How we won 8.0 mixed nationals: a tennis story.

In 2021, about 18,000 people in ~1,200 teams across the United States and the Caribbeans played adult 8.0 mixed doubles tennis. Only one team could be crowned the national champion. That was our team. This is the story – all from my perspective – of how we were the winning team of 2021.

2019: welcome to USTA. You SUCK!

In the last few months of 2018, I began playing tennis once or twice a week.

In 2019, my coworker at the time, Angus Chin, learned that I was interested in playing more frequently. He was the captain of a men’s 4.0 team based out of Pleasanton and invited me to join his United States Tennis Association (USTA) team. I didn’t know anything about USTA, but upon learning from him how the program worked, the team aspect appealed to me and I graciously accepted.

I filled out a questionnaire that would assign an appropriate rating to my level, and I was given the 3.5 rating. I remember feeling disappointed because the 4.0 description “felt” more representative of my level.

But then I actually played and learned I really was not a 4.0. I was winless after four singles matches.

The first three matches weren’t even close. I barely even won any games. In my fourth match, I won the first set 6-1 and thought I was on my way to my first win. My opponent made a tactical adjustment to reduce pace on the ball. I didn’t know how to deal with the lack of pace. I lost 6-7 in the second set and 8-10 in the third set tiebreak. I was so angry that I tried smashing my racquet on the ground, but I didn’t even know how to properly do that and accidentally flung it onto the next court in the middle of their point! In that same moment, both my thighs cramped.

So picture this: while I yelled out in pain and fell to the ground, the other court stopped play in confusion. To add even more comic relief, my opponent ran over to me and helped stop my cramping. Said he was a physical therapist. He served me compassion on top of the ass whooping he handed me. Thank you for your kindness, Peter Siegel.

2019: first mixed season and more rejection.

That first season left me embarrassed and humbled, but hungry to get better. After the men’s season was the mixed doubles season. I proactively reached out to different teams looking for an invite. All but one rejected me. The one team who didn’t reject me was based out of Hayward. Captain Tanya Yee was kind enough to invite me to her team.

Anddddd… the losing streak continued. I had no idea how to play doubles. But through sheer grit, I barely won two of four matches.

The team didn’t make it to playoffs, so I found myself yet again on the lookout for a team in the next season: men’s combo. Having been exposed to some teams in the East Bay, I learned through word of mouth that Bay Trees had a reputation for housing strong players. I began driving there after work and on weekends just to meet people, hoping they would invite me to their practices and teams.

This worked out OK for a few times. Some people were very welcoming and friendly, but they were mostly in the 3.0 and 3.5 level. I was trying to meet 4.0 and above players. One day, I met and got to hit with some of the 4.0s. They were so strong! I wondered if I was making a good impression.

After that practice, I eagerly asked one of them when they usually practiced, and whether I would be able to join them in the future. In the coldest, most dismissive tone, he responded, “It’s invite only.”

That stung. It hurt so much that I stopped going to Bay Trees entirely. That was my villain origin story. I’ll never forget him, but in a way, I’m thankful. If it weren’t for his rejection, I may have never met my next teammates – one who eventually became my nationals winning teammate.

2019: first men’s 7.5 combo season, bad luck ends.

Not prepared to quit tennis entirely, I drove to Fremont Tennis Center. I played at that location twice during the men’s 4.0 season where Selva Doraisamy destroyed me 6-3, 6-1, and Dalvinder Singh beat me 6-3, 7-5. I was hoping to walk onto a court cold and find people to hit with.

I got lucky. I immediately ran into Dalvinder. Turns out there was a group practice with a bunch of people he knew. He kindly introduced me to captains Satya Chillara and Satish Chiluveru. Satya had reserved three courts and had a big doubles rotation practice going on, and they kindly brought me into the rotation. I had found myself a very welcoming community.

Soon after, Satish invited me to his men’s 7.5 combo team. I gladly accepted. This team became my first core tennis group. There were 1-2 practices a week which I enthusiastically attended. My two partners were both Satya and Satish, and we did very well together, winning every match.

The team performed well, finishing first in local league. We won the first round of playoffs 3-0. Unfortunately, in the second round of playoff, Satish and I won our line, but our other two lines lost. Combo season had come to an end.

But, as Steve Jobs liked to say: one… more… thing.

End of 2019: introduction to Kevin Ong and “nationals bound teams”

Backtrack a couple months. During the season, one of the teammates never responded to any of the practice roll calls. He only appeared in a couple matches. Satish was somehow able to convince this guy to join one practice. That one practice where the guy showed up was my first introduction to Alex Yang.

