CONGRATUATIONS!!
JENYA PEREVERZIN
MIKE AGASSI’S “NO QUIT” SINGLES FINALIST!!

Congratulations to Jenya Pereverzin, who made it to the finals of the Mike Agassi NO QUIT Championships. Jenya worked his way from the round of 32, to the finals where he lost in a close match to the first seed, Denis Nguyen. In the five rounds that Jenya played, he defeated many top ranked players, and the fifth seed Brandon Debot. Jenya also competed in doubles with partner Michael Shaeffer. They won their first two matches, but lost in the semifinals to the first seeds in the tournament. All in all, great job Jenya!

For the months of December and January came many opportunities for the players at the Leong Tennis Academy to challenge every facet of their tennis game. These two months have been filled with many national tournaments, as well as some fun local tournaments in the Portland area.

In mid-December freezing temperatures and a week-long snow storm came with the much anticipated West Hills-Nike doubles tournament. Though this was scheduled as a weekend event, the tournament was constricted to Saturday due to the inclement weather. The cold weather and demanding match schedule, however, was no barrier for the LTA players. Congratulations to all of our players in this tournament. Peter Beatty and his doubles partner Mathew Sipowicz won the boys 16s division, and Sam Stephenson and Jenya Pereverzin won the boys 18s division, beating Stuart Tierney and Chris Seibel 8-5 in the finals. As for the girls divisions, Betsy Sauer and Tasha Hueffner lost in the finals of the girls 18s, and Allie and Kadie Hueffner lost to Dasha Ivanova and Cam Kincaid in the finals as well. Allie went on to win the mixed 16s division with Sam Stephenson winning three matches and defeating Brent Wheeler and Amy Lin in the finals. Likewise, Jenya and Tasha beat Sophia Bott and Aaron Horwath to win the mixed 18s division after three matches of competitive match play. Overall, this was a great success for the LTA players.

After a year of competition and training, some of our players went on to challenge themselves at a national level in year-end winter nationals. Congratulations to Jenya and Tasha for rising to this challenge and representing the LTA at the USTA National Winter Championships in Scottsdale Arizona. Jenya won his first three rounds, beating Daniel Faierman, Aaron Poliak, and Anthony Tsodikov (who is tenth in the nation—Go Jenya!!). His next two matches, however, were extremely challenging, and he lost in close sets to Wyatt McCoy and Ace Matias. “I feel like I played really well in this tournament, and it was a ton of fun” Jenya said after his match. Additionally, Tasha competed in this event—challenging herself with tough national competition. Britney Sanders defeated Tasha in the first round, but Tasha put up a fight against this top-20 ranked junior, and played a close 6-4, 6-4 match. Tasha was able to battle back in her first round of the consolation draw and won in three close sets 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Her next match was against 47th in the nation Brittany Borsanyi, in which she lost in a close match.

With little turnaround time after this national tournament, Tasha went to the Copper Bowl in Tucson Arizona along with Kadie, Allie, and Betsy. Tasha competed in a very close first round match against Jill Wollesen in the Girls 16s division, but was defeated in a close third set ending in a seven-point tie-breaker. She rallied to win the next three rounds in the consolation draw, and defeated Julie Bell, Elise Woulfe, and Joselyn Lu (whom she beat in a close three sets). After these tiring matches, she was defeated by top ranked Jenny Hois in the third round of the consolation. Allie played a competitive match against Julia Wiesel, and won 6-1, 6-3. Though she was defeated in her next two rounds in close sets, her overall performance was solid, and she gained many new experiences competing at this high national level. Kadie also gained new match experience playing at this level. She lost to Alexa Brandt, but was able to battle back and win her next match against Sachi Carlson. Although Kadie did not emerge victorious in her third match against Alexxis Kiven, she played two very close sets (7-6(3), 6-3), and kept fighting until the end. Betsy Sauer also competed in this event. As her first national tournament, Betsy was able to rise to the heat of the competition, and defeated Madison Mathis 7-5, 6-2 after she was defeated by Leighann Sahagun. Betsy lost to Emiley Meyers in her third match, but played very hard (as everyone does at the LTA). Overall, the Copper Bowl provided these players with new experiences that they have carried with them in the following local tournaments.

Jenya was the only LTA player who competed in the Columbus Indoor Tennis Tournament from January 31st to February 2nd. Once again, Jenya achieved incredible results, beating Kyle Dawson and Trevor Horstmann. In his third match Jenya was defeated by Sebastian Fauchet in close sets. Jenya unfortunately had to withdraw from his last match against Kyle Roth in the consolation quarterfinals because of an injury.

