American Grace Min Upsets Top-Seeded Caroline Garcia to Win U.S. Open Junior Girls Singles Title
September 11, 2011 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Grace Min, a 17-year-old from Duluth, Ga., upset top-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 7-5, 7-6(3), to win the 2011 U.S. Open Junior Girls singles title on Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Garcia is currently ranked 138th in the WTA rankings while Min is ranked 550th. Min did not drop a set in six matches, which included an upset over the number two seed, Irina Khromacheva of Russia, in the first round, and a victory over fellow American and Stanford University sophomore Nicole Gibbs in the semifinals. With the win, Min becomes the first American to win the U.S. Open Junior Girls Singles Title since Coco Vandeweghe in 2008. When asked how it felt to be a champion Min said, " I don’t really know yet. I’m still processing the win."
Min reached the singles final at the 2010 Orange Bowl and won the Junior Girls Doubles title at Wimbledon earlier this summer. She has trained full-time at the USTA Training Center in Boca Raton, Fla., since the fall of 2009. Next up for Min is a 75 in Albuquerque and a 50 in Vegas. She says she plans on playing challengers and does not know if she will return to the juniors.