Alex was pretty quiet. Not that tall. Wore glasses. Looked harmless, a bit nerdy.

But I noticed he was left handed. And he hit effectively without much effort. And he volleyed well, something I didn’t know how to do at all. His serves were consistent. We only warmed up for a couple minutes before we practiced on different courts, but he left an impression. He was someone I needed to play with to improve.

So after losing the second round playoff, I reached out to Alex asking for an introduction to more players. He started a group chat with captain Kevin Ong based out of the South Bay. He wrote an introduction for both people. Kevin’s introduction mentioned things like “decorated captain, multiple sectionals wins, multiple nationals trips, history of winning, famous.” It was quite the decorated intro. My intro was nice but paled in comparison, “Good forehand, athletic, high potential, hungry.” Something like that.

Kevin’s 7.5 and 8.5 men’s combo teams had won their playoffs and were training for sectionals. He invited me to a practice at Cuesta Park, and that was my first time meeting Allen Shih and Krishna Murali. I greatly enjoyed the practice and thought their level was noticeably stronger than the Fremont players. These was indeed the type of people I wanted to play with.

Afterward, Kevin gave me an offer. He said, “If you can beat Allen in singles, I will invite you onto my men’s 3.5 and 4.0 team and allow you to play singles.” I was highly motivated.

Allen and I faced off at Cuesta. Soon after the match started, I was already down 0-5. The guy would… not… miss. I decided to make a tactical adjustment. I couldn’t just rally at the baseline, so I started coming up the net to hit volley or smash winners, or die trying. And it just kind of worked. I won the next 7 games in a row to take the set 7-5, and I won the second set 6-4, I think.

I resisted the urge to text Kevin the outcome. He texted me later that night on his own. I’ll never forget the message. “I heard you won.” That’s when I knew I was accepted into a new group of people to play with – a group I wanted to be a part of.

2020: a lost year, but inception to win nationals.

Kevin unveiled some grand plans of forming 4.0 men’s, 7.0 mixed doubles, and 8.0 mixed doubles super teams that were bound to make nationals. All sounded great, but none manifested because of Covid. USTA did not happen for the entire year.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t play tennis. Quite the contrary, I began regularly hitting with Kevin’s teammates and formed friendships with Alex, Allen, Krishna, Donny Su, Daniel Lu, Adi Sudhakar, Justin Truong, and others. We were so fortunate that tennis was a relatively safe sport from the virus and regularly hit 4-5 days a week. Donny came up with the idea of ordering take-out for us to eat on the courts after practice.

One time after practice, Alex invited us to his house for dinner. That was my first time meeting his wife Elaine Chen, another fellow tennis player. Alex shared with us the extent of his and Elaine’s tennis resume. In other words, he brought out their gigantic stash of trophies and shared some past memories.

Having never even won playoffs, I was filled with awe. They had collected so many sectionals wins and been to nationals more than a dozen times. Alex then said something that left a burning desire in me.

“But I’ve never won nationals before. In fact, of all nationals teams I’ve been a part of, only one made it to the final day of nationals – meaning top 4 team in the country. And that team lost in the finals, so the closest I got was 2nd place.”

He then put the trophies away, and we began eating. Those words lingered though. I had a new goal: win nationals.

Throughout the year, Alex dedicated time teaching me how to properly play doubles, specifically strategy, court positioning and movement, and developing different shot selection. I also learned how to volley to eliminate that liability. We recorded and analyzed most of our practices. He arranged practices with a variety of highly skilled players, and through him I met Christi Tain, Paul Liu, Jonas Satuito, Gil Tachibana, and others. I observed noticeable improvements in my game over time.

2021: forming mixed teams, and personal injuries

At the end of 2020, USTA announced that organized play was starting again in 2021. The intention was to join Kevin’s 7.0 mixed team. In January 2021, Alex introduced me to captain Ming Ta, intending for us to join his 8.0 team. Boyu Hu and I faced him and Alex, leading 5-2 before they made tactical adjustments and snatched the set from us.

All seemed to go according to plan. But in February, two significant things happened.

1. Kevin unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack. This left his team not just utterly dismayed, but also scrambling to organize the teams that he had historically formed.
2. I got injured, badly. My right foot arthritis got so bad that I could no longer walk without pain, and I tore my right shoulder labrum from learning how to properly serve.

