On a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Millbrook Tennis Center, the first annual $2500 Raleigh Tennis Association UTR Championships presented by Wake Orthopaedics crowned a champion.
Matthew Thomson, UTR 12, and Robert Maciag, UTR 13, each with a tough road to the finals, battled it out in the last match. In an exciting finish to the seven-day event, Maciag edged out his Wake Forest University teammate, Thomson, 7-5, 6-3 to claim the championship.
Both men played challenging semi-finals matches that went to deciding 10-point tiebreaks to make it to the championship round. Thomson outlasted Juan Lopez De Azcona, UTR 12, 6-4, 5-7, 10-1 and Maciag won 7-5, 6-7, 11-9 over Anudeep Kodali, UTR 13.
The event, facilitated by Tournament Director Mike Cahall, was open to UTR’s with a verified rating of 10 and higher at time of registration. The 32 player draw and best two out of three sets format, with a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set, provided fans with incredible tennis over the last several days.
Payouts, made possible by Wake Ortho, included $1500 for the winner, $750 for the finalist and $125 each for third and fourth place. Erica Robinson, Business Development Manager for Wake Orthopaedics, presented the winner and finalists with their checks.
All tournament results can be found here.
Photo 1: Winner Robert Maciag; Erica Robinson, Business Development Manager for Wake Orthopaedics; and RTA Junior Council Members, Emma Hulicki and Jackson Doyle.
Photo 2: Runner-up Matthew Thomson with Erica Robinson, Emma Hulicki, and Jackson Doyle.
Photo 3: Tournament Official; Bill Edwards, Immediate Past President of the RTA; Mike Cahall, Tournament Director; Matthew Thomson; Jackson Doyle; Robert Maciag; Erica Robinson; and Emma Hulicki.
Action shots of Thomson, left, and Maciag, center and right.