Ashley Kratzer celebrates her win at the USTA Girls National Championships in La Jolla.
Coming into this week’s USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships, 18-year-old Ashley Kratzer of Newport Beach, Calif., did not envision winning the hard court title at the Barnes Tennis Center.
But the unexpected happened on Sunday afternoon as the third-seeded Kratzer finished an incredible tournament run by defeating 33rd seeded Kelly Chen of Cerritos, Calif., 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to win the 18s national championship and earn a USTA gold ball and a wild card into the US Open.
After splitting the first two sets, Kratzer gained control of the third set with two early service breaks to establish a 4-0 lead. Chen, to the delight of the cheering crowd, fought back with two service breaks of her own and tied the set at 4-4.
In the ninth game, Kratzer regained momentum as she held serve at love for a 5-4 lead. As Chen served to stay in the match, Kratzer dropped only a single point and broke serve to close out the match.
“It feels absolutely amazing. I was not expecting to win the whole tournament. I set a goal just to get to the semis,” Kratzer said after winning the title. “To actually win is amazing. I was playing some of my best tennis. I’m so excited to be in the US Open. It’s always been a dream of mine. I’m really looking forward to that.”
The newly-crowned Girls’ 18s singles champion enjoyed playing before the large crowd that packed Stadium Court and she was well aware that Sunday’s final was being broadcast to a national television audience on Tennis Channel.
“It was a little nerve-wracking at first. I was a little nervous. It was really cool that Tennis Channel was here,” she said. “It’s nice to see that (girls’) tournaments are now being televised. It was an amazing tournament. I thought the crowd was awesome. All and all it was a good experience.”
In the Girls’ 18s doubles final, fifth-seeded Taylor Johnson of Redondo Beach, Calif., and
Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks, Calif., captured the title with a hard-fought 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over sixth-seeded Hailey Baptiste of Washington D.C., and Ellie Douglas of McKinney, Texas.
Liu and Johnson received a USTA gold ball and a wild card into the doubles main draw at the upcoming US Open in New York.
For complete tournament results, please go to:
http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=185581#&&s=8Results0