Harrison O'Keefe's first trip to Chattanooga was a productive one.
The junior tennis player at South Carolina headed home to Salem, Va., with $3,400 in prize money from the Tennessee Valley Outdoor Championships, after defeating 2015 men's open champion Nathan Pasha in three sets for the men's singles title and then teaming with Julian Bradley to edge Pasha and fellow Atlanta-area resident Vikram Hundal in the open doubles final, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1).
Seventeen-year-old Emma Kurtz of Atlanta swept the corresponding women's championships at the Manker Patten Tennis Club, rallying past 16-year-old McCartney Kessler of Calhoun, Ga., for a three-set singles triumph and then pairing with Kessler to win in doubles. Kessler then completed her own two-title day by winning in mixed doubles with her brother McClain against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Lucas Plesky and Furman's Ansley Speaks.
The Kesslers' 6-1, 6-1 victory was the last match completed in the tournament. As it was for O'Keefe and Kurtz, the 2016 TVOC was the first for the University of Florida sophomore and his sister.
O'Keefe said it definitely won't be his last TVOC.
"I'll be here next year for sure," he said. "This is my first time in Chattanooga, and it's awesome, it's unbelievable - both the city and this tournament."
Asked about his 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 win over No. 1 seed Pasha starting the day, No. 2 seed O'Keefe said, "I played well the first set; then he raised his level in the second set. The third set was very back and forth. I just got lucky at the end and squeaked it out."
His doubles final was even more of a squeaker, with continuous hustle and numerous impressive shots by all four players, but O'Keefe credited the win to his partner, whom he had defeated in a three-set singles semifinal. The TVOC was their first time to play together.
"I'd probably give 98 percent of the credit to Julian. He definitely carried the team in doubles," O'Keefe said.
Kurtz, ranked No. 1 in the South in Girls 18s, prevailed 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 over McCartney Kessler before getting her second TVOC title with Kessler's help. They won 6-3, 6-4 over Speaks and Furman freshman Danielle Vines, giving Kurtz a $1,750 payday.
She did it with her grandfather, Walter Kurtz, in attendance. He's a retired judge from Nashville who normally would have been playing in the tournament but spent the early part of the weekend in Washington state to see two other grandchildren graduate from high school.
"I'd say I first played in this tournament 20 years ago and I've only missed it because of injuries or to see another grandchild graduate," said Judge Kurtz, who has a second home in Sewanee. "But I've never won here.
"My fantasy always was that a Kurtz would win this tournament, but I never figured it would be my granddaughter."
Granddaughter Emma is about to go on a trip to Italy to visit members of her mother's family, but she will be returning to Chattanooga to train for the USTA Clay Court Supernationals in mid-July. Manker Patten general manager Ned Caswell was the men's tennis coach at Anderson College when Emma's mother came there from Italy to play, and he helped in her coaching.
West Florida coach Derrick Racine defeated Signal Mountain's Jon Thorstenson 6-4, 6-4 for the men's 35s singles title and won in doubles with Sachin Kirlane of Starkville, Miss. Baylor School coach Philip Johnson topped Signal's Gordon Williams 6-4, 6-2 in the 45s final. The other singles champions Sunday were John Mahorner in 55s, Richard Johnson in 65s and Art Serio in 75s.
Johnson, of Chattanooga, won a three-set thriller against Chuck Maland of Knoxville, 6-4, 5-7, 11-9.
Williams and McCallie coach Eric Voges won in 45s doubles, Nashville-area residents Stephen Crofford and Bill Davis won in 55s doubles and Chattanooga's Allen Buquo and Hixson's Bob Rahn won in 65s doubles.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.