Junior tennis: Glatch denied sectional singles crown, again

Barry Faulkner

FOUNTAIN VALLEY - Alexa Glatch’s thermos of ice water ran dry

before her ability to make shots and impress both spectators and her

opponent did the same in Sunday’s 14s girls singles final of the Southern

California Sectionals Junior Tennis Championships at the Los Caballeros

Racquet and Sports Club.

But, after nearly three hours of exchanging deft volleys, strong,

well-placed ground strokes and heat-seeking serves, the 12-year-old

Newport Beach resident, did not quench her thirst for a coveted crown in

her third career sectional tournament singles final.

Instead, Maggie Mello of Laguna Hills earned the 2-6, 6-5 (7-2), 6-3

victory for her first sectional singles crown.

But the soft-spoken Klatch, who lost previously in the sectionals’ 10s

and 12s singles finals, said the latest disappointment would not diminish

her drive to come out on top in this prestigious event.

“I almost made it again,” Klatch said, a grin overcoming the typically

stoic expression she displays on the court. “This is just going to make

me work harder.”

Klatch and Mello, a 13-year-old who had nothing but praise for her

frequent competitor, put in a full day’s work Sunday. They both inspired

applause with aggressive shot making and their unrelenting determination.

Both overcame deficits in the duel that mirrored the seesaw play that has

marked their series against one another. Glatch required an ice-water

refill after the hard-fought second set.

“(Glatch) knows my game and I know hers,” said Mello, who had split

with Glatch in their two most recent previous meetings.

Asked what made Klatch a tough opponent, Mello, who belies Klatch’s

impassive playing style by consistently emoting and administering pep

talk monologues in hopes of inspiring her own success, typically held

nothing back.

“A lot of things,” Mello said. “She stays so calm on the court and her

serve really kicks up.”

On Sunday, however, Mello appeared slightly more tenacious, putting a

disastrous first set behind her to add a singles crown to her previous

sectionals doubles title.

“I think I let down a little in the second set and she capitalized,”

said Glatch, a home-schooling student who just completed the seventh

grade.

Mello earned the second of her two second-set service breaks to take a

6-5 lead. But Glatch earned her second break of the set, surviving two

set points, to force the tiebreaker.

Mello, who said she tries to remain aggressive, did just that,

following a service return winner with an ace to take a 2-0 tiebreaker

lead. Two cross-court forehand winners helped Mello win the tiebreaker,

then push through in the relatively quick third set.

Down, 5-2, in the third, Glatch, who rallied from a 3-0 third-set

deficit to win Saturday’s semifinal, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, made one final surge.

She won the eighth game and rallied to within two points of a break,

before Mello closed out the match.

“I think I just mentally pulled it together,” Mello said afterward.