Facing the world's top ranked junior doubles team would be daunting to most teams, especially if they had needed three sets to conquer their opponents in the semifinals late Friday evening. Mirzadeh and Simmonds, however, have their own impressive resumes. The newly formed partnership of Vahid Mirzadeh and Phillip Simmonds surprised top seeds and Junior Wimbledon Champions Brendan Evans and Scott Oudsema in the 18s doubles finals Saturday afternoon 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to earn the wild card into the main doubles draw at the U.S. Open later this month.

Facing the world's top ranked junior team would be daunting to any team that had also been forced to three sets by their semifinal opponents late Friday evening. Mirzadeh and Simmonds, however, have their own impressive resumes. Simmonds won the Australian Open Junior title in 2003 with Oudsema and was ranked by ITF as the number one doubles player in the world during that year.

Mirzadeh won the 16s doubles title in Kalamazoo with Nick Rinks in 2002 and has had notable results in ITF events with Alex Kuznetsov, "I'm glad that when I made the call to Phillip, he said yes," said Mirzadeh. "I knew we had a good chance, even if though Brendan and Scott are obviously number one."

After splitting sets, Evans began having trouble holding his serve. In the fourth game, he and Oudsema won five straight points to stay on serve, but found themselves down love forty again the next time Evans served and could not recover.

Up 5-3 with Simmonds serving, Evans and Oudsema saved two match points, much to the delight of the large and partisan Kalamazoo crowd. A netted return by Oudsema on the third match point gave Mirzadeh and Simmonds their U.S. Open berth.

"I'm ecstatic, " said Simmonds, who has played in Junior U.S. Opens before. "But the main draw, I can't wait."

The 16s doubles final also went to three sets, with Clay Court Champions Sam Querry and Spencer Vegosen winning their second straight National title by downing Jamie Hunt and Dennis Lajola 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Though seeded third, Querry and Vegosen were not concerned about being underdogs.

"I thought we'd be one or two, said Querry, "but three was fine. It feels great to win the biggest tournament in the country."

Source: Colette Lewis (Tournament Office)