Eastern 4.0 team reaches final at 2024 USTA League National Championships

Rita Zhang’s journey to lifting a finalist trophy at the 2024 USTA National League Championships began with a literal journey: a 15-hour flight from Europe to Surprise, Arizona where the event was held.

“My husband is a professor at Columbia Business School and every seven years we spend an academic year abroad,” the captain of USTA Eastern’s 18 & Over 4.0 Women’s team explained. “When Nationals started, we were already in Belgium. So I had to fly 15 hours with two stopovers. I nearly missed my flight!”

It’s a good thing she didn’t. Under Zhang’s leadership, the New York, N.Y.-based squad displayed some blistering dominance in Surprise—particularly in the round robin stages of the tournament. Over the course of the first two days, the women amassed a 4-0 record against contingents from USTA Northern, USTA Missouri Valley, USTA Hawaii and home favorites USTA Southwest. Against the latter two, the USTA Eastern group won all five of their courts (the division plays two singles and three doubles courts) to head into the knockout rounds sitting at the top of the leaderboard. They recorded a staggering ten bagel sets along the way.

“Our team was strong because we had five good singles players who are also all solid in doubles,” Zhang said. “This flexibility allowed me to build an effective lineup during those first two days.”

In particular she cited heroics from teammates Clara Ceccaldi, Charlotte Reiche and Teagan Mach. Ceccaldi in particular laced up her tennis sneakers for all four matches and never dropped more than three games in a single court.

“They all possess great skills, and they all trained intensively after we won sectionals,” Zhang said. “Their focus and determination were key to all the 6-0 sets and straight-set wins.”

The Eastern players’ impressive form continued into their semifinal bout against USTA Northern California, as they went on to claim every single matchup to defeat their opponents 5-0. From their early-round encounter with USTA Hawaii to earning their spot in the final, the team ultimately recorded 15 straight courts in a row. 

Unfortunately, the streak came to an end in the final battle with USTA Mid-Atlantic . As temperatures soared into the upper 90s in Surprise on the final day of competition, the Eastern group narrowly lost the final to opponents 2-3. Narrowly, of course, is the operative word.

“In the third doubles match, which I played, we won the first set with ease, but then the heat got to us,” Zhang recalled. “The Mid-Atlantic players were just super resilient. We were up 5-1 in the super tiebreak but ultimately lost. It is incredibly difficult for a northern-based team to play in the heat. We were lucky that it was only so hot when the finals were played!”

Even in defeat, the team could appreciate everything they’d been through over the course of the season to get to play on the final day of the National event. At the local level, they needed to defeat an equally strong team twice just to advance to sectional competition. Then they squeaked out a sectional win in a final super tiebreak (and did so without a full roster). Through it all they became quite close.

“One of our Chinese teammates [who didn’t go to Nationals] gave Charlotte a stuffed animal dragon named Eddie as a lucky charm…it is the year of the dragon in the Chinese Zodiac,” Zhang said. “Charlotte brought Eddie to Surprise and it watched all our important matches!”

This kind of camaraderie is ultimately what Zhang and her players will recall when she looks back on her expansive 2024 USTA League journey(s).

“The road to the nationals, and reaching the finals, has been an incredible memory for everyone,” she said. “The players were all motivated, supportive and positive. From practice to room sharing, from meal planning to lineup planning, there was no drama of any sort. We were feeling down and some even cried when we lost in the finals, but that was all. It was an amazing experience! We will never forget this event.”