State Qualifying 16s and 18s in Chattanooga

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Titles Decided in All But Boys 16s Singles

 

Mention national championship and every serious junior tennis player in Tennessee and across the nation knows that that is the goal and the dream of years of hard work.

 

For the boys (16s, 18s) it's playing at Kalamazoo, Mich. and for the girls its California - Berkeley for the 18s and San Diego for the 16s - as the journey starts with the state qualifying event at the Champions Club in Chattanooga. Then it's the Southern Sectionals in Little Rock, Ark. (18s) and Rome, Ga. (16s) and hopefully a spot in the national draw.

 

Chattanooga area winners today were Will Reynolds in Boys 18s singles and Sarah Evans in 18s singles and doubles (with Misha Testerman, Knoxville) and Chris Schlabach-William Disterdick in Boys 18s.

 

Kaylene Chadwell (Franklin) was also a double winner, capturing Girls 16s singles, followed by a 16s doubles crown with Vicki Garcia (Knoxville).

 

The Boys 16s singles final is set for Tuesday at 10 a.m. between Maxx Lipman and Sean Karl (Brentwood). Lipman-Karl paired to win the Boys 16s doubles.

 

Girls 16s

 

Singles: (1) Kaylene Chadwell (Franklin) defeated (2) Lauren Caballero (Brentwood), 6-2, 6-1, in the finals. Chadwell, who plays for Centennial High School, did not lose a set in five matches and lost a total of nine games.

 

She defeated double partner (3) Vicki Garcia (Knoxville/Webb School), 6-0, 6-1 in this morning's semis.

 

Doubles: (1) Kaylene Chadwell-Vicki Garcia (Franklin/Knoxville) defeated (4) Jeannine Bell-Caballero (Strawberry Plains/Brentwood), 8-4, in the finals. Garcia also won the TSSAA state doubles title (D-II AA) with older sister, Guinn, on May 22 in Murfreesboro.

 

Boys 16s:

 

Singles: Tuesday's 10 a.m. final has (1) Maxx Lipman (Franklin) vs. doubles partner (2) Sean Karl (Brentwood). In the semis, Lipman defeated (3) Harrison Smith and Karl defeated (2) Alex Howard.

 

Lipman, 14, is No. 1 in the South in 14s and No.9 in the 16s.

 

???The competition is much tougher in the 16s and that is why I am playing up an age division,'' said Lipman, who plays at Battleground Academy.

 

???I came prepared to do well in this tournament after playing tough players such as Brandon Fickey (D-II AA state champion from Webb) in the high school playoffs (three times).''

 

He had to rely on that strong competition in May to post a pair of come-from-behind wins in the round of 16 (Cameron Dickerson) and quarterfinals (Brian Carman) on Saturday, losing the first set in both matches.

 

Doubles: (1) Maxx Lipman- Sean Karl defeated (3) Palmer Campbell-Stefan Woog (Nashville/Lakeland), 8-4, in the finals.

 

Girls 18s

 

Singles: (2) Sarah Evans needed a third-set tie breaker to edge (5) Alexa Flynn (Cordova), 6-3, 4-6 (10-3).

 

 

 

 

Evans also needed a a third set tie-breaker to defeat TSSAA D-I AAA state champ Kayla McMurry (Knox. Bearden) in the semis, 6-3, 1-6 (11-9). Evans trailed 9-6 in the tie-breaker before winning the final five points.

 

Doubles: (1) Evans-Misha Testerman (Knoxville) won the title by injury default against (2) Kelly Gray-Hayly Humphreys (Murfreesboro/Memphis).

 

Boys 18s

 

Singles: Fourth time was the charm for Will Reynolds who posted a straight set win against Roger Briggs (Nashville), 6-3, 6-2.

 

???I felt I played at the top of my game as the tournament went on,'' said Reynolds who will play at Georgia in the fall.

 

???This was my fourth final in state qualifying so it was good to win the last one,'' stated Reynolds who previously reached the finals in 14s and 16s as well as 18s last year.

 

???My ground strokes got away from me somewhat today, so I had to really focus and stay on course,'' he said.

 

Briggs is a rising senior at MBA and has sat out most of the past two high school seasons. First, due to an injury at McCallie in 2008 and then sat out this spring after transferring back to MBA.

