New Englanders Capture Gold and Silver Balls at National Indoors

WESTBOROUGH, MA- New Englanders Will Peters, Connor Fu and Nicholas Condos took home top prizes at the L1 USTA National Indoor Championships from November 24-27. This year marks the first time in 18 years that the tournament has been played. It had previously run continuously from 1981 to 1999.
 
“The USTA brought back the National Indoor Championship format this year and it gave New England players an opportunity to play Nationally Ranked players in a venue that they train in,” said Phil Parrish, who ran the Boys’ 16s tournament at the Longfellow Club in Wayland, MA. 

New England players were selected to compete locally and across the country at eight different venues based on age division. The National Indoors featured a singles draw of 64 that played best two out of three sets and a one-set 32-team doubles draw. The tournament awarded both National and New England standing points.

Princeton commit Will Peters, of Duxbury, MA, earned a Gold Ball in Boys’ 18s Doubles at Overland Park Racquet Club in Overland Park, KS. Along with partner Jared Pratt, of Charleston, SC, the No. 2 seeds rolled through the draw without giving up more than three games in any match. The duo defeated Britton Johnston (Snellville, GA) and Robert Siniakowicz (West Windsor, NJ) 6-3 in the finals to capture the title.

Over at Longfellow in Wayland, hometown boys Connor Fu (Andover, MA), Nicholas Condos (Wilton, CT) and Alex Finkelstein (Raynham, MA) took center stage in 16s Doubles. The No. 2 seeds Fu and Condos were unbeaten until the finals, when they ran into top seeds Robert Cash (New Albany, OH) and Ryder Jackson (Nicasio, CA). Fu and Condos fell 4-6, but took home a coveted Silver Ball.

Jackson also won the singles championship and became the seventh player to win Gold Balls in both singles and doubles in the same tournament.

Unseeded Alex Finkelstein and partner Timothy Li, of Valley Village, CA reached the semifinals where they ran into Fu and Condos. Finkelstein and Li fell 1-6 and came up just short in the Bronze Ball match, falling 4-6. 

Dianne Heinold ran the Girls’ 18s tournament at the Weymouth Club, in Weymouth, MA that featured six New England players. Top New England finishers included Sarah Campbell, of Sudbury, MA, who reached the quarterfinals with partner Maja Pietrowicz (Clinton Twp, MI), and Grace Joyce, of Newton, MA, who also reached the quarters with  Sophia Graver (Allenwood, NJ).

Other L1 National Indoor Championship sites included: Flushing, NY, Minneapolis, MN, Toledo, OH and Chicago, IL.