Girls tennis: Avon's Natalie Smitek invited to prestigious national tournament

Natalie Smitek kept knocking and her opportunity finally answered. The Avon senior received an invite to the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King Girls 16s and 18s National Championships in San Diego. The tournament begins Saturday with the 16s draw. The 18s draw begins Sunday and runs through Sunday. Both draws are eight rounds. "I've been trying to get into this for the past couple of years and I haven't been able to so it was exciting to get the invite," Smitek said. "I worked pretty hard this year and played a lot of tournaments to get my points up so I could get in. I'm super excited to go play there." The Billie Jean King National Championships carry substantial prizes for the top finishers with the winner of the 18s singles draw receiving a wild card to both the U.S. Open main draw and the junior main draw. The runnerup receives a wild card to the qualifying draw and the junior main draw. Wild cards to the U.S. Open junior main draw will be awarded to the 18s third-place finisher and the 16s champion. The fourth- and fifth-place finishers in the 18s draw will receive wild cards to the junior qualifying draw. "Every round is going to be tough," Smitek said. "At some tournaments you might get an easier opening-round match to ease into it, but this one is going to be tough from the beginning. I'm just hoping to compete as hard as I can and hopefully win a couple of rounds. That would be amazing. It's going to be a really cool experience." Smitek is one of three girls from Northeast Ohio listed in the 18s singles draw — joined by Tess Bucher of North Canton Hoover and Amara Brahmbhatt, who resides in Westlake. Only three others will be representing Ohio — Clara Owen (Circleville), Marina Fuduric (Lima resident) and Eleana Yu (Mason resident), the defending 18s champion. Smitek will compete in the 18s singles draw and partner with Owen for the 18s doubles draw. The fields feature the best juniors in the nation. Clervie Ngounoue, the No. 2 ranked junior in the world after winning the Wimbledon girls singles championship in July, is the No. 1 seed of the 18s singles draw. "She's going to be playing among the greatest junior tennis players in the nation," Avon coach Eric Korey said. "Nearly every Division I or Division II college coach will be in attendance, Billie Jean King will be there. To even qualify for any Level 1 tournament is a big deal, let alone the championships level." This will be Smitek's first Level 1 USTA event, the highest level. For perspective, there are seven levels and girls who routinely qualify for the OHSAA state tournament generally compete at Level 4 or above. Korey added that it can be a challenge for kids in the midwest to find tournaments at the top two levels within a reasonable travel distance. Smitek has played in about 15 tournaments since the end of her junior season, most at Level 3 with one Level 2 in February. Her consistent success helped raise her USTA rating, which works like the WTA ranking system that awards points based upon how deep a player advances. Smitek and Owen won a Level 3 doubles event earlier this year. "I definitely worked on staying mentally tough and not giving up," Smitek said. "It's really easy if you're down a couple of games to just let it go. I've worked on staying focused throughout the match and feel like mentally I've improved a lot this year." Smitek is coming off her first season with Avon after spending her first two with Magnificat. She went 31-3 overall, playing primarily first singles for the Eagles with one of those wins coming at doubles. She qualified for the state tournament for the third straight year, reaching the quarterfinals of the Division I singles draw. Along the way, she won the Magnificat sectional title and finished third at the Springside district. The previous two seasons, she was a state-placer in doubles — finishing fourth in 2020 and third in 2021. She won the Magnificat sectional and Springside district championships each of those seasons. "I'm excited to have her compete with some of the girls on this list," Korey said. "It couldn't happen to a better kid. She's so positive and she's going to represent her family, her school and herself so well. This is a big dream for her." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter.