Tournament Feature
Smith and Nick Capture 12s Winter National Titles
by James Hill, 6 January 2025
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Max Smith won the boys singles title, while Jacqueline Nick captured the girls singles crown at the USTA 12s Winter National Championships at the University of Texas at San Antonio Tennis Center.
Boys Singles Champion Max Smith
© Caiden Reibold/YourGameFace
The fifth-seeded Smith (Parkland, Florida) defeated No. 1 David Bender (Indian Harbour, Florida) 6-0, 6-2 in the boys final. Nick (Katy, Texas), seeded seventh, beat No. 4 Lucy Dupere (Wake Forest, North Carolina) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Smith, who showed a lot of heart and resilience throughout the event, claimed his first USTA gold ball.
“I was not feeling my best, but all I did was think positive,” Smith said. “I gave it my best effort during the tournament. I was able to pull through on those tough matches because of my mental game. I was serving really well. Most importantly for me during this tournament was my slice. UTSA and Anne Marie Tennis Center are both faster courts. During the rallies, I was hitting hard shots and it really caught my opponent off guard.”
Nick also was a first-timer to take home the coveted gold ball.
“I was hitting a bit emotionally in the first set,” Nick said about the final. “I was finding out the pattern of her weakness. As soon as I figured it out, I processed it and stayed calm. My inside-out and backhand angle were my weapons.”
Third seeds Bender and his partner, Gabriel Marino (Miami, Florida), beat the No. 7 team of Krish Advani (Bradenton, Florida) and Selwyn Olufemi-Owoeye (Boca Raton, Florida) 7-6 (9), 6-1.
It marked the second gold ball for Bender, who won the USTA Clay Courts doubles title last July with Daniel Gardality (San Diego, California). Bender and Marino played for the second time, as they earned a bronze ball at the USTA Indoors.
“We were up 5-4 and 40-15,” Bender said of the first set against Advani and Olufemi-Owoeye. “They came back and it was 6-all and we were down four set points. We communicated well together. We always stay positive. If one gets down, we pump each other up. My volleys are really good and my partner’s ground strokes are really good.”
Girls Singles Champion Jacqueline Nick
© Contributed Photo
No. 1 seeds Dupere and Christina Li (Bradenton, Florida) won the girls doubles championship, defeating No. 3 Violetta Mamina (Henderson, Nevada) and Brielle Amey (Boca Raton, Florida) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
“I was playing from the baseline and set up Christina so she was able to poach the ball and put it away,” Dupere said. “We really pumped each other up.”
In the boys singles semifinals, Bender beat No. 8 Olufemi-Owoeye 6-3, 6-1. Smith was a 6-3, 7-5 winner over 14th-seed Wyatt Markham (Lawrence, Kansas). Markham went on to take third place with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Olufemi-Owoeye.
Nick won her girls semifinals match 6-2, 6-1 over No. 3 Gabrielle Alexa Villegas (Great Neck, New York). Dupere beat eighth-seed Amara Ama (Fairfield, California) 6-1, 6-1. Ama beat Villegas 6-0, 6-4 to win the bronze ball.
Bender and Marino fought off Christian Pohoski (Camarillo, California) and Aleksandr Denisov (Sunny Isles Beach, Florida) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in the boys doubles semifinals. Advani and Olufemi-Owoeye beat ninth seeds London Slaton (Thousand Oaks, California) and Jerry Qi (Temple City, California) 6-3, 6-1. Pohoski and Denisov won third place, beating Slaton and Qi 7-5, 6-3.
Dupere and Li bested 16th-seeded Ama and Mila Mikoczi Spivey (Houston, Texas) 6-3, 6-4 in the girls doubles semis. Mamina and Amey took out No. 2 Villegas and Nicole Blanco (Cumming, Georgia) 6-4, 6-0. Villegas and Blanco were third-place winners 6-0, 6-3 over Ama and Mikoczi Spivey.
Other Boys Singles Winners
West - Ryan Barr (Alpharetta, Georgia)
North - William McGugin (Nashville, Tennessee)
South - Gavin Gilbert (Short Hills, New Jersey_
Northeast - Liam Dent (Grapevine, Texas)
Northwest - Benjamin Inukai (Redondo Beach, California)
Southwest - Ethan Famularcano (Gilroy, California)
Southeast - Landon Tran (Magnolia, Texas)
Silver - Udham Singh (Sunnyvale, California)
Gold - Christian Pohoski (Camarillo, California)
Other Girls Singles Winners
West - Aarna Patel (Cerritos, California)
North - Annabelle Huang (West Hartford, Connecticut)
South - Valentina Arlati (Concord, Massachusetts)
Northeast - Skylar Mandell (Encino, California) Ella Morris (Danville, Kentucky)
Northwest - Ella Morris (Danville, Kentucky
Southwest - Joshika Lekkala (Cumming, Georgia)
Southeast - Vihana Thasen (Weston, Florida)
Silver - Christina Li (Bradenton, Florida)
Gold - Kareena Cross (Los Angeles, California)
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About James Hill
James Hill is the Assistant Sports Information Director at Trinity
University in San Antonio and a freelance writer. He has covered all
levels of tennis competition.
