Tien Earns Second Straight Kalamazoo 18s Title; Third Time's the Charm for Cooper Woestendick in 16s; Ngounoue Claims Girls 18s Title, US Open Wild Card

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Kalamazoo MI--

Learner Tien extended his own winning streak in the USTA National 18s Championships and ended that of the Svajda family Sunday afternoon at Stowe Stadium. The 17-year-old left-hander from Irvine California claimed his second straight title and another US Open men's main draw wild card defeating Trevor Svajda 6-0, 6-4, 6-4.

The tenth-seeded Svajda, the brother of 2019 and 2021 18s champion Zachary Svajda, didn't have the experience of Tien, who in addition to his title last year in Kalamazoo, also reached the Australian Open boys final in January and the semifinal of Roland Garros in June. 

That showed in the opening set, when Svajda struggled after dropping the opening game on his serve, after several deuces.

In a best-of-five set match, the first game of the match is rarely significant, but Tien said he drew an important conclusion from it.

"I was trying to make him really work for points," said Tien. "I won't go really into too much detail, but in the first game, I broke him after two deuces and he hit six winners that game, I think. So I was trying to make him really earn his points, not giving him free points. In such a long match, if his only way winning points was hitting winners, it would be tough for him to win."

Svajda had game points in all three of his service games in the opening set, but Tien was able to use a combination of defense and offense, extended rallies on key points, often resulting in an error from Svajda. 

"Yeah, he destroyed me in the first set," said Svajda, a 17-year-old from San Diego. "I thought I was pretty close in the games on my serve, I think it was deuce in those games, but on game points, I think I was really tight."

Svajda relaxed in the second set, and although he dropped the first game on serve again, he dug in, broke back and held for 2-1. Tien continued to keep the pressure on Svajda serve however, and he got another break for a 4-2 lead and held his next three service games to take the second set 6-4.

Down two sets, Svajda faced the nearly impossible task of taking the next three from the defending champion, who was determined not to let the match get away from him, as he nearly did last year against Ethan Quinn.

"I was able to close it out without letting it really slip like last year, when I had match points and lost the set," said Tien. "This year was a little bit more straightforward, still a tough match, still had some moments when there was some uncertainty, especially in the third."

Up 3-1 in the third set, Tien lost his break, but Svajda couldn't take advantage of the lapse, losing the next game to fall behind again. Tien lost his next service game to make it 4-all, but Svajda put an end to any possible repeat of Tien's hiccup in 2022 by losing his next service game after leading 40-0.

The Stowe Stadium crowd, who was was torn between the familiar and popular defending champion, who they had seen compete last year, and the underdog with the family connection, who they were watching for the first time, might have wanted to see more tennis, but Tien was not interested in any of the drama that he had endured last year, closing out the match, fittingly with a forehand winner, on his first match point.

Tien said that even if he had dropped the third again, he was more secure than he had been in 2022.

"I was able to use my experience from last year, having played two three-out-of-five matches, and that gave me a little more confidence that if it went the distance, I would probably have the edge," Tien said. "It's weird saying, because I've only played two of them, but I think I had a little more faith in myself that I'd be able to last in a longer match and I think that really helped."

Svajda said he knew better than to think about the mountain to climb, and focused instead on winning points and games, but Tien made that difficult.

"I wasn't playing the best, my forehand and backhand line was missing a lot today, and it just felt off," said Svajda, who receives a US Open men's qualifying wild card and a US Open junior wild card as the 18s finalist. "It was a tough one, because he was just staying solid; he really didn't have any bad games."

Tien, who also received the Allen B. Stowe Sportsmanship award, signed dozens and dozens of autographs after the match and had his first blueberries and cream of the tournament, after vowing to avoid indulging until he was finished playing. 

He now heads back to New York, armed with a different perspective on playing in the main draw of the US Open.

"I'll be more familiar with the place, with the setting," said Tien, who lost to No. 32 seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round. "Last year I was in awe of everything once I got there. It was just my second grand slam, my first men's grand slam and it was an eye-opening experience for me last year. I got sick last year as well, so I'm going to try to keep myself a little more healthy."

Tien, who is coached by Eric Diaz of Tier 1 Performance in Newport Beach, will return to Irvine and take a few days off before heading to New York.

Tien, the fourth player this century to repeat at 18s champion, reflected on his performance in Kalamazoo since losing in the round of 16 as the No. 3 seed at the 2021 16s division here.

