It was a battle of the elements at the USTA National Campus for the Adult 18 & Over 2.5/4.0 Sectional Championships. Rain loomed all weekend long, but Monday was filled with sunshine as four champions were crowned.
For the 2.5 Women’s, Polk County was able to take down Alachua in a back-and-forth match that came down to the final doubles line. In the 2.5 Men’s draw, Alachua County was able to avenge the loss from the ladies to claim their spot at Nationals.
Over in the 4.0 Women’s Alachua found themselves in another finals, but Miami-Dade came out with tons of energy and won the match 4-1. These were all the county’s first ever Sectional Championship in these divisions.
The sole repeat champion occurred in the Men’s 4.0 as Hillsborough won its third consecutive title and fifth overall. They took down Broward County in an insanely close 3-2 match.
The competing teams represented various clubs, parks, recreational departments, and organizations, and finished at the top of their local leagues during the 2022 season to advance to the USTA Florida 18 & Over Sectional Championships.
These champions have qualified for the 2022 USTA League National Championships and will compete in October.
FINAL RESULTS:
Adult 18 & Over 2.5 Women
Final: Polk County (Country Club of Winter Haven) d. Alachua County (DB Racquet Club) 2-1
Championship Match Results:
No. 1 Singles: Catie Kincaid (Polk) d. Anne Engemann 6-0, 6-0
No. 1 Doubles: Jenny Neelands/Melissa Justis (Alachua) d. Amber Smith/Marley McAdams 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 Doubles: Meghan Savant/Leilani Guinn (Polk) d. Sophie Marcoux/Eslie Nero 6-2, 7-5
Polk County Season Roster: Leilani Guinn (Captain), Catie Kincaid, Jessica Fuller, Lauren Young, Meghan Savant, Amber Smith, Marley McAdams, Deanna Murchison, Courtney McCrystal
Adult 18 & Over 2.5 Men
Final: Alachua County (Westside) d. Escambia County 3-0 in round-robin play
Alachua County Season Roster: Aaron Kelley (Captain0, Michael Pierri, David Cianci, Gonzalo Suarez, Stefan Gerber, Richard Madolid, Arash Shad, Reza Khatami, Farshad Kamalinejad
Adult 18 & Over 4.0 Women
Final: Miami-Dade County (Ron Ehmann Tennis Center) d. Alachua County (DB Racquet Club) 4-1
Championship Match Results:
No. 1 Singles: Ivet Hernandez (Miami-Dade) d. Emily Dace 7-5, 7-5
No. 2 Singles: Ali Quintero (Miami-Dade) d. Wheeler Crawford 6-1, 6-1
No. 1 Doubles: Megan Molyneux/Nancy Embree (Alachua) d. Eleasa Thompson/Leslie Stein 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 Doubles: Elizabeth Gonzalez/Alejandra Siller (Miami-Dade) d. Haile Ratliff/Aubrey Hall 6-3, 7-6
No. 3 Doubles: Sandra Bazain/Estefania Lacoa (Miami-Dade) d. Kelly Banes/Rachel Rodriguez 6-3, 1-6, 1-0
Miami-Dade County Season Roster: Estefania Lacoa (Captain), Elizabeth Gonzalez, Angela Jimenez, Claudia Viso, Ali Quintero, Sandra Bazain, Leslie Stein, Carolina Campuzano, Maria Jose Jorquera, Christine Padron, Amy Kanarios, Ileana Gill, Alejandra Siller, Tracey Kealy, Ivet Hernandez, Eleasa Thompson, Melanie Helmer
Adult 18 & Over 4.0 Men
Final: Hillsborough County (HCC Tennis Complex) d. Broward County (Quigley Park) 3-2
Championship Match Results:
No. 1 Singles: Michael Detsis (Hills) d. Ronen Bickel 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 Singles: Carlos Arellano (Broward) d. Javier Espinoza 6-3, 6-4
No. 1 Doubles: Enrique Escobar/Hiren Bhatt (Hills) d. Jonathan Miller/James McLaughlin 6-3, 4-6, 1-0
No. 2 Doubles: Radu Carean/Kevin Phuong Nguyen (Broward) d. Ani Ganesan/Marcus Williams 7-6, 4-1 RET.
No. 3 Doubles: Grant Garlick/Carlos Layrisse (Hills) d. Alex Gregory/Paul Newman 6-2, 7-5
Hillsborough County Season Roster: Joe Orsini (Captain), Enrique Escobar, Carlos Layrisse, Griff McGoldrick, Jeffrey Stern, Michael Detsis, Charles Hayes, Hiren Bhatt, Grant Garlick, Damian Laber, Elvin Vargas, Brian Berling, David Plotkin, Juan Quiroga, Alex Buric, Javier Espinoza, Ani Ganesan, Andres Luigi, Marcus Williams