This really messed up plans. I didn’t roster onto any team and sat on the sideline for about 3 months. During this time, Bobby Carter agreed to captain the 7.0 team, and Ming could no longer commit to captaining 8.0 because he was too busy with work. Meanwhile, Donny formed a 8.0 team with most people who had played with Kevin in prior years.

Sitting on the sideline all spring sucked. Thankfully, mixed season didn’t actually start until summer, so I prioritized healing. I was doing physical therapy twice a week and made sure to rest. My condition improved by summer, and I started playing late June. I joined some of Donny’s team practices, and Alex scheduled a few practices. Boy was I super, super rusty.

I rostered onto Bobby’s 7.0 team, continued ramping up tennis play, and waited to see what would happen with 8.0.

Start of mixed season

Mixed season started in July. I grew weary by the day about 8.0, until one day in August, Alex said, “Santa Rosa. We’re joining a team in Santa Rosa.”

Alex scheduled a practice with captain Dan Mathis. That was my first time meeting him and another player, Zuzia Dziewiecka. We hit for a while, and I thought I played like garbage, but Dan said he would welcome me to the team.

A week later, Alex said, “I found your partner.” On August 27, just NINE days left in the regular season, I found myself at Sunnyvale Tennis Center meeting Stephanie Huang for the first time. Stephanie was cool. She hit hard and was athletic. She was also Taiwanese and I felt a strong connection upon hearing her familiar accent. We practiced against Alex and Gil, and quite frankly, they beat us down pretty badly. The fewest games I won since 4.0 men’s season in 2019. I had no confidence.

The good news: I was healthy. So long as I served underhand, there was no shoulder pain. And I was running at near 100% again. So I served underhand for the most part.

Alex and Gil reassured us by saying, “You will do fine as an 8.0 pair. Not everyone you face will be like us.” They were nice, but I still had no serve and no confidence.

It was decided. Stephanie and I would pair together, and we both rostered onto the Montgomery team based out of Santa Rosa.

Four days later, on Sunday, Aug 31, I woke up at 5am and drove to Alex’s house. We along with Zuzia and Cathy Chuck carpooled to Santa Rosa and played the last two matches of the regular season to qualify for playoffs. I only slept three or four hours from nervousness.

Stephanie and I played against what I felt to be pretty strong players, but we won both matches with relative ease: 6-3, 6-1 in the first match, 6-1, 6-1 in the second. It was my first time meeting teammates Jennifer Vice, Brendan Kuhlman, and Tom Kincaid.

On Sep 12, we did the 240 mile roundtrip again by returning to Santa Rosa to play the playoff match. Stephanie and I won again, this time 6-4, 6-1. The team won 3-0 and was going to sectionals.

Sectionals: round robin

Sectionals was held over three days between Sep 24-26. Teams throughout Northern California who won their respective playoffs would gather in Sacramento to compete against each other. After a round robin stage over a two-day period, the top 8 teams would advance to the final day to face each other in single-elimination matches. Only one team could win sectionals and represent the Northern California at nationals.

This was my first ever sectionals, and man, I was nervous wreck. Per Alex’s suggestion, I drove up Wednesday night to give myself an extra day to acclimate to the weather and environment. We took a lesson with a pro on Thursday, then most of the team showed up.

I shared an Airbnb with 7.0 mixed teammates Vanessa Graciano, Lizzy Cheung, and Reina Rampell. Thursday night, I only slept 4 hours due to nerves.

On Friday, the first day of sectionals, I played my one and only 7.0 mixed match with Reina. As a 6.5 pair, we did very well, winning 6-1, 6-3. I didn’t play any other match that day. That same day, I met teammates Paolo Garcia, Cecilia Cunningham, Alex Baier, and Chandra Thomas for the first time. I slept a bit better that night: 5 hours.

On Saturday, I played just one 8.0 match with Stephanie. We faced a pair that liked to hit with pace – my preferred style. We won 6-1, 6-3. Both our 7.0 and 8.0 team had done well in round robin and had made quarter finals.

I slept even better than the night before at 6 hours.

Sectionals: NorCal winner!

For the Sunday matches, the captains discussed and agreed that I would focus on 8.0. I was still a nervous wreck. Dan kept giving me pep talk, encouraging me with the words, “You are the best 3.5 in Northern California!”

