Sunday, September 11, 2011
Grace Min had one more upset left in her on Sunday afternoon. The 17-year-old American had taken out the No. 2 seed in the girls' draw in the first round of the US Open and, five matches later, finished off a dream run in New York, stunning top seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6 (3).
Min had won just four matches in five majors prior to this week, but following a straight-sets win over Irina Khromacheva in the first round, Min didn't drop a set in her next five matches, finishing off Garcia, who is ranked inside the top 150 in the WTA.
It was an improbable run for Min, who was ranked No. 24 in the juniors coming into the Open and had never been past the third round of a junior's major draw. Min holds a ranking of No. 548 in the WTA, some 400 places below Garcia.
Min and Garcia had never met prior to today. Garcia had made the semifinals of the first three majors of the year, but her run to the final here was the first time she advanced to a Grand Slam final this season.
But on Sunday afternoon it was Min, the diminutive Atlanta native, who tracked down ball after ball as Garcia couldn't find her range. The French girl, who was heavily favored, double-faulted 10 times, struggling to control her own power.
"I think I moved well. She hits a big ball, so I knew I had to play some big defense, and, you know, bring the ball back an extra time and hopefully make her hit -- force an error from her," Grace said after her win. "Just letting her know that I was going to be in there every single point and not back down."
After Min took an early 4-1 lead in the second set, Garcia surged back to even it at 4-all and eventually force a tiebreaker. It was there that Min pounded a service winner up the "T" and then tracked down a Garcia drop shot with a backhand winner to capture a 5-0 lead.
It was then that spitting rain forced the two off the court briefly, but when they returned, Min won the opening point, giving herself six championship points. She closed it out on her fourth opportunity when Garcia blasted a forehand long.
Garcia took down Wimbledon junior champion Ashleigh Barty in the semifinals, winning 6-3, 6-2. Min won her semifinal in similar fashion, beating fellow American Nicole Gibbs 6-3, 6-3.
Garcia, who will turn 18 next month, made her name known in the tennis realm when she held a 6-3, 4-1 lead on Maria Sharapova in the first round of the French Open earlier this year. Andy Murray declared on Twitter that the French girl would one day be No. 1 in the world. Sharapova, however, stormed back to win that match, winning the final 11 games of the contest.
"I watched her play [that match]," Min noted. "That just seemed like a long ways away. But I think us both being in the finals it like leveled the playing field, and kind of, you know, brought her down from a little pedestal that I might have put her on like a few months ago. And, yeah, just once I got a few matches under my belt I felt pretty confident going into the finals."
Min had a solid spring season on American hard courts, advancing to the final of the coveted Orange Bowl and the semifinals of the Easter Bowl. She had entered this Open as the world's 24th-ranked junior player, upsetting the No. 2-ranked player Irina Khromacheva in the first round and hadn't dropped a set in five matches prior to the final. She lost in the first round of junior singles at Wimbledon.
The last American girl to win at Flushing Meadows was Coco Vandeweghe, who took the junior title in 2008. Min also won the girls' doubles title at Wimbledon this year, pairing up with Eugenie Bouchard of Canada.
As for a future in juniors, the American is unsure. She is eligible to play girls' tournaments until May of 2013, when she turns 19.
"I don't know," Min shrugged. "[I'm] undecided."
As for now, the Grand Slam title-holder can just enjoy being a champion for a while.
Match Facts
- Garcia lost in the first round of women's qualifying singles.
- This is Min's second junior major title.
- Min won 93 total points to Garcia's 80.
- Min double-faulted just once compared to 10 from Garcia.
Court 7 - Junior Girls' Singles - Finals
Caroline Garcia FRA (1) 5 63
Grace Min USA 7 77
An Interview With Grace Min
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Q. Congratulations. You are now a Grand Slam champion. How does it feel?
GRACE MIN: I don't really know yet. I'm still processing the win.
Q. What do you think worked well for you today out there?
GRACE MIN: I think I moved well. She hits a big ball, so I knew I had to play some big defense, and, you know, bring the ball back an extra time and hopefully make her hit -- force an error from her. Just letting her know that I was going to be in there every single point and not back down.
Q. She seemed to get a little bit angry after she lost the second set there. Did you take any, I don't know, encouragement from that?
GRACE MIN: I mean, not really. I tried not to focus on her too much and just focus on what I needed to do in order to pull it out.
Q. Tell me what your thoughts were when you were up 5-Love in the tiebreak and it started to rain.
GRACE MIN: Yeah, I was kinda disappointed that we had to stop, because I, you know, just had the momentum. I thought it was a good place to stop being up 5-Love. Yeah, I tried not to focus on the rain or the delay and just keep warm and stay focused.
