The University of Houston team was crowned national champions at the 2024 ITA National Wheelchair Tennis Championships, the premier competition in collegiate wheelchair tennis.
In a remarkable display of skill, determination and teamwork, the No. 3 Cougars defeated No. 1 San Diego State in a three-hour match at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla., to win the school’s first wheelchair tennis national title.
The U of H team of Jose Arriaga and Nicholas Tijerina won the doubles match 8-6, and Arriaga clinched the title with a 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 victory in the first singles match.
HTA Advisory Board Member Harold Graham interviewed the winning players Nicholas Tijerina and Jose Arriaga and their head coach Gabriel Gutierrez for the HTA newsletter.
HTA – First off, a big congratulations to each of you for winning the 2024 ITA Wheelchair Tennis National Championships. That is a very big deal for each of you, your team and program and for the University of Houston.
Gabriel, congratulations to you for being named Coach of the Year. Gabe, as coach and being the guy who has worked with the program for years, what did you feel when Jose clinched the second point and the championship in his third set tiebreaker?
Gabriel – Thanks Harold, it was a mix of emotions to be honest. We went with one goal to the championship—win– and when Jose won his last point and we started celebrating the realization that we did, it started to hit me and it was very emotional. It was a tough match against SDSU, but I had my complete trust in both Nick and Jose. We had trained for this and we did it.
HTA – And, Jose, what went through your mind during and immediately after that last point?
Jose – After I went up in the second set 5-4, my mind was thinking many things, but at the same time I was feeling relaxed and confident. I felt I was overthinking the situation and that affected my performance and as a result I ended up losing that set 7-5. During the tiebreaker, I decided to change my mindset, concentrate and enjoy the situation. I felt adrenaline rushing through my heart and I could feel every single beat. After that adrenaline rush, a calmness filled my body, and I started to focus in on one point at a time. I was so concentrated on each point that I lost track of the score. Immediately after the last point I just heard my teammate celebrating the win so enthusiastically and I realized at that point I Won. I was so surprised, shocked and amazed. I won and that win gave us the title and the 2024 ITA Collegiate tournament championship[. I feel so happy to know that with hard work and dedication your goals can be met. You just have to believe in yourself!!!!!!!!!
HTA – Nicholas, what wasn’t clear to me, from reading the accounts, I wasn’t sure where you were, if you were on court playing or watching courtside. I mean, you partnered with Jose to get the crucial first point in doubles. Please describe where you were and the first thing you did when the championship got wrapped up.
Nicholas – The team format to win is the university team must win two out of three matches in order to advance/win the overall university vs. university match-up. The format is a team doubles match, then two singles matches to decide the winner of the match-up. After playing and winning the doubles, I had to play my singles vs. San Diego’s player Ryotaro Sakaguchi. I unfortunately lost my singles making the match count 1-1 with Jose heading into a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set. I watched with anxiety and stress as Jose was playing and I was cheering him on to let him know that we supported him. As soon as we won the championship I raced to Jose and celebrated on the court! I got really emotional as this had been a dream since I went to my first collegiate nationals two years ago. For it to become a reality really made me happy and emotional. We immediately went to dinner to celebrate after a long day of playing tennis in the sun!
HTA – And Nick, you are one of the top four singles players and will be traveling to Stillwater, Okla., during the NCAA Championships to play in the Final Four Shootout. So, congratulations on that, and I guess your training doesn’t stop now. What are you doing to prepare for your trip in May?
Nicholas – First off, I’m getting caught up with school! I spent four long days playing and training in the sun and passed out when I got back to the hotel. It was both a tremendously fun but exhausting week of travel and play. I took a small break to let my body rest after playing 15 matches, but I’ve already started working with Coach Gabe to start training to improve my game and be ready for Stillwater. I also work out in my free time to build up my strength and endurance to play my best tennis and leave it all on the court with no regrets!
HTA – Gabe, it has to be immensely satisfying to see these results for your student/athletes and the growth of the Adaptive Sports Program at the U of H. What are your wishes and hopes for the sport at the collegiate level, both on Cullen Boulevard and beyond as well as what can we do to help build Wheelchair Tennis at colleges and universities and the community as a whole?
Gabriel – Well Harold, from the beginning the goal has always been the same, to help grow wheelchair tennis nationwide. We start one step at a time, first with the community program, then the collegiate program, and little by little with the idea is to help those around us create more programs to make wheelchair tennis more accessible to everyone. With this win we hope to grow more at the University of Houston and be able to provide more resources and support for the current and future athletes coming to our program.
