MONTGOMERY, Al. -Stuart Misner of Brookhaven and Christopher Reaof Madison gave Mississippi a sweep of the USTA Boys 16s NationalOpen and brought home the gold trophies. They defeated Stuart Rowof Austin, Texas and Matthew Bain of Georgetown, Texas, 4-6, 7-5,6-2 in the doubles finals.

Earlier in the day Misner won the 16 singles crown with a splitset victory over Shan Tanu Dhaka of Chelmsford, Mass. Misner lostthe first set 5-7 but rebounded to beat Dhaka 6-4, 6-2.

“It is a blessing to win two titles,” said Misner. “All my hardwork has paid off. The Lord has really blessed me.”

Misner was seeded No. 3 and Dhaka was seeded No. 4. Misnerrecalled his strategy in the finals.

“I couldn’t stay back on the baseline and just hit with the guy.He was real big and real strong. I knew I had to put the pressureon him and not give him a shot to blow me away.

“I didn’t want to give him an inch,” said Misner. “He was mytoughest opponent.”

Misner said his forehand was working well. “If I got a shortball, I was going to rip it with my forehand. I was confident.”

Stuart’s father, David, is the tennis teaching professional atthe Brookhaven Country Club. He drove to Montgomery on Wednesdaywhen Stuart won his semifinals singles match.

“Stuart realized in the middle of the first set that he had tostrike first,” said his father. “Dhaka was a big kid, about a foottaller than Stuart.”

Misner had taken a 3-0 lead in the first set but Dhaka recoveredand won it. In the second set, Misner took a 4-0 lead before Dhakagained a 4-4 deadlock.

“Then Stuart revved it up a bit,” said David. “He went to adeeper level.”

Playing under a broiling summer sun for five straight days andthe air temperature in triple digits, the two finalists split sets.David had an opportunity to talk to his son after the secondset.

“Stuart mentally geared himself for it,” said David. “It waslike a boxing match. You have to throw the big one in first. Evenyour return serve has to be big. You have to hurt (opponent) beforehe hurts you.”

Tournament officials encouraged participants to hydrate beforeeach match. In other words, the players needed to drink largeamounts of water to compensate for the loss of fluid during amatch.

“It was important to drink a lot of liquids,” said Misner.”After one set, you’re whipped. If you think about it and try todrink a lot of water then, you get sick. You lose more fluidsweating than you can drink.

“You really have to drink a lot of Gatorade and water before thematch and you have to start early.”

After the doubles match, Misner said, “I felt beat. I was happyit was over.”

In doubles this week, it was Misner’s first time to play withRea. “I really enjoyed it. Christopher knows how to play doubles.He has really good hands at the net.”

Misner made it to the round of 32 at Atlanta in the SouthernSectional earlier this month but he was disappointed by hisperformance, especially after winning the Mississippi 16s singlestitle in June. “It made me realize that I would have to train awhole lot harder.”

Yesterday’s singles victory qualified Misner for the prestigiousNational Boys 16s Tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich. It starts Aug.3.