CT’s Visser caps off historic week with National Championship

WESTPORT, CT - Alexander “Aya” Visser, New England’s No. 1 ranked player in the Boys’ 18s division, is coming off the week of a lifetime. On Wednesday, November 24, the high school junior from Westport, CT, announced his verbal commitment to play NCAA tennis at Duke University. Just five days later, Visser captured the USTA Boys’ 18s National Indoor Championship in Overland Park, KS as the top overall seed, earning his first career Gold Ball. 

“I definitely felt a lot of pressure and expectations being seeded one, but the fact that I had just committed really helped me with the nerves and took some of that pressure off,” Visser said. “I took it match by match and it was an amazing feeling when I won. I‘m hoping to get another one soon.”

Visser, a former New England Sectional Champion, won six consecutive matches over four days to claim the title, including a second-round win against his tournament doubles partner and club training partner, Douglas Yaffa (New York, NY). In the final, he rolled past No. 9 seed Dean Kamenev, of Hinsdale, IL, 6-4, 6-4, capping off his memorable run. 

“Everybody at this tournament blew me away with the level they were playing at, especially some of the guys I wasn’t expecting with lower rankings. I had a really tough time getting past some of them, but I think that made the win a lot better,” Visser said.

Visser earned Gold despite not having played a tournament since competing at the USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo in August, as he dedicated the better part of the fall to training, schoolwork and the NCAA recruitment process.