NorCal Teams Dominate at JTT Nationals with 18U Laguna Creek Team Crowned Champions
18U Laguna Creek Sports Club JTT Team
The USTA Junior Team Tennis (JTT) National Championships bring together the nation’s top teams that have qualified through local, regional, and sectional play. Each year, the USTA crowns a national champion in two age divisions for players ages 18 and under and 14 and under in both intermediate and advanced play divisions.
This year, the 2022 JTT National Championships were held in October, and what will be the last year of JTT Nationals did not disappoint. Despite weather challenges, the competition was fierce across all of the divisions, and USTA NorCal is proud to have sent an 18U and 14U team to represent our section.
USTA NorCal has been sending teams to compete at JTT Nationals since 2010 and has won the championship title two times previously. This year, USTA NorCal’s 14U advanced team placed second overall, and after a hard-fought battle In in a tightly contested final against Southern, the Northern California team from the Laguna Creek Sports Club in Elk Grove led by coach Mark Fairchilds earned the coveted national title in the 18U intermediate division.
Fairchilds is a long-time coach of JTT in NorCal and this win marks the second time one of his teams has won the USTA JTT National Championships, making him the only coach in NorCal to win this title twice.
We recently caught up with Coach Fairchilds and one of his players to hear about their team’s road to national champions, as well as captain Riyazudeen Abdul Subhan and co-captain Ramkumar Annasami of the 14U Advanced team out of East Bay that placed second.
Congratulations to both teams and the complete results from the National Championships can be found here.
18U Laguna Creek Sports Club JTT Captain Mark Fairchilds:
I have played and coached in a lot of different amazing matches over my tennis career, but recently I was lucky and blessed to be a part of the craziest, wildest, kids cramping, other teams rooting, epic, emotional, nerve-wracking Junior Team Tennis match during the finals of this year’s National Championships. The USTA National Junior Team Championship Committee called it the greatest match in the history of the USTA National coed JTT Championships.
The match took six and a half hours to complete. Our opponents from Southern (Knoxville, Tennessee) took a nine-game lead after the girls' singles and doubles matches. Things were looking bleak for us until Nadaul Cheam played maybe the greatest match of his life winning 6-0, 6-0 over the Southern singles player. Thus, going into the final team match–which is mixed doubles–Laguna Creek was down one game. Our mixed doubles duo Ted Nguyen and Nahreen Cheam won the first set 6-4 to give Laguna Creek a one-game lead.
Then, we took a quick lead in the second set just to see Southern storm back and serve for the second set at 5-3, (40-15) for what would be the National Championship. There were three National Championship points and Nguyen and Nahreen Cheam came back and won the game to deny Southern the championship! While we were still in it, tensions remained high when Southern won the next game to win the second set 6-4 and make the team total with Southern having the edge 44-43. Again, our team had to win the third set tiebreaker, otherwise Southern wins. Laguna Creek was up 3-2 in the tiebreaker when our player Nguyen started to cramp and had to take a medical timeout. But against all odds, Laguna Creek ended up winning the third set tiebreaker 11-9 in a heart-stopping, hold your breath, unbelievable fashion to make it Southern 44, Laguna Creek 44.
We then go to the first-ever super tiebreaker to 10 points to see who wins the National Championship. Each team was able to select one boy and girl to play, and we selected Nguyen and Nahreen Cheam and our players won the super tiebreaker 10-5 to bring home the National Championship for a final overall score of 45-44!
Winning the USTA National JTT Championship is very, very, hard, and I am proud to say that out of only three JTT teams from NorCal to have won the championship in the history of the event, two have now been from Laguna Creek! Congratulations to this year’s team: Nahreen Cheam, Aileena Hu, Irene Huang, Claire Marshall, Nadaul Cheam, Alex Eisenberg, Ted Nguyen, and Jonah Rosenthal. It was a true team event with all of our players representing us proudly.
Irene Huang, Player on the Laguna Creek Team:
The team has been prepping for this exact moment for months, and everyone wanted to win. Consisting of new and returning players, we expected nothing but the best from each other. Starting with the first match against the Florida Wildings on Thursday night and ending with an early 8 a.m. finals match against Southern, everyone fought for every game and supported each other. Most were physically and mentally tired but ready to play to take on this title! When the finals match hit the sixth hour, the team was prepared to cheer on their final mixed doubles match with the support of the parents, coaches, each other, and even the support from the other Southern team from Mississippi. Everyone was on the edge of their seat as our mixed team saved multiple match points at 3-5 (15-40) to then win the match in a tiebreak 11-9. With the score tied, the match went to a super tiebreak! The team was feeling as eager as ever. Up 9-2 in the tiebreak, everyone was waiting, hoping, and anxious for it to finally end. After winning the super tiebreak 10-5, everyone from our team jumped to victory, screaming in joy. As we were announced as the National Champions and the feeling while we walked down the stage was indescribable. We made it!
14U Advanced East Bay Dream Team, Captain Riyazudeen Abdul Subhan and Co-Captain Ramkumar Annasami:
The origin of the Dream Team goes back to 14U JTT East Bay local leagues in NorCal. In a competitive, friendly, and fun environment, parents and players from different teams got together to form the team that represented NorCal at the JTT nationals.
A fully parent-run team, our goal was to provide great memories for the kids. While we worked hard, played hard, and believed we could beat anyone, winning was never a priority. We did our best to focus on the journey and were pleasantly surprised when we made Nationals in our first year.
Once we made Nationals, the team practiced at the Fremont Tennis Center every Monday for two to three hours. The best part of the Monday practices was the pizza dinner at the tennis court before heading home.
It was great bonding and as the players and the parents became friends, the team decided to rent a big house in Orlando and stay together for the duration of Nationals.
We enjoyed playing at the USTA National Campus, testing our skills and mental fortitude against other players. Coming from drought-stricken California, we even soaked in the Florida thunderstorms (pun intended) that led to occasional play stoppages. The best part after a long day's play leaving everything on the court, win or lose, was the swimming pool that awaited the players at the Airbnb where we were staying.
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