Brooke Camper stretches for a shot during Saturday’s LATA mixed doubles tournament at UNOH.
Jose Nogueras | The Lima News
LIMA — Brandon Amstutz called it a dream come true after he, along with Brooke Camper, made it to the Lima Area Tennis Association mixed tennis tournament Saturday at UNOH.
Amstutz and Camper will face Ian Laird and Maggie Fett in the finals at 10 a.m. today. The junior tournament consisting of of four players will begin at 9 a.m.
In their semifinal match, Camper and Amstutz held off Jeff Arthur and Delaney Dawson, 6-1, 7-5.
The duo from Bluffton have been a team for a year and made the semifinals last year before falling to the team of Arthur and Andrea Ariango-Brown in 2021.
“This feels great,” Amstutz said. “To beat Jeff is almost like a dream come true. He is the doubles guy so it is pretty big.”
“We both just kind of hype each other up,” Camper said. “We will give each other the confidence and bring each other up when we are down. I think that really helps on the court.”
Amstutz and Camper opened the tournament with a win against Bailey Barrett and Jace Jackson.
The team of Camper and Amstutz will face Fett and Laird, who made the mixed doubles finals last year and also fell victim to Ariango-Brown and Arthur.
Fett and Laird, out of Findlay, reached the finals after winning their opening match 6-0, 6-2 and then followed it up with a straight set win against Leslie Stechschulte and Mark Czuik.
“This is just for fun,” Fett said. “We play a lot of USTA tournaments and this is a fun, off-tournament we do, and we are from Findlay so it makes it easy.
Fett and Laird have been doubles partners for a year and said they are also a couple so that might help the chemistry.
“We do a lot together and we do practice,” Fett said. “We met through tennis actually so we were friends first and then we started playing doubles so we have known each other a little bit longer.”
“He (Laird) is a very good poacher at the net and with my ground strokes that makes a good combination.
Fett said the goal is to win but having fun and playing hard is also important.
“I would rather play great and lose than play poorly and win,” Fett said. “That is my mentality. As long as I play well is what is important to me.”
