Thank you to all the participants and parents of the Picket Post/Just Tennis Spring Classic Tournament! It featured great rallies, a great turnout, and some of the best weather of the year so far. It’s funny, the previous weekend my feet were numb, I was wearing a jacket, and I could see my breath as I ran a 15K race in Philadelphia. This weekend, I walked away from the tournament with sunburn and a wicked farmers tan.
Overall, we had 13 participants in the Boys 10 singles, 3 participants in the Boys 8 singles, 4 participants in the Girls 10 singles, and 5 doubles teams (10 players) in the Boys 10 doubles. Needless to say, getting this all completed in one day was an impressive accomplishment. As you can see by the picture to the right, I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to get all the matches in.
Boys 8U Players Nate and Travis
Boys 8 Singles: We started things off on the 36 foot court with some 8 and under singles action. Travis, Jamie and Zach all had some great rallies, and a special thanks to our high school helper, Joe, for helping them with the scorekeeping. In the end, Zach was the steadiest of the 3, taking balls on the rise and forcing errors from his opponents, and earning the 8 and under singles win. Great job guys!
Some Girls 10 Singles Action
Girls 10 Singles: We had 4 participants, so we featured a round robin format for this event. All the girls were steady, patient, and consistent. I saw some great point construction in these matches, which is really what 10 and under tennis is all about. Giving kids the ability to construct points, sense patterns, and treat tennis more like a fun, physical chess match as opposed to a game where you hit one ball, it loops over the opponents head, and the match is over. Hannah and Jocelyn played very well, but in the end, Sophie emerged victorious with Allison earning second place honors. Great job girls!
Boys 10 Doubles L-R: Rohit (Champion), Hayden (Champion), Abhiraj (Runner Up), and Abhineet (Runner Up
Boys 10 Doubles: I always love watching good doubles. As an instructor, I teach a lot of doubles positioning, shifting, and strategy and its fun to see how kids under the age of 10 implement these strategies into their own doubles. For a lot of them, I saw some great court instincts! In the end, Hayden and Rohit defeated the twins, Abhineet and Abhiraj in a fun match. Hayden kept the twins from attacking by hitting deep volleys, and Rohit ended things with a huge ace, solidifying the win for this duo. Here they are looking happy about the result!
Boys 10 Singles: This was by far the biggest event of the tournament, with 13 participants from all over Southeastern Pennsylvania. This event featured a compass draw, ensuring that all participants get to play at least 2 matches. In the first round, the highlight match was Abhineet’s 3 set win over Gavin. In this match, both players weren’t afraid to take big swings, play smart, and set points up.
Andrei Bogdan and Abhiraj Srivastava were thoroughly dominant on their respective ways to the boys finals. They both proved to be master 10 and under point constructors, moving the ball around, recovering, staying steady, attacking short balls, and even throwing in a few drop shots! In the semifinals, Abhiraj battled Jack Balcer in a match which featured some very close points to get to the finals, while Andrei Bogdan took out Darren Brady.
Boys 10 Singles Finalists: Abhiraj and Andrei
As the sun started to set at Picket Post Swim and Tennis Club, Abhiraj and Andrei battled it out in an extremely close, 3 set match for the title. Abhiraj won the first set in a back and forth tiebreaker featuring many long rallies. Andrei then took the second and third sets, resulting in a come from behind 4-5, 4-2, 7-3 win, earning him the boys 10 and under title. This was a great finals. Both boys were totally engaged in the match, digging deep, and playing some long, exhausting points. You could tell they both really wanted to win it.
The thing I noticed the most in this match was the recovery. Abhiraj was consistent and always quick to get back into position, making him nearly impossible to pass. Andrei had big topspin groundstrokes, and he used them to set up points and move Abhiraj around.
As the match ended, Andrei excitedly yelled “wait, did I just win the match?!?!” As I said yes, he was filled with nothing but genuine excitement (and exhaustion of course, after an 8 hour day). Here he is celebrating with his Mom.
Andrei celebrating after his big win in the B10 finals
Although there were only 5 winners of the tournament today, a special mention goes out to everyone who participated. Tennis is a reflection of your personality, and everyone brought their own unique tennis traits to the court this day. Some were quiet, stoic and consistent, while others wore their emotions on their sleeves out there and put on a show. Some took risks out there, while others stayed steady and waited for their opponents to make the mistakes.
Special mentions: There was great play in all divisions. Jack showed a lot of heart out there, coming back from a deficit to earn some hard fought games off of Abhiraj in the semifinals. Darren showed some great stamina and a genuine love for tennis. He stayed at the tournament for nearly 8 hours and even after he lost, all he wanted to do was hit with anyone who was available. Nate, Travis and Sebastien did a great job in their first USTA tournaments, and Christian and Jamie showed great potential out there.
Parents catching some action in the Picket Post gazebo
Also, special thanks to the parents with being so flexible with everything. One day tournaments with multiple draws, brackets, and age groups can be a logistical juggling session, and you all were very open minded and had the right attitude about the tournament. It’s all about having fun and developing a love for the game.
I hope you all had a fun, positive experience out there on the court. Looking forward to the next tournament in June! Until then, keep playing tennis 🙂
