News & Features

by Colette Lewis, 18 October 2024

Special from Zoo Tennis

SPRING, Texas – A warm and sunny week ended with four all-American finals at the International Tennis Federation's J300 Pan American Regional Championships, hosted by the Giammalva Racquet Club.

Sixteen-year-old Jack Kennedy earned his second J300 title, beating Ian Mayew 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, while 17-year-old Maya Iyengar claimed her first title at the J300 level with a three-hour, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Aspen Schuman. Unseeded Jon Gamble and James Weber won the boys doubles title, with No. 6 seeds Alanis Hamilton and Kayla Chung taking the girls doubles championship.

The upsets began early, with 2024 Kalamazoo 16s champion Gus Grumet, a wild card, ousting 2023 Kalamazoo 16s champion and No. 2 seed Cooper Woestendick 6-4, 7-5 in the second round. The top seeds both exited in the quarterfinals, with 16-year-old Jack Secord, the No. 11 seed, defeating Jagger Leach 6-2, 6-2 and No. 6 seed Schuman beating Thea Frodin 6-3, 6-2.

Schuman, a semifinalist at last year's tournament, defeated No. 8 seed Claire An 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals, while No. 5 seed Iyengar had earned a quarterfinal win over No. 3 seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada 6-4, 6-3 and a survived a roller coaster of a semifinal against No. 2 seed Annika Penickova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Iyengar was apprehensive about another long match in the final, but she surprised herself with a third set surge to avenge her previous two losses to Schuman this summer.

After watching a 5-2 lead slip away in the semifinals against Penickova before securing her 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory, Iyengar was again on shaky ground serving for the championship after getting the sole break of the third set at 3-all.

Down 15-40, Iyengar made the decision to trust her first serve, and on her second match point, she ended her drought in finals.

"I think in the third set I served great and that really helped," said the 17-year-old blue chip from Paradise Valley, Arizona, who trains with Jeremy Coll and Vera Leontieva at the Eurotennis Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona. "In that last game, if I'm losing here, I don't think I can make this last push, so I have to serve. And it really helped. I told myself to go for it."

"Maya played great," said Schuman, who defeated Iyengar in two tiebreakers in a June J200 semifinal and 6-3, 7-5 in a J200 final the following week in Mexico. "We've played very competitive matches in the past and I think she played amazing. So credit to her, she definitely earned it today. I tried to get through it by competing, but it wasn't an on day for me."

Iyengar, who had lost her previous three finals appearances this year, was on something of a revenge tour last week, beating No. 9 seed Leena Friedman in the third round and Lagaev in the quarterfinals, after losing to them earlier.

"I hadn't been able to win these matches in a row," said Iyengar, who moved to a career-high ITF junior ranking of 39 with the title. "I'd lost to Nadia, lost to Leena last year. So for it to come together this week, it was really nice to see all the hard work pay off. Everyone told me it would pay off eventually, and I think it's starting to. But there's so much work that needs to be done, which I think is a good thing also. I'm doing well, but there's so much that I can improve."

Schuman was disappointed to fall short in her second ITF J300 final, but having come in with little match play due to a nagging foot injury, she was encouraged by her results.

"I think I'll look back on this week as a great experience," said the 17-year-old from Menlo Park, California. "I'm really glad I was able to play. It gave me a lot of confidence. The three-hour matches, I've won a lot, I've also lost some, so it comes down to a few points each time. You've just got to keep trying and come back for the next one."

A sense of déjà vu accompanied the boys final, with Kennedy and Mayew having met for the title in this March's ITF Regional Championship in San Diego.

Neither had dropped a set heading into the Pan Am final, with Mayew beating Secord 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals, while Kennedy took out No. 8 seed Benjamin Willwerth 6-4, 6-4.

A motivated Mayew had a 5-2 lead in the first set in San Diego, but ended up dropping a 7-5, 7-5 decision to Kennedy in March; in Spring, he secured the first set with a nearly flawless performance, but Kennedy turned the tables quickly in the second set.

"He came out today with pretty much guns blazing," said Kennedy, the 2024 Kalamazoo 18s finalist. "He came out with a lot of energy; he was playing really well, really smart, and I think I came out a little too passive, giving him opportunities to attack."

Kennedy said he knew a more aggressive mindset was required in the second set, and after saving four break points serving at 0-1, he displayed that, while Mayew's effectiveness, especially with his first serve, dropped. In the third set, Mayew had two break points in the first game, but Kennedy held that game and the next service game, as did Mayew.

Kennedy then threw in his worst game of the match, getting broken at love, and Mayew consolidated, making every first serve for a 4-2 lead.

The volley on top of the net that Mayew missed on break point in the next game was a classic tennis player's nightmare.

"It's the ball I wanted, it was the right shot, and if I had to do the point over again, I'd do the exact same thing and take that volley 10 out of 10 times," said Mayew, a 17-year-old from Cary, North Carolina. "It just so happened I missed it, but what can you do? He capitalized on it, didn't let me have it back, so credit to him, really."

"That was just all luck," said Kennedy, of Huntington, New York. "It happens to the best, you see Roger (Federer), you see Novak (Djokovic) doing that, it happens. He played a really good point, and after I took a big sigh of relief, I had some momentum. I told myself he's got to be a little frustrated and a little rattled after he couldn't convert the double break."

Kennedy got a bit more luck in the next game, with a net cord winner at 30-all; Mayew double faulted to give back the break, but found himself with another break point in the next game, only to net a slice backhand. Kennedy held, and serving down 4-5, Mayew led 30-0 in the next game, but couldn't take either of his game points. He double faulted at the second deuce and then missed into the net to deliver the title to Kennedy.

