The 2021 USTA Florida Adult 18 & Over 3.5/5.0 Sectional Championships concluded Monday afternoon on the grounds of the USTA National Campus, as four different regions were represented among the event's champions.

Victorious squads included the 3.5 men representing Broward (Weston Tennis Center), the Orange/Seminole 3.5 women’s crew who call the USTA National Campus home, the 5.0 men from Hillsborough (East Lake Woodlands Country Club – Oldsmar), and the Duval (Deerwood Country Club – Jacksonville) 5.0 women.

Just four teams navigated their way through flight play of the men’s 3.5 division with a winning record. Broward (Weston Tennis Center) earned the top seed with a perfect 4-0 record and 16 court victories, while Miami-Dade (Crandon Park Tennis Center – Key Biscayne) went 4-0 on the strength of 15 individual matchups going their way. Also moving on to the semifinals were Alachua (D B Racquet Club – Gainesville) and Brevard (Kiwi Tennis Club – Indian Harbour Beach), both of which earned three dual wins.

In the divisional semifinals, Broward held off Alachua by a 3-2 margin and Miami-Dade bested Brevard four courts to one. For Broward, Andres Varela delivered a quick 6-0, 6-1 victory at the second singles spot while teammates Alfredo Tellez and Alan Matheus paired up to cruise 6-2, 6-0 at the third doubles position. The decisive result came at line two doubles, where Jorge Cortes and Franco De Andreis battled their way to a 7-5, 7-5 triumph. It was much smoother sailing for Miami-Dade, as they swept the singles and claimed two of the three doubles matchups, all in straight sets.

Commanding doubles play powered Broward to the 3.5 crown. Simon Palacios and Michael Kattan set the tone, as they dropped just one game in their 6-0, 6-1 victory at the top spot. Matheus and Alberto De la Rosa also breezed through line three 6-2, 6-1, setting up the duo of Cortes and De Andreis for their crucial 6-2, 7-6 score line on court two. With the dual win in hand, Broward retired in the ongoing singles contests, giving Miami-Dade’s Benoit Benaibbouche and Ignacio Avila victories.

Junior Carrasquero serves as the team captain for Broward, which boasts a full roster of Varela, Jack Vargas, Juan Gonzalez, Matheus, Palacios, Gianfranco Bacigalupo, Alejandro Araya, De la Rosa, Kattan, Tellez, Jorge Nieto Castellanos, Juan Macias, De Andreis, Marcelo Kuhn, Cortes, and Andres Acebo.

The Orange/Seminole (USTA National Campus – Orlando) 3.5 women owned the division from start to finish, earning the top seed out of Flight 2 after losing just one court and eight sets in round-robin action. Joining them in the knockout stages were Flight 2 runner-up Miami-Dade (Don Shula’s Athletic Club – Hialeah), Flight 1 winner Brevard (Titan Tennis Center – Melbourne), and Flight 2 runner-up Miami-Dade (Dante Fascell Park – Miami).

Both semifinals ended in 4-1 results, with Orange/Seminole downing the crew representing Miami’s Dante Fascell Park and the team from Don Shula’s Athletic Club defeating Brevard.

The championship dual was another complete performance from Orange/Seminole, as they swept through the doubles and tacked on one singles victory for an impressive 4-1 win over Miami-Dade. Cheryl Tolentino-Bernabe claimed the top singles spot with a dominating 6-1, 6-0 effort. On the doubles courts, Amanda Barritt and Natalie Beavers also lost just one game at line one doubles to go along with Alisa Wolfe and Samantha Gonzalez hanging on for a 6-3, 7-5 at the second position. Rounding out the courts going in Orange/Seminole’s favor was a 6-3, 6-2 score line turned in by Natalia Bonavia and Fabricia Funes at line three. Ali Quintero got Miami-Dade on the board when Cynthia Curtis retired with the score standing at 6-2, 5-2.

Captained by Barritt, the Orange/Seminole crew also features Beavers, Curtis, Christine Godek, Pamela Collins, Bonavia, Gonzalez, Funes, Natasha Holland-Lobova, Leslie Hartog, Katie Wu, Tolentino-Bernabe, Tanishia Neal, Leslie Weeks, Wolfe, and Manuela Vasconcelos.

The men’s 5.0 title came down to the final match of the day on Sunday, as undefeated Miami-Dade (Kerdyk Biltmore Tennis Center – Coral Gables) was up against 2-1 Hillsborough (East Lake Woodlands Country Club – Oldsmar). Miami-Dade had taken Saturday’s matchup by a two courts to one margin, and looked to be in good shape after winning the opening sets on the lone singles court along with the top doubles spot on Sunday.

Guilherme Fachin Da Cunha and Julio Ugarte closed out the top doubles contest 6-2, 6-4, while Hillsborough’s Mike Del Priore and Nathan Schley countered 6-2, 6-3 at line two. That turned all eyes to the singles matchup, which would ultimately be decided in a match tiebreak. After a sluggish start, Michele Panezeri rallied for an extended 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 triumph over Guillaume Vidallet to clinch the crown for Hillsborough.

Michael Lenhart captains the Hillsborough team with a complete roster of Panzeri, Stephen Felman, Jason Hood, Del Priore, Schley, Kainoa Rosa, Nikolay Nikiforov, and Akharis Sa-Ardphanchai.

Bringing home the women’s 5.0 title was the squad representing Duval (Deerwood Country Club – Jacksonville). Duval won all three duals in the round-robin portion of the weekend, setting up a clash with second-place Broward (Sunrise Tennis Club). An impressive 6-0, 6-0 effort from Broward’s Elizabeth Galphin and Julie Axelrod on the first doubles court put their team on the cusp; however, Frances Beacom and Marina Cunningham Pereira teamed up to take court two 7-6, 6-1 while Cary MacRae fought her way to a 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 result in the lone singles matchup to propel Duval to the win.

Beacom captains the Duval team that consists of Cunningham Pereira, MacRae, Vita Avery, Meagan Donovan, Hannah More, Cameron Blanchard, and Carrigan Blanchard.

For complete results from the 2021 USTA Florida Adult 18 & Over 3.5/5.0 Sectional Championships, click here.