The withdrawal of Brooke Killingsworth's semifinal opponent, Lara Schneider, on Friday put Killingsworth in today's finals of the United States Tennis Association's Southern Closed 16's Boys and Girls Championships at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Little Rock.
The potential side effects of severe dehydration from two matches played Thursday caused Schneider of Mount Pleasant, S.C., the girls No. 1 seed, to withdraw before the semifinals began.
Killingsworth, the No. 3 seed, consequently advanced to play Carrie Beckman of Louisville, Ky., in the girls championship match scheduled for 9 a.m. Beckman, the 15-year-old No. 2 seed, advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 semifinal victory over Emma Charney of Prospect, Ky.
"I feel really bad for Lara," said Killingsworth, 16 of Rogers. "Nobody wants to win like that, these girls are all my friends. I don't want anyone to feel like that. I'm disappointed. It was going to really be a good match, but it is what it is. You have to roll with the punches."
The two had split their last two matches from earlier this year.
Boys finalists are Benjamin Koch of Abbeville, La., and JonBrann Reid of Claremont, N.C. Koch is the boys No. 1 seed and advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 3 Maxwell Smith of Daniel Island, S.C. Reid, the No. 5 seed, made the final with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over James Delgado, the ninth seed from High Point, N.C.
Beckman and Charney lived nearby for years in Louisville before Charney moved recently. They said their close friendship endures and is more meaningful to them than the result of a match, even a championship semifinal. They said they have played many over the years, and that the first game of their semifinal match demonstrated how difficult it has been for either to establish an upper hand.
Beckman served to start the match which ended after 1 hour, 26 minutes. The first game of the match took eight minutes and had four deuce points. Charney led 30-love to start but trailed 30-40 after three more serves. She scored the next two points to hold the first advantage but had to battle back to reach deuce through the remainder of the game before Beckman pulled it out.
"I knew coming in that it was going to be a tough match," Beckman said. "That first game, I thought it was really important to help me get momentum. From then on, I knew it was going to be tough."
With a few exceptions, tennis rules routinely forbid outside coaching during matches, but players are free to offer themselves advice at any time. For example, Beckman frequently shouted at herself.
She paused after a miss early in the first set.
"That's such a bad shot," Beckman said. "What are you even doing?"
With the score tied at 4-4, Beckman served but trailed love-30.
"I don't care," she said. "I want to lose."
Charney scored the next point to lead 40-love, but Beckman scored the following five to win the game and take a 5-4 lead.
"When I say things like that, it helps me relax," Beckman said. "It makes me play better."
The girls finalists have played twice before. In 2016, Killingsworth managed to hold on for a 7-6 victory in the third set. She won 6-2, 6-1 in a match with Beckman last year.
"She's gotten a lot better," Beckman said. "It should be a tough match."
"Carrie is a very talented player," Killingsworth said. "I'm expecting a fight. It won't be easy."
Sports on 06/16/2018