Dawson, Rickert compete at USTA Summer Slam tennis tournament

Jacob Dawson and Pepper Rickert both left Sandpoint Tennis Camp early last week to compete in the Yakima Summer Slam tournament held at the Yakima Tennis Club on July 21-23. Rickert came away with two gold medals — one in doubles, and one in singles.

“It was 104 degrees out there this past weekend, but after four days of camp in Sandpoint, they were ready to hit the court running in Yakima,” SHS tennis coach Kent Anderson said.

Dawson, who competed in the 16U singles tournament, won his first round Friday morning against Owen Hartliep of Prosser, Wash., 6-2, 6-1. He was eventually defeated later that day by No. 3 seed Owen Conley, 6-0, 6-1.

Rickert, even though only 14 years old, was the No. 1 seed in the 16U singles tournament where she took home the gold medal. After a bye in the first round, Rickert defeated Hanxi Zhu of Mercer Island, Wash., 6-4, 6-1. She then defeated Najla El-shimi of Seattle, 6-0, 6-1, Ruth Sun of Bellevue, 2-6, 6-2, 10-2, and No. 2 seed Tayler Conway of Bellevue in the championship, 6-4, 6-0.

Conway happens to be Rickert’s doubles partner for many national tennis tournaments.

“Pepper was on fire, playing her best match of the season in the finals,” Anderson said. “She combined powerful groundstrokes with precision slices and timely drop shots to overwhelm Tayler.”

As if a singles championship wasn’t enough, Rickert teamed up with Madison Kim in the 16U doubles tournament and also took home first place. After a first round bye, Rickert and Kim won both their matches in two sets, 4-0, 4-0 and 4-2, 4-1 in the championship.