finals of the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl – an international junior event held annually in Florida. He was also a semi-finalist at the Eddie Herr International event. Both events took place this winter. He has captured two national championships in doubles, earning two gold ball trophies. Basavareddy won both the National Clay Court and Easter Bowl championships this year. He also finished second at this years Easter Bowl Championships. Basavareddy is the #13 recruit in the country and will team up with his brother Nishanth (4-star) in doubles.
We encourage everyone to stop by and watch some of the nations best players compete. You may find tentative match times here, but please note this only lists first round times for singles and doubles. The draws will be released Friday. To view the draw please click here.
]]>This year, Sharygin enters the tournament as the top seeded and top ranked player with a national ranking of 49. He will be teaming up with Xavier Ecarma. Ecarma is the son of the University of Louisville Men’s Tennis Coach Rex Ecarma.
Sharygin may be the only local player to participate in this years’ event but he will be joined by several Central Indiana players: Ian Brady, Presley Thieneman, Nishanth Basavareddy and Nishesh Basavareddy. All of these players rank high in the most current USTA Midwest rankings.
ETC is proud to welcome these players to the city of Evansville, and we encourage all of our members and anyone else within the community to come watch some of the best players in the region and the country. Play will begin Saturday January 20th at 8:00am. The day will begin with two rounds of doubles followed by two rounds of singles play. The event will run through Monday, January 22nd.
For more information on the event please visit the tournament page.
]]>Local standout Aaron Thompson (Mater Dei) was the only local player originally accepted based on ranking, but Evan Bottorff (Castle) and Caleb Buckman (Owensboro, KY) played as well after accepting entrance via an alternate list. Thompson advanced to the second round, only to lose to the seventh seeded Jake Beasley (Cumming, GA) 6-4,6-1.
Allen (left) Hand (right)
Thompson recovered and won his third match against Ian Altenburg (Chaska, MN) 6-4,6-4. Thompson eventually made it to the semi-finals of the consolation draw only to lose in three sets to Patrick Lazo (Alpharetta, GA) 1-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(9).
Evan Bottorff and his doubles partner, Patrick Fletchall (Carmel, IN) advanced to the semi-finals where they lost to eventual champions, Jake Beasley and Stewart Block (Bradenton, FL) 8-6.
Buckman, who lives in Owensboro, and often trains at ETC, lost in the first round against eighth seeded Grahan Conron (Bradenton, FL) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(5). His
Duo (left) Fletchall (right)
second match was just as close and competitive. Taylor Streda (Parkland, FL) defeated Buckman 5-7, 6-4, 1-0(8).
Kollie Allen (Lombard, IL) entered the weekend as the top ranked girl with a National Ranking of 31. Allen would prove to be the best player in the draw. Allen advanced to the finals by walkover when Sophia Reddy (Eden Prairie, MN) withdrew due to illness. Allen met Clarissa Hand (Morrestown, NJ) in the finals. Hand beat Emma Jackson (La Grange Park, IL) 7-6(9), 6-2 in the semi-finals. Allen eventually beat Hand 6-4, 6-3 Monday afternoon to take the Singles Championship.
Unseeded Natalie Moyer (Kalamazoo, MI) and Anna Smith (Venetia, PA) beat fourth seeded Bozonvic (La Grange, IL) and Henry (Franklin, TN) 8-5 to secure a spot in the Girls’ Doubles Semi-finals. In the semi-finals they played top seeded Sophia
Beasley (left) Block (right)
Reddy and Zoe Taylor (Long Grove, IL). Moyer and Smith won 9-8(8). On the other half of the draw the sister duo of Christina Hand and Clarissa Hand routinely made their way to the finals. Hand and Hand beat Moyer and Smith 8-5 to capture the Doubles Championship Monday morning.
Boy’s doubles played true to the seeds with the top seeded team of Bill Duo (Portage, MI) and Lucas Horve (Forsyth, IL) met second seeded Jake Beasley and Stewart Block. Beasley and Block eventually topped Duo and Horve 9-8(7) to take home the Doubles title.
Hand/Hand (left) Moyer/Smith (right)
Top seeded Bill Duo, ranked #11 nationally, won cruised to the finals never dropping more than five games in any match. Fifth seeded, Patrick Fletchall entered the tournament ranked #187 beat both the number two and four seeded players on his way to the Boys Finals. Fletchall eventually upset Duo winning 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(4) to take home the singles championship.