 

"Having played very few high school matches since my freshman year (at MBA), I am a little behind most of these guys,'' said Briggs who along with Naveen Chadalavada should play one and two singles next year and battle MUS for the state team title (D-II AA).

 

"The heat was pretty tough on me today, but Will played well,'' stated Briggs.

 

Doubles: McCallie teammates (2) Chris Schlabach-William Disterdick (Chattanoooga/Hixson) defeated unseeded Will Carruthers-Cliff Guyton (Memphis), 8-4.

 

16s/18s Results

 

Girls 16s Singles:

 

First: (1) Kaylene Chadwell (Brentwood) d. (2) Lauren Caballeros (, 6-2, 6-1

 

Third: (3) Vicki Garcia (Knoxville) d. (9) Jessica Brumit, 6-2, 6-4

 

Fifth: (Tuesday 8 a.m.) (9) Bronte Goodhue (Chattanooga) vs. (5) Caitlin Casey (Nashville)

 

Girls 16s Doubles:

 

First: (1) Kaylene Chadwell-Vicki Garcia (Franklin/Knoxville) d. (4) Lauren Caballeros-Jeannine Bell (Brentwood/Strawberry Plains), 8-4.

 

Boys 16s Singles:

 

Championship: (Tuesday 10 a.m.) (1) Maxx Lipman (Nashville) vs. (5) Sean Karl (Brentwood)

 

Third: (Tuesday 8 a.m.) (2) Alex Howard (Brentwood) vs. (3) Harrison Smith (Knoxville)

 

 

 

Girls 18s Singles:

 

Championship: (2) Sarah Evans (Chattanooga) d. (5) Alexas Flynn (Cordova), 6-3, 4-6 (10-3)

 

Third: (5) Kayla McMurry (Knoxville) d. (5) Epiphany Turner, 6-3, retired.

 

Fifth: (Tuesday 8 a.m.) (5) Annamarie Herbold (Nashville) vs. (4) Hayly Humphreys (Memphis)

 

Girls 18s Doubles:

 

Championship: (1) Sarah Evans-Misha Testerman (Chattanooga/Knoxville) d. Kelly Gray-Hayly Humphreys (Murfreesboro/Memphis), withdrew, illness.

 

Boys 18s Singles

 

Championship: (1) Will Reynolds (Chattanooga) d. Roger Briggs (Nashville), 6-3, 6-2

 

Third: (9) Steven Young d. (4) Ezekiel Sansing (Memphis), 6-1, 6-3.

 

Fifth: (Tuesday 8 a.m.) Chris Schlabach (Chattanooga) vs. Sawyer Voges (Chattanooga)

 

Boys 18s Doubles:

 

Championship: (2) William Disterdick-Chris Schlabach (Hixson/Chattanooga) d. (unseeded) Will Carruthers-Cliff Guyton (Memphis), 8-4.

 

Kalamazoo: The 2009 national championship for Boys 16s and 18s is August 7-16

 

Three Tennesseans have won singles or doubles national championships - Zan Guerry, Ben Testerman and Tennys Sandgren.

 

Guerry (Lookout Mountain) won the 16s singles (1965) and the 18s doubles with Tony Ortiz (boarding student at Baylor from Puerto Rico) in 1967.

 

Testerman (Knoxville) won the 16s singles in 1978 and the 18s doubles with Scott Davis in 1980.

 

Sandgren (Gallatin) won the 2007 Boys 16s and won his first round match on Sunday in the French Juniors. In an all Tennessee final in 2007, Sandgren defeated Bo Seal (Chattanooga).

 

Brian Gottfried (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was a boarding student at Baylor and won the 18s singles and 18s doubles (Sandy Mayer) in 1970. Tim Wilkison (also known as ''Dr. Dirt'') won the Boys 16s singles and 16s doubles (Murray Robinson) in 1976. Wilkison is from North Carolina and played a 1975 fall schedule at McCallie before turning pro that winter.

 

Speaking of the Roland Garros Junior Championship, Tennessean Brian Baker reached the 2003 singles final as did Ashley Harkleroad in 2002, who grew up in nearby Flintstone, Ga.

 

 

 

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net

 

also posted on chattanoogan.com

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Sandgren in the news today playing in the French Open juniors and practicing with Nadal:

 

http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2009...merican-junior/