2010 - Pensacola Area Junior Players Dominate Orange Beach and Fort Walton Beach Tourneys

Pensacola Area Junior Players Dominate
Orange Beach and Fort Walton Beach Tourneys
January 2010 By Scott Harrison

Over the past two weeks Pensacola area junior tennis players won 10 titles in junior tourneys in Orange Beach Alabama and Fort Walton Beach. Rain managed to wash out a day at each tournament but almost all of the matches were played. In addition to the Orange Beach and Fort Walton Beach events, three Pensacola players went to Tallahassee for the Winter Super Series there.

At the Orange Beach Polar Bear Classic, 16 area players were among the 82 who participated. Dan and Kallie Erickson from Pace played while everyone else hailed from Pensacola. Reece Acree headed the charge by only losing 2 games in three matches to defeat Austin Racine 6-1,6-0 in the Boys 16 final. Zach McKerley, Noah Barnes and Will Hahn also played.

Chris Ephron put on almost as good a show as Acree in winning all three of his Boys' 14 matches in straight sets including a 6-2,6-0 victory over Will Spain of Montgomery, AL in the finals. Roderick Custer also played in the Boys' 14.

Unseeded Dan Erickson won the Boy's 12 division. After Jacob Baehr upset the 3rd seed 6-3,6-1 in the second round, Erickson downed Baehr 6-3, 7-5, beat #2 seed Jon Niehaus of Gretna, La 6-3,6-4. Erickson topped Montgomery's Clay Muller 6-2,4-6,1-0(7) in the finals.

Luke Racine, Matt Alliss, Alex Shald and Michael Eddins played in the Boys' 10 division. Shald who was seeded 4th won 2 main draw matches before falling 6-4,6-7(4),1-0(8) to #2 seed Pat Kraver of Irvington, AL in the semifinals. He then defeated #1 James Tolbert of Montgomery 6-4,5-7,1-0(5) to reach the backdraw final which wasn't played due to the weather.

Melanie Lewis was seeded #1 in the Girls 16 but had a tough tourney dropping her semifinal match 6-4,7-5 and her third place match 6-4,6-1.

In the Girls 14 division, Kallie Erickson lost 3 and 3 to the top seed and then won the consolation draw by picking up three victories including a 6-1,7-5 win over Anna Miller of Spanish Fort in the consolation final.

Elizabeth Bothwell won two rounds 6-0, 6-0 in the Girls 12 before falling to the 2nd seed Olivia Durant of Auburn, AL. The third place match wasn't played due to the weather.

For the complete match results from the Orange Beach Polar Bear tourney go to Polar Bear Junior Results.

Three Pensacola players went to Tallahassee for the Winter Super Series the same weekend as Orange Beach. John and Elizabeth Nowak and Geetha Velusamy were among the 85 juniors who played in Tallahassee.

Velusamy was the #1 seed in the Girls' 10 division. She received a Bye, got a default from an ill player and defeated Elizabeth Nowak 6-1,6-1 in the final. Velusamy lost the doubles final 8-2. Before facing Velusamy, Nowak downed #2 Seed Sophia Papa of Gainsville 6-1,6-7(1), 1-0(9) in the semifinals.

John Nowak played in the Boys 18 division and won two matches before falling in the semifinals 6-2,6-0 to Mario Nicosia of Bradenton. Nowak then teamed with Nicosia to win the doubles final 8-2 over Brett Landau of Tallahassee and Jason Moody of Panama City.

For complete results of the Tallahassee Winter Super Series go to Tallahassee Winter Super Series Results.

The following weekend area players trooped to the Fort Walton Beach Municipal Tennis Center for the Winter Super Series there. Twenty-six area players were among the 70 who participated in the event. Area players dominated the tourney winning 6 singles and 2 doubles titles.

Alex Shald of Pensacola (#1) downed Pensacolian Luke Racine 6-1,6-4 in the final. Matthew Alliss and Michael Eddins also played in the Boy 10s.

Due to the rain, the Boys' 12 final was not played. Pace's Dan Erickson and Pensacola's top seeded Jacob Baehr were scheduled to play the final. Baehr and Erickson won the doubles final 8-0.

Gulf Breeze's Harley Spann was seeded #1 while Pensacola's Chris Ephron was the #3 seed in the Boys' 14 division. Spann was upset in the semifinals 6-4,3-6,1-0(6) by Colton Phillips of Miramar Beach. Ephron lost only 5 games in route to a 6-1,6-2 victory over Phillips in the final. Roderick Custer of Pensacola defeated Troutman 6-0 and 6-2 before losing 4 and 4 to 2nd seeded Doug Barthel of Niceville. Spann and Barthel won the doubles final 8-2.

Will Hahn (#1), Will Spencer, James Lengyel and Austin Racine of Pensacola played in the Boys' 16 division. Hahn made the semifinals but was upset by Mobile's Zach Stewart 6-1,7-6. Spencer and Lengyel both dropped first round matches. However, the unseeded Racine had a terrific tourney winning the division with the loss of only 4 games including a 6-2,6-0 thrashing of Stewart in the final.

Five area boys were in the Boys 18 event. Top seeded Will Neuner of Pensacola won the title with a hard fought 4-6,6-3,1-0(7) victory over unseeded fellow Pensacolian Reece Acree. #3 seeded John Nowak had a Bye and a 6-2,6-2 win over Milton's Jake Holland before falling to Neuner. Claudio Yurdadon of Pensacola also had a win in this division. Acree downed the #2 and #4 seeds with the loss of only 4 games before falling to Neuner. Neuner and Acree defeated Jason Moody of Panama City and Nowak 8-6 in the doubles final.

Top seeded Elizabeth Bothwell of Pensacola had a Bye and won two rounds before being upset in the Girls 12 final 7-5,6-1 by Niceville's Madeline Hsiang. Pensacola's Geetha Velusamy was the third seed. She won a round before losing to Hsiang 6-1,6-4. Pensacola's Abigail Lipnicky and Navarre's Jessica Riles also played in the Girls 12.

Gulf Breeze's Katherine Farmer won the Girls 14 singles 6-2,6-2 over Monica Hsiang of Niceville. Bothwell and Velusamy lost the doubles final 8-6.

Pensacola's Melanie Lewis (#1), Navarre's Leah Rojecki and Pace's Britni Thibodeau and Kallie Erickson all played the Girls 16 event. Lewis won the tite with a 6-3,6-3 defeat of Rojecki. Lewis also defeated Thibodeau 6-3,6-2 in the semifinals. Erickson won a round before losing a really tight 7-5,6-7,1-0(4) semifinal to Rijecki. Lewis and Thibodeau defeated Rojecki and Kingon Walker of Fort Walton Beach by an 8-3 score.

For all the results of the FWB Winter Super Series, go to Ft. Walton Beach Winter Super Series Results.

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