A total of four duos, two boys and two girls, earned national championships and prestigious USTA Gold Balls on Saturday at the Fifth Annual USTA Doubles Championships, being hosted by the USTA National Campus. The event featured three days of play in the Boys’ and Girls’ 14s and 16s age divisions.

The first of its kind, the USTA National Doubles Championships is the only junior competition devoted solely to doubles. Along with Level 1 National Ranking Points, the USTA’s prestigious Gold, Silver and Bronze Balls were awarded to each draw’s top finishers.

The Boys’ 14s final was a high-level straight sets contest, as unseeded Jonah Braswell and Bruno Kuzuhara of the Florida Section took on No. 2 seeds Alex Finkelstein and Nathan Mao from the New England Section. The two teams broke serve in four consecutive games midway through the opening frame, but managed to hold serve the rest of the way until Finkelstein and Mao broke when leading 6-5 to grab an early set advantage.  It looked like they would run away with the match from there, nudging ahead 2-0 in the second set, but Braswell and Kuzuhara hung tough. The unseeded duo pulled in front after breaking for 4-3, but Finkelstein and Mao got back on even terms immediately. Just like with the first set, the New England pair held serve to go up 6-5 and then earned the decisive break in the next game to seal the 7-5, 7-5 triumph.

In a matchup of the top two seeds in the Boys’ 16s division, No. 1 seeds Phillip Jordan and Andres Martin from the Southern Section battled second seeds Robert Cash and Andrew Zhang representing the Midwest Section. It was smooth sailing for the top-seeded tandem in the opening set, as they rattled off the final four games en route to a 6-2 result.  The tables were turned in the second frame however, with Cash and Zhang stringing together five consecutive games to win it 6-2, forcing a third and decisive set. Jordan and Martin got back on track to begin the third, sprinting out to a 3-1 lead. Cash and Zhang would not allow the margin to grow too wide, getting back on serve for 3-3. The No. 2 seeds faced tense moments when trailing 4-5 on serve, losing the first point of the game before reeling off the next four to level the score at 5-5. Jordan and Martin held a 40-15 advantage on Jordan’s serve in the subsequent game but failed to close it out, allowing Cash and Zhang to break and serve for the title. With Zhang serving, the pair fought off a break point before Cash put away back-to-back volleys to clinch the victory 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.

The Girls’ 14s final nearly hit the three hour mark, as unseeded Anna Babayan and Ari Siegel of the Florida Section were up against fifth-seeded Liv Hovde (Texas) and Ava Krug (Florida). Both teams struggled to hold in the first set, exchanging breaks on two separate occasions before Babayan and Siegel took the lead for good at 5-4 with their third break. Babayan would serve out the set, 6-4, in a game that lasted 20 points. The Sunshine State squad looked poised for the title following breaking serve quickly in the second frame, but Hovde and Krug stormed back to claim the last five games of the set for a 6-2 margin. The third set saw a total of seven breaks of serve, all of which came in the final seven games of the match. Krug served for the match at 5-3, only to be broken at 15, but she and Hovde shook it off to earn the championship in the very next game, putting the final tally at 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in their favor.

The Girls’ 16s title went to No. 5 seeds Amanda Chan (Southern California) and Sophia Edwards (Florida). Having not surrendered a set the entire tournament, they were pitted against the second-seeded Carmen Corley (Southwest) and Chidimma Okpara (Mid-Atlantic) in the championship tilt. Chan and Edwards secured the opening set 6-3, but could not shake off Corley and Chidimma easily in the second. The duos battled deep into the frame before Chan and Edwards were able to cap off their run to the title with their fifth straight sets win of the event, 6-3, 6-4. The most games they lost in any match was a mere total of seven.

Also on Saturday, four doubles pairs earned Bronze Balls by winning their divisional third place playoff match – Brian Chong/Max Fardanesh (Boys’ 14s), Andrew Branicki/Scott Sculley (Boys’ 16s), Emma Charney/Whitley Pate (Girls’ 14s), and Kylie Collins/Gianna Pielet (Girls’ 16s).

For complete results from the 2017 USTA National Doubles Championships, click here.

 

Fifth Annual USTA National Doubles Championships – Day Three

Saturday, August 26

 

Boys’ 14s – Final

(2)Alex Finkelstein/Nathan Mao def. Jonah Braswell/Bruno Kuzuhara  7-5, 7-5

 

Boys’ 14s – Third Place Playoff

(3)Brian Chong/Max Fardanesh def. (5)Louis Cloud/Ryan Colby 6-2, 5-7 6-2

 

Boys’ 16s – Final

(2)Robert Cash/Andrew Zhang def. (1)Phillip Jordan/Andres Martin 2-6, 6-2, 7-5

 

Boys’ 16s – Third Place Playoff

(3)Andrew Branicki/Scott Sculley def. (4)Russell Berdusco/David Lins 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

 

Girls’ 14s – Final

(5)Liv Hovde/Ava Krug def. Anna Babayan/Ari Siegel 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

 

Girls’ 14s – Third Place Playoff

(2)Emma Charney/Whitley Pate def. Alexis Blokhina/Juliette Finch 6-1, 6-4

 

Girls’ 16s – Final

(5)Amanda Chan/Sophia Edwards def. (2)Carmen Corley/Chidimma Okpara 6-3, 6-4

 

Girls’ 16s – Third Place Playoff

(1)Kylie Collins/Gianna Pielet def. (5)Maribella Zamarripa/Allura Zamarripa 6-4, 6-4