KALAMAZOO, MI - Zach Svajda was in an unfamiliar environment when he began his run at the 2019 USTA Boys 18 and 16 Nationals in Kalamazoo.

Not because the 16-year old was competing against a field of older, more experienced players in the 18-and-under division, but because he simply doesn't play many tournaments.

Playing in the third junior tournament of his career, the San Diego native topped Govind Nanda 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 Sunday at Kalamaazoo College's Stowe Stadium to capture the national championship and earn a wildcard draw into the 2019 U.S. Open.

"It's pretty amazing," he said. "I can't even remember the match or match point. It's pretty special. I'm so excited."

While most players Svajda's age make their USTA Boys Nationals debut in the 16U division, he decided to compete at the highest level because that's where he feels at home.

Svajda counts World No. 25 Taylor Fritz as one of his regular hitting partners and top-ranked American John Isner as a primary mentor, and earlier this summer, he practiced with Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem at California's Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Through his matches in the International Tennis Federation's Futures circuit, Svajda became just the third player in history and the first American to earn a point on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour before his 16th birthday.

But just when Svajda appeared to have everything rolling, he started to feel the grind of life as a 16-year-old pro tennis player.

"He thought he'd just go right out there onto the pro tour, but after he got his ATP point, he started struggling a little bit with the 25-year olds," said Svajda's father Tom, who also serves as his son's primary coach. "He'd have some good wins, but then he'd have some losses where he'd win the first set, so when he went to the USTA, they wanted him to go back and play some junior tournaments."

"From the time he was 14 to almost 16, he had only played like four tournaments, and those were men's," Tom said. "He didn't play any juniors, so they wanted him to start competing against people closer to his age for the pressure, because that's where the pressure is."

Svajda initially didn't want to play the annual tournament in Kalamazoo, but his father, who competed in the 1982 Boys Nationals, sold him on the experience of taking the court at Stowe Stadium.

"Every day I brought him back for his matches, I'd say, 'Pretty cool tournament, huh?' and he'd say, 'Yeah, it's pretty special.' And it is. It's an amazing tournament," Tom said.

Svajda admitted the tournament was a new experience for him, but by the time he collected his championship trophy, he had nothing but good things to say about the USTA Boys Nationals.

"It's definitely new with all the crowds and everything," he said. "The first few rounds, I didn't play too well. I don't know, I was just kind of nervous and not used to all this, but then definitely like third round and fourth round it got better and I got used to it."

The tournament's sixth seed, Svajda won his first five matches in straight sets, but needed three to defeat top-seeded Brandon Nakashima, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals.

His championship-round match against Nanda was the third meeting between the two players, with Nanda taking the first two matches when Svajda was 8 and 10 years old.

"He was playing well, but to win it though, it's tough because Brandon Nakashima, we knew that one would be tough." Tom said. "And Govind, Zach's lost to him twice.

"The whole tournament, I asked him, 'How do you feel? And he said, 'I feel great. I feel like I can do it.'"

16 singles finals

Florida native and top-seed Alex Bernard defeated fourth-seeded Aidan Mayo, of California, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in the Boys 16 championship match.

18 doubles finals

Last year's 16 singles champion Martin Damm and teammate Toby Kodat defeated Nakashima and Nanda 6-3, 6-4 in the Boys 18 doubles championship match.

16 doubles finals

Milford, Mich., native Aidan Kim and teammate Lucas Brown advanced to the Boys 16 doubles finals, but fell to Hugo Hashimoto and Benjamin Kittay, 4-6, 3-6 in the championship round.