San Diego’s Paulina Ferrari Advances on Opening Day of Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships

Written by: Staff on 3rd August 2013

San Diego’s Paulina Ferrari Advances on Opening Day of Girls’ 16s & 18s National Championships |

San Diego, Calif. – (August 3, 2013) – Paulina Ferrari, a 14-year-old San Diegan with a notable tennis pedigree, has looked forward to competing in the USTA Girls 16s National Championships for several years.

Until now, she’s been too young to enter. But because Barnes Tennis Center is her home-court practice facility, she feels especially at home this week, competing at the tournament’s long-time site.

“Seems like I’ve been waiting a long time,” she said after her first-round debut Saturday, a 6-1, 6-0 win over unseeded Caroline Williams of Baltimore. “I’ve definitely looked forward to playing against the best girls here on my home courts.”

Ferrari’s style features aggressive ground strokes along with a fierce and surprisingly frequent net game, a rarity among her contemporaries.

“I love coming to net,” said Ferrari, whose grandfather is legendary local teaching pro Ben Press. “It’s so much fun. All these girls can hit 100,000 balls without ever coming to net, but I always like to end the point as soon as I can.”

Ferrari currently holds a ranking of 6th in the USTA Southern California Girls 16s. A resident of San Diego community of University City, she plans to attend La Jolla Country Day School this fall. Her father is Jim Ferrari, a long-time teaching pro.

Next up for Ferrari is a second-round match against 17th-seeded Sydney Riley, from Dallas, who received a first-round bye.

The Girls’ 18s division will begin their opening round matches at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 4.

To view the complete tournament draws go to: http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=121938

The Girls’ 16s tournament will conclude with the finals on Saturday, Aug. 10. The Girls’ 18s division will finish with the finals on Sunday, Aug. 11.

Nearly 400 girls aged 16 and 18 and under are competing for the title of National Champion, as well as a Wild Card entry into the singles main draw of the US Open Women’s Championships (for the 18s Champion) and a Wild Card into the US Open Junior Championships (for the 16s Champion). The 18s Doubles Champions will also receive a Wild Card into the main draw of the US Open Women’s Doubles competition.

In addition to the Barnes Tennis Center, early round matches are also scheduled at San Diego State University and University of San Diego. (Please see schedule below) Spectator admission is free at all sites each day of the tournament. Parking is free at the Barnes Tennis Center. There is a nominal charge for parking at SDSU and USD.

Past tournament champions include Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport. Victoria Duval, last year’s Girls’ 18s National Champion, fell to Kim Clijsters of Belgium in an entertaining first round match on opening night of the 2012 US Open before a large crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The 17-year-old Duval, a resident of Bradenton, Fla., is ranked No. 291 in the world (as of 6/24/13).

Tournament Information

Website: – www.ustagirlsnationals.com/

Starting times: – 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 3 – Thursday, Aug. 8

9 a.m., Friday, Aug. 9 – Sunday, Aug. 11

Locations: – Saturday, Aug. 3 – Sunday, Aug. 11, Barnes Tennis Center, 4490 W. Point Loma Blvd., San Diego, Calif. 92107

Saturday, Aug. 3 – Tuesday, Aug. 6, (Early Rounds) San Diego State University, Aztec Recreation Center, 5301 55th Street, San Diego, Calif. 92182

Sunday, Aug. 4 – Wednesday, Aug. 7, (Early Rounds) University of San Diego, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, Calif. 92110