In the quarter finals, Stephanie and I played on the “show court” in front of the main entrance to the tennis courts. It was a high traffic, high visibility court where other people could spectate. In the first set, I was stiff and immobile at the net. I recall completely whiffing an overhead smash that Stephanie still saved. She carried me. I loosened up in the second set. We won 6-3, 6-1, and our other two lines also won.

In the semi final, Stephanie and I were one of the two show courts again. This was a tough match. We faced who I opined to be one of the strongest players in the entire tournament. He was a 4.5A player, meaning he appealed down from a 5.0 level. I thought it was clear he was the strongest player on our court. However, his partner was a 3.5, and although she was 4 wins 0 losses in 4.0 and clearly above a 3.5 level, she was still our obvious target. We tried to direct all balls to her, and it worked well. This caused the 4.5A player to take additional risks, resulting in more unforced errors and frustrations on his part.

I was having a great match, playing tremendously loose and free. Quite honestly, I was extremely fired up because early on I noticed someone watching us. Remember the person at Bay Trees who had rejected me in 2019? He had lost in the quarter finals, and he of all people watched my match. I got pretty angry the moment I saw him and channeled that energy into match focus. There were two or three occasions where, after winning the point, I looked right at him and pointed at him, wanting him to notice who he had rejected two years earlier. Was it petty? Yes. I eventually recognized my immaturity and started looking and pointing at my cheering teammates instead. I loved that they reciprocated by pointing right back!

We won 6-2, 6-3 in the semi final, and our other two lines also won. We were into the finals!

In the finals, I faced someone I absolutely did not want to play against: Donny. Donny’s team had also done well in their round robin, in the quarter finals, and semi finals. Like the previous match, Donny, despite being a good 4.5 player, had a 3.5 partner. We successfully directed most balls to his partner and won with ease at 6-1, 6-1.

After that, I spectated an incredibly competitive battle between friends. Allen was on Donny’s team and faced Alex and Zuzia. Alex and Zuzia barely won the first set 7-6. I witnessed many rallies that had 20+ balls. The second set was also super close, close to the point where I could no longer watch. Alex played at the net, while the 3 other players stayed at the baseline. Allen and his partner were able to run down most of Alex’s volleys. It was unbearable to watch, so I took a 15 min walk. I eventually returned to find that Alex and Zuzia won 6-3 in the second set. Wow. We did it. We were going to nationals!

After celebrating with the team, I went to cheer for the 7.0 team. Reina and Gil partnered together, and I caught the last few points they won to win the second doubles line, thereby securing the 7.0 team’s win. 7.0 was also going to nationals!

Pre-Nationals

8.0 Nationals took place between October 29-31 in a city called Surprise, AZ. With one full month before competition, I was able to enjoy a nice break.

Between October 7-13, Bonita and I attended Indian Wells with Alex and Elaine. Alex was both incredibly resourceful and generous in booking a two-day tennis camp for us with 17-time major winner Gigi Fernandez. We spent two days learning how she approaches tennis doubles. Through plenty of drilling, I developed a chip-and-charge, and I also learned some useful net movement tactics. Unbeknownst to me at the time, both of these skills would be vital at nationals.

After the camp, we enjoyed days and nights filled with watching pro tennis. A simply wonderful way to get inspiration two weeks before nationals.

Nationals: chaos in Arizona

Feeling well rested, healthy, and rejuvenated, it was game time.

We flew over on Wednesday October 27, two days prior to the start of the tournament. Alex, Stephanie, Cathy, Zuzia, and I traveled together.

Alex designed jackets for the entire team that said “2021 Nationals NorCal Champions.” I tried to take in those words to heart. I wanted to truly return to the Bay Area a champion, else face shame.

We landed at about 1:00 pm. All seemed well. We were in the shuttle heading to the car rental center. And then shit happened.

Christi texted us, asking if we saw what happened. And then we saw it ourselves. Stephanie, along with two other teammates, got “bumped” up half a rating. So Stephanie became a 5.0, thereby making her no longer eligible to play at the 8.0 level. I no longer had a partner.

So, what happened? Turns out that a team we faced and beat in sectionals was unhappy with their loss. They filed a grievance against our team, calling out every single self-rated player as intentionally underrated, even ones that did not appear in sectionals. The team of 18 had five self-rates, and all five were listed in the grievance. Three of the five players that were grievanced, Stephanie included, were upheld by the USTA. I got on the plane with a partner, and landed without one.

As a consequence of the grievances, Dan was suspended as the captain. He made the difficult decision of canceling his flight altogether. We were now without a captain, a key player, and had to figure out what to do.

