Tournament Coverage
Payne Caps Dominant Run with Girls 14s Gold Ball
by Sonny Dearth, 17 August 2022
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Conquering her doubts and steadying her emotions, Bella Payne completed a dominant surge to the USTA Girls' 14 National Championship singles title at Rome Tennis Center.
Payne, who grew up in Taylors, South Carolina, but now lives in Bradenton, Florida, won all 14 sets she played on the hard courts in Georgia to come out tops among 192 entrants from around the nation.
Singles Finalist Maria Aytoyan (Left) & Champion Bella Payne
© Contributed Photo
"That was the goal," she said. "I was going there prepared to win the tournament."
The 14-year-old left-hander, who was among the group of No. 17 seeds, capped the event with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Maria Aytoyan.
"I think I've been hitting the ball a lot bigger than I had been," said Payne, a former IMG Academy student who is coached by her father, 1990s Florida State player Murphy Payne. "My serve has gotten a lot better. Serve and returns I've worked on a lot. My dad has served to me a lot recently."
Though she didn't lose a set, winning six of them by 6-1 or 6-0 scores, she needed to deal with doubts. In her fifth match of the week, against co-33rd seed Catherine Rennard of Asheville, North Carolina, Payne needed to overcome a deficit for a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
"The toughest match was in the quarterfinals," she said. "I got down 4-1 in the second set. I just tried to stay consistent and make more balls. Usually I hit the ball a lot bigger."
After breezing past her doubles partner, Sara Shumate of Charlotte, North Carolina, 6-1, 6-0 in a semifinal, Payne fell behind Aytoyan early.
"I was down 0-3 in the first set and I stayed calm," Payne said.
Payne reeled off six consecutive games to capture the first set, then fell behind 2-0 in the second. "I kept sticking with my game," she said. "She was very consistent and hit a pretty huge, heavy ball. I had to take it earlier with her going high and heavy, and that made me get in her head a little bit, and that made her make more errors."
After earning what she said was her most significant title, Payne noted how the 14s championship match was similar to her 6-2, 6-2 loss to Claire An of New York in the 2019 12s Nationals final in Alpharetta, Georgia.
"Both my opponents played the same way," said Payne, who won the 12s Clay Courts that year in Boca Raton, though.
She enjoys coming to the net and said the courts "were pretty fast, which really helped me."
Next for Payne, a blue chip rising ninth-grader whose mother is former tennis pro Aurandrea Narvaez Payne, are $15,000 tournaments in Cancun, Mexico, as she studies online via Connections Academy.
Aytoyan was delighted with her first silver ball, the road to which included three-set victories over co-33rd seed Kalista Papadopoulos of Morristown, New Jersey (5-7, 6-2, 6-0) in the round of 32 and eighth-seeded Anna Frey of Farmington, Utah (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) in a semifinal.
"It was a great experience," Aytoyan said. "I practiced really hard the week before and tried to prepare myself mentally. When I came to the tournament, I kind of told myself that overall I believe I have nothing to lose, and I played freely. I think the thing that helped me get far is the mental part. ... I stayed confident.
"I believe that Bella played a really great match that day and she deserves that win."
Doubles Champions Anita Tu & Thea Frodin (Left)
© Contributed Photo
Aytoyan, from Valley Village, California, plans to keep training at Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Florida, primarily with coach Francesco Michelotti. She's studying online with Calvert Academy.
"I'm thankful for all my coaches, my parents, my friends, everyone that's supported me," she said.
Thea Frodin of Woodland Hills, California, and fellow rising eighth-grader Anita Tu of Jacksonville, Florida, took the doubles title, beating Payne and Shumate 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.
Frey took third place in singles with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph against Shumate.
In the singles back draw, No. 13 seed Kaia Giribalan of San Rafael, California, captured fifth place with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over co-17th seed Kori Montoya of Austin, Texas.
Tournament referee Robert Sasseville said the event ran smoothly except for a couple of lightning delays and early-morning wet courts.
"They all showed up on time," he said.
Especially Payne.
Next Up - Boys 16s
Check back tomorrow morning for our wrap of the Boys 16s from Kalamazoo, Michigan - as TRN continues with our exclusive coverage of 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.
