The USTA National Campus welcomes in some of the nation’s top duos this weekend, with the 2019 USTA National Doubles Championships set to take place August 23-25. The event is the lone national junior tournament devoted solely to doubles, and as a Level 1 Championship, the top finishers will take home the prestigious USTA Gold, Silver, and Bronze Balls.

After consisting of boys and girls tandems in just the 14s and 16s age divisions in previous years, the 2019 edition of the event will also feature pairings in the 18s as well.

Each divisional compass draw will see 32 teams – 31 in the boy’s 14s – start the weekend with the hopes of being crowned champion. Friday will see the first round and round of 16 play out, while Saturday’s schedule will be highlighted by the quarterfinals and semifinals. All finals will take to the courts Sunday morning, along with the third-place playoffs.

Teams earning top billing in this year’s event are James Lian (Parsippany, N.J.) and Davis Taylor (Atlanta) in the boys’ 14s, Thomas Paulsell (Seattle) and Frank Thompson (Blacksburg, Va.) for the boys’ 16s, Blake Kasday (Las Vegas) and Alejandro Quiles (Las Vegas) in the boys’ 18s, Alice Otis (Charleston, S.C.) and Piper Charney (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) for the girls’ 14s, Lindsey Hofflander (Las Vegas) and Jennifer Riester (Lynnfield, Mass.) for the girls’ 16, and Carly Briggs (Calhoun, Ga.) and Adeline Flach (Alpharetta, Ga.) in the girls’ 18s.

The lone duo receiving a bye in the opening round is the new pairing of Lian and Taylor. The two were across the net from each other as singles opponents earlier this month at the USTA Boys’ 14s National Championships, an event where Lian took second and captured the Silver Ball in doubles. Lian also reached the quarterfinals one year ago at the National Doubles Championships, as he and his partner went on to win the Northeast Draw. Taylor has turned in two quarterfinal efforts in doubles at national events this summer – the USTA Boys’ 14s National Championships and the USTA Boys’ 14s National Clay Court Championships.

Boys’ 16s Easter Bowl champions Paulsell and Thompson have been a force on the national stage over the course of 2019. They come to the National Campus fresh off a Bronze Ball performance in Kalamazoo, rebounding from a tight 7-6(2), 7-6(7) loss in the semifinals to breeze through the third-place playoff contest 6-1, 6-0. Paulsell also battled his way to the final four and an eventual Bronze Ball in the Easter Bowl in singles, while Thompson built up plenty of confidence by claiming the 4A state singles title in the spring as part of his high school season.

Kasday and Quiles were busy dominating the Intermountain Section this time last year, winning the sectional Level 4 Labor Day Masters event. They would also go on to prevail in the Intermountain Level 3 Closed Fall Championships in 2018 and added the Intermountain Level 3 Closed Summer Championships crown to their list of accomplishments in June, but are now trying to make a name for themselves nationally.

Southern duo Otis and Charney will have their sights set on improving their quarterfinal effort from a year ago. They did bounce back to emerge victorious in the Northeast Draw, and closed out the 2018 season by fighting their way to the doubles final in the 14s division at the USTA National Winter Championships for the Silver Ball. Charney had a tremendous week at the USTA Girls’ 14s National Championships earlier in August, taking home the Bronze Ball in singles and Silver Ball in doubles despite being seeded 17th in both draws.

Typically teaming up at national events, Hofflander and Riester advanced to the quarterfinals in the 16s at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ National Championships in San Diego two weeks ago, building on their round of 16 appearance at the USTA National Clay Court Championships earlier in the summer. The cross-country duo’s best result at a Level 1 event in the 16s division was a run to the final of the 2018 USTA National Indoor Championships as an unseeded tandem.

Despite both being from Georgia, Briggs and Flach do not have much recent experience playing on the same side of the net. Briggs’ last showing in doubles at the National Campus is one she will hope to not repeat, as she and her partner were upset in the opening round as the top seeds at the 2018 USTA National Winter Championships; Briggs did go on to earn the singles Bronze Ball. Other solid performances from Briggs include a runner-up finish at the 2018 National Indoor Championships and a fourth-place showing in San Diego this summer. Flach, always a threat to make a deep run in the most competitive Southern Section tournaments, is shifting her focus to making more of a splash on the national scene. She and her partner did play their way to the finals of a USTA National Level 2 event earlier in the summer.

First matches will take to the courts at 8 a.m. For more information on the 2019 USTA National Doubles Championships, click here.