The schedule was announced. Over the next two days, we would play the following four sections:

1. Friday, 8:00 am: Mid-Atlantic
2. Friday, 12:00 pm: Middle States
3. Saturday, 2:00 pm: Southern
4. Saturday, 6:00 pm: Missouri Valley

Of the 17 different sections, the 4 teams with the best records would advance to Sunday to compete in semi final and finals matches.

Once the rest of the team flew in and discussions were had, the decision was made. Stephanie would serve as acting captain, and we would play the first match with the following three lines:

1. Brendan (4.5) / Cathy (3.5)
2. Alex Baier (4.5) / Jennifer (3.5)
3. Alex Yang (4.0) / Zuzia (4.0)

Cecilia was a 4.0 and I was a 3.5, so we were benched as backup players. I was so bummed, and I could only imagine how bad Stephanie felt. The only positive was that, because I knew wasn’t going to play, I slept 6 full hours!

Nationals: Day 1

Things did not start off well against Mid-Atlantic. Brendan and Cathy lost 5-7, 4-6. Alex and Zuzia barely won 6-4, 4-6, 1-0. The deciding line was Alex and Jennifer, and they had an incredibly tough match, losing an absolute slugfest at 6-7, 7-6, 14-16. It was a devastating loss.

Despite the team loss, we still had a chance to place top 4 overall if other teams beat up on each other. Granted, we had to win the rest of our matches, as a second loss would mathematically take us out of top 4 contention.

So Stephanie decided to try something new. In the next match, she put the two benchwarmers into action. Our lineups against Middle States were:

1. Brendan (4.5) / Cathy (3.5)
2. Alex Yang (4.0) / Zuzia (4.0)
3. Andy (3.5) / Cecilia (4.0)

Was I shocked? Yes. Was I nervous? Yes. Had I expected to play? No.

I had never played with Cecilia before. I had never even watched her play and had no idea what her style, strengths, and weaknesses were. And vice versa. We did not know each other’s game. With less than two hours before the match, we had to discuss how to effectively partner together.

Gigi Fernandez’s boot camp and Alex’s teachings left me convinced that, when all four players on a court possessed equal skill, the majority of doubles points were won at the net. I took that advice to heart and thought that I must approach the net at all costs. On the other hand, Cecilia disclosed that her comfort was in her groundstrokes; volleys were her weakness. The two of us agreed to maximize our strengths and hide our weaknesses. Together, we walked onto the court to partner for the first time.

My opponents were both tall. Like, not-your-typical-Bay-Area-5’8″-Asian tall, but rather 6’3″ athletic white man and 5’11″athletic white woman tall. Allen had warned me about other sections having tall, non-Asian people. He wasn’t kidding. I was intimidated.

They were strong. It was a 4.0C / 4.0A pair. Both had good reach and covered the net well. The man served hard and flat, making it hard to keep balls in play. But, Cecilia and I held our own. They held every game, but we did too. I shook off my nerves by vocally celebrating every point that we won, which helped me relax. Cecilia was consistent at the baseline, giving me opportunities to volley or smash at the net. They were also not used to my underhand serve, often overhitting.

We really struggled to get past them at the net. Cecilia did not have a lob and she stopped attempting that shot after repeatedly giving our opponents easy overhead smashes. I tried my best to lob-and-charge and chip-and-charge, sticking true to the Gigi Method. It paid off in crucial moments, and we won the first set 7-6 after saving two set points. We continued this tactic into the second set. Cecilia by then had moved off the net entirely so that she could execute her strengths: ground strokes. I hit no more than one baseline groundstroke before advancing to the net. The opponents were unable to adjust, and we won the second set 6-2. Cecilia and I both won our first ever match at nationals!

The team bounced back strong, winning all three matches. This gave us a fighting chance at top 4, and we kept checking team standings hoping that few teams were undefeated after the first day.

After the match, I realized that I had moved around so much that I completely tore through my shoes AND sock. I didn’t feel it during the match, but my toe felt raw. We drove to Big 5 Sporting Goods hoping they had a shoe that fit me. I found right fitting shoes that cost just $40 and prayed it would serve me well.

After our success together, Stephanie decided that Cecilia and I would continue playing together. Alex and I hot tubbed in the hotel that evening, and he gave me some much needed words of affirmation to help me perform the following day. Despite that, I was still filled with anxiety and only slept 4 or 5 hours.

