Franklin Regional's Nadesan, South Fayette's Patterson compete at World Junior Nationals

Franklin Regional rising junior Anup Nadesan and South Fayette rising sophomore Jacob Patterson were among players at the World TeamTennis Junior Nationals July 21-24 in San Diego.

The tournament consisted of 16 coed teams from across the country.

Nadesan and Patterson were among three boys and three girls on the U.S. Tennis Association Middle States team.

The teams used the WTT format, in which the winner of the match was the team that won the most games.

“This is drastically different from the normal tournaments that I compete in,” said Nadesan, 16, before the event. “There is no direct winner or loser to each match, which I think should be interesting.”

Patterson, 15, said the format is cool.

“It’s new for me and more team-oriented (than) what I’m used to,” Patterson said.

Patterson said he looked forward to meeting new people and competing with kids he never met or played before.

Middle States Junior Development Program Coordinator Seth Walrath said Nadesan and Patterson are the only players on the team from Western Pennsylvania.

The others are from Philadelphia and New Jersey.

The team was selected by the Middle States High Performance Coaches Commission.

Walrath coached the team.

Nadesan ranked 78th on the section’s Boys 18’s Combined Standings List July 17, and Patterson ranked 19th on the Boy’s 16 list.

Rashid Hassan, Nadesan’s junior coach, believes the change will be good for Nadesan.

“(He will) meet kids from other places, in the same boat,” Hassan said.

Marcy Bruce, who coaches Patterson, said any national experience helps.

South Fayette coach Brian Garlick expects the tournament to boost Patterson’s confidence.

Franklin Regional coach Howard Fisher said Nadesan will gain valuable experience.

“I’m very proud to see that he’s being justly rewarded for all the hours of intense training and sacrifice,” Fisher said.

Nadesan (Section 1-AAA) and Patterson (Section 4-AAA) earned section singles titles and qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA championship tournament this season.