Florida USTA League Teams Post 13 1st-4th Place Finishes at 2018 League Nationals

The women’s 18 & Over 3.5 national champions from Seminole County (Red Bug Lake Park, Casselberry)

It was going to be difficult to top last year’s record haul for Florida at the USTA League National Championships. In 2017 six Florida adult tennis teams were crowned national champions in their respective divisions, a USTA Florida League-history record.

This year Florida only saw one team take home a national championship crown, but overall more teams placed in 1st-4th place nationally than during the record 2017 season.

A team from Seminole County (Red Bug Lake Park, Casselberry) brought home the Women’s 18 & Over 3.5 national championship. For Casselberry team captain Madelyn Escudero it was her second USTA League National Championship with some of the same players she won the 3.0 national championship with in 2015.

“In January I told Isabelle Welsh, one of my original teammates from nationals, that this would be our year to get to 3.5 nationals, whether it would be 3.5 40 & Over, or 3.5 18 & Over,” she said. “We accomplished our team goal…when we won we all jumped for joy, screamed, we were super excited, started hugging each other and just could not believe we did it!”

Overall 13 Florida teams finished in 1st-4th place at the 2018 USTA League National Championships, one better than the 12 in 2017.

“We are so proud of our Florida teams that represented us at the this year’s USTA League National Championships!” said USTA Florida Director of Adult Tennis Christine Ducey. “We recognize all the hard work and extreme effort that these teams put into their USTA League tennis, and it shows in how competitive our Florida teams are when the best from across our country come together to compete. Congratulations to all.”

Here are the USTA Florida League teams that placed 1st-4th at the 2018 USTA League National Championships:

1st Place:

Seminole County (Red Bug Lake Park, Casselberry) Women’s 18 & Over 3.5

2nd Place:

Broward County (Weston Tennis Center) Men’s 18 & Over 4.0
Broward County (Midtown Athletic Club, Weston) Mixed 18 & Over 6.0
Hillsborough County (MacFarland Park, Tampa) Mixed 18 & Over 10.0

3rd Place:

Broward County (Midtown Athletic Club, Weston) Women’s 40 & Over 3.5
Hillsborough County (Palma Ceia Country Club, Tampa) Men’s 55 & Over 9.0
Miami-Dade South (Tamiami Tennis Center, Miami) Men’s 40 & Over 4.0
Okaloosa County (Bluewater Bay, Niceville) Mixed 18 & Over 8.0
Orange County (USTA National Campus, Orlando) Men’s 18 & Over 3.5

4th Place:

Duval County (Southside Tennis Complex, Jacksonville) Women’s 55 & Over 6.0
Hillsborough County (Northdale Golf & Tennis Club, Tampa) Men’s 18 & Over 5.0+
Hillsborough County (River Hills Country Club, Valrico) Men’s 55 & Over 8.0
Osceola County (Star Island Resort, Kissimmee) Women’s 40 & Over 3.0
Pinellas County (Countryside Country Club, Clearwater) Women’s 55 & Over 7.0

The 2018 USTA League season was the sixth season with an updated structure and format that offers four age categories (18 & Over, 40 & Over, 55 & Over and Mixed 18 & Over) to better align participants with players their own age. A fifth age division, the Mixed 40 & Over, was added in 2014.

For complete stories on each winning team go to www.ustaflorida.com and go to the News tab and search under Adult Tennis.

To see your USTA local league schedule for 2019 go to www.ustaflorida.com/local-play.