USTA Eastern Metro Region Update: November/December 2022

November 24, 2022 | By Press Release
The champions and finalists at the 2022 USTA Eastern Adaptive Sectional Championship pose for a photo after the event.

 

Metro Region Hosts USTA Eastern Adaptive Sectional Championship

On a bright, sunny fall afternoon in New York, Nicholas Kirkwood and Steven Mingo captured USTA Eastern’s second annual Adaptive Sectional Championship, held October 9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens. 

“I think [I feel] speechless,” Kirkwood said after claiming the championship point.

The tournament was contested in a unified doubles format, which means that one player with an intellectual disability competes alongside another player without one. Mingo, a member of the Metro Region Council, said that although he and Kirkwood had never previously played or practiced together, they immediately clicked as partners, which was key to their overall success. He noted that Kirkwood was particularly receptive to his advice and that the pair served consistently throughout the day. And of course, the fact that Kirkwood produced some SportsCenter Top 10 shots at critical moments during the competition didn’t hurt either.

“We were playing in a tiebreaker in our second match, and we had a match point at 6-5,” Mingo recalled. “Nick hit a wicked backhand cross court for a winner! We jumped for joy as we claimed victory!”

That wasn’t the only close battle of the day. Tournament Director Mark McIntyre said that tiebreakers were a recurring theme as all the players in the draw brought out their absolute best while competing at the same location where Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek lifted their first US Open trophies just months earlier.

“Overall, competitiveness was a highlight,” McIntyre said. “I think the athletes started the matches just being happy to play. As they got accustomed to the locale, I noticed that the level started to rise. There were some astonishing points that had the players and crowd going wild. Some great bang-bang reaction shots at the net. Once they started to see how well they were performing under pressure, the athletes got much more serious about the competitive side.”

Indeed, the matches became so competitive that they even drew some outside spectators.

“There were two guys on a nearby court playing in some sort of corporate league match,” McIntyre said. “Our players were pretty loud. And when I saw these two guys stop playing and walk to our court, I thought they were coming over to complain. But they just started to watch. And they stayed a long time before they went back to their own court to continue their match. They were all smiles.”

It’s the same reaction McIntyre has experienced each time he has run the event—and why he hopes to continue to organize it for many years to come.

“One word: joy,” he said. “These athletes, through no fault of their own, are born with such disadvantages. The opportunity to play a sport, practice and then get to a tournament like this provides them with unmitigated, raw joy. And such joy is infectious.”

For Mingo—who was named USTA Eastern’s Clinician of the Year earlier in March—participating in such a joyful event ultimately has given him the confidence to expand his coaching efforts to also include adaptive students.

“I was always nervous about how adaptive players might receive my coaching,” he said. “After partnering up with Nick, it’s made me comfortable and ready to start working with the adaptive community. I want to encourage every coach to step into this space.”

The pair—along with finalists Jeremy Arellano and Jake Levine—will now head down to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida in November to represent the section at the national event.

USTA Eastern hosts several adaptive training sessions for coaches throughout the year. Interested in attending? Email David Williams at williams@eastern.usta.com


USTA Eastern Offers Corporate Leagues

USTA Eastern is developing a Corporate League program. Interested in starting a league at your place of employment, or know a business or organization that might be interested in offering tennis to its employees? Contact Monica LaMura at lamura@eastern.usta.com so we can get the (tennis) ball rolling.


Columbia University Wins USTA Eastern’s Tennis On Campus Sectionals

For the first time since 2017, a Columbia University team (pictured) lifted the championship trophy at USTA Eastern’s Tennis on Campus (TOC) Sectional Championships, held September 17 on the tennis courts at SUNY Cortland in Cortland, N.Y. Columbia now automatically advances to the National TOC tournament, which will be held in spring 2023 in Surprise, Arizona. Runner-up Fordham—another NYC-based contingent—also earned a spot at Nationals due to their success at the event.

“It felt great [to win],” Columbia captain Alexander Nielsen said after the victory. “We were all really happy. In a tournament with 16 good teams, coming in first place is a significant accomplishment, and we all felt very satisfied.”

Nielsen noted that the Columbia squad is composed of a number of former top junior athletes, and that receiving the opportunity to compete against quality clubs from across the area really motivated all of them to bring out their best tennis on the day. 

“I caught one point where [my teammate] Ava moved the opponent around the court, stepped in with a forehand approach cross-court, and finished the point with a clean inside-out forehand swinging volley,” he said. “I was very impressed that she could play like that after so much time away from competitive tennis!”

Fordham produced the biggest upset of the day, taking out top seed Cornell in the semifinals to score the club’s best-ever finish at the event. Cornell had claimed the last two USTA Eastern TOC Sectional titles in a row and 13 of the last 15, dating back to 2005.  Fordham captain Emily Pallaki said their success ultimately came down to teamwork.

“We were constantly pumping each other up during matches,” she said. “Every game counts [for TOC scoring], which truly enforces the team aspect. So working together and keeping each other positive played an essential role in our second place finish.”

And while Pallaki noted that advancing to the final over such a high-caliber opponent as Cornell was without a doubt a major highlight of the tournament, she was most excited about finally getting the chance to travel to and compete at the National Championship in Surprise.

“I started playing on my club team freshman year [which] was the first time Fordham Club Tennis qualified for Nationals,” she said. “I remember being on that team and thrilled that we had qualified and subsequently disappointed when everything was canceled due to the pandemic. Now I am president of the club and a senior, and once again, we have qualified.”

Nielsen, too, had the same experience as a freshman on the Columbia club team in 2019. He echoed Pallaki’s sentiments and was also looking forward to sharing another fun, challenging experience with the friends he’s made over the years through club tennis.

“When I first came to Columbia, I was initially hoping to play on the varsity team because I wanted to keep taking tennis very seriously,” he said. “When I didn’t get on the team, the next step was to join club tennis. Club tennis offers something for everyone, because you can decide how serious and committed you want to be, and the environment is always social and laid back. But I’m very happy to be able to compete at Sectionals and now Nationals, because it offers a huge challenge that allows me to tap into my competitive side.”

 
 

Press Release
Centercourt
USTA NTC

January/February 2024 Digital Edition