Newspaper Articles

August 14, 2000

Jamea Jackson did not have the typical tourist experience while visiting San Diego last week, but the tennis prodigy from Atlanta wasn't disappointed.

Jackson got what she came here for: two national championships and a ticket to the U.S. Junior Open.

In a battle of 14-year-olds, No. 9-seeded Jackson upset No. 3 Allison Baker of Raleigh, N.C., 6-4, 6-2 to win the USTA Girls 16 Super Nationals championship yesterday at the Barnes Tennis Center and qualify for the U.S. Junior Open next month.

"Somebody just told me that," said a surprised Jackson. "I guess I'll have to go shopping now for new clothes for New York."

After losing to Baker in two earlier national tournament finals, Jackson finally prevailed thanks to an improved serve, which she overhauled two months ago, and a different strategy.

"My serve was the best thing, but I also played her down the center more and took away her angles," said Jackson, who advanced through the main draw without losing a set. "I played really well."

After her singles win, and with only an hour to rest, Jackson teamed with Jennifer Smith from Charlotte, N.C., to win the doubles title with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Caitlin Burke from Cedarburg, Wis., and Caitlin Collins from Lawrence, Kan.

"Between singles and doubles, I have been playing a lot," said Jackson, who trains at the Nick Bolletieri Academy in Bradenton, Fla. "But it's been great."

In the second set of the singles final, Jackson recovered from a 40-love deficit at 2-2 in the second set to break Baker's serve with a strong backhand shot down the line. Baker then committed several unforced errors to hand the game to Jackson.

Jackson served two of her five aces in the final in the next game to increase her lead to 4-2 and then rallied again by capitalizing on two double faults by Baker to go up another break, 5-2.

Four service points later, Jackson had her second national championship of the year.

"I didn't play nearly as well as I have been playing," said Baker, who trains at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla. "But Jamea played really well. It surprised me a little."

Instead of battling each other, Jackson and Baker will next join forces at the World Junior Tennis Tournament in the Czech Republic before the U.S. Junior Open.

Feed-in rule keeps locals
alive in 16s

By Volker Bargenda  
STAFF WRITER

August 10, 2000

The girls 16-and-under nationals at Barnes Tennis Center didn't work out the way Lauren Perl had planned it. Ranked 36th in the nation, the Torrey Pines High star unexpectedly lost in the first round to Lindsay Bryan, ranked more than 40 spots below her.

But it was far from over. Perl entered the feed-in draw, which gives main-draw losers a chance to get more matches. A player who lost in the first round of the main draw starts off in the first round of the feed-in draw. A second-round loser begins in the second round, and so on until the quarterfinals, which means that a first-round loser can finish as high as fifth in the tournament.

Perl took advantage of her second life. She beat Jane Anderson in two sets, then upended No. 25 Kacie Anson of Georgia 6-3, 6-4.

"I just wanted to redeem myself for my loss," Perl said. "I am mentally pretty tough. I got over my loss."

And past two more opponents. Perl downed Colby Comstock yesterday in a three-setter and then overpowered Shannon Stough 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the round of 32.

Carol Erickson, also of Torrey Pines, got in as an alternate, lost her first match but then earned three wins in the feed-in draw before losing yesterday.

Cindy Chu of La Jolla Country Day won her first-round main-draw match, lost in the second, then won her first feed-in before being eliminated by ninth-seeded Jamea Jackson of Florida.

Juliana Gates of Scripps Ranch High is the only local player besides Perl remaining in the tournament. Gates, who lost in the third round, won two feed-in matches yesterday.

Nelson Advances in USTA                Event

LA TIMES - AUGUST 10, 2000

     Lindsey Nelson of Orange pulled off the upset of the day Wednesday at the USTA Girls' 16 Super Nationals in San Diego.
     Nelson, who will be a freshman at Villa Park High in the fall, defeated fifth-seeded Eva Wang of Haverford, Pa., 6-1, 4-1 (ret.), in the round of 32. Wang retired in the second set because of a sore wrist.
     Nelson will play Jamea Jackson of Bradenton, Fla., in today's round of 16.
     Corona del Mar sophomore Anne Yelsey fell into the back draw after losing to Tory Zawacki of Union City, N.J., 6-1, 6-2. Yelsey plays Lauren Perl of San Diego today.

No locals left as Gates out

By Volker Bargenda
STAFF WRITER

August 9, 2000

Juliana Gates left Torrey Pines High for home schooling to be able to devote more time to chasing her dream -- becoming a professional tennis player.

Yesterday, Gates got her first lesson. Physical Education 301, junior-level tennis. Prerequisite: Qualify for the 16-and-under national championship at the Barnes Tennis Center.

