Sunday became the final day of play at the USTA Florida Doubles Spring Challenge, originally a three-day tournament that was shortened after an extremely fortunate turn of events regarding the weather and two full days of play.

While rain did fall on a few occasions early Sunday, matches continued on outdoors for a majority of the day while also being played indoors. At the end of it all, eight talented pairs were crowned champions.

Walking away divisional champions from the National Campus were Tanner Pover (Indian Rocks Beach) and Tristan Stringer (Orlando), Phillip Dell (Bradenton) and Zak Vince (Clermont), Jack Anthrop (Orlando) and Emilio Van Cotthem (Fort Pierce), Jericho Grollman (Altamonte Springs) and Logan Zapp (Fleming Island), Sophie Llewellyn (Tarpon Springs) and Sofya Vinogradova (Miami Beach), Natalie Block (Plantation) and Brooke Dugarte (Miami), DJ Bennett (Belleview) and Didi Bredberg Canizares (Wesley Chapel), and Sophia Edwards (Nokomis) and Alana Wolfberg (Orlando).

Of the four boys’ championship duos, two were No. 1 seeds – Povey and Stringer in the 12s along with Anthrop and Van Cotthem in 16s. Both managed to secure titles without surrendering a set. Povey and Stringer opened up their day with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory over fourth seeds Alexander Di Staulo (Weston) and Ian Perl (Aventura). That advanced them to the final, where they received their toughest challenge, but still managed to handle No. 2 seeds Pierce Garbett (Coral Gables) and Benjamin Willwerth (Jupiter) 6-3, 6-4.

After not losing a game in four sets on Saturday, Anthrop and Van Cotthem were locked in a battle versus the third-seeded tandem of Carter Morgan (Jacksonville) and Russo (Deerfield Beach), but found a way to prevail 6-4, 6-4. In the championship matchup with No. 4 seeds Gabriel Diaz (Rockledge) and Colin Tavares (Titusville), who were coming off a win over the second seeds, Anthrop and Van Cotthem lived up to their top billing with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph.

Not many victorious teams had a tougher day than Dell and Vince, the boys’ 14s No. 2 seeds. Though not stretched to a decisive match tiebreak in the semifinals against No. 3 seeds Yair Gritzman (Boca Raton) and Roger Wang (Saint Petersburg), it very easily could have gone that way in a tightly-contested 7-6(3), 7-5 contest. They fell behind in the final versus the fourth seeds Santiago Cardenas (Tampa) and Andres Escalona (Weston), where Cardenas and Escalona claimed the opening frame 7-6(2). Dell and Vince rebound in the second, 6-4, and then rattled off a string of point in the match tiebreak for the win, 10 points to two.

Grollman and Zapp, the third seeds in the 18s, played their semifinal on Saturday, so they had to wait for their championship opponent. It ended up being Sarasota duo Finn Anderson and Charles Putrino, who overcame fellow unseeded pair James Bratt (Middleburg) and Gage Sanchez (Jacksonville) 3-6, 6-3, 11-9. After taking the opening set quickly, Grollman and Zapp appeared to be in cruise control. Anderson and Zapp dug in to even the second set at 4-4, but Grollman and Zapp came away with the win 6-3, 6-4.

Two top seeds on the girls’ side also secured championship crowns on Sunday. In the 14s, Natalie Block (Plantation) and Brooke Dugarte (Miami) captured their third tournament victory on the year as a tandem. They gave away just 10 games total on the weekend, including turning in a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 3 seeds Valeria Centeno (Hialeah) and Abby Neal (Tampa) in the semifinals and a comprehensive 6-4, 6-0 result against second seeds Alyssa Perdomo (Delray Beach) and Abigail Radel (Ponte Vedra Beach) in the final.

Edwards and Wolfberg capped off their impressive weekend with two solid score lines. Starting the day off was their semifinal encounter with No. 4 seeds Ayshe Can (Weston) and Rachele Rimondini, where the top seeds emerged the victors 6-2, 6-3. The final featured two sets that could have gone either way, but Edwards and Wolfberg took them both 6-4 against third seeds Karly Friedland (Hollywood) and Jordana Ossa (Miami).

No. 1 seeds Regina Alcobe-Garibay (Miami) and Susana Souhrada (Boca Raton) along with the fourth seeds Llewellyn and Vinogradova looked sharp in reaching the divisional final, putting away unseeded hopefuls Julia Lares (Sunny Isles Beach)/Aida Oviedo (Port Saint Lucie) and Mary Boyce Deatherage (Maitland)/Gabriella Goyins (Pensacola), respectively. In that contest, the top seeds jumped out to the early lead with a 7-5 opening frame, but Llewellyn and Vinogradova fought back to take the second 6-2 and held on in the decisive match tiebreak, 10 points to six.

The only unseeded champions for the tournament, Bennett and Bredberg Canizares defeated the draw’s No. 1 and No. 2 seeds on Sunday. Facing off with first seeds Kassandra Di Staulo (Weston) and Hope Moulin (Lithia) in the semifinal round, the unseeded tandem advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 result. Nothing came easy in the championship against the second seeds Paige Herremans (Orlando) and Daniela Porges (Plantation), a high-quality contest that went the distance. Bennett and Bredberg Canizares pulled out the first set in a tiebreak, seven points to four, but quickly lost the momentum when Herremans and Porges took the second set 6-3. Fittingly, the match tiebreak was decided by the slimmest of margins (10-8), with Bennett and Bredberg Canizares earning the title.

For complete results from the 2018 USTA Florida Doubles Spring Challenge, click here.