On Friday at the 2019 USTA Boys’ 12s National Clay Court Championships, presented by adidas, the matchup for the singles final was determined while one player collected a Gold Ball in doubles at the event for the second straight year.

Saturday’s championship tilt in the singles draw will pit No. 3 Abhishek Thorat (Lithia, Fla.) against No. 12 Maximus Dussault (Leesburg, Va.). Doubles play wrapped up Friday evening, and just as he was one year ago at the National Campus, Maxwell Exsted (Savage, Minn.) was a member of the winning team. This time Exsted was paired with Cooper Woestendick (Olathe, Kan.), and they lived up to their top billing as the tournament’s No. 1 seeds.

The two singles semifinals were one-sided affairs. Dussault continued his impressive run, knocking out a top five seed for the third time in the last three days. On Friday, Dussault dismissed fourth-seeded Abhinav Chunduru (Plano, Texas) by a 6-2, 6-1 score line in just under one hour. It was a disjointed opening to the contest, with five breaks of serve, including three at love. From there Dussault took complete control, finally holding for a 4-2 advantage and then consolidating with another break; Dussault easily served out the set. The second frame was straightforward, with Dussault racing out to a 5-0 lead. He did briefly stumble at the finish line in the form of losing serve, but quickly recovered to break for the win.

Meanwhile, Thorat recorded his sixth 6-0 set of the week against the No. 8 seed Roman Sancilio (Henrico, Va.) in the other semifinal. Sancilio had game points in two separate service games along with two breaks points at 3-0, but could not convert any of those opportunities. Thorat finally lost a game in the eighth of the match, and Sancilio finally found himself ahead for the first time when he broke to move in front 2-1. However, it did not hold up for long thanks to Thorat breaking back right away. Three holds of serve moved the score to 4-3 in favor of Thorat, who delivered the clinching break for 5-3 and emerged victorious on his second match point.

In a marathon doubles final where each of the three sets lasted over an hour to go along with the match being suspended for 90 minutes due to weather, top seeds Maxwell Exsted (Savage, Minn.) and Cooper Woestendick (Olathe, Kan.) outlasted No. 2 seeds Abhinav and Prathinav Chunduru 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-2. The teams split the opening six games before Exsted and Woestendick moved ahead 5-3. Exsted served for the set at 5-4, but four set points slipped away as he was broken. Woestendick then had his chance to serve out the set at 6-5, and yet again another set point was squandered. Not only did the No. 1 seeds find themselves in a tiebreak after five set points, but they also feel behind five points to three before rattling off four consecutive points.

The Chundurus jumped out to a 3-1 lead in set two, only to see Exsted and Woestendick rally back in front by a slim 4-3 margin. A break of Exsted at 4-4 quickly went to waste, but breaking Woestendick at 5-5 proved crucial, as the No. 2 seeds put away the frame seven games to five. The contest was halted at 6-5, 40-15 and moved to a different court before resuming. Attempting to keep momentum after the delay, the Chundurus secured a break only to give it right back at love. The last and decisive break of the showdown happened with Exsted and Woestendick up 3-2; they needed five break points in all, but battled their way to take the game and ultimately the championship.

For the third-place matchup in the doubles draw, third-seeded Andrew Ena (Rego Park, N.Y.) and Mark Krupkin (Millburn, N.J.) earned a Gold Ball thanks to their 7-5, 6-2 effort over No. 4 Blake Hilsen (Cumming, Ga.) and Sancilio.

Friday was also the last day of action in the consolation singles draws. Below are the results from each draw’s final matchup.

Silver: Cooper Woestendick (Olathe, Kan.) def. Braeden Gelletich (Goshen, N.Y.)  7-5, 6-2

Northeast: Mark Krupkin (Millburn, N.J.) def. Yubel Ubri (Miami Beach, Fla.) 6-1, 6-2

North: Winston Lee (Glendale, Calif.) def. Quentin Gabler (Miramar, Fla.) 6-3, 0-6, 13-11

South: Noah Kulendran (Plantation, Fla.) def. Evan Sharygin (Newburgh, Ind.), walkover

Southeast: Arin Pallegar (Granite Bay, Calif.) def. Lachlan Buckingham (Houston) 6-2, 6-2

West: Dylan Long (Carmel, Ind.) def. Nischal Spurling (Los Angeles) 6-4, 6-2

Northwest: Carel Ngounoue (Washington, D.C.) def. Benjamin Sparks (Fredericksburg, Texas) 6-1, 6-3

Southwest: Keaton Hance (Torrance, Calif.) def. Tristan Stine (Austin, Texas) 6-2, 6-1

Saturday’s schedule includes just three matches in total – the singles final, third-place playoff and fifth-place playoff between A Filer (South Bend, Ind.) and Cassius Chinlund (Los Angeles). That trio of contests will get underway at 9 a.m.

For complete results and upcoming match times from the 2019 USTA Boys’ 12s National Clay Court Championships, click here.