Pair of USTA St. Louis Teams Clash in Section Title Match

“When things got flighted in the brackets we said, ‘Hey, there is a potential crash course here to take these guys on in the finals,’” Hamilton said. “We played them the final week of local league play for a chance to go to sectionals and lost 2-1. There was a bitter taste in our mouth from that. We got lucky to get the wild card, took full advantage of it and took them down when it mattered.”

Hamilton called the title matchup “a really unique situation” between the two 3.5/4.0/4.5 men’s tri-level teams.

“It was one I feel like you don’t hear very often,” Hamilton said. “The guys on that team are friends or competitors in other USTA leagues. It was really familiar faces. Which, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Going into it, I guess you kind of know what to expect. But that could also cause you to let your guard down a little bit as well.”

Hamilton and Lesko’s crew earned their place in the finals after a 2-1 semifinal victory against a USTA Nebraska side. The St. Louis team received a bye in the quarterfinal round courtesy of a 3-0 performance in pool play. The squad went 7-2 overall on courts in round-robin action against USTA teams from Oklahoma, Iowa and Heart of America.

Hamilton credited the team’s 3.5-level players in particular for their standout showing in Omaha. Hamilton said the two competitors were the “warriors of the weekend” and “MVPs for sure,” as they played in all five of the team’s matches during the three-day stretch. Hamilton said two USTA St. Louis teams reaching the section championship finals should put USTA Missouri Valley on notice.

“Not just in tri-level, but I’ve got friends who captain teams among other levels and I hear St. Louis teams making it to Sunday at sectionals almost all the time,” Hamilton said. “For the section, don’t sleep on St. Louis tennis. We’ve got some really great players who are trying to compete and get to nationals. I’m excited to see how our teams do in this next year.”

The vast majority of Hamilton and Lesko’s 18+ tri-level team will make the trek to San Diego to duke it out in the National Invitational. Hamilton — who also captains an 18+ 4.5 men’s team and 18+ 8.0 mixed squad — will be making his third overall appearance at a national event and second as part of a team.

“We’re a super close group of friends,” Hamilton said. “We all play together at least once or twice a week in various groups throughout the year. By seeing each other weekly or however often it is and chatting about it, the excitement is definitely building. We’re looking forward to making that trip in March and seeing how we can do.”

Hamilton noted those friendships are a key factor in making tri-level an especially fun format. He has enjoyed the chance to captain and play alongside his friends even though their NTRP ratings may differ.

“I played 4.0 forever and play 4.5 now. I have so many friends who are still 4.0s and 3.5s as well,” Hamilton said. “You typically don’t really get that much of an opportunity to be on the same team. Tri-level gives you the opportunity to bring together a team of good friends regardless of what level they’re playing. At the end of the day for me, yes, I like to win. But to be able to go out there and compete on courts next to guys I consider good friends is really cool."