Osuigwe, Damm Lead Florida and US Open Wild Card Winners at USTA National Jr. Hard Courts

Whitney Osuigwe

Florida players won titles or reached finals at five of the eight age-division sites last week when the USTA Girls’ and Boys’ 18s National Hard Court Championships were contested in age groups 18-12 across the U.S.

Five Florida players won six titles, with former world junior No. 1 Whitney Osuigwe of Bradenton claiming the singles and doubles titles (with partner Caty McNally) at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships in San Diego.

The No. 2-seeded Osuigwe in the singles final toppled No. 1 seed Kayla Day of California 7-5, 6-3. In the doubles final with McNally as the No. 1 seeds the pair defeated No. 7 seeds Elli Mandlik (Delray Beach) and Peyton Stearns (Mason, Ohio) 6-4, 6-3.

The 16-year-old Osuigwe with the win earned a main draw wild card at the US Open later this month.

“It’s been a really long week with a lot of matches,” Osuigwe told reporters afterwards. “I’m happy that I could get through it and that I’m playing the US Open.”

Bradenton’s 14-year-old Martin Damm shocked the field as the No. 15 seed at the USTA Boys’ 16s National Championships at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich. The son of former US Open winner Martin Damm in the final upended No. 4 seed Zane Khan 6-2, 7-6(7).

“I thought until 6-2, 5-3, I don’t think I could have played better,” Damm told zootennis.com. “Zane’s been killing every single person he’s faced, so I knew I had to be on my ‘A’ game and when it came that game, I felt calm. I went for a second serve ace, because I wanted to end it, which was really dumb. I went for dumb shots, because I was nervous.”

Naples’ Juncheng Shang provided an even bigger shocker in the USTA Boys’ 14s National Championships in Mobile, Ala., as the No. 33 seed defeating top-seeded Nicholas Heng (Madison, Ala.) in the final 6-3, 6-4.

The No. 4-seeded team of Natalie Block (Plantation, Fla.) and Lara Smejkal (Boca Raton, Fla.) won the doubles title at the USTA Girls’ 14s National Championships in Rome, Ga. In the final they beat the No. 3-seeded team of Vivian Miller (Glencoe, Ill.) and Sanjana Tallamraju (Munster, Ill.) 6-3, 6-3.

A Florida runner-up finish went to unseeded Elaine Chervinsky (Boca Raton), who with partner Madison Sieg (Greenwich, Conn.) lost 6-0, 6-4 in the doubles final of the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s National Championships in San Diego to the No. 17-seeded squad of Lauren Anzalotta (Trujillo Alto, P.R.) and Kylie Collins.

Chervinsky was this year’s girls’ 16s singles winner at the USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” Junior State Singles Championships, while Block was the girls’ 14s winner.

Full division results:

USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships

Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Mich., Aug. 3-12

Singles: (4) Jenson Brooksby (Sacramento, Calif.) d. (3) Brandon Nakashima (San Diego), 6-4 6-3, 6-1
Doubles: (1) Patrick Kypson (Raleigh, N.C.) / Danny Thomas (Pickerington, Ohio) d. (2) Trey Hilderbrand (San Antonio) / Govind Nanda (Cerritos, Calif.), 6-1, 6-3

USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships

Barnes Tennis Center, San Diego, Aug. 3-12

Singles: (2) Whitney Osuigwe (Bradenton, Fla.) d. (1) Kayla Day (Santa Barbara, Calif.), 7-5, 6-3
Doubles: (1) Osuigwe / Caty McNally (Cincinnati) d. (7) Elli Mandlik (Delray Beach, Fla.) / Peyton Stearns (Mason, Ohio), 6-4, 6-3

USTA Boys’ 16s National Championships

Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Mich., Aug. 3-12

Singles: (15) Martin Damm (Bradenton, Fla.) def. (4) Zane Khan (San Antonio), 6-2, 7-6(7)
Doubles: (7) Alex Lee (Oak Brook, Ill.) / Niroop Vallabhaneni (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) d. (1) Keshav Chopra (Marietta, Ga.) / Maxwell McKennon (Newport Beach, Calif.), 3-6, 6-3, 6-0

USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s National Championships

Barnes Tennis Center, San Diego, Aug. 3-12

Singles: (3) Fiona Crawley (San Antonio) d. (4) Allura Zamarripa (St. Helena, Calif.), 6-4 6-0
Doubles: (17) Lauren Anzalotta (Trujillo Alto, P.R.) / Kylie Collins (Savannah, Ga.) d. Elaine Chervinsky (Boca Raton, Fla.) / Madison Sieg (Greenwich, Conn.), 6-0, 6-4

USTA Boys’ 14s National Championships

Mobile Area Tennis Association, Mobile, Ala., Aug. 3-12

Singles: (33) Juncheng Shang (Naples, Fla.) d. (1) Nicholas Heng (Madison, Ala.), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles: (8) Heng / Herrick Thomas Legaspi (Sacramento, Calif.) d. (1) Lucas Brown (Plano, Texas) / Aidan Kim (Milford, Mich.), 6-2, 7-5

USTA Girls’ 14s National Championships

Metro Tennis Associates, Rome, Ga., Aug. 3-12

Singles: (1) Eleana Yu (Mason, Ohio) d. (8) Clervie Ngounoue (Washington, D.C.), 6-3, 6-2
Doubles: (4) Natalie Block (Plantation, Fla.) / Lara Smejkal (Boca Raton, Fla.) d. (3) Vivian Miller (Glencoe, Ill.) / Sanjana Tallamraju (Munster, Ill.), 6-3, 6-3

USTA Boys’ 12s National Championships

Mobile Area Tennis Association, Mobile, Ala., Aug. 3-12

Singles: (1) Rudy Quan (Sacramento, Calif.) d. (5) Dylan Charlap (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), 6-2, 6-1
Doubles: (2) Alexander Razeghi (Humble, Texas) / Cooper Woestendick (Olathe, Kan.) d. (3) Maxwell Exsted (Savage, Minn.) / Quan, 6-4, 6-3

USTA Girls’ 12s National Championships

Windward Lake Club, Alpharetta, Ga., Aug. 3-12

Singles: (4) Natalia Perez (Guaynabo, P.R.) d. (2) Brooklyn Olson (Mission Hills, Kan.), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles: (1) Olson / Perez d. (2) Susanna Maltby (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) / Emma Roeck (Novi, Mich.), 4-6, 6-1, 6-0

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