The 2019 USTA League National Mixed 40 & Over Championships concluded Sunday afternoon at the USTA National Campus, marking the end of the 2019 USTA League National Championships schedule. Capturing the final four titles of the season were the 6.0 Pacific Northwest (Eastside Tennis Center – Kirkland, Wash.), 7.0 Southern (Southaven Tennis Center – Southaven, Miss.) and 9.0 Southern (Memphis University School – Memphis, Tenn.), and the 8.0 Southern California (Fountain Valley Tennis Center) squads.

The 6.0 semifinals saw Pacific Northwest (Eastside Tennis Center – Kirkland, Wash.) sweep New England (Cedardale Health and Fitness Club – Haverhill, Mass.) and Intermountain (Independent – Las Vegas) defeat Mid-Atlantic (Independent – Fulton, Md.) by a 2-1 margin.

Pacific Northwest did not drop a single set versus New England, with just one of those being extended past 6-4. Xiangwei Gu and Bing Liu set the tone by taking court three 6-2, 6-0. Carmen Zlateff and Zheng Mu closed out line one 6-4, 6-2 while Tracy Qi and Robert Liu claimed line two 7-5, 6-2. All three matchups between Intermountain and Mid-Atlantic also ended in two sets. Intermountain turned in identical 6-4, 6-2 score lines for the win, as Michael Gilmore and Beverly Cervino teamed up for a victory on court one to go along with Ken Suprenant and Laura Larsen taking line three.

Keeping with the theme of two set matches, none of the three courts making up the 6.0 championship tilt needed a match tiebreak to decide the winner. Intermountain’s Michael Borenstein and Maria Berkovits were too strong at line one, taking it 6-3, 6-1. However, Pacific Northwest had the answer at the two remaining positions. Gu and Lu played in the second spot this time, coming away with a 6-4, 6-2 victory, while Qi and Liu shifted down to line three for a tight 6-4, 7-5 final result.

Captained by Robert Liu with Zheng Mu serving as the co-captain, the entire Pacific Northwest roster includes Jun Liu, Zlateff, Qi, Rachel Ouyang, Qian Liang, Davis Feng, Calvin Vu, Wenying Du, Brian Li, Bing Liu, and Gu.

In the 7.0 semifinals, Southern California (Alta Vista Racquet Center – Redondo Beach) stunned top seed Texas (Independent – Plano) 2-1 while Southern (Southaven Tennis Center – Southaven, Miss.) took down Mid-Atlantic (Independent – Columbia, Md.) by the same margin.

For Southern California, triumphs at the first and second positions paved the way for the upset. Van Ngo and H Kim Duong toughed out a tight opening frame in a tiebreak on court one before running away with the match for a 7-6, 6-1 victory. Meanwhile, Kangsung Yip and Denise Matsumoto prevailed in a back-and-forth contest 6-1, 1-6, 1-0. In the Southern versus Mid-Atlantic clash, each squad took a decisive match tiebreak but a dominant performance by Southern’s Anthony Lockhart and Jorianne Siskin at line one resulted in a 6-2, 6-3 result and a berth in the divisional finals.

In an almost identical fashion to the semifinal round, Southern held off Southern California by a two courts to one margin thanks to an emphatic 6-0, 6-1 victory by Lockhart and Siskin, this time on court three. The top two spots were extended to match tiebreaks, with all the pressure on Southern California as they needed both. And while Ngo and Duong delivered 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 at the top spot, Southern’s Stephen Christides and Sonya Dunn battled their way across the finish line on court two 6-7, 6-4, 1-0.

Christides serves as the captain of the Southern crew that also includes Ankur Seth, Lockhart, Dunn, Beth McKnight, Aman Seth, Timothy Myrick, Roopan Sandhu, Carley Myrick, Megan Hurdle, Darrell Nephew, Siskin, Julio Lanfranco, and Chris Martin.

The 8.0 Southern California (Fountain Valley Tennis Center) crew continued their high level of play by sweeping Mid-Atlantic (Independent – Fairfax, Va.) in the semifinals and Middle States (Nassau Racquet & Tennis Club – Skillman, N.J.) bested Florida (Longboat Key Tennis Center) 2-1.

Southern California lost just eight games on courts one and two, with the duo of Cindy Shin and Hyoungmoon Ki taking the top spot 6-2, 6-2 while teammates John Nguyen and Karen Char came through 6-0, 6-4 at line two. Bach Nguyen and Julie Le rallied for a 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 victory to finish off the sweep. The other semifinal dual was the only one in any division to have all three courts pushed to a match tiebreak. Danielle Nappi and Ron Mendoza, the top pairing for Middle States, hung on for a 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 effort to set up Risa and Jared Kaban’s 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 comeback at the second position.

Frank Tran leads the triumphant Southern California squad, whose complete roster consists of Bach Nguyen, Nga Trina Phan, John Nguyen, Giao Do, Stephanie Chung, Tiffany Atlan, James Ha, Kathy Zepeda-Emerzian, Julie Le, Jacqueline Pham, An Nguyen, Shin, Char, Ki, Da-Loc Nguyen, and Dan Nguyen.

Both 9.0 semifinals ended in 2-1 score lines, with undefeated squads Southern (Memphis University School – Memphis, Tenn.) and Mid-Atlantic (Independent – Washington, D.C.) moving on to the championship contest.

All three individual matchups between Southern and Florida (Midtown Athletic Club – Weston) wrapped up quickly, with the prevailing tandems giving away a combined nine games. Lines one and two were owned by Southern, with Dean Petty and Rosa Rojas Weis closing out the top spot 6-1, 6-1 while Jeff Yearwood and Jacqueline Burdette won 6-3, 6-1 on court two. Missouri Valley (Hanscom Tennis Center – Omaha, Neb.) couldn’t capitalize on a 6-0, 6-1 performance at the second position against Mid-Atlantic. Alicia Rowley and Rob Rivera countered for a 6-2, 7-6 effort on court one; Mid-Atlantic’s Landon Schaefer and Crystal Cornell shook off letting the opening set at line three slip away for a 6-7, 6-1, 1-0 victory.

Southern closed out their weekend just as they started it, sweeping aside Mid-Atlantic in the championship tilt. Petty and Rojas Weis stayed on court one, again breezing past their opponents 6-0, 6-2. Yearwood and Burdette claimed line two by the exact same score line they did in the semifinal round, while Scott Imorde and Mary Ellen Mathews teamed up to bring home the sweep with a 7-6, 6-4 effort at the third spot.

Jeff Meek serves as the captain for the Southern squad made up of Amy Turner, Carmen Lewis, Mathews, Sherrie Nischwitz, Petty, Imorde, Hayden Perez, Burdette, Yearwood, Barry Pelts, Rojas Weis, Naser Elamad, and James Dye.

The teams claiming third place in their respective divisions were Mid-Atlantic (6.0), Texas (7.0), Florida (8.0), and Missouri Valley (9.0).

To view all results from the 6.0 division, click here, while complete details from the 7.0 competition can be found here. A full list of 8.0 scores can be viewed here, and the same for the 9.0 competition is located here.