2019 Midwest Closed Championships   A Look Back 

The Midwest Closed Championships took place June 22-27 in Indianapolis and Okemos, Michigan. With all 13 districts from the Midwest Section represented, the tournament is one of the most prestigious junior tournaments in the USTA Midwest Section. 

For many junior players, this tournament is the culmination of their hard work and long hours of training. Though each day brings a new challenge and match conditions can be grueling, it's all about taking the experience in strides.

"It's one match at a time," said Max Bengtsson, boys 16s singles runner up. "It's kind of daunting to have the potential of seven long matches over a week period. Just take it one match at a time ... don't start thinking about the next match until you are done with the first one and then move into it."

Throughout the week of match play, competitors gave the tournament all they had, with some surprises along the way. One of the most impressive upsets came from Nishesh Basavareddy, who clinched the 16s boys singles title as an unseeded player. 

"This was only my second tournament back because I came back from an injury, so I was just excited to be here and play as many matches as I could and get back into match play and competitiveness," said Basavareddy. "I think I did a good job from the first to the last."

Another impressive run came from Lauren Long of Central Indiana. Long came into the tournament as the 13 seed, making her way to the girls 16s singles final before falling to Bojana Pozder of Wisonsin. 

The tournament showcased some of the best talent from across the Midwest and all in all was a major success.

2019 Midwest Closed Champions

BOYS DOUBLES CHAMPIONS
BOYS 18s: Arjun Asokumar and  Bradley Yu (Chicago) 
BOYS 16s: Vignesh Gogineni and Preston Stearns (Ohio Valley)
BOYS 14s: Tommy Czaplinski (Northern Illinois) and Nikita Filin (Chicago)
BOYS 12s: Marcel Latak (Chicago) and Chika Nwaozuzu (Northeastern Ohio)

GIRLS DOUBLES CHAMPIONS
GIRLS 18s: Julia Fliegner (Southeastern Michigan) and Ellie Pittman (Central Indiana)
GIRLS 16s: Lauren Long and Ellie Myers (Central Indiana)
GIRLS 14s: Mia Goldstein (Southeastern Michigan) and Nicole Hu (Chicago)
GIRLS 12s: Lucia Fuduric (Northwestern Ohio) and Gabriella Sadowski (Southeastern Michigan)