Americans Claim Top Spots at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Written by Peter Quartuccio
FLUSHING, NY—For the first time in several years, players from the United States finished first in both the Open Singles and Open Doubles division at the 10th Annual Jana Hunsaker Memorial Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in Flushing, Queens. The four day event, which took place between June 10 and June 13, featured athletes from across the globe, including Canada, Turkey, Japan, and perennial tennis power France, but it was the players from the States who reigned supreme, many of whom reaching the top by upsetting favored foreigners. Texas native Stephen Welch turned in a tremendous performance at the tournament. He was seeded 4th in both the Singles and Doubles divisions, but Welch proved to be more than up to the task. His frozen-rope forehands and vicious slices helped him knock off the top seed en route to his Open Singles championship. He and his teammate Anthony Anderson faced similarly long odds in the Open Doubles division, as they were pitted against favored competition throughout. They were undaunted, however, and their victory over the 2nd seeded tandem of Yoshinobu Fujimoto and Masahiro Honma cemented the U.S. sweep. Americans William Eno, Dylan Baggett, and John Frederic shined as well, and each finished first in the Class A, Class B, and Class C Singles divisions, respectively. Not to be outdone, USA’s Emmy Kaiser won the Women’s Open Singles title, and added the finishing touch to a Red, White, and Blue-tinged weekend in Queens.
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