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The guys of Texas weren't on top of their games Friday, but they were the last men standing in the highest division of the Texas Summer Grand Slam.
Top-seeded Benjamin Chen of Spring defeated Dallas' David Holiner 6-3, 7-6 (7) in a battle of University of Texas signees for the Boys 18 singles championship of the state's largest junior tennis tournament.
The Grand Slam finished Friday at the Mitchell Tennis Center, also crowning singles champions in Boys 16, Boys 12 and Girls 12.
Although the finals were played at the Texas A&M courts, the Boys 18 matchup had a burnt orange hue. Chen wore a T-shirt of that color from the Houston Tennis Academy to start the match. Otherwise, the players' Longhorn connections were reflected by the occasional brilliant shots that each produced.
"It was just another match as far as that goes, but I'm excited that he's going to Texas," Chen said. "He's a really good player. I'm excited to be going there as well."
Played in early afternoon heat at the end of a draining eight-day tournament, the championship match was littered with more errors than either player anticipated.
"It was a pretty tight match," Chen said. "Both of us weren't really swinging freely. It wasn't about who was playing better: It was about who wasn't playing worse."
Both players suffered through swoons in the second set. Chen failed to carry the momentum from an easy first set, falling behind 4-1 and 15-40. Holiner had a couple of break points to push his lead to 5-1, but Chen escaped and then won the next two games to pull even.
On Thursday, Chen pulled off a similar escape when he rallied from 3-5 in both sets to take two tiebreakers from Shane Vinsant in the semifinals.
"One of my strengths is my mentality," Chen said. "I never give up. Whenever I'm down, I sort of have an instinct to pick it up. If you're going to beat me, you've got to win it. I'm not going to give it to you."
Holiner was playing his first tournament since suffering wrist and groin injuries in November. He said his lack of competitive matches was a factor in the key game, and in his late-match struggles.
"That [sixth game] was pretty important," Holiner said. "I just let up my intensity a little bit once I got up 4-1. I started missing more and gave him a chance to get back in it.
"I was dying. I think it's because I haven't had that much match experience [since November]. I'm not totally back to being 100 percent match-ready."
Holiner missed on two more break chances as Chen pulled even at 4-4, and then both players held serve to force a tiebreaker. Chen grabbed the first three points, but Holiner fought to get back on serve and had one set point after a service winner produced a 7-6 lead.
Then Chen conjured up three more big points to take the match. Chen lashed a backhand winner to fight off set point, and then fired an ace up the middle to reach match point. Chen smacked a big forehand return that Holiner couldn't handle, ending the 2-hour match.
"If I was going to pick any tournament to win, it would be this one," Chen said. "Everyone in Texas plays in it. We get ready for this tournament a couple of months before it starts.
"[The Grand Slam] was my first Super Champs tournament back when I was 10 and it was in Wichita Falls. I was thinking on the way here that for the past 8 years I've been playing in these tournaments. What a ride it's been. This is my last Texas junior tournament. It's a really cool way to go out."
Rising star Vinsant of Keller, a 15-year-old playing up one division, took third place in Boys 18 with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over doubles partner Dane Webb. Vinsant beat UT signees Chris Camillone and Daniel Whitehead before losing to Chen in the semifinals.
In the Boys 16 championship match, third-seeded Tanner Brown of New Braunfels rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Stuart Kenyon from Houston.
Grayson Broadus of Irving lived up to his No. 1 seeding in Boys 12 by beating second-seeded Bailey Showers of Bellaire 7-5, 6-2 in the afternoon final.
The Girls 12 title went to McKinney's Karina Traxler, the second seed. She beat top-seeded Marina Cozac of Plano 6-1, 6-2.
