Unseeded Bowles Cruises To Boys National Title; Burdette Takes Fifth Gold Ball in Girls Division

Unseeded Bowles Cruises To Boys National Title; Burdette Takes Fifth Gold Ball in Girls Division--
© Colette Lewis 2005--
Mobile AL--

It was no seed, no problem for 16-year-old Clint Bowles on Wednesday morning as he emphatically defeated top seed Marek Czerwinski in the finals of the USTA 18s Spring National Championships 6-3, 6-4. In a week-long display of brilliant tennis, the Tampa resident--ranked 113th in the nation in 18s-- did not drop a set. And he did it the hard way, eliminating four seeded players, including both the first and second seeds in the tournament.


But in the finals, played under sapphire skies and azalea-nurturing temperatures, he didn't get off to an auspicious start. Broken at love in the first game, the five-foot five-inch lefthander admitted to some jitters.

"I played a dumb game; I went for three stupid shots. It was nerves a little bit, maybe."

Czerwinski, 18, was unable to capitalize, immediately losing his serve to begin a string of four straight breaks; the top seed did not hold serve in the first set, and was broken immediately at the beginning of the second.

"I didn't have a great feel today," said Czerwinski, a native of Birmingham MI. "I never felt I got in great rhythm."

Bowles' return of serve, effective all week, was particularly sharp in the finals, keeping Czerwinski away from the net. But at the biggest point of the match, serving at 4 all, 30-40 in the second set, that's where Czerwinski found himself.

"He was right on top of the net," said Bowles, who proceeded to hit a perfect topspin forehand passing shot for his sixth break of the match.

Closing out an important match can cause even an experienced player to become tentative, but Bowles seemed oblivious to the pressure. Although he missed an overhead on his first match point, at 40-30 he stepped to the baseline unfazed and cracked a serve that Czerwinski managed to return, but with little pace or depth. Bowles calmly pounded his signature forehand down the line for a clean winner, an appropriate exclamation point to his dominance throughout the tournament.


Seventeen-year-old Lindsay Burdette was a spectator at several of Bowles' matches, as both train at Nick Saviano's High Performance Tennis in Sunrise Florida. But on Wednesday, Burdette saw only the end of Bowles' victory; she was busy winning her fifth USTA national title, rolling over 15-year-old Reka Zsilinszka 6-0, 6-3.

Though Burdette had never faced Zsilinszka before, she had a strategy in mind, as she had watched her younger sister Mallory lose to Zsilinszka at the Winter Internationals last December.

"I thought she played as she normally does, and it was up to me to take it to her," said the third seeded Burdette, who won her first gold ball in the 12s. "I knew I had to be agressive."

Zsilinszka was unable to get her normally reliable retrieving game going in the opening set, and Burdette kept the pressure on, hitting with depth and power--and the requisite noises so common in women's tennis today.

Having won the doubles title with Melissa Saiontz on Tuesday, Burdette capped a perfect week with her victory, and now she is looking forward to a few days at home in Georgia before getting a week of training in prior to the two ITF events in California next month.

"They're really big, with lots of points," she said, "so I'm looking to do well there also."

Clint Bowles will also be competing in Carson and Palm Springs next month, and is unlikely to be seeded. But he won't be underestimated by anyone who saw him play in Mobile.