2012 U.S. Open National Playoffs Continue and Roll Into New York Next Week
The USTA Mid-Atlantic Sectional Qualifying Tournament of the 2012 U.S. Open National Playoffs was completed this week in College Park, Md. The USTA Eastern Sectional Qualifying Tournament will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center—the home of the U.S. Open in Flushing, N.Y., next week from June 11-16.
The men’s singles final featured a matchup of young collegiate coaches, with Washington D.C.’s Matt Brooklyn, the men’s and women’s assistant tennis coach at Georgetown University, defeating Pjotrs Necajevs of Oak Park, Mich., the women’s tennis head coach for the University of Detroit Mercy, 6-4, 7-6(5). The 24-year-old Brooklyn had a tougher road to the final than Necajevs, with both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches extending to three sets. Brooklyn trailed, 0-6, 1-4, in his quarterfinal match to defending Mid-Atlantic sectional qualifier champion Damon Gooch of Bethesda, Md., and was seemingly on his way out of the tournament before he turned the match around to escape defeat. Necajevs, on the other hand, did not drop a set in his five matches leading up to the final.
Brooklyn, born and raised in London, recently finished his first year of coaching at Georgetown. Before his coaching career, he played at Arizona State for two years and transferred to UCLA for the 2008-2009 season when the program at Arizona State was dropped. At UCLA, Brooklyn was ranked as high as 29th in the ITA singles rankings.
Necajevs, originally from Latvia, rebounded to win the mixed doubles title with 14-year-old Sophia Abelson. The Michigan pair defeated Greg Chambers & Lyndall Jordan from Maryland, 6-2, 6-1. Necajevs has served as Abelson’s personal coach for the past nine months and entered them in mixed doubles as a learning experience for his student. He was also a standout player at Detroit Mercy, where he was a two-year letter winner and two-time Horizon League Player of the Year. Necajevs was named the head women’s tennis coach for his alma mater in January. Abelson lives in Bloomfield, Mich., and plays in junior tournaments all over the country.
In the women’s final, the number one seed from Russia, Nika Kukharchuk, overpowered Monet Willis from Philadelphia, 6-0, 6-0. Kukharchuk is currently 668th in the WTA rankings and works as a teaching pro at Hardscrabble Club in Brewster, N.Y. She played for the University of Mississippi and was ranked as high as three in the Russia junior rankings. Off the court, Kukharchuk received a bachelor’s degree in finance at age 20 and her MBA at 21. Both of her parents are music teachers.
An inspiring story in the Mid-Atlantic sectional qualifier includes Cameroon native Tita Mba, who now lives in Lanham, Md., and reached the quarterfinals in College Park. Mba helps his uncle Joseph Oyebog raise money for the Oyebog Tennis Academy in Cameroon. Oyebog, a former men’s professional tennis player, founded the academy in 1999 to provide underprivileged youth in Cameroon, Africa, the opportunity to prosper through tennis. Since its inception, more than 5,000 children have been introduced to tennis through Oyebog’s cost-free programs. When kids are ages 16 to 18, they can apply for scholarships in the U.S.; there are currently 20 Oyebog Tennis Academy kids playing college tennis in the U.S. Mba currently plays Division I tennis for St. Francis College in New York.
The winners or top available finishers from each of the 13 sectional qualifying tournaments held throughout the spring and summer advance to the US Open National Playoffs–Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles Championships, to be held during the New Haven Open at Yale, an Emirates Airline US Open Series women’s event, in August. The U.S. Open National Playoffs mixed-doubles champions receive a main draw wild card into the 2012 US Open, while the men’s and women’s singles champions earn a wild card into the US Open Qualifying Tournament held the week prior to the US Open.
