Hilton Head youth captures Winter Nationals crown in 3rd-set tiebreak

Hilton Head Island’s Jackson Armistead overcame a first-set loss to capture the Boys 12s crown at last weekend’s USTA Winter National Championships, winning a third-set tiebreak to defeat California’s Learner Tien in the final at Tucson, Ariz.

Armistead had surrendered just one set in his march through the brackets before a 6-4 setback in his opening set against Tien. He bounced back quickly, though, to square the match with a 6-2 triumph in the second set.

The deciding set was a slugfest, going the distance before Armistead prevailed 7-5 for the championship. Victory came a month after Armistead reached the Boys 12s quarterfinals of the Eddie Herr International in Florida.

J.J. Tracy (Hilton Head Island) also was part of a winning effort in Tucson, teaming with Billy Suarez (Huntington, N.Y.) to take the Boys 14s doubles title in straight sets over the California duo of Alex Lin and Maxwell McKennon. Tracy/Suarez didn’t drop a set the entire week.

This story was originally published January 5, 2017 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Hilton Head youth captures Winter Nationals crown in 3rd-set tiebreak."