Jack Gibbons, left, and Shelby Allen display awards at the Fast4 Summer Open tennis tournament. (Photo provided)

NORTH WEBSTER – The championship came down to Jack Gibbons versus Shelby Allen Sunday afternoon at the Fast4 Summer Open tennis competition sponsored by the Staley Tennis Academy.

After a quick 4-0 first set win by Gibbons, Allen rallied to even the score at a set apiece with a 4-2 second set victory. This left a Fast4 tiebreaker to five to determine the championship which Gibbons, of Pierceton, was able to reach first. Gibbons, heading into his junior year of high school this fall, is transferring to Wawasee from Central Noble. Allen will be a sophomore at Brownsburg High School.

Gibbons forged his path to the finals by beating Kelsey Harper (Warsaw, IN) in the first round in straight sets, Clayton Firestone (Leesburg, IN) via a third-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals and Joe Bowsher (Indianapolis, IN) in a third-set tiebreaker in the semifinals.

Allen received a first round bye, then beat last year’s Challenger Series Champion, Kiah Farrington (Pierceton, IN), in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Holden Babb (Syracuse, IN) was next to fall to Allen in the semifinals in a third-set tiebreaker, setting up the finals against Gibbons which went to a determining final set tiebreaker.

“I’ve put in a lot of hard work with Coach (Shane) Staley at his academy these past few years and participating in this tournament was an opportunity to reap the benefits of this hard work,” Gibbons said. “It feels great to get to accept this trophy after competing against some very tough opponents throughout the tournament.”

Staley Tennis Academy is a North Webster-based training academy for juniors and a professional verified UTR tennis club that adults and juniors can join for free. For more information on joining this club and playing in future leagues and tournaments, please visit the official Staley Tennis Club Page.