Queens was mid-heat wave when the Level 1B Challenger United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournament was held at North Shore Towers on Tuesday, July 6, but the way the participants responded, you would have never known.
“It’s great. I love it,” said Michael Freich, 16, regarding the 105 degree conditions on the courts.
“I like when it’s hot out, my opponents just drop dead [from the heat],” said 16-year-old Zach Lesson, winner of the boys 16 age bracket.
Over the course of two days on the courts at the North Shore Towers community, 44 participants in four age brackets – boys’ 12, 16, 18 and girls’ 16 – competed in the fifth annual Challenger single elimination tournament run by Annelies Karp, a veteran tournament director and resident at North Shore Towers.
“I’ve been [running tournaments] for 23 years,” she said. “I love it more than anything.”
After beating first seeded Max Prohorov in the semi-final round in three sets, it took two tie breakers for Daniel Khodosh to defeat second seeded Logan Beckerman in the finals of the 12-year-old bracket, 7-5; 7-6.
Second seeded Eric Sumanaru needed three sets over first seeded Daniel Lakhman, 6-2; 5-7; 11-9 in the 18-year old division.
Lisa Ventimiglia had to battle back after dropping the first set to Karen Serina, to win the girls 16 bracket 3-6; 6-3; 10-4
It would take more than a heat wave to keep these kids off the courts and fans from attending. There were more than 30 fans and coaches in attendance including Jim Moreno, a casual tennis player and family-friend of a competitor.
“Anything that gets kids out and playing sports is a good thing even if it is 105 degrees,” said Moreno. “These kids are pretty resilient.”
Though the competition was a success, there were more than twice as many competitors in last year’s Level 1B Challenger tournament in age groups 10-18.
