U.S. Amateur Singles Final – Boston – April 23, 2017
By Jeffrey Horine
Unseeded Todd Meringoff ousted the second, third and fourth seeded players en route to the United States Amateur singles title, held at Boston’s Tennis & Racquet Club from April 21-23. Meringoff defeated Jeremy Wintersteen in the final 6/1, 4/6, 6/4, 6/1.
In quarterfinal play, Meringoff dispatched second-seeded Patrick Winthrop in straight sets while third-seeded Peter Cipriano outdueled Alex Spence in a thrilling match 6/5 in the third set. In the other half of the draw, fourth-seeded Wintersteen outlasted Jeffrey Horine in a three set match that lasted nearly two and a half hours while top seeded Will Hopton easily advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Meringoff controlled the tempo of the match in a straight set victory over Cipriano while marathon-man Wintersteen prevailed over Hopton in another two-plus hour match.
In the finals, after splitting the first two sets, Wintersteen took a 4/3 lead in the third. Meringoff tied the set after saving several game points. The final two games featured multiple deuces, with each player digging deep with crowd-pleasing defense to keep the set alive. More than two hours into the match at this point, Meringoff was able to outlast Winterseen in the 3rd set and then cruise to a 4th set win and the US Amateur title.
Many thanks to the T&R staff and, especially, head pro Tony Hollins and assistant pro Leon Smart for a well-run and well-marked tournament. Thank you as well to the T&R tennis members for showing their support throughout the tournament with packed dedans on Friday and Saturday night.
