San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
HUI’S JOURNEY AT GIRLS 18S NATIONALS HALTED IN SEMIS
Katherine Hui appeared in last year’s USTA Billie Jean King Girls 18s National Championships in her first match since recovering from knee injury. The San Diego teen then lost her first singles match.
Yet that was just a start on the path that led Hui to this year’s semifinals at the Barnes Center on Saturday in her fourth tourney appearance at just age 17.
The eighth-seeded Hui, coming off an upset victory over the No. 1 player, jumped to a four-game lead in the first set, but her tourney run ended with a 6-4, 6-1 loss to No. 17 Valerie Glozman, of Bellevue, Wash.
“I’m just proud of myself competing in all of these matches,” said Hui, a Santa Fe Christian senior who has committed to Princeton. “Even when I had a bad day this time, I fought for every point. I definitely have a new level of confidence in my game knowing my training has paid off well.”
Glozman advanced to the final at 3 p.m. today on the CBS Sports Network against No. 4 Elena Yu, of Mason, Ohio. The championship comes with a wild card entry in the U.S. Open main draw.
In the preceding 16s final, San Diego’s Alyssa Ahn vies at 11:30 a.m against unseeded Christasha Mcneil, of Lindenhurst, N.Y. The No. 9 Ahn topped fellow San Diegan Claire Zang in Friday’s semifinals 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Hui gained a wild-card entry into the tourney after her junior ranking had dropped due to inactivity, while she instead gained a summer of experience on the WTA Tour.
“I love playing with the girls on tour. It’s definitely a whole other level,” said Hui, who plans to continue with WTA play. “It helped coming into this tournament, having that (pro) mentality every match.”
To open this tourney, Hui recorded four straight twoset victories. Then she topped No. 1 Reese Brantmeier of Whitewater, Wis., 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a quarterfinal lasting 3 hours, 12 minutes.
Hui jumped to a 4-0 start in the semifinals with help of unenforced errors by Glozman. Then Glozman found her stride and took seven straight games into the second set.
“Katherine hits a really big ball, and she liked to move me side to side to get me out of position,” said Glozman, who turns 16 on Nov. 22. “She has a very solid game. I just needed to really take it to her and show that I could also hit a big ball and move her around.”
Facing a 2-1 deficit in the second set, Hui couldn’t capitalize on four service-break points, and Glozman closed out the match without losing another game.
Yu recorded a 6-0, 6-2 semifinal win over No. 17 Arina Pursoo, of Westbury, N.Y. A day earlier, Pursoo prevailed 6-4, 7-5 over Carlsbad’s Katie Codd, a ninth seed heading to Duke this fall.
In the 16s, Ahn has stepped up after reaching the round of 64 a year ago. The Torrey Pines High student won the San Diego Section singles title last fall as a freshman over two-time champion Kaila Barksdale, a Westview senior.
Barksdale reached the round of 64 in the 18s.