Momentum was not on the side of Julia Burt or Sophia Crabtree when they entered third-set supertiebreakers in their respective championship matches in Friday’s Columbus City Junior Tennis Tournament.
But both Burt and Crabtree regrouped to pull out those supertiebreakers and win their age divisions.
The top-seeded Crabtree, who will be a seventh-grader at Hauser Junior High, actually trailed No. 2-seed Valeria Cortes, who will be a seventh-grader at Central Middle School, 5-1 in her supertiebreaker before rallying for a 4-1, 3-5, (10-7) victory in the Girls 14-and-under final.
“I had to calm myself down and just try to keep it in,” Crabtree said.
Crabtree, who was runner-up in the 12-and-under tournament two years ago, is the daughter of Hauser girls tennis coach Molly Crabtree and the great-niece of Delta coach Tim Cleland, the all-time winningest tennis coach in state history.
Burt, who will be a senior at Brown County, bounced back from a second-set setback to claim a 7-6 (5), 3-6, (10-8) win against Kiera Christie of Bloomington in the Girls 18-and-under final.
“I put my hat on and got some shade,” Burt said. “I was getting really hot and tired. But after a little break, I felt good enough to put all my effort back into it.”
Burt, the daughter of tournament director and Tipton Lakes Athletic Club director of racquet sports Mike Burt, and Christie were the only participants in the Girls 18-and-under division.
“I haven’t been playing in matches since my high school season, so I’m getting back into it,” Burt said. “It’s good to have a win. It was really fun. It was really hot, but I had a great time.”
In the Girls 16-and-under division, former Columbus resident Elaine Li came away with the title. The top-seeded Li, who will be a freshman at Carmel, beat No. 2-seed Islalea Juanita Tan of Columbus 4-1, 4-0 in the final.
“The car ride was a little long,” said Li, who won the Girls 12-and-under division two years ago. “(The matches were) really competitive, but I’m happy with how I did.”
Meanwhile, on the boys side, the 12-and-under championship also was decided on a close third-set supertiebreaker. Sovereign Samuel of Evansville edged Kai Bergman of Columbus 4-2, 0-4, (10-8) for the title.
Top-seeded Grayson Taylor of Trafalgar beat Edward James Lawrence of New Albany 4-2, 4-1 in the Boys 14-and-under final.
Nathan Neville of Franklin topped Prince II Samuel of Evansville 4-1, 4-0 for the Boys 16-and-under title.
