FAMILIAR FACES TOP 2019 TEXAS SLAM

Houston's Jaycer Lyeons won his second Boys 18s championship while Dallas' Bridget Stammel followed up last year's Girls 16s title with a Girls 18s win at The Texas Slam held in Abilene from June 8-15.

After winning the event in 2016 as a 15-year-old, Lyeons fell in the semifinals and quarterfinals the past two years before taking home this year's crown. The three years between titles is the longest in Texas Slam history for Boys 18s.

Stammel, 15, defeated 14-year-old Sankavi Gownder 7-5, 6-2 to win her third Texas Slam title (2018 Girls 16s, 2015 Girls 12s). Stammel did not drop a set the entire tournament, as Gownder was the only one to force Stammel to win seven games in a set.

Stammel and Victoria Zhao (Houston) were the only two players to win in both singles and doubles. Alexander Razeghi (Humble) was the only boy to win a singles title for the second straight year, while Stammel was the only girl. 

The Texas Slam puts a large emphasis on great sportsmanship, with players being honored with sportsmanship pins, Player of the Day, and ultimately, a tournament-wide Sportsmanship Award. The Clarence Mabry Sportsmanship Award goes to the boy who best embodies sportsmanship throughout the tournament and the Nancy Jeffett Sportsmanship Award goes to a girl as voted on by the tournament staff. This year’s winners are Marko Mesarovic (Austin) and Anahita Gozalpour (Houston).

A full list of the results can be found on TennisLink.

A list of this year’s winner’s can be found below:

Boys’ 18 Singles: Jaycer Lyeons def. Avery Zavala 6-4, 6-3

Boys’ 16 Singles: Louis Cloud def.  Marko Mesarovic 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4)

Boys’ 14 Singles: Alexander Razeghi def. Alexander Frusina 6-1, 6-2

Boys’ 12 Singles: Francisco Salmain def. Benjamin Sparks 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

Girls’ 18 Singles: Bridget Stammel def. Sankavi Gownder 7-5, 6-2

Girls’ 16 Singles: Karsyn Evans def. Ireland Simme 1-6, 7-5, 6-2

Girls’ 14 Singles: Victoria Zhao def. Sofia Mazzucato 6-2, 6-1

Girls’ 12 Singles: Meghna Arun def. Laila Nguyen 6-1, 6-0

Boys’ 18 Doubles: Chhabra/Clark def. Crookston/Foster 6-2, 6-3

Boys’ 16 Doubles: Patil/Silva def. Brown/Cloud 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8)

Boys’ 14 Doubles: Holden/Singh def. Flyckt/Frusina 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 7-6 (8)

Boys’ 12 Doubles: Sparks/Xie def. Raja/Yang 6-2, 6-4

Girls’ 18 Doubles: Mireles/Stammel def. Chhabra/Flodin 6-3, 6-4

Girls’ 16 Doubles: Boyer/Platt def. Santos/Walker 7-5, 6-3

Girls’ 14 Doubles: Schwartz/Zhao def. Dutta/Schefke 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (8)

Girls’ 12 Doubles: Erickson/Zaharieva def. Gutta/Li 7-5, 7-6 (6)

Clarence Mabry Sportsmanship Award Winner:

Marko Mesarovic, Austin, Boys' 16

Nancy Jeffett Sportsmanship Award Winner:

Anahita Gozalpour, Houston, Girls' 14