News & Features
Clay Court Championship Week
Crawley Shows Fight in Title Run
by Sonny Dearth, 27 July 2017
| Share: |  |
|  | |
|
|
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — With temperatures around 90 degrees, it looked like Fiona Crawley's chances of winning her first USTA national title might be melting away.
The powerful top seed from San Antonio, Texas, had just fallen behind 1-0 in the third set to creative No. 2 seed Ruth Marsh of Atlanta at Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club last Sunday in the final of the Girls' 16 National Clay Court Championships.
Girls 16 Champion Fiona Crawley
© Sonny Dearth
"After I lost that first game, I just decided that if I'm going to lose, I'm going to go out hitting the ball," Crawley said.
With a few dozen shade-seeking spectators watching, she was taken to deuce in her subsequent service game, but she held for 1-all. From there, Crawley went on to post a landmark 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory in the clash of five-star rising sophomores who were atop the field of 224.
It put Crawley in the record book alongside recent past champions such as CiCi Bellis (2013) and Hayley Carter (2010).
This Article Is Available Only to Recruiting Advantage members
Please log in to access premium TennisRecruiting.net content.
