In his first year at the Nats at the Zoo, Henrik Wiersholm is leaving with two gold tennis ball awards. After partnering with Daniel Kerznerman, Brooklyn, N.Y., to win the 16s doubles title on Saturday, he defeated 32nd seed Alexandru Gozun, 6-4, 6-1, on Sunday for the singles championship. Wiersholm also won the wild card into the U.S. Open junior tournament next month. Playing doubles plus upsetting top seed Mitch Stewart, 7-6(2), 6-3, on Saturday gave him a big confidence boost, said Wiersholm, the 12th seed from Kirkland, Wash. “I played very well (Saturday),” he said. “Also, my singles match (Saturday) really helped as well.” The turning point in Sunday’s match was “We were holding, holding, until 3-3,” Wiersholm said. “I got my first break point of that game. Alex saves break points pretty regularly with a big serve, so I didn’t think much of it. ... I did an on-the-run winner for the break and that’s where I kinda got it going. I kept the momentum through the second set. I didn’t get broken the whole match, so that was a great feeling for me. That doesn’t happen too often.” Gozun said he was a bit nervous playing in a final of a big tournament for the first time. “But also, Henrik did a very good job of keeping everything away from me, away from my powerful game,” Gozun said. “He just did a very good job today.”

Source: USTA Nationals Staff