Reagan Resor Plays Her First USTA Tournament

She has been playing tennis for five years. She is 9 years old. The fun tournaments have been fun. The Bernard Masters Series has been great. But this is the USTA. Seems big time to us. Reagan had the benefit of playing her first USTA tournament on her home court at the Players Club where she spends about ten hours every week. Needless to say, Mom and Dad were on the edge of our seats.

Each of the nine 12 and under girls is guaranteed at least two matches. Rea's first match was against a nice girl who played a lot like Australian Open finalist Li Na. Wild top spin, exceedingly sound all around game, works the ball like someone far beyond her years. Reagan won two games. Not bad.

She had Friday night and most of the day Saturday to think about her second match. They call it the Back Draw. It's a very encouraging term. USTA tournaments are all about acquiring points to establish and build a national ranking. You have to play three USTA tournaments to be ranked. It's a goal. Anyway, Reagan's second match was against an un-ranked girl who drew a bye the first round. Rea's game looked good during the warm up and she jumped out to an early lead that went on to become a win at 6-1, 6-1. Her first USTA victory!

Her third match was pretty deep into the back draw (the semi-finals as it were) against a 12 and a half year old with a steady serve and solid game. Reagan won two quick games and went on to win the first set 7-5. She won the first game of the second set, but lost some momentum and lost the second set 3-6. After them match she rationalized that she "was pacing herself for the tie breaker." Right. The USTA plays a 10 point tie breaker in the 12 singles division. Reagan won the first 8 points and went on to win the match 10-4 in the tie-breaker.

The finals of the back draw is Sunday morning at 8:00 am. Bright and early. Stay tuned for updates!