THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508090164
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
If the Baker Damron Eye Center Junior Tennis Tournament should decide to chart its history, a good place to start would be at the trophy case of Michelle Grover.
The tournament first started as the Central Fidelity Invitational and is now in its 28th year. Baker Damron became the primary sponsor of the annual tournament at Elizabeth Manor in 1993.
On Friday, 13-year-old Michelle carried home to Suffolk three awards - the girls 16-under singles crown, the girls 18-under doubles championship with teammate Kelly Austin, and the Bernie Segall Memorial Award for sportsmanship.
Michelle has been playing in the Baker Damron since 1991. And every year, she has been a champion.
She won girls 10-under singles in her first attempt - as a 9-year-old. She played up the following year and won the girls 12-under singles. In '93, she won the girls 14-under singles and paired with Austin to take the girls 16-under doubles.
Last year, she and Austin repeated as girls 16-under doubles winners, and Grover won the girls 16-under singles.
Grover won her second straight title in the 16-under division Friday with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Kim Mauney of Norfolk.
Michelle is eligible to seek a third consecutive 16-under title next year in the Baker Damron but hinted she expects to go after the 18-under championship instead.
Becky Gunn of Richmond won the girls 18-under title Friday, defeating Brooke Reid of Newport News, 6-3, 6-1.
This week, Grover is defending her state title in the 14-under division at Owls Creek. She is seeded No. 1.
It has been a tremendous tennis summer for the rising ninth-grader at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
She was chosen to play at Forrest Hills in New York on a 14-under Zonal team. In competition featuring the best young players in the country, Michelle won six of eight matches.
Grover was invited to play in the Maureen Connolly Invitational in Dallas, Texas, an event that is limited to 32 of the top youngsters in tennis. Michelle advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual tournament champion. She beat the No. 8 seed in her second match and the No. 4 seed in her third.
``Michelle has become an outstanding player,'' said Elizabeth Manor tennis pro Mike Mustgrave. ``Last year, she was more a banger. Her game is much more developed now. She has big ground strokes. And to get any competition around here she has to play up. There is little competition for her at her own age level.''
Grover now ranks No. 1 in the state at 14-under, in the top 15 at 16-under and quite likely will be ranked in the 18-under category, too. She and Austin have won their last three tournament outings in 18-under doubles, including last week's Elizabeth Manor triumph.
Younger brother Nate, 11, claimed one championship in the Baker Damron. He paired with Josh Dishong of Kitty Hawk to win the boys 14-under doubles. Nate, a left-hander, was dethroned as boys 12-under singles titlist by Chesapeake's Jordan Fanney. Fanney posted a 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory in the finals.
The youngest of the Grover clan, 6-year-old Bart, made his Baker Damron debut and lost his first-round match in boys 10-under singles to Edward Estes of Norfolk, 6-0, 6-0. Estes went on to win the title, downing David Ancarrow of Seaford in the final, 7-5, 6-2.
Jonathan Chou of Newport News won the boys 18-under singles with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Virginia Beach's Ramel Bautista in the final.
The boys 16-under singles went to Michael Hendrickson of Lynchburg on a 6-1, 6-0 verdict over Kevin McClellan of Poquoson.
Dishong also was boys 14-under singles champion. He topped A.J. Florenza of Richmond, 6-1, 6-0, in the final.
In the girls 14-under singles, Gina Black of Chesapeake won the title by defeating Melissa Balaban of Norfolk, 6-0, 7-5.
Casey Rotella of Charlottesville beat Megan Hunter of Poquoson in the girls 12-under final, 6-0, 6-0.
The girls 10-under title was claimed by Suffolk's Whitney Johnson, a 6-2, 6-2 victor over another Suffolk entry, Kristen Warren.
The boys sportsmanship award, also a memorial award to Segall, went to 18-under runnerup Bautista.
The tournament drew a field of about 130 with a larger entry from other areas of the state than in the past few years. by CNB