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2019 USTA National Doubles Championships

Busy Second Day of Action

August 24, 2019
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A beautiful, steamy August Saturday was the setting for day two of the 2019 USTA National Doubles Championships. Going into Sunday, the 14s and 16s divisions have their semifinal matchups set while the boys’ and girls’ 18s are down to the championship contests.

After not stepping on court Friday thanks to having a bye, boys’ 14s top seeds James Lian (Parsippany, N.J.) and Davis Taylor (Atlanta) showed no signs of rust. They breezed past Vignesh Akkina and Harrison Lee of Virginia Beach, Va., 6-1, 6-3 in the round of 16, which was followed up by a solid 6-3, 6-2 effort against No. 8 seeds Matteo Antonescu (Mountain View, Calif.) and Alex Fuchs (Los Altos, Calif.). Awaiting the No. 1 seeds in the final four is the sixth-seeded tandem of Emil Grantcharov (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Jason Shuler (Scarsdale, N.Y.), who have not lost a set and dismissed No. 3 seeds Xander Barber (Asheville, N.C.) and Jaxon Lamb (Greeneville, Tenn.) in the quarterfinals 6-4, 6-0.

No. 2 seeds Marko Mesarovic (Austin, Texas) and Tristan Stringer (Orlando) did not surrender a single game in advancing to the quarterfinals, where they matched up with fifth seeds Jake Kennedy (Atlanta) and Callum Markowitz (White Plains, N.Y.); the teams would split two very tight sets before Mesarovic and Stringer prevailed 6-4, 5-7, 10-4. The quarterfinal contest of No. 4 seeds Declan Galligan (West Des Moines, Iowa) and Danny Radke (Saint Charles, Mo.) versus seventh-seeded Nathan Tam (San Gabriel, Calif.) and Brandon Vu (Chino Hills, Calif.) also turned into quite the battle, with Tam and Vu coming through 4-6, 6-4, 10-2.

Once again, the boys’ 16s draw was among the most competitive on the day, as three of the four quarterfinals were decided in a match tiebreak. Even the one that was closed out in straight sets was tightly-contested, with second seeds Hudson Beaudoin (New York) and Teddy Truwit (Darien, Conn.) holding off No. 7 Thomas Kennedy (Atlanta) and Joseph Phillips (Alpharetta, Ga.) 7-6(10), 7-6(5). Next up for them will be the unseeded Intermountain pairing of Spencer Johnson (Bountiful, Utah) and Tyler Wells (Alpine, Utah) after they survived two match tiebreaks on Saturday.

Filling out the top half of the draw are No. 1 seeds Thomas Paulsell (Seattle) and Frank Thompson (Blacksburg, Va.) along with unseeded Jacob Lowen (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Andrew Pereverzev (Hallandale Beach, Fla.). After two quick victories, Paulsell and Thompson were forced to fight back from a set down to defeat No. 8 Alexander Karman (Port Washington, N.Y.) and Nicolas Kotzen (Short Hills, N.J.) 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the quarterfinals. Lowen and Pereverzev looked to be on their way out in both of their matches, eventually rallying past No. 3 seeds John Lasanajak (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Matthew Pitts (Greer, S.C.) 2-6, 6-2, 11-9 before outlasting Jack Wong (East Brunswick, N.J.) and Julian Wu (Tenafly, N.J.) 2-6, 6-1, 10-6.

Easily living up to their top billing through two days of play in the boys’ 18s division, Blake Kasday (Las Vegas) and Alejandro Quiles (Las Vegas) now have their sights locked in on Monday’s final. The duo has turned in four straight-set victories, with just two of those sets being closer than 6-3. Their championship opponents will be No. 2 seeds Jameson Corsillo (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Logan Zapp (Fleming Island, Fla.), who have also yet to give away a set. Both teams lost six games each in Saturday’s semifinals, with Kasday and Quiles besting No. 6 Quinn Snyder (Delran, N.J.) and Colin Tavares (Titusville, Fla.) 6-3, 6-3 while Corsillo and Zapp defeated fifth-seeded Carter Crookston (League City, Texas) and Zachery Foster (San Antonio, Texas) 6-4, 6-2.

