Second place has never much been Amanda Johnson's style.
The Bettendorf, Iowa, freshman-who has spent her Duke career behind fellow freshman and Riviera champion Ansley Cargill-took a big step out of Cargill's shadow Sunday, knocking out Janet Bergman in three sets to win her half of the Southeast Regional Qualifying Championships for the Rolex Indoor Tournament, thus securing her spot in college tennis' most prestigious tournament.
"It's nice to be the best," Johnson said. "Ansley and I are really good friends, and I was happy for her [when she won the Riviera All-American tournament], and she was happy for me. I felt it was my turn to step up, my turn to play really well. We're all just out there trying to make Duke look good, and this time it was my turn."
Johnson and Cargill will become the first Duke freshmen to compete in the national tournament since Karin Miller did it on her way to a No. 1 ranking in 1997-98.
"It's huge from a confidence standpoint, because making the adjustment to college is tough on [freshmen]," Johnson said. "The first couple of weeks of school, it was tough to get used to things. But I felt in my last three tournaments I had played well, but had lost tough matches. This time I put two and two together, and it feels great."
Johnson could hardly have done it in any more impressive fashion.
The 88th-ranked freshman didn't lose a set in the tournament, which is annually filled with most of the top players from the Southeast, until No. 20 Carmen Giraldo snagged a first-set 6-4 victory in the semifinals.
Those would be the only six games Giraldo would win the whole match.
A dominating 12 games later, Johnson was within one win of earning a berth in the Rolex Indoors.
"After I lost the first set, something inside me came alive," Johnson said. "I moved better, played more aggressively and it was over pretty quickly. I felt like I could beat her, I knew the match should be mine."
The only obstacle that stood between her and a trip to the yearly Dallas tournament was Wake Forest's Janet Bergman, the tournament's top seed and a player who has made a career of beating Blue Devils.
Johnson started off on the right foot, jumping ahead 5-1 in the first set, but a Bergman comeback turned a comfortable lead into a narrow 6-4 win in the first set.
Bergman wasn't through.
The Pinehurst, N.C., junior, who had already eliminated Duke senior Kathy Sell in this tournament and half a year ago had claimed two points in Wake Forest's 116-match win streak-ending triumph over Duke, rallied to take the second set, sending the match into a decisive third set.
"Going into the third set, I just remained calm," Johnson said. "I didn't get upset with myself; I started on a clean slate. I just concentrated on getting off to a really good start."
A hold and a break put her up 2-0 to start the set, but a three game rally from Bergman put the Demon Deacon back on top 3-2.
It was the last lead Bergman would have.
Johnson swept the next four games of the match, closing out one of the strongest showings by a Duke freshman ever and punching her ticket for the February tournament.
"I went into the tournament really feeling confident, I knew I was playing well," Johnson said. "Every match I went into I just believed in myself. When I got to the finals, I knew I had to close it out."
The Blue Devil freshman also earned a doubles berth into the Rolex Indoors along with senior partner Megan Miller. The duo, which has arguably been Duke's strongest in the fall season, knocked off Kentucky's Brooke Skeen and Lauren Rooklidge in the finals.
Both Miller and Johnson will join the freshman Cargill in Dallas, Feb. 1-3, as they seek to become the first Blue Devils ever to win college tennis' top in-season prize.
"It's always a great tournament," Johnson said. "It's something you want to be a part of and we're really looking forward to it."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.