USTA Missouri Valley     New Jersey Couple Wins Husband/Wife Title

On a day where the French Open crowned Rafael Nadal as its men’s singles champion for the 10th time, it was a new champion crowned at the USTA National Husband Wife Mixed Hard Court Championship.

Daniel Chang and Sarah Huah of Somerset, New Jersey, outlasted four-time champions BJ and Heather Fleming of Robins, Iowa, in a three-set thriller 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 on Sunday at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City.

Chang and Huah held off two match points from the Flemings forcing the third set tiebreaker, where they used an aggressive net game to seal the victory.

“They were so mentally strong and played so big on the big points, especially when they were down,” Chang said. 

Hauh played collegiately at Princeton University while Chang used the Tennis on Campus program at Rutgers University and credits the program for keeping him involved in the game of tennis. That involvement paid off Sunday as they earned their first USTA Gold Ball.

Jeff Wollmershauser and Galina Semenova of Tulsa earned third place defeating Phillip and Tiffany Williams of Cedar Rapids, Iowa 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 in the third place match.

In all, 12 couples from six states competed for the coveted USTA Gold Ball this weekend. Several of the couples have competed in the event in previous years. 

This year marked the 11th consecutive year the tournament has been held in Kansas City.

The Hard Court Championship is one of two husband and wife tournaments the USTA hosts each year around the country.