GIRLS’ 18s SEMIFINALS SET FOR SATURDAY AT USTA
BILLIE JEAN KING GIRLS’ 16S & 18S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Girls’ 16s Singles Championship Scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday
SAN DIEGO – (August 10, 2018) – Girls’ 18s top-seed Kayla Day of Santa Barbara, Calif., avoided an upset, while the other three top seeds captured straight set victories to advance to Saturday’s Girls’ 18s semifinals of the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center.
The 18-year-old Day had to fight for nearly three hours on a warm, sunny day on Stadium Court before overcoming 17th seeded Vanessa Ong of Oklahoma City, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
After dropping the first set in 37 minutes, Ong began extending the rallies and putting more shots in play and eventually won the second set to even the match.
Long rallies highlighted the third and deciding set, as Day and Ong exchanged multiple service breaks. With the score tied at 5-5, Day easily held serve for a 6-5 lead.
Ong then served to send the match to a third-set tie-break, but fell behind 15-40. She fought off two match points, but later on a third match point, she sent a down the line forehand wide to end the match in two-hours and 54 minutes.
“It was a really, really tough match. I’m really happy that I got through it. Her game suited up well against mine,” Day said. “Her balls were really tough to handle. I kept fighting until the end. I had to trust myself. I didn’t know how it was going to end.”
Day, who will face fourth-seeded Salma Ewing of Lakewood, Calif., in the semifinals, is happy to have had the opportunity to get some much-needed match play this week.
“I haven’t played that many matches this year, so I’m happy to get a win after a really good fight. It feels really good,” she said. “I’ve gotten exactly what I wanted out of this tournament and I’ve gotten a lot of tough matches and good competition, so that is exactly what I wanted.”
The other Girls’ 18 singles semifinal will pit second-seeded Whitney Osuigwe of Bradenton, Fla., against third-seeded Cori Gauff of Delray Beach, Fla.
In Friday’s quarterfinal action, Osuigwe defeated ninth-seeded Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek, Calif., 6-2, 6-4, while Gauff edged 12th seeded Natasha Subhash of Fairfax, Va., 7-5, 7-6 (0).
Saturday’s schedule for the Girls’ 18s singles semifinals will begin at 11 a.m. (PDT) with Osuigwe playing Gauff in the first semifinal, followed by Day versus Ewing in the second semifinal.
Saturday’s match-up in the Girls’ 16s singles championship is set as third-seeded Fiona Crawley of San Antonio will meet fourth-seeded Allura Zamarripa of Saint Helena, Calif., for the title.
In Friday’s Girls’ 16s semifinals, Crawley eliminated 17th seeded Misa Malkin of Tucson, Ariz., 6-2, 6-3 while Zamarripa ousted top-seeded Gianna Pielet of El Paso, Texas, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in two-hours and 10 minutes.
The Girls’ 16s singles championship is scheduled to be played at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be broadcast live on Tennis Channel.
For updated tournament draws in each division, please go to: https://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=208363#&&s=7
This past April, the USTA renamed the USTA Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships to honor tennis icon Billie Jean King, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. King is scheduled to attend the final weekend of the tournament.
The Tennis Channel schedule for the final weekend of the tournament will be as follows:
Saturday, August 11
Girl’s 18s Singles Semifinals – 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT (2 to 6 p.m. EDT)
Girl’s 16s Singles Final – 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. PDT (7:30 to 9:30 p.m. EDT)
Sunday, August 12
Girl’s 18s Singles Final – 1 to 3 p.m. PDT (4 to 6 p.m. EDT)
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