By Justin Feil, Packet Media Group
Gina Li returned to the James E. Cryan Memorial Tennis Tournament for the third time in a row this week, but her first as a defending champion.
The Rutgers University senior teamed with former Scarlet Knights teammate Lindsay Balsamo to open defense of their women’s open doubles championship with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sona Hussian and Katelyn Reilly of Pennsylvania in the quarterfinals Monday.
“We won the women’s open doubles last year,” said Li, who was scheduled to play the semifinals Wednesday night. “We wanted to come back and defend, plus Lindsay just graduated college so it’s a nice way to reconnect.”
Li has played in the Cryan each year after graduating from nearby Hillsborough High School, where she was a mainstay at the top of the girls tennis lineup. She played in the Cryan open women’s singles after her freshman year at Rutgers and reached the finals before falling to former professional player Neha Uberoi. Then last year, she teamed up with Balsamo, a Wall resident, to win the doubles crown as the No. 2 seed. Li and Balsamo have made a good tandem whether at the Cryan or together at doubles for Rutgers.
“This season we were doubles partners for a little less than half the season,” Li said. “We definitely had a good chunk of matches together.
“Last summer at the Cryan was the first time we played together. We didn’t play together in the fall. Then in the spring, our coach decided to mix it up and we played together.”
Li played second singles for Rutgers in her first two seasons collegiately, then helped the Scarlet Knights transition this year while sliding up to first singles. Rutgers moved into the Big Ten this year and that along with the move up the lineup made for some noticeable changes for Li.
“I had to do first singles this year in the new conference in the Big Ten,” Li said. “It was challenging. We played a lot more tougher, high caliber teams than we usually do. It wasn’t that other teams weren’t as intense, it was just that the competition was so much greater. And factor in that we’re traveling so much more, going to the Midwest, doing back-to-back days in places that we’ve never been to. . . It’s a whole different experience.”
Li topped the Scarlet Knights with nine singles victories this season. She earned individual wins over Minnesota and Penn State while playing a demanding schedule far different from what she expected when she came from Hillsborough. She did not know that Rutgers would be switching conferences until her freshman year.
“I think we did a pretty good job with it,” Li said. “It was definitely tough to do all the traveling, but we were definitely all there for each other. If someone was feeling down, everyone would understand. We all get each other’s problems. We’re all in the same boat. Traveling is difficult. It’s something that’s going to take time to get used to.
“The past couple years in the American Athletic Conference, we drove to most of the places. We only flew once or twice. This year, we traveled to Iowa, to Indiana, Illinois. The flying takes it out of you.”
Li also was handling moving up in the lineup, though in the six-person singles lineup, the adjustments at the top are subtle.
“(Playing) one, the difference is just being out there longer in comparison,” she said. “My first two years, I played some pretty quick matches. Even if they were close, the points were shorter. At one, the points are so much longer. I found myself being out on the court longer than a lot of my teammates, which was extremely unusual to me. It’s more physical and mental just to stay out there longer.”
Balsamo was the lone senior in the lineup. She was honored with the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Li is happy to have the chance to pair together again for Cryan, though she doesn’t remember exactly how they worked out partnering last year.
“We’re teammates,” Li said. “We’re both from Jersey so that makes it easier. I think we just talked about playing the Cryan, and it just came about because I wasn’t that interested in playing singles so I wanted to play doubles.”
Li was pushed to improve her game when she knew of Rutgers’ move to the Big Ten. She continues to work at her own game as she prepares for her senior year.
“To improve for me, it’s always been to physically get in better shape to be able to run after more balls or get to more balls,” she said. “It’s also playing freely and loosely and not thinking too much about winning or losing. As long as you play well, the results should come with it.”
Li has seen the results of her offseason work and improvements during the season. She has improved her level of play each year.
“I think about some of the matches I played, and these are matches I would have never thought about winning when I was in high school,” Li said. “Even this year when we played in the Big Ten, I didn’t really have that high of expectation to win that many matches. I did win a few conference matches, and I was really proud of myself for doing that already.”
Li is too busy to commit to the every day schedule of the Cryan open singles draw this week. She will think about playing singles next year, but is enjoying the chance at some doubles play with a longtime friend.
“We met in junior tennis, so maybe at the end of middle school, the start of high school,” Li said. “We definitely were friends before we started at Rutgers. We’ve known each other for a while, so it worked out.”
It helps on the court when they have to work together. They fall back on the matches that they have played together.
“We have a good line of communication which is important in doubles,” Li said. “She’s also really good at the net so she’ll poach off anything. I’m also pretty good at the baseline so we complement each other well.“
The two haven’t had much time to practice together since the college season ended, and the Cryan gives them a rare opportunity. Li did play doubles as well as singles in the U.S. Open qualifier earlier this summer.
“We do a lot of doubles in college tennis, maybe half the time is focused on doubles,” Li said. “That’s where all the practice came from. I can’t really say I’m practicing doubles in the offseason. It can be pretty helpful, but mostly the offseason tournaments are for fun.”
Part of having fun is the winning. Li and Balsamo are the favorites this year after winning last year.
“I think we could potentially do well and defend our title,” Li said. “I know the second seeds. We played one of them last year in the finals, Alexis Dorr.”
Li has looked forward to the Cryan each year. She is hoping that Balsamo and she have the chance to return again next year after she graduates.
“I would consider playing the Cryan or any tennis tournament,” said Li, who is majoring in biomedical engineering. “It just depends where I’ll be after college and if I can get a job. I’m not really sure what my plans are.”
If she is a two-time defending champion, it could be tough for Gina Li to stay away from another Cryan tournament opportunity.
