Youth is served at Cryan tennis tourney

Hun’s DiPastina claims women’s B singles title

By: Justin Feil
   Lucy DiPastina is used to playing in tournaments, but this year’s James E. Cryan Memorial Tournament brought something new, and something older, namely her opponents.
   The 13-year-old became the youngest ‘B’ singles champion in the five-year history of the B tournament when she posted a 7-5, 6-3 win against Nancy Plum on Wednesday night at Mercer County Park.
   "It feels good," said DiPastina, who will be an eighth grader at The Hun School. "I only knew the first girl I played, Cheryl (Taylor). They were really close matches. It was tough."
   While Plum, who in a week will be 35 years older than DiPastina, used her veteran savvy to send the youngster all over the court, DiPastina relied on her stronger ground strokes to put pressure on Plum. It still sounded as though DiPastina was the more frustrated of the two as she repeatedly scolded herself for missed opportunities.
   "I always talk to myself," DiPastina said. "All year during (middle school) tennis season, I did that. It doesn’t help.
   "She had me running back and forth the whole time. I had no idea what to do."
   DiPastina still played her best when she had to — at the end of the first and second sets. After Plum tied the first set, 5-5, DiPastina focused in and took the next two games.
   In the second set, DiPastina again grew frustrated as Plum evened the score, 3-3, after she had won the first three games to take a commanding 3-0 lead. But DiPastina closed out the match with a flurry of winners that Plum just couldn’t get to in the final three games, and finally cracked a smile.
   "My ground strokes are usually the best part," DiPastina said of her skills. "I thought they were pretty good tonight."
   For the win, she received a plaque, a racquet and a bag — not bad for someone who thought they wouldn’t even be around in the semifinals. DiPastina, the 57th ranked player in the Middle States 14-and-under division plans to compete next in the Section Ranked tournament at the end of August, a typical tournament for her in that she’ll be paired against competitors her age.
   "The youngest person I played was about 30," the Titusville resident said of the Cryan tournament. "They all pretty much played the same way."
   DiPastina, the seventh seed, defeated three of the top four seeds to claim the B title. After defeating Cheryl Taylor to open the tournament, she beat Lisa Sherman, then No. 4 seed Martine Benjamin of Princeton Junction in the quarterfinals and finally No. 2 seed Anne Maxwell in the semifinals before taking on Plum, the third seed.
   "I played in the As last year and lost in the first round," DiPastina said. "I got crushed. I didn’t know how I’d do (in the B division). I thought since I was seeded seventh, I would get knocked out in the quarterfinals."
   Instead, she defeated a veteran field to become the youngest B champion in Cryan tournament history.
   Other locals were scheduled to be in action Thursday night in hopes of advancing to the final two days of the tournament. Still alive are Alex Sutton in the B men’s singles, Debbie Karlen and Plainsboro resident Brad Werner in mixed doubles, and Oliver Choo in A men’s singles. Choo and partner Carter Morris were also still alive in men’s doubles play.
   Sutton, the former West Windsor-Plainsboro High player, defeated Scott Nagao, 7-6 (6), 6-4, Wednesday and was scheduled to face third-seeded Mark Gardon on Thursday. With a win, Sutton would play tonight for the B men’s title.
   Choo, another WW-P graduate, handed Jay Kanetkar a 7-6 (5), 6-1 loss on Wednesday and was scheduled to face No. 1 seed Marc Silva on Thursday. With a win, Choo would play Saturday at 1 p.m. for the men’s A championship. Last year Choo reached the men’s final before falling to Young Min Kwon. He and Carter, the second seeded men’s team, were also scheduled to play Thursday and with a win would play Friday for the doubles title. A third WW-P graduate, Nick Benjamin, lost to the second-seeded Carter in men’s A singles play in a tough three-set match.
   Karlen and Werner defeated Sutton and his mother, Barrie, in straight sets on Wednesday and were scheduled to play for the mixed doubles title Thursday night against second-seeded Lesia Bilak and Yuriy Pereyaslavkiy.