Unionville’s Grace Li, WC Henderson’s Evans capture Ches-Mont singles titles
Westtown – Unionville High School junior Grace Li captured the Ches-Mont League American Division girls’ tennis singles title in impressive fashion, winning her first three matches by a 6-0, 6-0 score, then posting a 6-0, 6-1 victory in the championship final Saturday morning at West Chester Rustin High School.
Li, the 2021 Daily Local News Girls Tennis Player of the Year, is undefeated so far this season. She defeated Great Valley junior Mabel Qiu in the championship final Saturday, and it’s the second consecutive Ches-Mont American singles title for Li.
“Grace plays a lot of high-level tournaments throughout the year, and she brings that to the table, which not only helps her game, but also helps her teammates,” said Unionville girls tennis head coach Janet Johnston. “Grace has lost very few games this season. She’s a good team player, a good teacher and really supportive of her teammates. She’s very generous with her information, really willing to share.”
Great Valley head coach Gerry McGrath said, “Grace is a force; she has weapons that other players don’t have, and not many people have anything that can hurt [Li] as a player – she really is the total package out there.”
Asked what Li’s best on-court attributes are, Johnston replied, “Her pace, the strength of her shot, her ability to work a point, to create good situations to put her in a position of strength. She has a lot of variety to her serve, and dogged determination – she can be in situations where it’s tricky or tough, but she rises to the occasion and works her way out of it.”
Last fall, Li advanced to the PIAA 3A singles state championship final, where she lost to North Penn junior Esha Velaga, 6-3, 6-3.
“Grace and Esha actually train together at HPTA [High Performance Tennis Academy],” said Johnston. “It’s nice that these girls have developed good relationships with each other, and I think that’s the [good] thing that high school tennis brings to the tournament players – having a team around them, and being able to play for each other and not just for themselves, because tennis can be a lonely sport.”
Qiu won her first two rounds of the tournament by scores of 6-1, 6-0, then in the semifinals defeated West Chester Rustin’s Maya Tashie, 6-4, 6-1. Tashie went on to win the third-place match against Unionville’s Sophie Zhang, 6-1, 6-3.
Last year, Qiu finished fourth at the Ches-Mont American singles tourney, losing to Unionville’s Catherine Stone in the third-place match. This time, Qiu defeated Stone in the quarterfinals Friday, 6-1, 6-1, then advanced to the championship final and qualified for the District 1 3A singles tournament.
“Mabel is very consistent,” said McGrath. “She’s a smart player on the court. In her semifinal match with [Tashie], Maya played well, but Mabel gets to so many balls that Maya had to hit two and three winners to get a point. Unless you’re Grace [Li], who can just blow somebody off the court and hit a winner from anywhere, that makes it tough for a player.”
On Friday, West Chester Henderson junior Kaitlyn Evans captured the Ches-Mont League National Division singles tourney title. Evans, the No. 1 seed, defeated the second seed, Bishop Shanahan sophomore Ella Matulewicz, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in the championship final.
Evans rolled to the championship final in impressive fashion, winning her first three rounds in straight sets. She defeated Downingtown East’s Arushi Jain, 6-2, 6-0; then beat Bishop Shanahan’s Renee Kinard, 6-0, 6-1, in the quarterfinals; then defeated West Chester Henderson’s Amelia Jarden, 6-3, 6-2, in the semfinals. Jarden had defeated the No. 3 seed, Downingtown East’s Danielle Litvan, in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals.
“Kaitlyn is a very tough player who grinds for every point,” said West Chester Henderson head coach Peter Sok after a victory by Evans against Kennett at first singles earlier this month. “She’s smart and methodical.”
Matulewicz won her first two matches by a 6-0, 6-0 count, then defeated Downingtown East’s Dhriti Munagala, the fourth seed in the tournament, 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(6) in the semifinal to advance to the championship final
“I think Ella’s success at this tournament was mainly due to her determination,” said Bishop Shanahan head coach Jamie Breen. “She is someone never to count out. She found herself a few times in the semifinal match trailing, only to persevere and keep fighting to the end. She relied on her solid groundstrokes to dictate points.
“The championship final was a great match, and her opponent (Evans) had that same never-say-die mentality. She played great tennis with amazing consistency and very few unforced errors.”
In the third-place match, Munagala defeated Jarden, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