Results: To see final and complete draws please click on the event.
]]>With the help of our sponsor, MaddenCo , the Evansville Tennis Center continues to host bigger and bigger events. This tournament will be the largest high-level junior event Evansville has ever hosted. The tournament will be played at Wesselman Park, and play begins Saturday May 6 at 8:00am. For updates please check back in a few days for copies of the draw. Any other information regarding the USTA National Level 3 – Sponsored by MaddenCo, please visit the Tournament Page on USTA. Here you will find specific match times, and draws.
Come out and support these players as they compete for a National Championship!
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Andy Brandi served as a partner of the Harold Solomon Tennis Institute since 2007 before joining the USTA staff in August 2010. From 2001-06, Brandi was Director of Tennis for IMG at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, and from 1984-2001, he was the head coach of the University of Florida women’s team. During his career, Brandi has worked with top professionals, including Elena Dementieva, Shahar Peer, Maria Kirilenko, Lisa Raymond, Ryan Sweeting and Jesse Levine. While at the University of Florida, he led the Gators to three NCAA Division I Team titles, coached four NCAA women’s singles champions and four NCAA doubles champions. Brandi will be writing a blog for PlayerDevelopment.USTA.com for the next several weeks. In his second entry, he gives more advice to parents of young players developing their games.
By Andy Brandi
Consistency in coaching is essential. Avoiding going from one coach to another keeps the process and development going. There has to be trust amongst the team – player, coach and parent all have to be on the same page. Changing coaches is like restarting the process. Coaches have different styles, systems and philosophies. Your job is to find one that best fits your child.
Try any program for about a week before you commit to that program. Do research! Be sure there is a plan when you start. A developmental plan, two areas of focus and a tournament schedule is essential in the planning. The two areas of focus are to be evaluated every two months and then replaced if they have been achieved.
Be supportive and patient with the coach. If you have issues with him or her, discuss them without the child present. Understand where the coach is coming from and why he is doing things a certain way. Give the coach a chance.
Parents who are the coaches need to be patient and should not get so consumed that the child only lives, sleeps and eats tennis. Seek help in areas where you might feel you are weak in your knowledge or expertise. I coached my son until he was 15. At 15, I wanted to be his father and not his coach. My role was to give him advice and support when he was training under a new coach. His job was to learn to make decisions and be responsible and accountable for his tennis. Good tennis players are independent thinkers. He now asks, “Why did you not make me do this or that?” My answer is, “I gave you choices; you made the decisions.”
Tennis has to be left at the club or courts, not brought home every day. At home, let them have a normal life. They need friends. They need to develop their social skills. They need to build good character. They need to be good students in school. Provide a balance of tennis, a social life and academics. Remember, 99 percent of all players go to COLLEGE!!!! In the process, be sure you do not try to skip steps or cut corners. There are no shortcuts!!!! It takes time! It takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication by you and them. Set goals and keep the training fresh to keep them engaged and to prevent burnout.
A few things to keep in mind:
Kids do not always need to practice with someone better. They do not always need to play up in age groups. The ratio of practice should be 25-50-25, meaning 25 percent with weaker players, 50 percent with players of their own ability and 25 percent with players better than them. Does Roger Federer practice with someone better than him all the time? No! He practices with young pros, juniors or college players!!!!!! And 50 percent of the time, they need to experience the pressure of playing with and against their own peers.
When choosing to play up, they need to have a 65 percent winning record or better in their age group to justify it. Keeping track of match counts is very important. We do not want them playing 130 matches a year at 12, 13 or 14! It is not the number of tournaments but the match count that matters! Burnout and injuries will occur if you overplay them.
One area that we tend to neglect in their training is off-season breaks. Pros take 4-6 weeks at the end of each year to set a fitness base and improve on specific areas. They will follow up with a couple of weeks off before the clay season and a couple of weeks off after Wimbledon. They build in regeneration, fitness, cleaning their games out to be sharp, fit and healthy. In the junior schedule, we could build this in after Winter Nationals, after Easter Bowl and finally after Hard Courts.