Nationals: Day 2

Luckily, our first Saturday match was at 2:00 pm, allowing me to be sedentary leading up to the match.

Our lineups remained the same:

1. Brendan (4.5) / Cathy (3.5)
2. Alex Yang (4.0) / Zuzia (4.0)
3. Andy (3.5) / Cecilia (4.0)

We faced a team that was already out of contention at 0 wins, 2 losses. We hoped their morale was low, and that they would not fight as hard so that we could lose as few games and sets as possible. I didn’t know what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect them to show up beer in hand and relaxed as can be.

We faced a 4.0C / 4.0C pair, and the guy was tall, about 6’0″. The girl was average height, but she hit flat and hard. They both played relaxed and free, and the guy was able to ace us a number of times. Luckily, we were able to hold all our games, and we eventually broke them one time to take the set 6-4. Just like the prior match, the opponent’s momentum dwindled, and we were able to take the second set 6-2.

Cathy, Brendan, Zuzia, and Alex also did well. We didn’t drop a single set and our standings improved. We also learned that our final round robin opponent was 0 wins 3 losses as a team, and that we had a real shot of making semi finals if we were to win as a team and be 3 wins, 1 loss overall.

Stephanie announced the final round robin match lineups:

1. Alex Yang(4.0) / Zuzia (4.0)
2. Alex Baier (4.5) / Jennifer (3.5)
3. Andy (3.5) / Cecilia (4.0)

6:00 pm came around, and we played our first evening match. For the first time, we faced average height opponents. Their normal-looking appearance, coupled with their records, left me feeling confident for the first time. Cecilia and I showed no mercy. We didn’t make many mistakes. I distinctly remember making a dissatisfied remark about an unforced error on our end, because such mistakes were rare throughout the match. We won 6-0, 6-1 in what seemed like 30 minutes.

The other two matches were closer, both battling it out in the super tiebreak. Alex and Jennifer lost a close match just like the day before, and Alex and Zuzia were able to pull it off, securing the team a 2-1 victory.

With the last round robin concluded, we waited for updated standings. Mathematically, we believed we would land right at 4th place. Due to a brutal round robin, only two teams remained undefeated. Five teams had 3 wins 1 loss, and among them, Hawaii and NorCal had the best record. It was confirmed – we were moving onto the final day!

Like the previous evening, Alex and I hot tubbed to heal our bodies. I was feeling pretty tired, but eager to play the next day. A group of 10.0 players from the New England section joined us and we made small talk. They had also made the final day and we wished each other the best of luck heading into Sunday.

I wasn’t able to sleep that night. Not a single second.

I was so nervous that I just rolled around in bed. Between 2:00-4:00 am, I texted Elaine and Christi who were both awake, and they both gave me much needed encouragement. At 4:30 am, I gave up trying to sleep. I started re-watching my favorite computer game (Dota 2) documentary. The documentary followed the most decorated professional gaming team of all time winning their first ever international tournament as underdogs in 2018. In that tournament, they won $11.2M in prize money – the largest ever amount at the time.

One of the winning players and captain was famously recorded saying:

“I strongly believe that if I woke up one morning and I had to play [The International] final, I would play the best Dota of my life. That’s all that would matter to me. If I played my very best, nothing else would matter.”

Johan “NoTail” Sundstein, 2016 (source)

I watched this part of the documentary a dozen times, trying to visualize winning nationals. Visualizing what it would mean to me and our team, underdogs, handicapped in players, the odds stacked against us. In that moment, despite no sleep, I truly felt ready to play.

Nationals: semi finals

8:00 am. Game time. As the 4th seeded team, we had to face the 1st seed, SoCal.

SoCal had a reputation for forming historically strong teams, and they’ve won numerous nationals titles. They had by far the most impressive record, winning 62.44% of games and fewest sets lost compared to all other teams. This was going to be hard.

Stephanie decided on the following lines:

1. Andy (3.5) / Cecilia (4.0)
2. Alex (4.0) / Zuzia (4.0)
3. Brendan (4.5) / Cathy (3.5)

As the tournament organizers called the teams and announced court numbers, we learned that Cecilia and I were going to play on the show court. Everyone would be able to watch us. That was the last thing I wanted, and I got nervous once again.

We faced a 4.0C / 4.0C pair. I learned from the previous night, through “researching” our opponents, that the guy I was facing had just attended 4.0 men’s nationals just two weeks earlier, winning 3 of his 4 matches. He was a strong player.