Q. The fact that you had done that yesterday, did that give you some confidence?
GRACE MIN: Yeah, it helped a lot. It helped me stay in like a routine and not feel too uncomfortable with the rain delay.
Q. Does it give you even added confidence because you sat through two days of rain? Then you had to go indoors an hour and a half away, you had to play a bunch of matches -- I mean, you've been playing a bunch of matches because you've been doing the doubles as well -- but having that kind of fortitude?
GRACE MIN: Yeah, I mean, it gives me a lot of confidence that I'm able to like be put in tough situations and come through. Yeah, the indoor courts were a lot faster than these; the matches were back to back and they were tough matches. So being able to come through that and come back after I was down 5-2 in my next match, just like little things like that, it's a good confidence booster.
Q. I think you had said something earlier in the week when we chatted that you didn't put too much stock in rankings.
GRACE MIN: Yeah.
Q. Obviously she was the top seed, and you did well today. Can you elaborate on that for us?
GRACE MIN: Yeah. It's a little different because I've watched her like play on TV. I watched her play Sharapova at the French. That just seemed like a long ways away. But I think us both being in the finals it like leveled the playing field, and kind of, you know, brought her down from a little pedestal that I might have put her on like a few months ago. And, yeah, just once I got a few matches under my belt I felt pretty confident going into the finals.
Q. What's next for you?
GRACE MIN: I have a 75 in Albuquerque and a 50 in Vegas. I'm going to play those challengers and stuff.
Q. Any more juniors?
GRACE MIN: I don't know. Undecided.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the way that she, you know, served very well when she got her first serve in, but she had a lot of double faults?
GRACE MIN: Yeah, it was good for me, I guess. She has a big serve, and I just tried to, you know, take it early and not really wind up and trying to hit the fences. Just like block it back. But, yeah, when she got in her first serve, it automatically put me on the defense. But I think scrambling and just trying to get another ball back and making her hit the winner was a good plan.
Q. Did you do anything to prepare for this match? Did you just go through your usual routine, or was this a special match and you kind of did something special?
GRACE MIN: No. Yeah, I'm very much of like a routine person, so I definitely didn't like deviate away from that. I, you know, almost had the same foods, like everything was set in stone and I was not gonna take any chances.
Q. You said that you watched her play Sharapova in Paris. Did you go through the match before final?
GRACE MIN: No, no, not at all. That would have made me really nervous. No, I just have a few memories from that match. I knew she was up and was in a position to win and kind of let it slip, or Sharapova fought back. But I guess more than anything it just kind of allowed me to -- I didn't really know what she played like before. I just had little clips from that match, so it kinda showed me she has a good serve and is pretty strong off the groundstrokes.
Q. What kind of food was set in stone for you?
GRACE MIN: Like the chicken from the downstairs cafe at the Hyatt and some mashed potatoes. Vegetables.
Q. Did you talk to any of your colleagues who had played her earlier in the tournament?
GRACE MIN: No. Yeah, no. I know Vickie played her, but I didn't get to talk to her.
Q. Did you watch her play at all this week?
GRACE MIN: I watched her play a little bit indoors against Sasha, but that was just a little bit before I went on and I wasn't really paying attention.
Q. Your mom's here?
GRACE MIN: Yeah, mom's here.
Q. What did she say to you afterwards?
GRACE MIN: I don't even know if it was words. It was mostly like sounds, like... (Making sounds.)
Q. You didn't have a big celebration. You didn't sort of fall to your knees or anything like that.
GRACE MIN: Oh, my gosh. No. No.
Q. That's not you?
GRACE MIN: I was like -- I thought about it for like a second, and I was like, no, you can't think about that. You haven't even won yet. Yeah, so stuff like that, thinking about that makes me nervous. And who wants to plan like a way to win? It has to be natural.
Q. So your natural was just a little fist pump?
GRACE MIN: Yeah. I'm not like a huge -- I don't show a whole lot of emotion, so that was as good as it gets.
Q. Had you set a goal for yourself coming into this tournament about what kind of round would have been satisfactory for you to reach? You probably exceeded it. Did you at any level expect that you would win?
GRACE MIN: I mean, I wouldn't say I came into the tournament thinking I'm gonna win this tournament. I just try not -- because when I think like that, it kind of -- it doesn't really help me. So I just focused on what I needed to do, what I was capable of taking care of, and just trying to put myself in the best position to, I guess, win the match and the next match and so on.
Q. Was there a real feeling or belief when you hit that return winner? I guess that put you up 6-Love.
GRACE MIN: Yeah, I guess it took some pressure off of me to run down balls and close it out quick. It kinda gave me room to breathe and be creative and not so nervous or tight.
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