The pros in the off season at the end of the year do not touch their racquets for a couple of weeks. They focus on physical fitness and mental conditioning. Then comes the tennis. Our ‘99s recently did a six-week-off season where they did not play tennis for two weeks. Jez Green, who was Andy Murray’s fitness coach, supervised the six weeks. His comment was that our juniors are 16-18 months behind in fitness than the Europeans. Why? Because we do not do this! We have to play, play, play! We are very short-minded and short-sighted!
Give them responsibility and accountability in their game and preparation. Let them get their tennis bag organized. Let them get their own water, bars and snacks. Let them carry their own tennis bag! We want to facilitate, not incapacitate. Remember, they have to be able to be independent thinkers. They have to be able to take care of themselves out there. They have to learn to survive in the heat of battle. They have to learn to compete and love it. Doing minor tasks builds their confidence and self-esteem.
Lastly, be supportive. We tend to forget that they are the ones competing. We forget what it is like to compete. It is the team that gets them prepared, and they are the ones who are playing and competing. We are not playing! We are part of their support group.
When they play, we tend to get too emotionally involved. Stay calm and control your emotions. I got too nervous watching my son. My wife was the one who went to tournaments with him. As I used to tell my wife, figure it out. I can sit through a Grand Slam final and not get nervous but cannot stay calm watching him! They will react to you and how you react! They will feel your emotions and nervousness. Stay level-headed and even keel! Show them support, winning or losing.
It is easy to criticize from outside. Things are crystal clear when you are outside the ropes. Being in the heat of battle clouds your reasoning and how you perceive things. After matches, give them time to settle down, and yourself, too, before you start discussing the match. Ask questions. Point out things that they did well and things that they need to work on in future matches. Do not be just negative! Give them positive feedback! Let them give you their perspective of what happened out there. They have to be aware of what happened and how they can control that the next time. Win or lose, love them for who they are – your child!
Like building a house, we need a good foundation. You build the outside of the house, followed by the inside. It takes time to build a house. It takes a long time to develop a tennis player. Good luck with the journey!
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Rupa, who made it into the tournament via alternate, was scheduled to play Corina Vinarov (Chicago, IL). Ponna made her national debut memorable, by beating the nationally ranked Corina Vinarov, 6-2, 7-5 in the fist round. Chase Boyer also made her national debut this past weekend. Her and her partner Lauren Hatfield advanced to the quarterfinals of doubles before losing to Shyla Aggarwal and Morina Fuduric 8-6. Boyer posted an upset win over the 8-seeded Yahli Noy (Closter, NJ) 7-5, 6-3. Boyer also beat Calista Chang (Hinsdale, IL) 6-0, 6-3 before falling to eventual champ Piper Charney (Prospect, KY).
ETC will be hosting a Boys’ 18 Midwest tournament April 8-9 and the MaddenCo USTA National Level 3 Boys’ and Girls’ 18 tournament, May 6-8/
1st- Piper Charney
2nd – Shyla Aggarwal
Aggarwal (left) Charney (right)
3rd- Adella Castaner
4th- Isabella Marquart
Marquart (left) Castaner (right)
Doubles Champions: Adella Castaner and Amber Yin
Doubles Finalists: Maya Joint and Isabella Marquart
Yin (right) Castaner (left)
Joint (left) Marquart (right)
Both Chase Boyer and Rupa Ponna, who train at the Evansville Tennis Center as part of the Academy, represent the only local players in the draw. Boyer and her doubles partner, Lauren Hatfield are seeded third in doubles and are schedule to start at 8:00am on Saturday. Ponna and her partner, Avyln Smith are scheduled to play at 9:00am. Ponna is scheduled to play singles at 12:30 and Boyer at 1:00pm Saturday.
In the case of inclement weather, play will be suspended and moved indoors to be resumed at 10:00am.
We are excited to host this event, as it is a great way to showcase our facility and its members, the city of Evansville, and to provide an opportunity for our local standouts to play at home. We encourage everyone to stop by this weekend and watch these young girls battle it out!
]]>Boyer found herself on court again quickly beating Brooklyn Siegel 6-1. 6-1. Boyer was scheduled to play her final match of the tournament against number two seeded Maya Jha, before the tournament director decided to abandon all remaining matches. The tournament director, cited Daylight Savings Time and travel arrangements as the reason to not finish as scheduled.
Boyer plans on competing in the USTA National Level 3 at ETC March 25-27.
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