2009 Summer Sectional Results

2009 ITA Summer Sectional

“Rain, rain go away!!” That was the mentality most people in Salt Lake City, Utah had during the USTA Intermountain Summer Sectionals this year. The tournament began play on Tuesday, June 9 and continued until Sunday, June 14. Unfortunately, the tournament saw a lot of rain. However, every draw finished and the tournament turned out to be a great success. This has always been USTA Intermountain’s largest junior sanctioned tournament of the year and this year was no different. With over 450 participants that ranged from all over the six states that make up the USTA Intermountain Section, there was a lot of tennis to be played.

All of the players were extremely patient with all of the rain delays and fortunately, the tournament was able to finish. The Boys 18s division finals consisted of a Nevada battle between Las Vegas’ Stan Breland and Henderson’s Evan Song. Third seeded Song had a pretty easy route to the finals, not losing a set until he met fourth seeded Breland for the championship match. It was a close first set, but Breland edged his way to win it 7-5. After that, he had the momentum that helped carry him to a 6-3 win in the second set naming Stan Breland the champion. In the Girls 18s, the top two seeded players met in the finals. Top seeded Alexandra Leatu from Littleton, Colorado went up against second seeded Mary Anne MacFarlane from Ogden, Utah. This is not their first time meeting in the finals of an Intermountain Sectional tournament. They met last October in the Great Pumpkin where it was a three set match. This time around would be no different. Leatu won the first set 7-5 but that was not enough to fend off Macfarlane who won the next two sets 6-3, 6-2.

The Boys and Girls 16s divisions were primarily dominated by a brother and sister from Las Vegas, Nevada. In the boys, fourth seed Kristofer Yee became champion after beating third seed John Pearce from Provo, Utah. Despite Yee having a pretty easy road to the finals by not dropping a set, the finals turned out to be different. Pearce fought hard to win the first set 7-6, but unfortunately could not hold on. Yee went on to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-3. Kristofer’s sister, Kimberly, dominated the girls’ draw by not dropping a set throughout the entire tournament. At only 12 years old and the tenth seed in the tournament, she beat top seed Mariana Gould from Boise, Idaho 6-1, 6-2 in the finals. Kimberly is currently ranked #1 in the country in Girls 12s. She is the only junior player from our Section to have that high of a National Standing.

The Girls 14s division had a very tight finals match against fourth seeded Alexa Brandt and third seeded Erica Valimaki. Brandt, who is from Broomfield, Colorado, ousted Valimaki from Orem, Utah in a close 6-4, 7-6 match. Even though it was only two sets, it was a battle to the very end. Yannik Mahlangu from Henderson, Nevada defeated Hayden Sabatka from Lone Tree, Colorado in the finals of the Boys 14s division. Mahlangu, who was the second seed, only lost a total of 10 games the entire tournament, and those games didn’t come until the semifinals. This is the least amount of games to lose from anyone in the tournament besides the Girls 12s winner, Rebecca Weissmann, who only lost 10 games as well. His match score against top seeded Sabatka was 6-2, 6-3.

Rebecca Weissmann, who was the top seed in the Girls 12s division and from Loveland, Colorado, had a tremendous tournament. As mentioned above, she only lost 10 games total and beat Samantha Martinelli 6-1, 6-1 in the finals. Martinelli, who is from Denver, Colorado, was the only unseeded player in the tournament to reach the finals. In the Boys 12s draw, the seeds were upheld into the finals. Top seed David Mitchell from Castle Rock, Colorado, became champion after defeating second seed Parth Raina from Boise, ID in a close 7-5, 6-4 match.

Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists. The event was a great success, and a special thanks to Robin Wise, the tournament director, the volunteers, officials, USTA staff who helped out with the event, and the host sites for the use of their facilities.

2009 ITA Summer Sectional – Results

Boys 18s
Singles
Stan Breland (4) d. Evan Song (3) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
Casey MacMaster/Chris Cooprider (1) d. Patrick Kawka/Evan Song (3) 6-2, 6-3

Girls 18s
Singles
Mary Anne MacFarlane (2) d. Alexandra Leatu (1) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
Alexandra Leatu/Aubrey Paul (1) d. Mary Anne MacFarlane/Caroline Schnell (2) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4

Boys 16s
Singles
Kristofer Yee (4) d. John Pearce (3) 6-7, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
Brendan Aguilar/Nicholas Mahlangu (3) d. Jeff Vongman/Kristofer Yee (2) 2-6, 7-6, 6-3

Girls 16s
Singles
Kimberly Yee (10) d. Mariana Gould (1) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
Mariana Gould/Kylie Peek (4) d. Rebecca Cleary/Victoire Saperstein 6-2, 6-3

Boys 14s
Singles
Yannik Mahlangu (2) d. Hayden Sabatka (1) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
Yannik Mahlangu/Hayden Sabatka (1) d. Hunter Lacouture/Jesse Rudder-Hook 6-0, 6-1

Girls 14s
Singles
Alexa Brandt (4) d. Erica Valimaki (3) 6-4, 7-6

Doubles
Raquel Lopez/Mira Rudder-Hook (3) d. Jordan Appel/Kelli Woodman 6-4, 6-2

Boys 12s
Singles
David Mitchell (1) d. Parth Raina (2) 7-5, 6-4

Doubles
David Mitchell/William Hobbs (2) d. Dillon Meyer/Parth Raina (4) 2-6, 7-6, 6-1

Girls 12s
Singles
Rebecca Weissmann (1) d. Samantha Martinelli 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
Taylor Calton/Chelsea Crovetti (2) d. Josie Legarza/Whitney Turley (1) 6-2, 6-4