ATA CAPTURES JTT 18U ADVANCED NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Two junior tennis teams from the Austin Tennis Academy, representing the USTA Texas Section, reached the finals at the 2018 USTA Junior Team Tennis 18U National Championships, taking home the national title in the advanced division and placing second in the intermediate division. The event was held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 9-11.

The 2018 USTA Junior Team Tennis 18U National Championships brought together the top 32 teams at intermediate and advanced levels from various USTA Sections throughout the country.

For the ATA Dream Team, this was the second consecutive year the team reached the advanced final, this time winning handily, defeating a team from Columbus, Ohio, 52-29.

The team is coached by Jack Newman (Austin) and features team members: Juan Abboud (Laredo), Callie Creath (Austin), Anushka Dania (Austin), Megha Dania (Austin), Bailey Forgus (Austin), Blaine Kanak (Austin), and Caroline Wernli (Austin). Forgus and Creath were both on the ATA team that won the 14U advanced title in 2014.

In in the intermediate championship match, the ATA Knightmares fell in a thriller to a team from Minneapolis, 54-50.

The team is coached Chad Loup (Austin) and features team members: Tatum Blalock (Austin), James Burdick (Austin), Karin Comegys (The Hills), Keana Moon (Austin), Alex Sheddan (Lakeway), Jonathan Snell (Austin), Clark Sweeney (Austin), and Sydney Williams (Austin).

In addition, Caroline Wernli from the advanced team won the Sportsmanship Award, which is given to one boy and one girl from each division who received the most votes from his/her opponents throughout the tournament for displaying good sportsmanship.

Established in 1991, USTA Junior Team Tennis provides youth with all of the health and social benefits of tennis in a coed, fun and competitive team environment – all while allowing participants to compete with and against individuals of similar ages and skill levels.

With more than 85,000 players competing nationwide, USTA Junior Team Tennis brings players together to enjoy camaraderie and teamwork, providing a  fun environment for kids to learn that succeeding is really more about how they play the game – win or lose.