Camaraderie and Sportsmanship on Full
Display at the Brewer Team Cup

Southern California’s top juniors were in full force at the Brewer Team Cup (Spring Team Championships), a premier USTA Level 1 National junior tennis tournament featuring elite players across the country in the Boys’ and Girls’ 12s, 14s, 16s, and 18s divisions. Held annually in March, this event focuses on high-level team competition, camaraderie, and sportsmanship, with the Boys’ and Girls’ 12s competing in Tucson, Arizona, and the older divisions battling in Mobile, Alabama.

In Tucson, the Boys’ and Girls’ 12 and under divisions competed in a 48-player round robin format with three singles and three doubles matches guaranteed. 18 players represented Team SoCal in this age group, with eight teams in both the boys’ and girls’ brackets.

Among the boys, Reed Kuai (Newbury Park), Devansh Patra (Cupertino), Benedict Zhong (Irvine), Pavel Abadzhev (Montrose), William Zhou (Glendale), Kade Grover (Laguna Beach), Harvey Baek (Rancho Palos Verdes), Benjamin Foreman (Palm Desert), Henrik Khemiy (Studio City), and Jaden Joyner (Tarzana) represented SoCal in the Arizona desert with some impressive results. 

Abadzhev, Zhong, and Zhou all played on Team Coyotes, making it to the finals before falling to the eventual champions, Team Gila Monsters. Grover and Baek also performed well with a third place finish on Team Jack Rabbits. 

As far as the Southern California girls, Lucy Jiang (Rancho Palos Verdes), Kira Elliott (Los Angeles), Lerong Yao (Rancho Palos Verdes), Grace Malhotra (Rolling Hills Estates), Lindy Zhou (Glendale), Kate Zhang (San Diego), Ryan Wilson (Lakewood), and Alara Buyukuncu (Irvine) competed for the Cup. Notably, Buyukuncu of Team Rattlesnakes battled to the finals, falling just short of the team win but went undefeated at the #1 singles spot. Zhou and Zhang also battled hard on Team Jack Rabbits, each notching multiple wins in both singles and doubles for a third place finish.  

In Mobile, the 12th annual tournament brought 192 of the nation’s top junior tennis players and 32 national coaches for plenty of stacked competition and team match play. 32 of the nation’s top players were ranked by the National Standings List and then placed into 16 teams to ensure balanced strength. Each team consisted of 6 same-gender players (two 18s, two 16s, and two 14s) with four guaranteed matches in both singles and doubles.

In the Boys’ 14 and under age bracket, four players represented Team SoCal—Daniel Gardality (San Diego), Nathan Lee (Tustin), James Borchard (Thousand Oaks), and London Slaton (Thousand Oaks). It was Nathan Lee of Team Vikings who claimed the Brewer Cup. Lee went undefeated for the Vikings in four matches at the #1 singles spot, only dropping one set along the way. In doubles, he partnered with Parker Bryan of Baton Rouge, LA to win three out of four doubles matches. He also won the team’s spirit award as well as two sportsmanship awards for his exemplary character. 

Slaton, who represented Team Raiders, earned third place among the 16 teams. He notched three singles victories at the #2 singles spot, as well as two doubles wins at the #1 position with partner Jacques Chen of Jericho, NY. Slaton also won a team sportsmanship award, while Borchard of Team Seahawks also earned a sportsmanship honor among his team.

In the Girls’ 14 and under age group, Mia Sandblom (Manhattan Beach), Charlotte Kim (Irvine), Victoria Park (Pasadena), and Aarna Patel (Cerritos) took center stage for Southern California. Sandblom and Patel each earned one sportsmanship honor, while Park earned two sportsmanship awards as well as a spirit award for Team Angels.  

Among the boys aged 16 and under, four SoCal juniors competed in the tournament, including Nikhil Bommaiah (Tustin), Zander Abrams (South El Monte), Aiden Zadeh (Los Angeles), and Paxton Au (Manhattan Beach). While these players didn’t reach the podium, two players—Zadeh of Team Saints and Au of Team Titans—both won sportsmanship awards among their teams. 

As for the girls in the 16 and under bracket, Isabelle Nguyen (San Gabriel) was the lone SoCal player to compete in Mobile, earning a sportsmanship award for Team Tornados. While her team didn’t place in the top three, she had a standout weekend, going undefeated in doubles at the #1 spot and losing just one match in singles at the #2 spot. 

In the Boys’ 18 and under age group, Siddharth Bharadwaj (Irvine) represented SoCal on the national stage, earning third place on Team Raiders alongside Slaton. He won two singles matches in the #1 singles position and notched one win in doubles with partner Eli Kaminski of Fairfax Station, VA.

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> BOYS 12s

– Kade Grover: Boys’ 12 Team Jack Rabbits – 3rd Place: L1 Tucson, AZ
– Harvey Baek: Boys’ 12 Team Jack Rabbits – 3rd Place: L1 Tucson, AZ
– Benedict Zhong: Boys’ 12 Team Coyotes – Finalist: L1 Tucson, AZ
– Pavel Abadzhev: Boys’ 12 Team Coyotes – Finalist: L1 Tucson, AZ
– William Zhou: Boys’ 12 Team Coyotes – Finalist: L1 Tucson, AZ

> GIRLS 12s

– Alara Buyukuncu: Girls’ 12 Team Rattlesnakes – Finalist: L1 Tucson, AZ
– Lindy Zhou: Girls’ 12 Team Jack Rabbits – 3rd Place: L1 Tucson, AZ
– Kate Zhang: Girls’ 12 Team Jack Rabbits – 3rd Place: L1 Tucson, AZ

> BOYS 14s

– Nathan Lee: Boys’ 14 Team Vikings – Champion: L1 Mobile, AL
– Nathan Lee: Boys’ 14 Team Vikings – Spirit Award: L1 Mobile, AL
– Nathan Lee: Boys’ 14 Team Vikings – 2 Sportsmanship Awards: L1 Mobile, AL
– James Borchard: Boys’ 14 Team Seahawks – Sportsmanship Award: L1 Mobile, AL
– London Slaton: Boys’ 14 Team Raiders – Sportsmanship Award: L1 Mobile, AL
– London Slaton: Boys’ 14 Team Raiders – 3rd Place: L1 Mobile, AL

> GIRLS 14s

– Victoria Park: Girls’ 14 Team Angels – Spirit Award: L1 Mobile, AL
– Victoria Park: Girls’ 14 Team Angels – 2 Sportsmanship Awards: L1 Mobile, AL
– Mia Sandblom: Girls’ 14 Team Lynx – Sportsmanship Award: L1 Mobile, AL
– Aarna Patel: Girls’ 14 Team Diamondbacks – Sportsmanship Award: L1 Mobile, AL

> BOYS 16s

– Aiden Zadeh: Boys’ 16 Team Saints – Sportsmanship Award: L1 Mobile, AL
– Paxton Au: Boys’ 16 Team Titans – Sportsmanship Award: L1 Mobile, AL

> GIRLS 16s

– Isabelle Nguyen: Girls’ 16 Team Tornados – Sportsmanship Award: L1 Mobile, AL

> BOYS 18s

– Siddharth Bharadwaj: Boys’ 18 Team Raiders – 3rd Place: L1 Mobile, AL