Barrick Comes Back to Defeat Sandgren for USTA Spring National Title

Barrick Comes Back to Defeat Sandgren for USTA Spring National Title~~~
©Colette Lewis 2006
Mobile--

"Man, we've got to start holding our serves," Davey Sandgren said to his friend Houston Barrick midway through the third set of the Boys 18 USTA Spring Nationals. Unfortunately for Sandgren, only Barrick was able to halt the string of five consecutive breaks, holding for the final game of a hard-fought 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 win.

Despite the occasion--the first National singles final for either of them-- Sandgren and Barrick still gave glimpses of what one of their practice matches back in suburban Nashville might be like. There was serious tennis and competitive intensity, but there was also laughter, changeover comments, and many, many instances of 'good shot', or 'nice lob' often accompanied by racquet clapping.

The match began with Barrick breaking Sandgren, an eighteen-year-old freshman at the University of Tennessee and holding for a 2-0 lead. But then Sandgren reeled off six straight games, never letting Barrick control points with his serve and volley pressure, instead keeping him pinned behind the baseline retrieving groundstrokes.

"I served well, I hit my groundstrokes well, made very few mistakes," Sandgren said of that first set.


"He was playing up to his potential. You could tell it was just another level and he was really excited to be there," said Barrick, who turns seventeen next month. "It was kind of frustrating on my part, when somebody is beating you that badly, having to take it, and you can't really do anything."

The turning point in the match came in the fourth game of the second set when down 1-2, 0-40, Barrick battled back to hold and then broke Sandgren the next game, for only the second time in the match. Although he gave up that break, Barrick sensed the domination was over.

"Up to that point, he had been returning real well, every service game I had was just a battle," Barrick said. "And when he kind of gave me a couple free points there and I battled out of that hole, there was a sense of relief. You find yourself believing that you can do it."

The tiebreak was textbook Barrick--big first serve, short ball volleys, no unforced errors. Flawless was the word Sandgren used to describe his opponent's play in the tiebreak, and Barrick had undeniably raised his game when the stakes were highest.

The third set started innocently enough, with three holds, but then the string of breaks, which Barrick attributed to the chilly north wind, began. Serving for the match at 5-4, 30-30, Barrick admitted to "a lot of nerves." But he went to the slice out wide serve, his "go-to" serve, which Sandgren netted, then converted the subsequent match point to capture his first National title.

"It was kind of surreal out there, I almost didn't realize what was going on," said Barrick of that game. "It's almost like it didn't happen, or it was happening without me thinking."

Barrick's mother Jan, who attended the tournament with her oldest son, missed that moment of triumph--at his request. Barrick has asked his parents not to watch his matches, feeling that his focus is better when they are out of sight.

"I get kind of nervous about what she's thinking and I don't want her to be mad. I just do better when I'm on my own out here."

So she sat in the car, receiving text message updates from her niece, until Tyler Davis, who won the bronze ball in doubles on Friday and is riding back to Nashville with the Barricks, informed her that Houston had changed his mind mid-match.

"I told Tyler to go get her and bring her back, because there's not many chances I'm going to be here again," said Barrick. "She came out for a few games, but I think she was so nervous she went back to the car."

At the trophy ceremony, Jan Barrick acknowledged some nerves but admitted superstition also played a role. When Houston lost a game while she watched, that was her sign to retreat to the warmth and privacy of the car.

"I love my mom and it was a hard decision," said Barrick, "but ultimately it's better for me in the long run. When I go to college, I'm going to be on my own, so I need to prepare for that."

With another year and a half before that happens, Jan and Steve Barrick can count on spending many hours in cars and pro shops while their son chalks up yet another win.

The consolation final saw Roy Kalmanovich upend Reid Carleton 6-3, 6-2 to take fifth place. The bronze ball in boys singles went to George Navas, who defeated Rook Schellenberg 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.