Thirteen-year-old Christina Lyutova may have aged some going for the 16s title in this year’s USTA Billie Jean King Girls National Championships.
The top-seeded Russia native survived two match points and some other tense moments in the second set to prevail 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 over No. 7 Anita Tu, herself just 14, in a duel of wunderkinds at the Barnes Tennis Center on Saturday.
Lyutova, from Redmond. Wash., then announced in post-match ceremonies aside the tourney namesake, who presented the championship award, that her dream is “to become the greatest.”
Ambitions were on display as well in the 18s as San Diego’s Katherine Hui advanced to today’s title match with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory over defending champion Elena Yu in her second straight semifinal appearance.
Hui is set to go for the crown at 1 p.m. against top-seeded Chervie Ngounoue, of Washington, D.C., who beat returning finalist Valerie Glozman of Bellevue, Wash., 6-0, 6-3. At stake is a berth in the U.S Open main draw.
There weren’t any records or recollections by tourney veterans, including event director Lornie Kuhle, of a younger pair of finalists in the 16s bracket.
In bygone eras, Tracy Austin won the U.S. Open at age 16 in 1979, still the youngest ever to do so, and Jennifer Capriati became the youngest to enter the Top 10 rankings at age 14. Lyutova has only heard of them, but also watched some old video of them playing.
“I’d like to win many (major) titles, but one by one,” said Lyutova, who doesn’t turn 14 until Feb. 2. “The first one is Wimbledon.”
As a next step, Lyutova is heading to New York for the first time to play in the U.S. Open Juniors tournament as a reward for winning this tourney on hard courts. Just a month earlier, she also won the USTA Clay Court Nationals title in the 16s.
Her latest victory turned when she overcame two match points on her service to pull even 5-5 in the second set. After taking the next game, she then survived three break points that forced a tiebreaker to close out the set.
“I stayed mentally tough and it helped a lot, especially on those match points,” Lyutova said. “I just kept playing. I just told myself, ‘It’s not over until it’s over.’ That helped a lot. I just stayed focused.”
Until that pivotal juncture, Tu displayed more of an aggressive all-court game with a mix of winning shots, countered somewhat by unenforced errors.
“I feel she just went to a different level on those points, and also I wasn’t aggressive enough,” said Tu, of Melbourne, Fla. “Maybe if I was, it would have turned out differently. In the third set, I was tired, and she was able to capitalize on that.”
Tu gave little consideration to the fact that she turned out to be the elder player in the 16s match even though she just turned 14 on May 23.
“I really don’t care about age,” Tu said. “It’s more about level. “She’s 13, but she’s a lot better than a 13-year-old.”
In Friday’s semifinals, Lyutova ousted Carlsbad’s ninth-seeded Julieta Pareja, 14, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1. Pareja improved from a 6-0, 6-2 setback when they met in the semifinals of the Clay Court Nationals.
Hui advanced to her first final in her farewell to the tourney in which she has played five times, starting at age 13.
“This means so much, and playing at home is really nice,” said the Santa Fe Christian High grad, 18. “Last year, I was a little disappointed with the semifinal loss, but this year, I’ve improved a lot of things in my game, and I’m proud of how I did.”
The match with Yu, 18, of Mason, Ohio, brought together two future Stanford teammates, each seeded 17th.
“Elena’s a really good competitor, so I knew going in that I had to be mentally tough,” Hui said. “I knew she wouldn’t give it to me easily. It was a really good fight.”
Thien is a freelance writer.