And strong he was. His baseline strokes were incredibly consistent and heavy. Early on I tried trading groundstrokes with him just once and got overpowered. Cecilia and I quickly reverted to our comfort positions: her at the baseline, myself at the net.

It was a mentally grueling match. Although our two opponents were incredibly respectful, SoCal brought a huge cheering squad who shouted rather obnoxiously after every point they won. It was like a circus. But then I noticed some people from different sections cheered for Cecilia and I. We had people on our side too!

Just like before, everyone held their service games and we went to the tiebreak. From what I remember, Cecilia and I performed flawlessly in the tiebreak. We were up 5-0 at one point, and we won the set 7-6. I had bottled so much anger towards one of the SoCal hecklers throughout the set that, when we won the last point in the tiebreak, I looked and pointed right at the heckler and cheered exactly the same way he did, “Woo Woo WooOoOoOoOoOoO!” Doing so in that moment gave me an adrenaline dump and I felt my lower body start to cramp. The heckler was so upset at my mimicry that he started walking onto the court. USTA officials caught him and kicked him off the court, forbidding him from making contact with the players.

Although that set absolutely decimated my body, Cecilia and I were both keen on continuing our momentum. I honestly think we had mentally broken the opponents. There were some close games in the second set, but we took all of them, delivering a 6-0 bagel and securing one of two lines needed to make the final.

After we left the court, several players from other sections congratulated us. They told us that they felt the same negative reaction from SoCal and wanted us to win. I really appreciated their support.

I soon learned that Brendan and Cathy faced an incredibly tough pair and had lost before we had finished. This left Alex and Zuzia as the decider. I could not stomach watching more than two points before I walked away. I eventually returned when I learned that, once again, Alex and Zuzia pulled off a victory in the super tiebreak! The NorCal underdogs took down the top seeded team and were heading into the finals!

Cramps…

After our 2-1 team victory, we awaited the outcome of the other two teams battling it out. Hawaii emerged the winner, upsetting second seed Intermountain. Finals was going to be NorCal vs. Hawaii.

The teams were given one hour of rest before game time.

We sat down. I stood up. And then… I cramped. My entire body cramped. It should have been no surprise, given I had zero sleep and had sweat a bunch. My hips, quads, hamstrings and calves all locked up.

Shit. You’ve got to be kidding me.

Alex Baier handed me a handheld massage roller for my quads, but it could only do so much. I drank a lot of Liquid IV and ate bananas, but that didn’t help. Less than 30 minutes before finals, Alex Yang brought me into the locker room. He took out a tiny vial of steroids CrampsAway and instructed me to swoosh the liquid in my mouth for a minute, then swallow it. I followed his instruction.

Low and behold, most of the cramps went away. I still had mobility issues given the muscle tightness leading up to the moment, but I did feel better. Win or lose, I was ready to play the best tennis of my life.

Nationals: grand finals

11:00 am. Time to rock and fuckin’ roll. Here were the lineups:

1. Brendan (4.5) / Cathy (3.5)
2. Alex (4.0) / Zuzia (4.0)
3. Andy (3.5) / Cecilia (4.0)

Brendan and Cathy played on the show court. Alex was next to them, and Cecilia and I were rather far away from both their courts.

Cecilia and I played furthest away from the USTA desk and walked the longest distance onto our court. I distinctly remember what we said while walking over. Despite awareness that I had mobility problems, I would try to slowly test my limits as the match progressed, and we would simply continue the strategy that led us this far.

Our opponents were a 4.5 man / 3.5 woman. They had played with each other all weekend and experienced great success. The man was a tall Asian guy, and the girl was short but very athletic. They had to be strong to make it to the finals.

And tough they were. The guy, Chad Shibuya, did not serve as flat or hard as the 6’0″+ white guys from prior days, but his spin and corner placement was insanely accurate. Cecilia got aced more times that I could count, and I took the backhand returns at shoulder or face height. Most of my returns were intercepted by the girl, Tiffany Akiyama, who effortlessly volleyed balls away. Chad played proper doubles, not hitting more than one or two ground strokes before coming in. Tiffany hugged the net, yet extended her on-court presence by being active.

Points were hard fought. My mobility had all but returned, and I felt no more pain from the cramps. Everyone held, except late in the set. Somehow, just somehow, we were able to break Chad, taking the set 6-4. We started off well in the second set, breaking him again to lead 4-2. Then, for the first time all weekend, Cecilia got broken. Then Tiffany held. Then I got broken for the first time. And then Chad held. We found ourselves losing 4 games in a row and experienced our first set loss. We were going to a super tiebreak.

