Ela, pictured above with Coach John and Coach Pardo, opened the tournament with a three set victory over Rachel Arbitman from New York, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Ela took down the number 3 seed Monica Stratakos from California 7-6(6), 6-1. After dropping her semifinal match, Ela defeated Katherine Duong from California 6-2, 6-4.

 

Ela has been in the ATA program for 4 years. She started in QuickStart with Coach John, eventually progressing through Junior Development, Junior Academy, and is now in her second year in the Young Talent Program. Ela is one of the youngest ever Academy players, entering the program at age 7.

 

“Ela is a testament to the solid foundations provided when moving up through the ATA programs,” Coach John said. 

 

Four other ATA athletes competed in the Little Mo Nationals held at Austin Tennis Academy last weekend.

 

In the girl’s 11s, Georgia Wright beat Maggie Dorr from Massachusetts, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. There, she went down to the top seeded Julienne Bou.

 

In the boy’s 11s, Jesse Wikso won his opening round match over New York’s Kemal Aziz 6-2, 6-2. After going down in his second match, Jesse bounced back to earn a win over Clark Safran from California, 6-3, 6-1. Tyler Anson also competed in the boy’s 11s, earning valuable experience in two hard-fought matches.

 

In the boy’s 10’s Harrison Chiu logged two high-level matches through the weekend, going down to California’s Nayan Pallegar in his second match.

 

Congratulations to the five ATA athletes who earned a spot in the Little Mo Nationals!