The girls’ 14s division features the lone draw where the seeds held true to form all the way to the semifinals. No. 1 seeds Alice Otis (Charleston, S.C.) and Piper Charney (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) along with second-seeded Lauren Joyce (Lodi, Calif.) and Madison Weekley (Alamo, Calif.) have turned in only straight-set efforts so far. Otis and Charney survived a stern 7-6(5), 6-4 test in the quarterfinals from No. 5 Keira Stewart (Simpsonville, S.C.) and Saray Yli-Piipari (Athens, Ga.); Joyce and Weekley looked to be in cruise control in the same round against unseeded Lucy Schmeil (Austin, Texas) and Sophie Schwartz (Coppell, Texas) before getting through 6-1, 7-5.

Looking to topple the top seeds on Sunday will be No. 3 Jayna Clemens (Lewisville, Texas) and Morgan Pyrz (Plano, Texas), who survived being on the brink of defeat in the round of 16, while fourth-seeded Ava Bruno (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Caroline McGinley (Essex Fells, N.J.) will be across the net from the No. 2 seeds with the hopes of locking up a spot in the divisional championship match.

With the top half of the girls’ 16s draw seemingly wide open for No. 1 Lindsey Hofflander (Las Vegas) and Jennifer Riester (Lynnfield, Mass.), they raced out to a quick 6-1 advantage over unseeded Madison Dennett (Palm City, Fla.) and Lea Wolfe (North Palm Beach, Fla.) in the round of 16. However, the Florida Section pair managed to take the second set 7-6(3) and secured the crucial points down the stretch in the decisive match tiebreak for the upset, prevailing 10 points to seven. Dennett and Wolfe would be upstaged by Cecilia Alcobe-Garibay (Miami) and Didi Bredberg Canizares (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Also coming through in the top half was Madeline Atway (Powell, Ohio) and Danielle Schoenly (Powell, Ohio) after they won the battle of unseeded hopefuls 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 against Mai Nguyen (Atlanta) and Kayleigh Yun-Thayer (Alpharetta, Ga.).

The bottom half was much less chaotic, where No. 3 seeds Natalie Block (Plantation, Fla.) and Amber McGinnis (Pompano Beach, Fla.) will clash with sixth seeds Rose Hayes (East Moriches, N.Y.) and Emily Tannenbaum (Commack, N.Y.). Block and McGinnis put their toughness on display to get by Deliala Friedman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Lorraine Bergmann (Forest Hills, N.Y.) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 to reach the semifinals. Hayes and Tannenbaum managed to just barely close their last match of the day out in straight sets over Susanna Maltby (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and Stephanie Yakoff (Fort Lee, N.J.) 6-4, 7-6(3).

In the girls’ 18s final, No. 2 seeds Kelsey Mize (Tulsa, Okla.) and Emma Staker (Bixby, Okla.) will take on the fourth-seeded team of Elizabeth Fahrmeier (Cincinnati) and Megan Heuser (Lindenhurst, Ill.). Mize and Staker were impressive on the day, defeating fifth seeds Isabella Flodin (Dallas) and Katherine Petty (Dallas) 6-3, 6-1 before handling No. 8 seeds Carrie Beckman (Louisville, Ky.) and Emma Charney (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) 7-6(4), 6-0. It has been a more strenuous path for Fahrmeier and Heuser, who staged a comeback to down sixth seeds Katie Andreini (Cary, N.C.) and Sophia Strugnell (Summerfield, N.C.) 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 in the quarterfinals; they backed that up with a shocking three-set upset of No. 1 seeds Carly Briggs (Calhoun, Ga.) and Adeline Flach (Alpharetta, Ga.) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

The semifinals for the 14s and 16s divisions will get underway at 8 a.m. while the finals and third-place playoffs in the 18s are slated for 8:30 a.m. For more information on the 2019 USTA National Doubles Championships, click here.