Home favourite Hui to face Czechia's Valentova in US Open girls' final
The hours floated by, the raindrops fell, and Tereza Valentova tried her best to calm her nerves.
She was one set away from her first Junior Grand Slam final, something she tried hard not to think about during the five-hour weather delay here at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
When her semi-final match with Slovakia's Renata Jamrichova, the No. 1 seed within the girls' draw at the US Open Junior Championships, finally resumed around 7pm, Valentova was ready. So, so ready.
Leading 1-0 in the third set when the match re-started, the 16-year-old from Czechia ran off three straight games and never looked back, gutting out a 3-6 6-4 6-3 win to reach Saturday’s final.
Valentova will now face American Katherine Hui, who in only her second major tournament has cruised through the draw. Hui, an 18-year-old headed to Stanford University, hasn’t lost more than four games in any set in five matches, and defeated No. 10 seed Laura Samsonova, 6-2 6-3 on Friday night.
“I’m shaking, I have no words I’m so happy,” Valentova said, grinning from ear to ear a few minutes after the match. “I tried to stay calm and it worked.”
During the long rain delay, Valentova said she talked tactics with her dad, Marcel Valenta, took a cold shower, ate some food, and tried to stay focused.
It certainly paid off, as after surging into that 4-0 lead, she held off a comeback attempt by Jamrichova, and on match point blistered a forehand winner down the line. She dropped her racket and looked shocked after the ball landed.
“I wasn’t as nervous today as I was yesterday,” Valentova said about serving the match out. “I think yesterday helped me.”
Jamrichova amassed 16 double faults during the showdown.
“When she is doing that, you try maybe to put a little more pressure on her serve,” Valentova said. “You want to get every ball back.”
Valentova and Jamrichova have each played more than 125 matches on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors but had not met before Friday since they were under 12. They were due to face each other in the J300 Roehampton final in July but Valentova was forced to pull out with injury.
Jamrichova was up a set and 3-1 in the second when things began to unravel. She double-faulted twice in a row to bring the game to deuce, and then moments later Valentova sent a piercing backhand winner down the line to break back.
The Czech continued to pressure the No.1 seed, and broke again at 4-5 when Jamrichova double faulted to lose the set.
In the second semi-final, Hui (pronounced WHEY) continued to show her dominant form. Standing inside the baseline as much as possible and driving penetrating groundstrokes, Hui ensured that Samsonova, who pulled out of the doubles on Thursday with an injury, was constantly on the defensive. Hui raced out to a 5-1 lead and was never threatened in the first set.
Samsonova battled to two-all in the second, but a strong Hui backhand cross-court return on break point forced an error, and Hui rolled from there.
Not bad for a kid who had played only one Junior Grand Slam before, the 2022 US Open.
“I don’t think it’s hit me but it feels really good,” Hui said. “The weather delay was long but it was actually really good, because I thought I had some nerves in the morning and having so much time before playing calmed me down.”
Hui, who said she loves hot weather, still had an advantage of playing in the evening when temperatures dropped.
She drilled 19 winners, compared to only four from Samsonova.
“I was ready to play at any time they asked,” Hui said. “I had a good mentality and am able to be flexible; that’s what college tennis is going to be like.”
An intriguing final awaits.