Gates was the only local player who won a match in the main draw at this week's tournament. But from here on, the out-of-towners take over. Gates, who had a bye in the first round and won her opening match in two sets, fell in the round of 64 to ninth-seeded Audrey Banada of Miami 6-1, 6-3.

Gates, ranked 93rd nationally in girls 16s, completed her freshman year at Torrey Pines but decided to leave the school this summer to fine-tune her game even during the school year -- a trend not uncommon among promising junior tennis players.

"Hopefully, I will be more prepared when it comes to tournaments," Gates said of her decision.

Gates, 15, who practices at the Bobby Riggs Tennis Club in Encinitas, plays an average of two tournaments a month. Home schooling will allow her to travel to tournaments and get her schoolwork done, she said.

"I think I am going to miss (school) a little bit," she said, "but I'll keep in touch with my friends."

All the extra credit yesterday went to Colby Comstock of Rancho Palos Verdes. Comstock, ranked 79th, took third-ranked and top-seeded Sara Anundsen of Colorado to three sets before losing a 21/2-hour marathon 0-6, 6-1, 6-3. The match started with about 10 spectators and ended with 100 when other players, coaches and parents heard of the possible upset on stadium court.

Points two minutes and longer were no rarity as Comstock ran down virtually every shot and one way or another looped it back to the other side.

"If somebody gets frustrated by my (moon balls), that's when I play like that," Comstock said. "I figured she would."

Indeed she did. Anundsen appeared helpless in the first set.

"Just make a shot, please," she said she kept telling herself.

Anundsen's experience finally told when she claimed nine of the match's last 11 points.

The tournament continues through Sunday.

Nelson Serves Notice She's on the Rise

August 8, 2000

LA TIMES

DAVE McKIBBEN , Times Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO -- Lindsey Nelson hasn't even played her first high school match, but she might already be one of the best players in Orange County. Nelson, who will be a freshman at Villa Park this fall, breezed through her second straight match Tuesday at the USTA Girls' 16 Super Nationals at Barnes Tennis Center.

Nelson, one of only two county players to reach the round of 32, showed off a new weapon against Alexandra MacLennan of Beverly Hills--her serve. Nelson had half a dozen aces in her 6-3, 6-0 victory.

"I'm starting to rely on my serve for free points," she said.

Nelson, who is 5 feet 9 and beginning to add muscle, is starting to play more aggressively. "I'm waiting for the short ball and putting the ball away," she said.

That might be more difficult to accomplish today. Nelson gets her first real test of the tournament when she plays fifth-seeded Eva Wang of Haverford, Pa., who defeated Aimee Kim of University, 6-3, 6-1.

Nelson prepared for the tournament by playing doubles with her father and coach, Mike, at the Father-Daughter Grass Court Championships in Boston. They finished fifth.

Corona del Mar sophomore Anne Yelsey, who defeated Nelson at the Southern California Sectionals, was the only other county player to reach the round of 32. Yelsey defeated Sara Schiffman of Wynnwood, Pa., 6-3, 6-1.

Elizabeth Exon, a sophomore at Woodbridge, had her moments against fourth-seeded Theresa Logar of Rochester Hills, Mich.--just not enough of them. Exon fell behind, 4-0, in the first set and closed to 4-3. She also rallied from a 3-0 second-set deficit to tie it at 3-3. But Exon fell, 6-4, 6-4, and she learned that her backcourt game doesn't work against the top players.

"She was bigger and stronger and she was just more consistent," Exon said. "I set up a lot of points well. But instead of volleying it or putting it away, I'd stay back. I think I could have won a set or even the match if I had a better volley."

Joanna Kao, who will be a junior at Sunny Hills, had some of the same problems as Exon. She ran into a bigger and stronger player in 17th-seeded Caitlin Collins of Lawrence, Kan.

Kao won her first two matches in straight sets, but she was blown away by Collins, 6-2, 6-1.

"She took my usual game away," Kao said. "She had powerful ground strokes with lots of spin, and that is out of my hitting zone.

"It's weird," she added, "because sometimes in these big tournaments the top-seeded player isn't as strong as the 17th seed."

It looked that way at this tournament. Top-seeded Sara Anundsen of Littleton, Colo., struggled to defeat unseeded Colby Comstock of Rancho Palos Verdes, 0-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Other county players to fall out of the main draw were Kim Singer of Corona del Mar, who lost to Ashley Bentley of Montgomery, Ala., 6-2, 6-3, and Erin Ivey of Aliso Niguel, who fell to Joelle Schwenk of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-3, 6-1.

Laguna Beach's Ashley Maddocks was an interested observer of the Anundsen-Comstock match. On Monday, Anundsen knocked out Maddocks, 6-4, 6-3.

"I think if I were playing [Comstock]," Maddocks said, "it would have been a little prettier match."

