The USTA Northern California, USTA Florida and USTA Northern Sectional Qualifying Tournaments all completed, with winners advancing to the US Open National Playoffs Championships in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Below are the winners from each event.
USTA Northern California – Chamisal Tennis Club, Salinas, Calif.
MEN’S SINGLES: Victor Pham, 17, of Saratoga, Calif.
— Pham will compete for Columbia University in the fall. His brother also plays for the Lions.
WOMEN’S SINGLES: Paige Cline, 18, of Kentfield, Calif.
— Cline will play for USC in the fall. She was a standout high school player, going undefeated in her 2011 and 2012 seasons before focusing on national tournaments.
MEN’S DOUBLES: Brett Bacharach, 20, of Newcastle, Calif., and Michael Meyer, 34, of Davis, Calif.
— Bacharach is a rising senior at UC Davis, while Meyer is the school’s assistant tennis coach. Bacharach earned All-Big West Conference second team honors in doubles this past season. Meyer played for UC Davis from 1999 to 2003, earning an ITA West Region Rookie of the Year honor and competing in the NCAA Division III Individual Championships.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Yasmin Schnack, 27, of Elk Grove, Calif., and Katsiaryna Zheltova, 26, of Irvine, Calif.
— Schnack won the US Open National Playoffs – Mixed Doubles Championship in 2013 with Eric Roberson after winning the USTA NorCal sectional qualifier. The duo also competed in the USONP mixed doubles championship in 2011. Schnack reached the NCAA doubles final in 2010 for UCLA. As a professional, she peaked at No. 140 in the world in doubles in 2012 after capturing six USTA Pro Circuit/ITF Circuit doubles titles that year (she has won 11 doubles titles overall). Schnack also played World TeamTennis for the Sacramento Capitals and, in 2012, competed in her first Grand Slam match by playing in the women’s doubles draw at Wimbledon with Vania King. Zhetlova, who is from Belarus, played collegiately for Sacramento State, where she received All-America honors.
MIXED DOUBLES: Lester Cook, 31, of Los Angeles, and Ayaka Okuno, 20, of Cupertino, Calif.
— Cook ranked as high as No. 191 in the world in singles in October 2010 and No. 175 in doubles in January 2010. He played in qualifying for the US Open three times (2007, 2009, 2010) and won seven USTA Pro Circuit/ITF-level singles titles and 13 doubles titles. Okuno, who is from Japan, is coached by Redfoo of the music group LMFAO. She peaked at No. 319 in the world in singles and No. 254 in doubles this June. She holds one ITF-level singles title and two doubles titles. In addition, she was a Top 30 junior player, competing in the US Open, Wimbledon and French Open junior events in 2013. From there, she played for one season at the University of Georgia (2012-13) before focusing on pro events.
USTA Florida – Scott Speicher Tennis Center at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
MEN’S SINGLES: Terrell Whitehurst, 19, of Tallahassee, Fla.
— Whitehurst is a rising sophomore at the Florida State University. This past season he played mainly at the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles positions, competing in doubles with his twin brother Terrance.
WOMEN’S SINGLES: Yukako Noi, 21, of Richmond, Va.
— Noi, who is from Japan, last year joined the FSU team as a junior transfer from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was twice named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference first team. She has played in numerous USTA Pro Circuit events and in ITF-level events in Asia.
MEN’S DOUBLES: Ricky Doverspike, 25, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Korey Lovett, 19, of Brevard, N.C.
— Doverspike previously played at the No. 1 position for the University of Alabama and was named All-SEC Second Team his senior year. He won the USTA Southern mixed doubles title last year, but was unable to compete in the US Open National Playoffs – Mixed Doubles Championship. Lovett is a rising sophomore at Alabama, where he was named the ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year this past season.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Lauren Proctor, 18, and Miranda Talbert, 20, both of Bradenton, Fla.