Around that time, a small crowd had gathered around us. We learned that Alex and Zuzia had quickly won 6-1, 6-1, but Brendan and Cathy had lost a close match in the super tiebreak. Cecilia and I would be the deciding line to win or lose it all.

Upon learning this, I felt the need to collect myself. I asked for a bathroom break and walked pretty slowly to and from the bathroom. On the way back, I closed my eyes for a good 10 seconds while walking down and through the show court. I opened my eyes, and I remember all the thoughts just stopped. I simply absorbed and accepted my surroundings. It was quite a beautiful, sunny day. Let’s play some tennis!

We started out strong in the tiebreak. Chad served and lost the point. Cecilia served and won both points. I distinctly remember smashing one ball out of the court. We were up 3-0.

With Tiffany serving 0-3, I thought there was no way Chad would move at the net. It was too risky, right? Wrong. I hit a slow-ish cross court serve return, which Chad intercepted and smashed out of the court. 1-3 Hawaii.

I don’t remember how the next few points played out. But I do remember, while the score was still close, Cecilia double faulted twice in a row to give them a lead. I remember feeling nothing, just kept thinking about the next point and let bygones be bygones. On another point, I remember simply betting – not in anticipation but a simple bet – that Chad would move off Tiffany’s serve. I guessed right. My slow-ish return went down the line and burned Chad for a winner.

We soon found ourselves down 8-9, down championship point with Chad serving. I’ll never forget this point. After lobbing the serve return over Tiffany, I stormed the net. Chad tried to lob past me, but I took the overhead around the service line and smashed it over the fence for a winner.

I don’t remember what happened at 9-9, but Cecilia returned the serve, and we won the point. Cecilia’s turn to serve it out, 10-9, championship point. I don’t remember how the point played out until the final shot. Chad lobbed another ball. I moved into position for an overhead. At 1:00 pm or so, the sun was directly overhead and I looked right into the sun. I was blind. I nearly hesitated, but decided to follow through on the swing and pray that my strings would make contact with the ball.

I connected. I clearly saw the ball bounce near Tiffany and go past her, although I was still blind that I lost track of ball after that. I had no visual on Chad.

And then the crowd screamed. It was our crowd. Our team. Our people. While still blind, I finally processed what happened and let out a smile. While still blind, Cecilia was suddenly screaming into my face. We just won the super tie break 11-9.

I dropped my racquet. Cecilia hugged me. And the rest of the team rushed us.

And then I truly realized what happened, and I started crying. Like full-on, cannot-control-breathing ugly cry. And the crying caused my stomach to cramp. And then my whole body started to cramp. So the ugly cry was half from joy and half from pain.

We did it. Against all odds, we actually did it. We were 8.0 mixed nationals champions.

Awards and Celebrations

It’s pretty hard to describe in just a few words, “How did you win 8.0 nationals?” For me at least, only starting to play tennis in 2018 and spending so many hours a week on the court, getting an overwhelming amount of guidance and coaching from Alex and other experienced players, and reviewing video footage of myself and other players, was all a prerequisite. The injuries and team formation uncertainties were part of the journey. The ratings drama after we arrived in Arizona was a significant part of the story. Stephanie was supposed to be my partner, but instead, Cecilia and I found ourselves the scrappy 7.5 pair that somehow won all our matches with me serving underhand.

In that moment, I thought of all that time and energy spent developing my tennis game, and my emotions got the best of me. My tears were truly tears of joy. We did it. We won nationals. Even more satisfying was to do it with Alex, who I already considered a lifelong mentor and friend. I wanted him to win nationals for the first time, and to be part of his story. Funny enough, I wrote about this shared goal of ours in my 2020 MBA application!

Mission accomplished. After team celebrations came the award ceremony. USTA gave us the statistics: of the 18,000 players across 1,200 teams in 17 different sections throughout the country, we were #1. I was quite proud of that figure.

We took some team pictures, and I was still sniffling and eyes glistening from tears throughout the process. It’s quite hard to describe the euphoria. Cecilia and I were all smiles.

2021 was the first time I had attended and won nationals. On October 31, 2021, I truly had woken up to play the best tennis of my life. And that was all that mattered to me.

I would be extremely fortunate to win nationals a second time at the 7.0 level in 2022, that time with both Alex and Allen, but I leave that story for another day.