But Maddocks was quick to admit that her play of late has not been too pretty. Her ranking has fallen from 10 to 59 in the nation.

In an effort to regain her confidence and improve her game, Maddocks is attending the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai this year.

"I just need to play more," said Maddocks, who helped lead Laguna Beach to consecutive Southern Section titles in 1998 and 1999. "Down here I'm only playing an hour and a half a day. Up there, I can train and get in better shape and play four hours a day."

Nash stopped in second round

Nash resumes singles play today, moving into the feed-in draw with an 8 a.m. match. Wednesday she changes pace, playing in a doubles match at 3:30 p.m.

8/8/00

Nash set for Girls' 16 Super Nationals

Nash, a 14-year old freshman-to-be at Linfield, will compete in the United States Tennis Association Girls' 16 Super National Championships in San Diego. Past winners include Evert, Austin and Davenport. The tournament, which begins Sunday, features 192 of the nation's best 16-and-under players representing all 50 states.

"I want to go out and do my best," Nash said. "It's my first year of 16s so I have got two more years to play in this tournament."

After sitting out four months this year with stress fractures in both shins and both big toes, Nash returned to the court in early June and has been playing non-stop since. She qualified for the Girls' 16 Super Nationals by finishing third out of 64 players at The Super 9 Nationals in Lakewood in July.

At 5-foot-3, Nash relies mostly on quickness to beat opponents.

"I have an all-around game," Nash said. "I can come to the net and I can hit groundstrokes. I'm pretty aggressive. My coach tells me to go after shots and not to wait for my opponent to mess up."

Nash began playing tennis at age 7 and began playing tournaments at 12. She trains in Vista with nationally-renowned coach Skip Redondo.

Redondo and Nash have been working on mental toughness and match strategy in preparation for this week's tourney.

"I think tennis is 90% mental and 10% physical," Nash said. "I'm really working on changing strategy during a match. If something isn't working you have to try something else.

"Sometimes when you are playing you go brain dead. Everyone you play has a different game and you have to adjust to it."

Tennis is also something that Nash can share with her family. Her grandfather was a tennis instructor and she teamed with her father Guy to win this year's National Father-Daughter Hardcourt Championships, which was also held in San Diego.

"It's fun and my dad can help me out," Nash said. "My dad has been playing forever and he's pretty good. The only reason he can beat me is because he's 6-5 and he can beat me with his serve."

When Nash is not playing tennis she is usually singing. She is classically trained and is working on a demo CD in Carlsbad. Last weekend she even sang at a wedding, covering tunes from Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand.

"If I had to pick between the two I wouldn't know which to pick," Nash said. "They are so different, but it provides a nice balance."

Adrian Pomery can be reached at (909) 676-4315, ext. 2630, or apomery@nctimes.com.

8/5/00

County Players Advance at USTA Event LA TIMES August 7, 2000     Several Orange County participants advanced in the USTA Girls' 16 Super Nationals tennis tournament that began Sunday in San Diego.      Elizabeth Exon (Irvine), Serena Fermin (Yorba Linda), Erin Ivey (Laguna Niguel), Joanna Kao (Fullerton), Aimee Kim (Irvine), Ashley Maddocks (Laguna Beach) and Kimberly Singer (Newport Beach) were first-round winners. Kim was also a winner in doubles, teaming with Megan Biorkman (Irvine). Other first-round doubles winners included Irvine's Evangelina Soriano, who teamed with Erin Katims of Boca Raton, Fla., and Laguna Niguel's Chelsy Thompson, who teamed with Michelle Rabinovich of Upland.

Future of tennis starts tomorrow

August 5, 2000

While most of the best women's tennis players in the world have exchanged shots this week at La Costa, the potential stars of the future will showcase their strokes in the coming days in Point Loma.

Tomorrow through Aug. 13, 192 of the best young players in the country will compete in the USTA Girls 16 Super National Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center.

Past champions read like a list from the Acura Classic: Chris Evert, Marita Redondo, Mary Joe Fernandez, Tracy Austin, Zina Garrison and Lindsay Davenport.

Not a bad roll call, and it's one Lauren Perl of Torrey Pines High would love to join. Perl, a 15-year-old junior, comes in as the No. 1-ranked girls 16 player in San Diego and No. 4 in Southern California.

With the strength of this tournament, however, Perl is not among the 32 seeds in the draw, but she did receive a bye to Monday's second round.

Juliana Gates, 15, a sophomore at Scripps Ranch High, also received a bye. Two more local players, Cindy Chu (15, La Jolla Country Day) and Sheila Lewis (16, Mt. Carmel), must play tomorrow in the opening round. Matches begin each day at 8 a.m.

-- JIM LINDGREN