News & Features

Share:

Top juniors in the boys and girls 16s and 18s divisions kicked off the 2010 national tournament schedule with some memorable tennis at the annual Copper Bowl tournament in Tucson, Arizona. Both 18s draws saw top favorites prevailing over unseeded opponents, while the Girls 16s tournament produced several notable upsets before the No. 3 seed prevailed. Meanwhile, the Boys 16s wrote an even more dramatic script with the championship run of a highly regarded qualifier.

Girls 18s Singles

For finalists Sarah Lee and April Scatliffe, the Copper Bowl marked the end of a grueling three-week tournament schedule. They'd competed in the California Bowl, Winter Nationals and finally, the venerable Arizona tournament.

Girls 18 Champion Sarah Lee
© Julie Wrege, TennisRecruiting.net

In the battle of Californians, the top seed prevailed in straight sets, 6-4 6-1.

Lee knew what to expect of Scatliffe's game.

"I knew she was really good at doubles, and I knew that her game was very different," said the 16-year-old champion from Los Angeles. "[She] mixes in a lot of slices, high balls, heavy balls."

Her game plan was to be aggressive and come to the net every opportunity she had.

"In the first set it worked, and in the second set I think I broke her down," Lee said.

"April's game is really different from all the other girls," Lee said. "Not that many girls use slices and chips and mix it up. [I] had a little trouble getting used to that."

Scatliffe, who said the three long weeks of tennis took its toll, was looking forward to a little break after her excellent showing at the Copper Bowl, her first national singles final.

"I think I could have played better, but [Lee] played a great match," said the runner up from Redlands. "Every match was really tough for me. Even though I'm really sad that I lost, I know what to practice. I think I could handle it better next time."

The first set started evenly, with the unseeded finalist leading after the first seven games.

"I think she started making more mistakes when she was up 4-3, and I really jumped on that," said Lee. "[April] may have gotten a little nervous. At 4-4, I knew I had to be careful and not make any mistakes, [to] aim for a bigger target, because I knew she was missing."

Finally, Lee won the first set with a forehand volley down the line.