Jake Sands Finishes Fifth at USTA National Selection Singles Event

Palisades High sophomore Jake Sands finished fifth out of 64 players at the USTA Boys 16s Singles National Selection Tennis Tournament held Nov. 27-30 at Seascape Sports Club in Aptos.

In the first round, Sands beat Brandon Wong of Mercer Island, WA, 6-4, 6-4, then defeated Stevie Gould of Corte Madera, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1. In the quarterfinals, Sands lost to Jensen Brooksby of Carmichael, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, but in the quarterfinalist playoffs he beat ninth-seeded Siddarth Chardi  of Saratoga, 7-6 (4), 7-5, and third-seeded Eric Hahn of Fullerton, 6-4, 6-3.

At the Boys 18s USTA Open Regional Championships in Surprise, AZ, Jake’s older brother RJ took ninth place in the 32-player event by winning the feed-in consolation draw, reeling off five consecutive victories after falling in the main draw. Jake is a sophomore and RJ is a junior on Pali High’s varsity squad.