Youth tennis: 11-and-under age group takes stage on Day 2 at Emma Hubbs Classic

Josie Rhodes returns a shot while playing in the 11 and under girls singles at the Emma Hubbs tennis classic Thursday, July 26, 2022.

DIXON – The 32nd Annual Emma Hubbs Tennis Classic continued Tuesday morning as boys and girls took the courts for the 11-and-under division for some friendly competition at Page Park.

After six weeks of summer lessons, the youth tennis players finally got to put their skills to the test, facing off against the other boys and girls of their age group in a tournament finale.

Brynnley Adams, 11, and Anna Partington, 9, faced off in an intense tiebreaker match.

“We had a lot of fun,” Adams said of the summer lessons and her tournament matches. “We had to learn different types of serves, more grown-up types of serves instead of just hitting.”

“Yeah, I liked it,” Partington added. “My serve, I really improved.”

Jenna Mustapha won 14 games to secure the 11-and-under girls title, while Adams topped Partington 7-5 in the second-place tiebreaker after they both won 11 games. Josie Rhodes won three games, and Parker Brigl won one.

Anna Partington returns a shot while playing in the 11 and under girls singles at the Emma Hubbs tennis classic Thursday, July 26, 2022.

The 11-and-under boys were also in action late Tuesday morning and early afternoon.

James Adell, 8, Matthew Fiesta, 9, and William Dang, 10, each took part in the summer instructional program offered by the Dixon Park District, as well as the culminating tournament. After six weeks of sharpening their skills, they were happy for the chance to test them out.“Good,” Adell said of his experience with summer lessons. “I learned a little bit on serving. I enjoyed the tournament a lot.”

“I feel like they went good. I think I got better over the lessons,” Fiesta said. “It taught me how to do really good serving. I thought I did really well [in the tournament], and I’m really proud of myself.”

Dang relished the opportunity to compete with unfamiliar opponents.

“I feel like they went good, and I improved my serves in the lessons,” Dang said. “I liked that I got to play with new people.”

Dang won 10 games to take the division title, with Fiesta in second (6 games won) and Adell taking third (2 games won).

Jenna Mustapha returns a shot while playing in the 11 and under girls singles at the Emma Hubbs tennis classic Thursday, July 26, 2022.

In the other divisions Tuesday, James Catt scored 113 points to take first place in the 6-8 age group, with Brigl placing second with 84 points. Owen Fiessinger took third (80 points), and Claire Fiesta won a tiebreaker for fourth place over Kelvin Bowers after both scored 62 points. Oliver Shaddick was sixth (54), Lola Smith took seventh (32), and Lucas Lance placed eighth (17).

In 15 girls singles, Arielle Rockwood won 18 games, while Mustapha won 12, Brooklyn Robillard won five, and Julissa Vargas won one.

William and Alex Dang took the 13 boys doubles title in a tight race, winning nine games to edge out Cameron Foulker and Braden Brigl (8 games won) and Joel Rhodes and Brooks Kundson (7 games won).

Logan Palmer won 19 games to claim the 18 boys singles crown, with Ryan Partington taking second (15 games won) just ahead of Damien Beck (14 games won). Owen Winters also competed.

Dan Wussow

Dan Wussow

Dan is the sports editor for Sauk Valley Media. Previously, he wrote for The Post-Crescent in his hometown of Appleton, WI.