What began as a nightmare for 16s Doubles player Brett Joelson ended as a dream on Court One at Stowe Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Joelson, from Austin, TX, and partner Brendan Evans of Key Biscayne, FL took home the Boys 16 Doubles Championship, beating 14th seeds Eric Roberson of Sacramento CA and John Pettit of Monterey, CA 6-4, 6-2.

Joelson's triumph Saturday was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he nearly did not play at Kalamazoo at all. Because he was competing in most of this season's junior events in the 18s division, Joelson did not realize that he had failed to play enough events in his own age group to qualify for the 16s in Kalamazoo. His only hope for competing in the tournament was through a wild-card entry. Though the USTA granted Joelson a wild-card spot as a doubles-only player, the Austin, TX native had to travel to Kalamazoo to find out if he would be selected to play. "We didn't find out we were in until we saw the draw," his partner Evans said. (The draw was announced the night before the tournament began.)

Evans had already qualified for the tournament and had received invitations from other players looking for a doubles partner. Asked whom he might have played with had Joelson not been selected, Evans said, "I think I would have only played singles."

Such dedication may sound like the speech of a committed doubles team with a long and successful history, but Evans admitted, "This is our first tournament together." Evans lost his previous doubles partner before the Clay Court tournament in July, so he tried to connect with Joelson for that tournament. "(Joelson) said he wasn't playing at the Clay's, but he said we could play (together) at Kalamazoo." "We knew we would have a good chance to win here," Joelson added.

Saturday afternoon, their confidence paid off. Joelson's big serve and Evan's solid return game carried them to the 2001 USTA Boys 16 Super National Championships. "This is my first Gold Ball (National Championship)," said Joelson. Will there be others for this duo? Probably not. Evans is a first-year 16s player, while Joelson is in his final year of eligibility as a sixteen. They will not have a chance to defend their doubles title next year. "Unless I play eighteens," Evans said with a smile.

While Joelson and Evans were first-time partners, last year's 16s Doubles Champions Rajeev Ram of Carmel, IN and Jonathan Stokke of Hilton Head Island, SC attempted to add a second consecutive doubles championship to their resume Saturday, this time in the 18s division. The highly anticipated showdown between the 2nd seeds and 7th seeds Ytai Abougzir of Naples, FL and Alex Bogomolov of Miami, FL started out as an exciting contest but fizzled as Ram and Stokke ran away with the title 6-3, 6-0. Abougzir and Bogomolov broke Stokke's serve in the fifth game of the first set to close to 2-3, but it was all Ram-Stokke after that. They never lost serve again, and won 9 of the match's last 10 games to earn the automatic berth into the main doubles draw of the U. S. Open Championships later this month.

Source: Matt