LTA SELECT Players Compete in the New Year’s
Dual Level 5 Tournaments

On the weekend of January 16th-19th most of our players competed in the Dual Level 5. For the boys, this was a local tournament at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center, but for the girls, this tournament was in Mercer Island Washington. LTA Coach, Angela Leong took a group of four girls including Katie Lorish, Christina Le, Betsy Sauer, and new LTA player Ellie Grossman. Katie beat Demie Warner handily in the first round, but was defeated by Meghan Cassens in the second round after Meghan exhibited a colorful display of poor manners and distasteful court behavior. Christina Le lost but had a very tough tournament, and met two very competitive players, Christy Sipes and Brittany Reed, in her first two rounds of the tournament. Britta Stime defeated Betsy Sauer in the first round in a close match, but Betsy was able to rally back and make it to the consolation finals. Ellie Grossman achieved great results in this tournament and beat Darby Rosette and Grace Egger in her first two rounds. Ellie pushed herself to the limit in her match with Grace, and was very excited to beat her—a fellow top-ranked junior. Ellie lost in a close match in the quarterfinals when she encountered Rae Cockreham—a very consistent junior. Tasha, Cadie and Allie also competed in this tournament and all three of the girls won their first rounds against Carlina Jow, Maria Johrarleva, and Fiona Cerf respectively. Tasha, Cadie and Allie lost their second rounds in close matches against Lea Jansen, Erin Larner, and Nora Tan respectively. Arianna Fardanesh played in the Girls 16s division, and beat Kira Kearsley in the first round. She was defeated in the second round by Sasha Carter, who went on to win the tournament.

In addition to providing these girls with new match experiences, this tournament also gave the girls fond new memories. Katie, Christina, Ellie, and Betsy traveled with Angela to this tournament, and they all had a fantastic time. “It was by far my favorite trip of my whole tennis career with Angela,” says Katie Lorish, who has been traveling with Angela to many tournaments since the age of 12. “It says a lot that the players at the LTA can respect our coaches, but also laugh and have fun with them too.”

Meanwhile, the boys were playing in the THPRD Dual Level 5 back in Portland. Peter Beatty played in the Boys 16s draw and lost two close matches to the third seed Jamie Thorp and then to Mathew Alderson. Nick Mulfur also had a very tough tournament and was defeated by Ratan Gil and Andrew Smith. Jenya made it to the finals of this tournament, but lost in a close match to Alex Rovello. Lastly, Sam beat Will Cooper handily in his first round, but was defeated by Alex Wallace in his second.

LTA’s Michael Stephenson Battles in Back to Back Tournaments

LTA player Michael Stephenson has stepped up to the plate in recent months, and has been a fierce competitor in many challenger level tournaments. In the City of Vancouver Jr. Challenger from January 9th to the 11th, Michael competed in the Boys 12s singles division, and won the consolation finals. In the Glendoveer Challenger tournament two weekends after, Michael lost in the finals to the first seed Kieran McTagre in close sets. Michael has worked hard to achieve these results, and is working towards moving up to the Champ Level.

With the first weekend in February also came the first Boys and Girls endorsement of the year. Tasha won two matches against Demie Warner and Alexis Filliol, and lost two against Lea Jansen and Sophia Bott. There is much to be said, however, about Tasha’s match with Lea Jansen. After hours of hard practice and training, Tasha was able to walk out onto the court with Lea wearing passion, dedication and commitment. Their intense rivalry was apparent through Tasha’s fiery intensity. Though she lost 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 there is little doubt that Tasha will be able to beat Lea in her next tournament.

The month of September brought the players of the Leong Tennis Academy a fresh new season to display their athletic excellence. Our competitors kicked off this successful season at the Ace Deuce Jr. Girls and Boys tournament at Club Green Meadows. Erin Larner advanced to the finals where she defeated fourth seed Basia Kopecka in the Girls 14s division. After three matches in the Boys 12s division, Tommy Mulflur lost a tough match to the first seed Stefan Ball in the semifinals. Quite unfortunately, Nick Mulflur and Peter Beatty met in the first round of the Boys 14s draw, where Nick defeated Peter in a very competitive match. Nick made it to the quarterfinals of this division, but lost to the third seed Mark J. Bright in a grueling match with two set tiebreakers. Sam Stephenson played in the Boys 16s division of this tournament, playing an intense first round against Omeed J. Balou (7-6, 3-6, 12-10). Sam, however, lost in a close second round match against Varun Iyengar. Players Stuart Tierney and Jenya Pereverzin competed in both the Boys 16s and the Boys 18s divisions. Jenya Pereverzin won the singles in both events, playing a total of six singles matches. Stuart advanced to the finals of the 16s, and the semifinals of the 18s, playing a total of seven matches. Stuart defeated the third and sixth seeds in these divisions, but eventually lost in close matches to Jenya in both events.

Many more of our players competed in the 2008 Mountain Park Racquet Club Adidas Cup Champs tournament. Sam Stephenson played a great first round match, leading him into his second round against Jenya. Sam and Jenya played a great match, and Jenya emerged victorious. Jenya advanced through the next three rounds, eventually defeating Alex Wallace 6-3, 6-0 in the finals. In the Girls 14s division, Allie Hueffner powered through four matches, defeating Basia Kopecka in the semifinals. Allie, however, lost in the finals to the first seed Victoria Tam. Likewise, Kadie Hueffner also played well in this tournament, but lost to top ranked competitor Dominique Beauvais in the quarterfinals. Arianna Fardanesh also played well in this tournament, but lost a close match to K. Edwards. As the second seed, Tasha Hueffner performed at a very high level throughout this tournament, but lost in the semifinals in a fiery battle against Maya Jansen (7-5, 6-7; 10-6).