Championship Week
Nathan Han Wins USTA Boys 14 Nationals
by James Hill, 12 August 2015
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SAN ANTONIO - Nathan Han is now the proud owner of a USTA Gold Ball.
The Tulsa, Okla., resident captured the coveted top singles prize of the
USTA Boys 14 National Championships Aug. 8 at McFarlin Tennis Center. The fourth-seeded Han beat No. 5
Ronan Jachuck of Boca Raton, Fla. 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in a two-and-a-half hour battle in the San Antonio heat.
"Obviously, it's exciting," said Han, on winning the Gold Ball. "I will keep it as a memory when I grow up. My serve helped me a lot in the tournament. I have been trying to hit bigger lately, and it really set up some points."
Han used his effective serve to control the first set of the championship tilt. But Jachuck utilized sweeping volleys to overcome that serve in the second set. The third stanza was a doozie, with the score tied at 4-all. Han took a 5-4 lead on his serve, but Jachuck would not give in. Down by a score of 15-40, with two match points looming, Jachuck held serve to once again even things up. Han won the next game, and Jachuck again fought back. But Han prevailed to win the first title of his young career.
"He was dictating the first set," said Jachuck of his opponent. "I just tried to play more aggressively. It's a national championship, so you have to fight for every point."
The day before, Jachuck won his first Gold Ball in the doubles championship. Jachuck and Nicholas Garcia of Hollywood, Fla., the tournament's No. 5 seeds, came from behind to defeat the No. 11 team of Jacob Bullard (Calabasas, Calif.) and Alan Yim (Bellevue, Wash.) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. It marked the first time Jachuck and Garcia played together in a tournament.
"My partner helped me a lot," said Garcia, who won a Gold Ball at the 2014 USTA Team Nationals. "We were able to serve really well, and we were broken only once or twice. We also waited for the other guys to break mentally."
Jachuck and Garcia call the USTA Training Center in Boca Raton as the main site where they sharpen their skills. Additionally, Jachuck trains at Sly Black's High Performance Academy. Jachuck and his family moved from Albany, N.Y., to benefit from the high-level training offered in Boca Raton.
In the course of the tournament, the hard-hitting Han beat No. 16 Thomas Yu of Medina, Wash., 6-3, 6-3, in the quarterfinals. Han then outfought Bullard, seeded 17th, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in the semifinals.
