| By Karen Pearlman August 17, 1998
SAN DIEGO -- Too young to legally drive a car, Kelly McCain nevertheless sat in the
driver's seat for a while yesterday at the U.S. Tennis Association Girls 16 National
Championships.
McCain, a 5-foot-2 powerhouse from Largo, Fla., swept Erin Burdette of Jackson, Ga.,
6-2, 6-3 to take the singles title in about 68 minutes at the George E. Barnes Family
Junior Tennis Center in Point Loma.
She later teamed up with fellow Floridian Elina Bairos of Sarasota in the doubles
final, but the two ended up losing to Lindsey Deason of El Paso, Texas, and Racquel
Kops-Jones of Fresno 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4.
Winning the singles title gives McCain a berth in the U.S. Open Juniors championships
later this month in Flushing, N.Y.
"This was really big for me," said McCain, who was seeded second.
The match marked the third time this year the two 15-year-olds have met, but the first
time for a title.
At the Clay Court Championships in Virginia Beach, Va., in July, McCain beat Burdette
6-2, 4-6, 6-4. At the Easter Bowl in April in Palm Springs, McCain won 6-1, 6-3.
McCain said she struggled last month against Burdette, but yesterday she played
aggressively, using powerful forehands with timely, sharp slices to frustrate her lanky
5-11 opponent in the first set.
"She's really consistent, she's known for that," said McCain, older than the
fifth-seeded Burdette by just 32 days. "I was trying to play aggressive more than
trying to keep the ball in play. She's pretty fast."
Burdette's first serves, shaky in the first set, started falling in during the second
set, and allowed her to move ahead of McCain 3-0.
But McCain, admittedly nervous and playing tentatively until that point, then broke
Burdette's serve, and Burdette never recovered. Burdette proceeded to hit at least six
first serves into the net, with several others going wide or long. A confident McCain
quickly took the next six games without much trouble.
"That was helpful for me, when she had to use her second serve," McCain said.
"Whenever she made her first serve, she usually got the point."
Burdette, who leaves today for the Junior 18s Grass Court Championships in
Philadelphia, said she was pleased with making it to the final but disappointed in the
result.
"I feel like I had a good tournament overall," said Burdette, who has only
beaten McCain once, in the Easter Bowl in 1997. "But you don't want to lose in the
finals. (McCain) was pretty aggressive out there, but I missed my serves and a few
returns, too. I just felt like everything wasn't quite there."
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