"From 30-all, I think maybe he got a little nervous," said Kennedy, who returned to the ITF top 30 with the title. "It's tough serving down to stay in the match. He started really well that game, but the moment got to him and it's tough."

Mayew said it was just a point here and there that decided the title.

"It could have gone either way again," said Mayew, who has committed to North Carolina for the fall of 2025. "But it just slipped away from me in that third set. We both had our chances and it's not like one of us outplayed the other. It just came down to the wire and he was a few points better."

Kennedy said he didn't expect he would have the success he enjoyed this year, with two J300 titles and the Kalamazoo 18s final.

"It's crazy to think about; only at 16, I never thought this was going to happen," Kennedy said. "But obviously with the work I'm putting in with coach Greg (Lumpkin) in New York and coach Jose (Caballeros) from USTA, we've had a really good year and are happy with what I've achieved. But as we like to say, we're not satisfied yet."

Boys doubles champions Gamble and Weber were playing in only their second J300, but a J100 title in South Africa early last month and a semifinal showing at the rain-shortened J300 in South Africa in late September bolstered their confidence.

After beating three seeded teams, including both the 2023 doubles finalists and the 2023 champions, to reach the final, Gamble and Weber broke open a tight match with No. 8 seeds Calvin Baierl and Joseph Oyebog Jr. and held on for a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory.

After saving three match points in their 7-6(5), 3-6, 13-11 semifinal win over 2023 Pan Am champions Leach and Matisse Farzam, Gamble and Weber were not rattled when Baierl served for the first set at 6-5. Baierl, who had not lost a point on serve in the match, led 30-0 in that game. After dropping three straight points, Baierl and Oyebog did get to a deciding set point, but Baierl double faulted and the subsequent tiebreaker was all Gamble and Weber.

"It was a momentum shift," said Weber, an 18-year-old from Georgia. "They made a mistake on one of the points and we were able to capitalize on that. After that, they weren't as loud, we were firing ourselves up, and they were getting quieter."

In the second set, they finally were able to break Oyebog at 3-all. After holds by Gamble and Baierl, Weber served for the championship at 5-4, but at 40-15, he and Gamble each missed a volley to bring up a deciding point. Weber hit a good first serve and Baierl blistered his return down the line, but it missed just wide according to Gamble and the chair umpire.

Gamble said he sensed this result coming after their semifinal in South Africa.

"We kind of got robbed of that one," said the 17-year-old from Las Vegas, who has won nine ITF Junior Circuit doubles titles. "I feel we were really syncing well that week and I told him, 'let's go get the one in Texas.’"

Girls doubles champions Hamilton and Chung shared Kennedy's accomplishments at both Regional Championships, as they too won a title at March's ITF J300 in San Diego.

After beating top seeds Iyengar and Schuman 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, No. 6 seeds Hamilton and Chung faced No. 2 seeds An and Shannon Lam in the final, earning a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory.

An and Hamilton had partnered to reach the final at the 2023 Pan Am, so playing against her friend was an unusual circumstance for Hamilton.

"We're honestly just having fun," said Hamilton, a 17-year-old from Arkansas who will be joining the University of North Carolina in January. "I could tell. We were both excited to meet in the finals because we'd both defended our points. I haven't played her in doubles in three years, so we both wanted to see what it was like to be on the other side, and I think it was really fun."

Chung and Hamilton, who won the bronze ball this year at the USTA National 18s in San Diego, did not lose a set all week, with their comfort at the net giving them an advantage.

"After the San Diego ITF and the Hard Courts, we knew coming in that we had a great chance of coming out on top," said the 17-year-old Chung, who, like Gamble, now has nine ITF doubles titles.

"I feel like the way we play, a lot of teams aren't used to seeing people at the net, so it gives us a huge advantage, an element of surprise," Hamilton said.

The first set featured just two breaks, with Lam and An taking a 4-2 lead, but dropping the next game. Chung held on to a deciding point for 4-all, with the next four games service holds. The tiebreaker featured three double faults by An and Lam, giving Hamilton and Chung all the margin they needed.

Chung and Hamilton got an early break in the second set and held it, with Chung coming from 15-40 down at 3-1 to hold. At 2-5, An saved three match points with some big serving, and Chung was broken in the next game to get the set back on serve. But with Lam serving, she and An fell behind 15-40, and although they saved a fourth match point, Chung and Hamilton converted the fifth to run their winning streak on the ITF Junior Circuit to eight matches.

Tournament director Victor Pinones said he is looking forward to continuing to host the tournament every fall, after stepping in at the last minute in 2023.

"I think we got better from last year, everything was smoother, we planned better," said Pinones, who is president and owner of the Giammalva Racquet Club in suburban Houston. "We had more time to prepare in contrast to last year. Our goal is to make this the home of the Pan American for the next 20 years, as long as I'm alive, or at least have the club. That's the goal for the future."

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About Colette Lewis

Colette Lewis has covered topflight U.S. and international junior events as a freelance journalist for over a decade. Her work has appeared in Tennis magazine, the Tennis Championships magazine and the US Open program. Lewis is active on Twitter, and she writes a weekly column right here at TennisRecruiting.net. She was named Junior Tennis Champion for 2016 by Tennis Industry Magazine.

Lewis, based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has seen every National Championship final played since 1977, and her work on the tournament's ustaboys.com website led her to establish ZooTennis, where she comments on junior and college tennis daily.