Tournament Summary
Color the Orange Bowl Red, White and Blue
Americans Van Nguyen, Kudla and Boserup Win Championships in Key Biscayne
by
Colette Lewis, 18 December 2008
The success of U.S. juniors continued at the Dunlop Orange Bowl last week, where Americans captured six of the eight titles contested at the prestigious international tournament.
By the time the girls 18s quarterfinals had been completed, the U.S. had already earned its first title, with
Sloane Stephens,
Christina McHale,
Lauren Embree and
Julia Boserup vying for the Tiffany bowl of oranges.
McHale reached the final by defeating Stephens in three tense sets, while Boserup put an end to Eddie Herr champion Lauren Embree's run, assuring that the winner would be a wild card who trains at the USTA High Performance Center in Boca Raton. After a long and well-played final, it was Boserup who emerged the winner by a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 score.
McHale had a straight-set win over Boserup in a Pro Circuit qualifying match this summer, but Boserup came out firing, showing no sign of nerves in her first major junior championship final, even when she failed to convert three set points serving at 5-3 in the opening set.
The 17-year-old from Los Angeles took that set by breaking McHale in the next game, but it was McHale who seized the momentum in the second set.
In the third, Boserup continued to pound her groundstrokes, taking a 3-0 lead by keeping the 16-year-old from New Jersey on the defensive. McHale had an opportunity to get back on serve when Boserup went down 0-40 in the fifth game, but Boserup fought back, and McHale didn't get another opportunity.
Having seen first-hand McHale's reputation for tenacity, Boserup knew she couldn't let up.