— Proctor, who recently graduated high school, lost in the Tallahassee women’s singles final. But she rebounded to team with Talbert, a rising junior at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, to claim the women’s doubles title.
MIXED DOUBLES: Vahid Mirzadeh, 28, of Wellington, Fla., and Amy Sargeant, 25, of Tallahassee, Fla.
— Mirzadeh and Sargeant both played for FSU. Professionally, the former All-American Mirzadeh ranked as high as No. 169 in doubles in October 2013 and played in the 2004 US Open men’s doubles draw as a wild card with Phillip Simmonds, facing Brian Baker and Rajeev Ram in the first round. Mirzadeh has won seven USTA Pro Circuit/ITF-level doubles titles and owns a tennis academy in Palm Beach, Fla. He was also a Top 30 junior and made three appearances in the junior US Open, where he lost to Andy Murray in the second round in 2004. Mirzadeh also defeated Juan Martin del Potro in a Brazil junior tournament that same year. Sargeant, who is from England, is a former USONP USTA Florida sectional title winner, capturing the women’s singles championship in 2013. She graduated from FSU as the fifth woman in school history to win 30 singles matches in one season, going 30-5 in 2012-13 (her senior year).
USTA Northern – Baseline Tennis Center, Minneapolis
MEN’S SINGLES: Felix Corwin, 19, of Elm Grove, Wis.
— Corwin recently completed his freshman year at the University of Minnesota. He completed his freshman season with a 28-6 singles record and a 25-7 doubles mark, tying for the seventh-most doubles wins in a single season in program history. In high school, Corwin won the Wisconsin state singles title in 2013 and 2014 and was a runner-up as a sophomore in 2012.
WOMEN’S SINGLES: Alexis Nelson, 16, of Saint Paul, Minn.
— Nelson won all three titles at the USTA Northern sectional qualifying tournament—women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She won her first USTA Pro Circuit title last year in doubles with CiCi Bellis at the $10,000 event in Orlando and has ranked No. 1 in the USTA Girls’ 16s National Rankings.
MEN’S DOUBLES: Jackson Allen, 16, of Shakopee, Minn., and Toby Boyer, 19, of Ham Lake, Minn.
— Boyer won the 2015 Minnesota 2A high school state singles title as a senior after playing in the state singles final in 2013 and 2014. Boyer will be attending the University of Nebraska in the fall, where his brother, Dusty, plays tennis. Allen is a rising high school junior, where he helped lead his high school team to the Minnesota state team championship final this year.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Jessie Aney, 17, of Rochester, Minn., and Alexis Nelson, 16, of Saint Paul, Minn.
— Aney and Nelson are best friends and also faced off in the Northern singles final. Aney will play for the University of North Carolina in the fall of 2015. This year, she earned attention for playing on a boys team in the state high school team championships and leading them to the semifinals Aney also earned attention in 2011 when she was the youngest high school singles champion in Minnesota history, when she won the state singles title as an eighth grader.
MIXED DOUBLES: Tony Larson, 31, of Fridley, Minn., and Alexis Nelson, 16, of Saint Paul, Minn.
— Larson is a teaching pro at Lifetime Fitness in Fridley, Minn. Earlier this year, he played in an exhibition with James Blake. Larson won the USTA Northern sectional qualifying men’s singles title in 2010, 2011 and 2013. He was the Minnesota state singles champion in high school before starring at Division II St. Cloud State University with a 48-3 record as the No. 1 singles player.
The winners or top available finishers from each of the 14 sectional qualifying tournaments held throughout the spring and summer advance to the US Open National Playoffs Championships in their respective division (men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, mixed doubles) to be held during the Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies, an Emirates Airline US Open Series women’s event, in August. The US Open National Playoffs men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles champions receive a main draw wild card into the 2015 US Open, while the men’s and women’s singles champions earn a wild card into the US Open Qualifying Tournament held the week prior to the US Open.
Visit www.USOpen.org/NationalPlayoffs for additional information.
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