L5 Springfield Open Draws Strong Numbers

With a terrific turnout of 88 players, the first and only Springfield-based youth tournament of 2020 for USTA Missouri was a hugely successful one.

While the COVID-19 pandemic caused a litany of complications and cancellations throughout the year, players demonstrated their resolve by showing up and showing out at the L5 USTA MO Springfield Open Dec. 19-20 at Cooper Tennis Complex.

“It went really good and ran super smoothly,” said Courtney Nesbitt, USTA Missouri Junior and Adult Competition Coordinator. “Everybody was good sports, and nobody had issues with following the COVID rules we were enforcing. People just brought one spectator, and they wore their mask. It was great. We had a lot of people from Oklahoma and a lot of people from Kansas come in.”

Of the 88 participating players, 26 traveled in from Oklahoma while 13 came from Kansas. One individual each from the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska made the trek to compete in the event, while Missouri-based players filled out the rest of the draws.

Upon arriving at Cooper Tennis Complex, players checked in for their match via text and then received a text reply when the next court became available for play. This check-in process limited traffic inside the complex and worked well according to Nesbitt, who directed the tournament.

In addition to the text check-in and spectator limit, onlookers wore masks and were asked to stay socially distanced. Players wore masks while in the facility but did not have to wear them when competing. Players and spectators left the Cooper Complex upon the conclusion of their respective matches.

“The complex had several COVID protocols in place, and everybody did a good job following those,” said Steve Webb, chair of officials for USTA Missouri. “We only had to remind the spectators and parents a couple times to remain masked and socially distanced. For the most part everybody was compliant and just happy to be there. Players seemed like they really enjoyed it. Some of them seemed like they hadn’t seen each other on the Junior Circuit. It was kind of a reunion of some sorts.”

With a lack of indoor court space and the COVID-19 climate making tournaments difficult to come by, 54 boys and 34 girls flocked to participate. On the boys’ side, No. 1-seeded Brett Keeling won the 18 singles flight and No. 1-seed Jesper Ohlson claimed the 16 singles tourney. Both players hail from Tulsa.

Top-seeded Shaan Patel (St. Louis) won a three-set battle over No. 2-seeded Krishna Bhadriraju with a scoreline of 6-3, 4-6, 10-4 in the 14 singles title match. Another No. 1 seed, Aristen Malone of St. Peters, Mo., earned a straight-sets victory in the 12s championship match.

For the girls, Ella Novion (Lenexa, Kan.) won a three-set thriller over Bella Hong to notch the 18 singles championship. No. 3-seed Ashley Behan of St. Louis defeated No. 1-ranked Elizabeth Gilbert for the 16s title.

Top-seeded Heidi Baillos (Leawood, Kan.) pocketed a straight-sets victory in the 14 singles championship. And Chandana Vijaykumar from Stilwell, Kan. won all three of her matches in a round-robin format for 12s singles.

“I thought it went really well. Courtney and the rest of the crew did a great job of keeping the courts busy,” Webb said. “All of the players really seemed eager to get back on the court and did a great job competing. They were good sports. It went really smoothly and finished ahead of schedule. It was just a good event and a great way to get things jump-started again.”

Nesbitt said she is working on getting tournaments lined up for the 2021 campaign. As of now, there are two L5 tournaments scheduled: May 21-23 and July 30-Aug. 1. Both events will take place in Camdenton, Mo.