Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993 TAG: 9307290061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's 953. For perspective, the Women's Tennis Association ratings are cut off at 964.
Yet the 16-year-old South African trounced the Roanoke tournament's defending champion, Ai Sugiyama, on Tuesday, losing two games in two sets in a first-round main-draw match at Hunting Hills Country Club.
It's a shocker until you open Horn's dossier and discover she's South Africa's top-ranked junior player, she has forsaken high school for now and turned pro, and she is coached (as well as temporarily parented) by acclaimed tennis instructors Dennis and Pat Van Der Meer in Hilton Head, S.C.
Horn also gets one-on-one workouts with countryman Amanda Coetzer, the world's 15th-ranked singles player and a Van Der Meer disciple. Others in Horn's regular workout group include 102nd-ranked Christina Papadaki of Greece, 177th-ranked Mercedes Paz of Argentina and Virginia Beach native Julie Shiflet, who won the 1990 Roanoke tournament.
The Van Der Meers saw Horn at the Orange Bowl junior tournament in Miami last December. Horn said she had been working with the Van Der Meers since February, and Pat Van Der Meer said Horn was held out of tournaments for a time so her game could be tuned; that, in part, resulted in her stratospheric ranking.
Van Der Meer said she believes Horn is ticketed for the top 100, at least, and Horn is gazing up the ladder while living around the globe from her family.
"It would be nice to have my parents with me, too," said Horn, from Durban, South Africa. "But right now it's the beginning, I hope, of everything. I'm perfectly happy."
Not so for Sugiyama, the highest-ranked singles player in Roanoke at 159. She sobbed into a towel following the afternoon match and took the back route out of the playing area.
Horn and Van Der Meer, meanwhile, explained the cause of Sugiyama's sadness. Van Der Meer had scouted Sugiyama and, for example, knew the Tokyo native didn't like high forehands. So, of course, Horn gave her plenty of those.
"My plan was to stand a foot inside [the baseline], take the balls early, dictate and move her around," Horn said. "The game I lost at 4-0 [in the first set], she did that to me."
Sugiyama didn't do much else. Horn's range of shots - and her range, period - didn't allow for a struggle. That wasn't the case in Horn's final qualifying match. It took her three hours, 20 minutes to beat Jennifer Callen.
Next came the defending champion. Horn said Coetzer always tells her "there is not a big difference between you and the top players, which I realized today."
It was a breakthrough for the Van Der Meers, too, who also coach fourth-seeded Vanessa Webb and Connie Grunes. Webb advanced in singles Wednesday, and Grunes advanced in doubles play.
"We're not worrying anything about points or tournaments," Van Der Meer said. "It's, `Can I play with this level player?' I knew she could. I'm so happy she knows it now too."
Horn wasn't the only underdog who held up well Wednesday. Qualifier Vera Vitels beat seventh-seeded Lucie Ahl 6-1, 6-1, and Alejandro Vento - who lost in qualifying but was placed in the main draw as a "lucky loser" - beat main-draw entry Joanne Moore 6-4, 6-3. Sixth-seeded Kate McDonald lost to Kiyoko Yazawa of Japan 6-3, 6-1.
Second-seeded Mika Todo advanced Tuesday night; No. 3 Angie Woolcock, No. 4 Vanessa Webb and No. 5 Anne Miller advanced Wednesday.
Play continues today at Hunting Hills beginning at 9 a.m., with matches featuring Webb, Miller and Todo.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***