Texas

University of Houston Wheelchair Tennis Wins ITA National Championship

April 29, 2024

Pictured (left to right) – Nicholas Tijerina, Head Coach Gabriel Gutierrez, Jose Arriaga (photo credit – University of Houston)

The University of Houston wheelchair tennis team won the 2024 ITA Wheelchair National Championship, defeating San Diego State University at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. on Saturday April 13. USTA Texas Wheelchair Committee Chair and Houston Tennis Association Advisory Board Member, Harold Graham sat down with Cougars head coach, Gabriel Gutierrez, and players Nicolas Tijerina and Jose Arriaga to talk about their big win.

Graham: First off, a big congratulations to each of you for winning the 2024 ITA Wheelchair Tennis National Championship. That is a very big deal for each of you, your team and program, and for the University of Houston.

Gabriel, congratulations to you for being named Coach of the Year. As the head coach and being the guy that has worked with the program for years, what did you feel when Jose clinched the second point and the Championship in his third set tiebreak?

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Gutierrez: Thanks, Harold. It was a mix of emotions to be honest. We went in with one goal to the championship: to win. And when Jose won his last point and we started celebrating, the realization that we did it started to hit me and it was very emotional. It was a tough match against SDSU, but I had my complete trust in both Nick and Jose. We had trained for this, and we did it.

Graham: And Jose, what went through your mind during and immediately after that last point?

Arriaga: After I went up in the second set 5-4, my mind was thinking many things. But at the same time, I was feeling relaxed and confident. I felt I was overthinking the situation, which affected my performance, and as a result I ended up losing that set 7-5. During the tiebreak, I decided to change my mindset, concentrate and enjoy the situation. I felt adrenaline rushing through my heart and I could feel every single beat. After that adrenaline rush, a calmness filled my body, and I started to focus on one point at a time. I was so concentrated on each point that I lost track of the score. Immediately after the last point, I just heard my teammate celebrating the win so enthusiastically, and I realized at that point I won. I was so surprised, shocked and amazed. I won, that win gave us the title, and we became the 2024 ITA Collegiate tournament champions. I feel so happy, and to know that with hard work and dedication, your goals can be met. You just have to believe in yourself!

“To know that with hard work and dedication, your goals can be met. You just have to believe in yourself.”

Graham: Nicholas [...] from reading the accounts, I wasn’t sure where you were - if you were on court playing or watching courtside [...] you partnered with Jose to get the crucial first point in doubles. Please describe where you were and the first thing you did when the championship got wrapped up.

Tijerina: The university team must win two-out-of-three matches in order to advance/win the overall university vs. university match-up. The format is a team doubles [match], then two singles matches. After playing and winning the doubles, I had to play my singles against San Diego’s player, Ryotaro Sakaguchi. I, unfortunately lost my singles, making the match count 1-1 with Jose heading into a 10-point tiebreak for the third set. I watched with anxiety and stress as Jose was playing, and I was cheering him on to let him know that we support him. As soon as we won the championship, I raced to Jose and celebrated on the court! I got really emotional, as this had been a dream since I went to my first collegiate nationals two years ago. For it to become a reality really made me happy and emotional. We immediately went to dinner to celebrate after a long day of playing tennis in the sun!

Graham: And Nick, you are one of the top four singles players, and you will be traveling to Stillwater, Okla. during the NCAA Championships to play in the Final Four Shootout. So, congratulations on that - I guess your training doesn’t stop now! What are you doing to prepare for your trip in May?

Tijerina: First off, I’m getting caught up with school! I spent four long days playing and training in the sun to only pass out when I got back to the hotel. It was both a tremendously fun [and] exhausting week of travel and play. I took a small break to let my body rest after playing 15 matches, but I’ve already started working with Coach Gabe to start training to improve my game and be ready for Stillwater. I also work out in my free time to build up my strength and endurance to play my best tennis and leave it all on the court with no regrets!

Graham: Gabe, it has to be immensely satisfying to see these results for your student-athletes and the growth of the Adaptive Sports Program at U of H. What are your wishes and hopes for the sport at the collegiate level, both on Cullen Boulevard and beyond, [and] what can we do to help build Wheelchair Tennis at colleges and universities and [in] the community as a whole?

Gutierrez: Well Harold, from the beginning, the goal has always been the same: to help grow wheelchair tennis nationwide. And we start one step at a time, first with the community program, then the collegiate program. And little by little, the idea is to help those around us create more programs to make wheelchair tennis more accessible to everyone. With this win, we hope to grow more at the University of Houston and be able to provide more resources and support for the current and future athletes coming to our program.

Special thanks to Houston Tennis Association for contributing to this article.

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