This past Saturday, July 20th the 18 & Under Vermont Grand Prix Singles Tournament was a resounding success accompanied by beautiful weather. Held at the Stowe Tennis Club, twenty-one participants from all over Vermont competed in the event in a combined boys and girls tournament draw. The match format was best of 2 sets to 4 games, with a 7-point tiebreaker at 3-3 or if with split sets.

Yuyang Zhang of South Burlington grabbed the win over Stowe’s Parker Guffey, 4-3, 4-1. The duo were evenly matched and played each other previously during the high school tennis season. Despite Guffey's efforts to keep the ball wide and tire out his opponent, Zhang's consistency and ability to return nearly every ball earned him the win. Both semi finals matches were closely contested and came down to a tie break. Parker Guffey narrowly won over Leo Jercinovic of Stowe 4-3, 2-4, 3-7 and Yuyang Zhang bested Stowe's Julia Biedermann in a close tie break 4-1, 0-4, 7-5. In the consolation bracket, Hugo Jercinovic won against Carter MacDonald, both from Stowe, 4-2, 4-2.

Semifinalistis pictured below, from left to right, are Yuyang Zhang, Julia Beidermann, Leo Jercinovic, and Parker Guffey.

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, and to the players who played their hearts out. It was an incredible showing of local, homegrown Vermont tennis talent!