June 19, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Britton, Dabrowski capture singles tennis titles
by Justin Goldman

Fighting through some intense heat last week, fourth seeded Devin Britton and eighth seeded Gabriela Dabrowski found ways to capture the singles titles in the 2008 junior international grass court tennis championships held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

Dabrowski, a native of Ottawa, Cali. was playing her first-ever grass court event, and she did not disappoint. She had a relatively easy run to the final, adapting well to the specific strategies needed for playing on grass. In the final match against unseeded upstart Beatrice Capra, Dabrowski used a wide array of shots to take down her opponent, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

In the first set, Dabrowski, 16, capitalized on one of her three break opportunities to capture the set. At 3-2, it seemed like Capra had stolen some momentum, leading 40-30 with a chance to break, but Dabrowski scored three straight points to take the game and control of the set.

Capra, also 16, had another chance to break Dabrowski at 5-4, but the Canadian had a drop shot winner, a cross-court forehand winner, and Capra’s final forehand of the set sailed long and Dabrowski took the first set.

Capra came out a different player in the next set, cutting down on her unforced errors and not allowing Dabrowski to break her. The Elliot City, Md. native gave Dabrowski a taste of her own medicine, breaking her twice en route to her second set win.

But the momentum that Capra created did not last long. Dabrowski regrouped and returned to her first set form, using her drop shots very effectively. In fact, Capra didn’t win a single point until the third game. Capra’s dominant serve in the second set was halted by a myriad of successful Dabrowski returns, as well as a lot of second serves from Capra. Capra’s first serve percentage dropped dramatically in the third set and Dabrowski took major advantage of it.

 Even with Dabrowski back hitting on all cylinders, Capra did not wilt. She fought back to break Dabrowski at 4-3, then forced the next game to deuce, but just could not muster the energy to get any closer.

Capra managed to save one match point with a backhand winner, but in the next point, Dabrowski hit a deep forehand that Capra hit long to give Dabrowski her first ever grass court title.

Things were just as tough on the men’s side. Fourth seeded Britton captured his 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory with an easy first set and a more difficult next set that needed a tiebreaker to determine the champion. Britton’s serve was dominant throughout the match, which did not allow Lippman to show his grass court skills. Britton came out undaunted in the first set, breaking Lippman at 3-2 and having an overwhelming eight aces. His attacks of the net also seemed to bother Lippman, who could not get any lobs or forehand winners by him.

The same sort of trends persisted in the next set with Lippman not able to execute his game plan of keeping Britton moving from baseline to baseline effectively. Britton’s first serve percentage remained high, and he was not broken until 6-5 when he was serving for the match.

Even with Britton serving well and executing his game plan, Lippman, a Nashville, Tenn. native regained composure and found a way to force a tiebreak.

In the second set tiebreak, Britton earned his first match point with another ace, but Lippman bounced back. The two became part of a highlight-reel exchange five feet from the net with each volleying and returning the other’s best shot. The point finally ended with Britton sprawling out to try to return a forehand volley from Lippman, but the effort fell short.

Despite the match being so well-played, it ended in somewhat of an anticlimactic manner. Lippman garnered a set point after a first serve winner, but on the ensuing point failed to get either of Britton’s second serves in play which gave him the advantage. Lippman then double faulted to end the match.

The athletic excellence displayed by both of these 17-year-olds is what makes this tournament so great every year. Patrick McEnroe, Todd Martin and Pete Sampras have all competed in this tournament and this year’s crop of young players did not disappoint.