Two days of junior action concluded Sunday evening for the 2019 November Level 7 UTR at the National Campus. The event featured seven boys’ and five girls’ singles draws, in which players were placed based on their Universal Tennis Rating. 

Three of the champions on the boys’ side were unseeded competitors – Rafael Stahl (Winter Park), Rushikesh Sonawane (Tampa), and Austyn Adderly (Port Saint Lucie). 

Stahl won his first three matches in straight sets in the boys’ 12s-14s UTR 1.51-2.73 draw, including an impressive 6-4, 6-1 defeat of No. 1 seed Kai Edwards (Sebastian), before rallying past Roger Xiao (Valrico) 2-6, 6-2, 11-9 in the final. For Sonawane, he got stronger as the weekend wore on, defeating the top two seeds in the boys’ 12s-14s UTR 4.41-5.41 draw by identical 6-3, 6-0 score lines in the semifinals and final to claim the title. Adderly was even more impressive, dropping a mere five games across three matches in the boys’ 16s-18s UTR 4.11-4.84 draw. 

The remaining winners of the boys’ draws included Srijan Ganta (Orlando), Sebastian Labaca (Windermere), Spencer Johnson (Bountiful, Utah), and Ramiro Davila (Orlando).

Ganta began the weekend as the No. 3 seed in the boys’ 12s-14s UTR 2.82-4.31 draw, which featured 16 players. All four of his victories were competitive, which included a solid 6-3, 6-4 effort over top-seeded Everett McMullen (Melbourne) in the semifinals; he would go on to tough out a 6-7, 7-6, 10-6 result versus Ianko Abreu Diaz (Orlando) in the final. 

Both Labaca and Johnson were the No. 1 seeds in their respective draws. Labaca won all three of his contests in straight sets to claim the boys’ 14s-18s UTR 5.14-6.62 draw, while Johnson turned in two easy wins before being pushed to the brink by Emilio Van Cotthem (Fort Pierce) 7-6, 2-6, 10-7 in the championship tilt. In the boys’ 16s-18s UTR 6.84-8.67 draw, fourth-seeded Davila breezed through to the semifinals before running into fellow seeded players. From there he got past a pair of out of state competitors, besting No. 2 seed Niyanth Puliyala (South Barrington, Ill.) 7-6, 6-3 in the semifinals and following that up with a 6-4, 6-3 showing against No. 3 seed Malhar Patel (Collierville, Tenn.).

Two of the girls’ draws were claimed by unseeded players – NIshka Dalal (Rockledge)in the 12s-14s UTR 1.01-1.96 draw and Elise Hepburn (Vero Beach) in the UTR 3.33-4.41 draw. 

For Dalal, all four of her contests ended in straight sets. She was comprehensive in dismissing No. 1 seed Jaedyn Gomez (Orlando) by a 6-1, 6-2 margin in the quarterfinals and No. 3 seed Claire Barrow (Tampa) 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals. Her toughest test took place in the championship, where she hung on to take down fellow unseeded hopeful Imani Majors (Winter Park) 7-6, 7-5. Hepburn rolled past two unseeded competitors on her way to the title, but had to battle through two match tiebreaks when she matched up with seeds. In her second match on the weekend, she staged a comeback to upset top-seeded Gwenyth Drapp (Lake Worth) 4-6, 7-6, 10-3; she was also forced to fight back against second seed Hannah Blackman (Orlando) in the final, eventually taking it 1-6, 6-3, 10-8.

The remaining girls’ champions included No. 1 Jazmin McShane (Deland), No. 3 Isabel Benitez (Wesley Chapel), and No. 1 Manuela Van Cotthem (Fort Pierce).

McShane claimed her first two matches in the 14s-16s 1.21-1.98 draw by identical 6-2, 6-3 results before battling No. 2 seed Annika Rojas (Fort Lauderdale), prevailing 7-5, 6-3 with the title on the line. The path for Benitez was a bit more arduous, as she survived a match tiebreak in the quarterfinals to defeat unseeded Sabrina Siminou (Maitland) 5-7, 6-0, 10-5. From there, she did not drop a set, including a 6-1, 6-4 effort in the final versus No. 4 seed Holland Harris (Orlando).

Van Cotthem lived up to her top billing in the UTR 4.68-7.65 draw, where she gave away only eight games in three matches. She matched up with No. 2 seed Valeria Lopez (Kissimmee) in the championship, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

For complete results from the 2019 November Level 7 UTR, click here.