Nicholas Heng, Bridget Stammel among big winners at Boys’ and Girls’ National Clay Court Championships
Maybe keep an eye out for these Americans at future Roland Garros tournaments?
Last week’s USTA Boys’ and Girls’ National Clay Court Championships – held at seven locations across the United States, featuring singles and doubles competitions within four different age groups – concluded on Sunday.
Above all else, the mass of talent proved the future of American tennis is bright.
Among the winners, Alabama’s Nicholas Heng and Texas’ Bridget Stammel took home singles titles in the 18s division, the oldest contested age group.
National Clay Court Championships 18s girls' singles finalists Shannon Lam (left) and Bridget Stammel (right).
National Clay Court Championships 18s boys' singles winner Nicholas Heng. (Photo credit: YourGameFace.com)
The fourth-seeded Heng defeated Georgia’s No. 2 seed Jelani Sarr 6-4, 6-3 for the gold ball and a taste of redemption after falling in the 2021 final.
“I was so nervous and anxious last year, but this time I just kind of freed up and played my game and that’s when I’m at my best,” said Heng, who experienced a three-hour rain delay ahead of his match at the Delray Beach Tennis Center in Florida. He will play for Auburn University in the fall.
In the 18s boy’s doubles final, 16-year-olds Alexander Razeghi (of Humble, Texas) and Nikita Filin (of Glenview, Illinois) clinched victory over top-seeded Texans Lucas Brown, 17, and Landoon Ardila, 18, in a tiebreak: 6-3, 5-7, [10-5].
National Clay Court Championships 14s boys' doubles winners Jack Kennedy (left) and Sebastian Bielen (right). (Photo credit: YourGameFace.com)
LTP Tennis in Mount Pleasant, S.C. served as home to the girls' singles and doubles 18s finals. In singles, 18-year-old No. 15 seed Bridget Stammel swept 14-year-old, 17th-seeded opponent Shannon Lam of New Jersey, 6-4, 6-2. A former Texas singles state champion, Stammel will compete for Vanderbilt University when she begins college later this year.
Girl’s doubles saw 17-year-old top seeds Piper Charney and Natalie Block defeat No. 2 seeds Vivian Miller, 18, and Maddy Zampardo, 17, in straight sets: 7-5, 7-5. Charney and Miller are both South Carolina natives, while Block and Zampardo hail from Florida and Michigan, respectively.
Read more: USTA Foundation Excellence Program youth compete at USTA Clay Court National Championships
Virginia’s 17th-seeded Stiles Brocket overwhelmed fellow No. 17 seed Mikel Anderson of Florida 6-1, 6-3 for the boys’ 16s singles title. In the girls’ 16s singles final, California’s top-seeded Natasha Rajaramtook down Florida’s unseeded Katie Spencer 6-3, 6-2.
In the 14s division: Jack Kennedy of Huntington, New York was the only player across all age groups to win both singles and doubles. Julieta Pareja, the fifth seed from California, earned the girls’ 14s singles title.
Florida’s Jordan Lee and Georgia’s Hannah Ayrault were the youngest singles champions, winning boys’ and girls’ 12s.
More than 120,000 players compete in the USTA’s junior tournaments each year, with age divisions spanning from 10s to 18s. Past National Clay Court singles champions include now-Top 100 players including Tommy Paul (2014) and Sebastian Korda (2016), as well as Danielle Collins (2012) and Ann Li (2016).
Full results listed below. Complete draws are available here: Boys’ 18s and 16s; Girls’ 18s; Girls’ 16s; Boys’ 14s; Girls’ 14s; Boys’ 12s; Girls’ 12s.
USTA National Clay Court Championships Results:
Boys’ 18s
Delray Beach Tennis Center, Delray Beach, Fla., July 10-17, 2022
Singles: (4) Nicholas Heng (Madison, Ala.) d. (2) Jelani Sarr (Savannah, Ga.), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles: (7) Alexander Razeghi (Humble, Texas) / Nikita Filin (Glenview, Ill.) d. (1) Lucas Brown (Plano, Texas) / Landon Ardila (Dallas), 6-3, 5-7, [10-5]
Girls’ 18s
LTP Tennis, Mount Pleasant, S.C., July 10-17, 2022
Singles: (15) Bridget Stammel (Dallas) d. (17) Shannon Lam (East Brunswick, N.J.), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles: (1) Natalie Block (Plantation, Fla.) / Piper Charney (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) d. (2) Vivian Miller (Sullivan’s Island, S.C.) / Maddy Zampardo (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.), 7-5, 7-5
Boys’ 16s
Delray Beach Tennis Center, Delray Beach, Fla., July 10-17, 2022
Singles: (17) Stiles Brockett (Fairfax, Va.) d. (17) Mikel Anderson (Hillsboro Beach, Fla.), 6-1, 6-3
Doubles: (15) Krish Gupta (Fremont, Calif.) / Evan Burnett (Woodside, Calif.) d. (7) Nicholas Snyder (San Juan, Puerto Rico) / Cole Henceroth (Midlothian, Va.), 6-4, 6-1
Girls’ 16s
Athletic Club Alabama, Huntsville, Ala., July 10-17, 2022
Singles: (1) Natasha Rajaram (Cupertino, Calif.) d. Katie Spencer (Orlando, Fla.), 6-3, 6-2
Doubles: (4) Kayla Chung (Philadelphia) / Alanis Hamilton (Bentonville, Ark.) d. (1) Saray Yli-Piipari (Peachtree Corners, Ga.) / Kayla Schefke (McKinney, Texas), 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4
Boys’ 14s
Westgate Tennis Center, Dothan, Ala.,, July 10-17, 2022
Singles: (17) Jack Kennedy (Huntington, N.Y.) d. (6) Gus Grumet (Mill Valley, Calif.), 6-2, 6-4
Doubles: (6) Sebastian Bielen (Glen Cove, N.Y.) / Kennedy d. (3) Yannik Alvarez (Cumming, Ga.) / Ryan Cozad (Alpharetta, Ga.), 6-3, 6-3
Girls’ 14s
Frank Veltri Tennis Center, Plantation, Fla., July 10-17, 2022
Singles: (5) Julieta Pareja (Carlsbad, Calif.) d. (1) Aishi Bisht (San Jose, Calif.), 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-1
Doubles: (1) Sara Shumate (Charlotte, N.C.) / Bella Payne (Taylor, S.C.) d. (11) Georgia Kulevich (Marblehead, Mass.) / Zosia Henryson-Gibbs (Springfield, Mass.), 6-4, 6-0
Boys’ 12s
USTA National Campus, Orlando, Fla., July 9-15, 2022
Singles: (3) Jordan Lee (Orlando, Fla.) d. (4) Vihaan Reddy (San Jose, Calif.), 6-1, 6-3
Doubles: (1) Akshay Mirmira (Bethesda, Md.) / Safir Azam (Redmond, Wash.) d. (6) Diego Custodio (Tampa, Fla.) / Daniel Patsula (Miramar, Fla.), 6-0, 6-1
Girls’ 12s
The Polo Club, Boca Raton, Fla., July 9-15, 2022
Singles: (7) Hannah Ayrault (Atlanta) d. (2) Welles Newman (Boca Raton, Fla.), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles: (1) Shaya Jovanovic (Los Angeles) / Daniela Navarro (Carlsbad, Calif.) d. (5) Madeleine Bridges (Belton, Mo.) / Reiley Rhodes (Annapolis, Md.), 7-5, 6-2
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