O’Loughlin ready for National Clay Court Championships
July 11th, 2008
By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR
Julia O’Loughlin has been steadily building for this moment, which could come as early as next week at the USTA National Clay Court Championships, to be held at the Polo Club in Boca Raton. The event starts Saturday with matches at 8 a.m.
O’Loughlin has had good success this summer, winning doubles with partner Josie Coleman (Ponte Vedra) at an event in Plantation, where she also made the singles semifinals.
At the Florida State Closed Junior Championships last month, she finished third.
“I feel confident,” O’Loughlin, the No. 24 seed this week, said. “I’ve been trying to work on my consistency and footwork on clay.”
As she did last year, O’Loughlin is playing in the Florida Team Challenge at Boca Pointe, a clay court tournament she feels will prepare her for the nationals.
Last summer O’Loughlin won one round and lost in the second. That was better than her previous appearance, when she lost in the first round and then won two matches in the back draw. This year, she’s hoping to take the next step in her progression.
“This is a pretty big tournament,” she said.
One player O’Loughlin hopes to see is Brooke Austin, the Indianapolis native who will likely be the top seed.
“I want to play her,” she said.
The tournament final is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday at the Polo Club.
Afterwards, O’Loughlin will head to Atlanta to play in the national hard court tournament Aug. 2-7.
Local competitors in the event include:
• Adi Milstein (Boca Raton)
• Julia Sbricea (Boca Raton)
• Tiffany Vietro (Boca Raton)
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