Washuta overtakes Willing as men’s city singles tennis champion, honors late mother

QUINCY — Stephen Washuta had a helping hand from up above in winning the men’s open title in the Quincy Tennis Association City Singles Championships.

Washuta’s mother, Beth, passed away last year from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare degenerative brain disorder.

“Honestly, if I would have talked to you about this a couple months ago, I’d be in tears right now,” Washuta said. “She’s the one that introduced me to the game. We spent endless weekends, endless nights going to tournaments, staying in hotels.”

Washuta channeled some motivation from his mother to help him beat four-time reigning men’s open champion Zach Willing 7-5, 6-3 in Sunday’s championship match at the Greeman Tennis Center in Reservoir Park.

“She was always big on me fighting for every point,” Washuta said. “She was from Georgia, so she used to call me her bulldog. Just that bulldog mentality, fighting through every point. Don’t let any point go easy. When I was going on in the match, I was just like, ‘Keep fighting, keep fighting, and everything will work out.’”

Washuta played college tennis at SIU-Edwardsville but had not played a competitive match in the better part of a half decade.

“I used to coach at the YMCA, but I would just coach,” Washuta said. “I would play around sometimes, but I hadn’t really actually played a competitive match in about five years.”

Some hitting sessions with area tennis players like Todd and Zach Willing and Ian Hinkamper convinced Washuta he still had the game to play competitively, and his performance in his first Quincy city tournament proved himself correct. After receiving a bye in the first round, Washuta beat Anthony Becker 6-4, 6-2, then beat Marko Cucuk 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 to reach the championship match against Willing.

Washuta felt his mother’s presence especially in that semifinal match.

“That match against Marko was a 2 ½ hour match,” Washuta said. “It was a grinder of a match, and I thought of her late in that and thought of her again today. I’m just trying to find the positives in it.”

Washuta’s well-rounded game helped him fend off Willing in much shorter, but in Washuta’s estimation, no less stressful fashion on Sunday.

“He’s a solid player,” Washuta said of Willing. “His serve is huge. He plays the right shot, too, so it was definitely a fun match.”

Add two sons under 3 years old and a “gut job of a renovation” at his new home in Quincy that he and his wife, Jersee, closed on in March, and Washuta has plenty on his mind.

“It probably isn’t a great time to do (the renovation), but you know,” Washuta said. 

As much as the level of his play in those practice sessions convinced him to play again, his family factored just as much into that decision.

“My wife watched me play in college, but she never got to watch too much,” Washuta said. “I was hoping my boys could see it because if I have to play any more matches like that against Zach, I don’t know how many more years I’m going to be playing.”

How ever many years that may be, Washuta will always have his biggest fan cheering him on.

“I know she’s watching,” Washuta said.