Desperate times called for desperate measures for Kelly McCain this Sunday. After the sophomore women's tennis star breezed through four Top-25 players and basked in her dominance and the California sun for the entire weekend, something had to give by the end of the westward trip.
But after dropping her first set of the tournament to open up the singles final of the ITA Riviera All-American, McCain slimmed down the court and went with a vicious power game to thrust by Old Dominion's Nataly Cahana, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, and head home with a tan and a title.
"Nataly played a really tough first set, but I was able to make some adjustments and get my head screwed on straight and pull away," said McCain, who is ranked fifth nationally but captured her first national collegiate championship. "It's great to finally break through and show that I can play with everyone at this level."
McCain tends to use the entire court, and she relied on her speed to blow by Penn's No. 14 Alice Pirsu, No. 6 Sara Walker of UCLA and No. 3 Georgia Bulldawg Agata Cioroch in the early rounds of a tournament with a field of only returning all-Americans in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
By the time No. 11 Cahana rolled around, though, McCain became "pretty frustrated" and was forced to utilize the middle of the surface with an adjusted vertical game. The change midway into the second set led to McCain taking ten of the final 11 games and becoming only the fourth Blue Devil to ever capture a Grand Slam singles title.
"She became a little more patient and picked her shots at the right time," Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth said of McCain, who is also No. 333 in the WTA Tour rankings. "So she grinded it out a little more than she usually does."
In other singles action, Duke sophomore Amanda Johnson reached the quarterfinals for only the second time in her Grand Slam action, topping Erin Burdette, Stanford's ace and the No. 7 player in the nation, along the way (6-3, 6-4). Blue Devil Julia Smith fell in a nail-biter during qualifiers on Thursday.
On the doubles court, Duke showed off its improving trio of pairs, two of which faced each other in the consolation bracket final on Sunday. Julie DeRoo, who fell individually in the first round, teamed up with Johnson for 9-8 (7-4 tiebreak) victory over Hillary Adams and McCain.
But McCain, for the time being, will be content with a major breakthrough in the first of the 2002-2003 season's three national championship tournaments. The win automatically qualifies her for the next one, the Omni Hotels/ITA National Indoor Championships Nov. 7-10 in Farmers Branch, Tex., where she will try to climb to No. 1 in the nation.
"It's harder to maintain than it is to get there," McCain said of the top ranking. "But this is the first step, and I think I can do it."
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