Boyajian Wins Boys 16s Singles Championship; Britton and Buchanan Take Doubles Title

©Colette Lewis 2006
Palm Springs, CA--

Second seed Brennan Boyajian's 6-4, 6-2 win over top seed Ryan Thacher in the 16s USTA Easter Bowl Championship wasn't pretty; the 30 mph winds assured that. But Boyajian wasn't flustered as the winds blustered, and instead used his experience with similarly trying conditions to capture his first gold ball in singles, adding to the three he's won in doubles.

"I'm from Florida, and during hurricane season it is so windy," said the sixteen-year-old righthander from Weston. "There's tropical storms and everything, but we still play the tournaments on those weekends, so it's an advantage for Florida kids, I think."

Boyajian was as placid as the winds were violent, and his composure was evident in the first set, when he was serving at 4-2, trying to hold on to the break he'd gotten in the previous game. At 15-40, Thacher hit a short defensive ball that barely cleared the net, and while Boyajian was waiting for the easy put-away, the wind carried the ball back over onto Thacher's side. Boyajian didn't panic, and deftly avoided the net while reaching over it to gently tap the ball into the court, eventually winning the game.

Despite never having competed on a stage quite as big as the Easter Bowl finals, Boyajian showed no signs of nerves.

"I went in having nothing to lose, really" Boyajian said. "Having gotten to the finals, I just went out and played."

Thacher, who like Boyajian had reached the final without dropping a set, could not out-steady Boyajian and Thacher's usually solid volleys were not finding the court.

"He dealt with the wind better than I did," the sixteen-year-old lefthander admitted. "He stayed more patient, made more shots and fewer errors."


Boyajian's shot selection was also flawless, never going for more than the wind or Thacher would let him have. His ability to break the big-serving six-foot-three-inch Thacher with regularity was another key; by the time Thacher was broken the final time, to end the match he had held his serve only once in the second set.

"I knew I was going to have a tough match," said Thacher, from Studio City, California. "He just played a stronger brand of tennis today."


The boys doubles finals were played later in the afternoon, when the chilly winds had diminished from ridiculous to annoying. The fourth seeded team of Devin Britton and Chase Buchanan needed nine match points, but they finally took the title over the third seeded team of Ryan Noble and James Seal 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

"We played pretty well," said Britton, 15. "It was windy, so it wasn't incredible, but we did pretty well."

"They're real smart," the fourteen-year-old Buchanan said of Noble and Seal. "Where they hit the ball and where they return, their I formations."

Most of those skills were evident when Buchanan was serving for the match at 5-3. Up 40-0, the match certainly looked to be over, but Noble and Seal fought back and when the dramatic six deuce game finally ended, they had staved off seven match points.

That effort was for naught as in the next game, Seal went down 0-40 on his serve, and although he and Noble saved one more, Britton and Buchanan converted the next for the championship.

For the complete draws of the singles and doubles, see usta.com.