Special from
The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press
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Many players are eager to look at the draw when it comes out before a tournament. Olivia De Los Reyes is not among them.
de Los Reyes won the singles title
She might not mind looking at the completed bracket of the Girls' 16 USTA National Clay Court Championships, though.
Though unseeded, the Scarsdale, New York, resident was mostly dominant for eight matches at an event based at Athletic Club Alabama in Huntsville and run again by tournament director Eddie Jacques. She capped her run July 13 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Sylvana Jalbert of Mount Airy, Maryland.
Don't call it an upset, since De Los Reyes had beaten Jalbert 6-3, 6-1 last September in Virginia Beach.
"I wasn't really worried about the results and was more worried about the preparation and things I could control," said De Los Reyes, who entered the tournament ranked 19th nationally among rising ninth-graders. She considers this her most notable championship.
"I'd drink a lot of electrolytes the night before, and my routine helped me throughout the whole thing.
"On the court, I was only worried about the amount of effort and attitude I put in. If I do that and I still lose, it's a good loss because I put everything into it and the other girl just played better than I did."
That didn't happen in Huntsville. Her most difficult match came in the quarterfinals, a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Rose Biria of Overland Park, Kansas, one of the 17th seeds.
"It was four hours long, including the rain delay," De Los Reyes said. "I was up 5-2 in the first set and I got a little unfocused."
The rain delay occurred at 5-all, deuce.
"I just lost the next two games, and the next two sets, I was just focused on my attitude. My attitude in the first set was not good. I was really negative."
As for tactics, De Los Reyes said she forced opponents into numerous errors and hit quality drop shots.
"I was just focused on really playing loose, so I didn't tighten up or anything," she said.
Doing online school with ICL Academy, she works with former Fairleigh Dickinson player Dominic Devaux-Lovell as a hitting partner and with conditioning. But De Los Reyes primarily is coached by her mom, Vania Yui, who played No. 1 for Columbia University in 1996 before leaving the team to concentrate on academics.
"We have literally been working on routines and sticking to processes," Yui said. "It's a tradition I don't really let her look at draws and not to focus on who she plays. ... If she focuses on doing the right things, it all yields to positive results in the end."
Yui's advice: Don't worry about the Universal Tennis Rating system.
"We don't engage in UTR talk," she said. "We avoid toxic environments that do. We are learning to be better at the process."
Next, De Los Reyes' process will enable her to represent the U.S. in the Junior World Championships in Czechia in August. She hopes to play in the U.S. Open junior girls qualifying after that.
Jalbert also learns with ICL Academy and is a rising sophomore. Training with OSSA Tennis Academy, owned by Vincent Pulupa, she was ranked 17th nationally among rising sophomores and twice came from a set behind to reach the championship match.
"I feel like I had a good tournament overall, played some tough matches and overcame mental battles even early on in the tournament," Jalbert said. "In the final I feel like my opponent outplayed me and I wasn't fully present. I learned a lot from this experience and I'm grateful to have this opportunity."
Fifth-seeded Julia Seversen of Trabuco Canyon, California, beat No. 15 Anastasiya Muravia of Boynton Beach, Florida, 6-3, 6-4 for third place.
Ouyang can celebrate consolation title
Sadira Ouyang of Atlanta, seeded among the 33-48 group, fell 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 to Jalbert in the round of 64. But Ouyang came back to win the consolation bracket for fifth place, outplaying third-seeded Kalista Papadopoulos of Riverdale, Maryland, 6-3, 7-5 in the back-draw final.
Xu, Hamilton grab doubles gold balls
Doubles champions Hamilton and Xu
The Texas tandem of fifth-seeded Autumn Xu, from Frisco, and Enya Hamilton, from Addison, took the doubles title by going 6-0 for the week, including winning a pair of match tiebreaks. One was a 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9) quarterfinal victory over top-seeded Seversen and Kingsley Wolf of Pacific Palisades, California.
In the final, Xu and Hamilton overcame 15th-seeded Ouyang and fellow Atlantan Elle Groslimond 7-5, 6-3.
Tournament director pleased
Jacques called it "probably the best-acting and most fun group of players, parents, coaches and guests we have had in the years running the event. It was just a really good group of kids and adults."
Last But Not Least - 16s Division
Tomorrow we wrap up our coverage with the 18s division - starting in the morning with the Boys 18s from Delray Beach, Florida. Come back early and often - as TRN continues with our exclusive coverage of Clay Court Championship Week.
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About Sonny Dearth
Sonny Dearth is a writer and copy editor, primarily for the sports
section, at the Daily Press newspaper and
dailypress.com Web site in
Newport News, Va.
Dearth has more than 40 years of experience in tennis. He is a
former state high school champion who has served as a volunteer
assistant coach in Virginia, where he started for four years at
James Madison University
in the late 1980s. He has competed in a few USTA national junior and
adult events.