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Cargill Captures Title at Riviera Women's All-American Championships
10/22/2000 1:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ITA Media Relations office
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Duke freshman Ansley Cargill (Atlanta, Ga.)
beat top-seeded Aarthi Venkatesan of Georgia 6-4, 6-4 in today's singles
final at the Riviera Women's All-American Championships, the second leg of
the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Grand Slam, at the Riviera
Tennis Club.Unseeded Cargill, who entered Duke this fall as the top-ranked player in the USTA Girls' 18-and-under rankings, improves to 8-0 this season while playing in only her second collegiate tournament and first ITA Grand Slam event. Cargill, a native of Atlanta, is the first freshman to win the All-American since UAB's Mirela Vladulescu in 1997 and first unseeded player to win the title since Georgia's Lisa Spain in the inaugural tournament in '83.
In today's final Cargill jumped out to 3-0 leads in both sets.
"I just came out here with a good attitude this week and enjoyed the whole experience at the Riviera," Cargill said.
Cargill's title run included three wins over players in the top 15 of the WingspanBank.com rankings. She is currently ranked No. 58 and earns an automatic berth into the 2001 Rolex National Indoor Championships, the third leg of the ITA Grand Slam.
In Thursday's first round Cargill knocked off No. 6 seed Chin Bee Khoo of Arkansas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 and did not lose a set in her four matches after that.
"That was my first match in a (collegiate) grand slam and I was a little nervous," Cargill said of Thursday's opening round. "After that I just concentrated on going after every shot rather than being defensive. I stopped concentrating on the score and tried to get off to a quick start each match."
Today's ITA Grand Slam singles title is the fifth by a Duke player. Cargill joins Blue Devils Julie Exum (T. Rowe Price National Clay Courts in '90 and '92), Karin Miller (Rolex National Indoors in '97) and Vanessa Webb (Riviera All-American in '96 and NCAAs in '98).
Venkatesan, a senior from Brisbane, Australia and No. 2 player in the WingspanBank.com rankings, has reached at least the round of 16 in the last six ITA Grand Slam tournament she played in and was playing in her first final.
In the consolation singles finals on Sunday, Duke's Kathy Sell lost 2-6, 2-6, to Wake Forest's Janet Bergman.
The ITA Grand Slam also includes the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships, the Rolex National Indoor Championships and NCAA Championships.
The latest college tennis news, including complete Riviera All-American results and bios on today's finalists, is available at www.ITAtennis.com, the official website of the ITA.
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