"It does feel like a long time ago, which it kind of is and kind of isn't," said Tien, who won the Feed-in consolation title that year, so has now won 19 straight matches at Kalamazoo. "Tournaments like that, where I think I underperformed, were necessary for me. They were stepping stones; I wouldn't have started putting in the extra effort, extra time, if I hadn't had disappointing tournaments like that; they were essential for me to reach this point."

Cooper Woestendick put his ego on the line this year, returning to the 16s division at Kalamazoo for a third time after finishing third as a 14-year-old in 2021 and losing in three sets in the quarterfinals last year to eventual champion Darwin Blanch.

The No. 2 seed had a nightmare of a start in Sunday's final, going down 3-0 and 4-1 to No. 27 seed Lachlan Gaskell, but he fought his way through to claim a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

"Definitely the nerves were there at the very beginning," said the 16-year-old from Olathe Kansas. "I think we both actually played tight, it wasn't just me, but I just wasn't playing my best tennis. Mixed with the nerves, and with the breeze, it's not a good combination, so I just kind of won ugly."

Woestendick was in danger of going down 4-0 in the first set, but managed to save three break points, which kept the possibility of a comeback viable. 

"That was huge," said Woestendick, who receives a main draw wild card for the US Open Junior Championships with the title. "I was so furious with myself, but I told myself I needed that game. I knew if I could fight enough, I could still win playing not my best tennis. Even though I didn't get the next game, I knew if I could keep fighting, I could get it back."

With Gaskell serving at 4-2, Woestendick began to raise his level, while Gaskell won only one point in his next two service games. Serving at 5-4, Woestendick began to get a rhythm on his serve, and with a backhand winner, converted his first set point.

"I didn't serve well in the beginning, my toss was all over the place, with the wind," said Woestendick, who double faulted five times in the first set. "And honestly, the nerves impact the serve a lot, being tight in the legs and the arm, so once I became free, I started serving a little better."

Woestendick won seven games in a row, going up 2-0 in the second set, and although Gaskell showed signs of staying with Woestendick by holding his next two service games, he lost his serve at love in the seventh game and Woestendick held for the title.

Gaskell said the fatigue he felt from his previous four matches, three of which went three sets, was too much to overcome in the final.

"I was feeling pretty tired today after three huge matches," said the 16-year-old left-hander from Delray Beach Florida, who defeated the No. 9, No. 5 and No. 6 seeds in three sets. "Honestly, I was just too tired, and I just wanted to make it not look bad. If he played solid, like he did, he had it. He deserved it. Even if I was on top of my game, he probably still would have had it. He was definitely the best player I've played in this tournament."

Last year, Woestendick and partner Mitchell Lee won the 16s doubles title, which was played indoors, so he was happy to win the elusive 16s singles title outdoors, in front of a large crowd on Acker Court at Stowe Stadium.

"I'm really happy I won this tournament," said Woestendick, who didn't drop a set in his seven victories. "I would say I was a pretty decent favorite in every match I played. And that's exactly why I played this tournament, so I could have that pressure on me. I wanted the pressure, and I handled it pretty well. Today I didn't handle it great, but that's what I came here to do, to win these matches that I should win, so I'm very happy with that."

Woestendick's win ends a streak of four consecutive left-handed 16s champions; he is the first right-hander to take the 16s title since Brandon Nakashima in 2017.

The feed-in championships were held this morning at Stowe Stadium, with Ian Mayew taking fifth place in the 16s with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Drew Fishback.  Matthew Forbes won the battle of Raleigh North Carolina, beating Williams Manning 2-6, 7-5, 10-6. 

Jagger Leach took third place in the 16s, beating Noah Johnston 6-3, 6-3. The third place match in the 18s was not played, with Cooper Williams giving a walkover to Nishesh Basavareddy, who takes the bronze ball.

Third place in 16s doubles went to Mayew and Oliver Narbut via walkover from Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy.

Third place in 18s doubles was awarded to Nicholas Godsick and Aidan Kim, when Williams and Tien opted not to play the match.

The Bobby Kaplan Sportsmanship award for 16s went to Jack Kennedy.

In the wheelchair round robin competition played Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Stowe Stadium, Casey Ratzlaff took first place.

The complete draws can be found here.

The top seed in USTA Girls 18s Nationals also prevailed in San Diego, with Clervie Ngounoue, the Wimbledon girls champion, defeating No. 17 seed Katherine Hui 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in today's final. 

The girls doubles title went to the unseeded team of Olivia Center and Kate Fakih, who beat No. 4 seeds Kayla Chung and Alanis Hamilton 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 in this evening's final. 

Both Ngounoue and the doubles team of Fakih and Center will receive main draw wild cards into the women's US Open draws.