ORLANDO, Fla. - Sophomore Michaela Gordon outlasted Duke's Kelly Chen 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Tuesday morning, capturing the USTA Collegiate Blizzard Wild Card Challenge held at the USTA National Campus.
Gordon, who repeated as the ITA Northwest Regional champion back in October, claimed her third career singles crown, emerging as the champion of the event, which was hosted by USTA Player Development and kicked off Saturday with an eight-player group stage.
With the victory, Gordon earned a main draw wild card into a 2019 $60K tournament that will be determined at a later date. Gordon also was awarded a guaranteed spot on the 2019 USTA Collegiate National Team. Members of the squad receive grant money to travel to professional tournaments and coaching from USTA Player Development staff.
Latest singles title for Michaela Gordon also results in a main draw wild card and guaranteed spot on the 2019 USTA Collegiate National Team. #GoStanford https://t.co/5Wmqt2MrN8
— Stanford Women's Tennis (@StanfordWTennis) December 18, 2018
Despite dropping her first match of the tournament, Gordon collected back-to-back victories to advance out of the group stage. After defeating Pepperdine's Ashley Lahey 6-4, 6-2 on Monday, Gordon recorded her second win of the weekend against Chen.
Named an ITA All-American in both singles and doubles in 2018, Gordon was also recognized as Stanford's first ITA National Rookie of the Year since 2011. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and an All-Pac-12 first team honoree, Gordon (22-11 overall, 12-9 duals) played all of her matches at the No. 1 spot of the lineup.
"It was amazing playing against all of the other top Americans in college tennis," said Gordon. "I had a lot of fun playing against everyone because we're all friends. They were fun matches. I'm really glad we were able to play this especially since there are not a lot of events during winter break and this is such a high level. I feel really good going into next season. My game is really starting to develop more where I wanted it to be. I'm still working on a lot of things. I feel good but ready to take a break before the season."
"It's an amazing facility and the courts are so nice," continued Gordon. "I love the courts here. I think these college courts will be really fun to play college matches on so I'm excited for that opportunity. And I think how the USTA put this event together for college players was great. A ton of college players will be interested in playing it in the future as well."
Group Stage - Dec. 15
No. 2 Makenna Jones (North Carolina) d. No. 103 Michaela Gordon 7-5, 5-7, 13-11
Group Stage - Dec. 16
No. 103 Michaela Gordon d. No. 37 Kelly Chen (Duke) 7-6, 2-6, 10-4
No. 103 Michaela Gordon d. No. 27 Brienne Minor (Michigan) 6-2, 6-3
Semifinals - Dec. 17
No. 103 Michaela Gordon d. No. 106 Ashley Lahey (Pepperdine) 6-4, 6-2
Championship Match - Dec. 18
No. 103 Michaela Gordon d. No. 37 Kelly Chen (Duke) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0