Lutz teen wins state tennis title

The 15-year-old captures her second state title in her age group with six straight-set victories during six days of competition in Orlando.

By TERRY JONES

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 24, 2001

LUTZ -- Fifteen-year-old Stacia Fonseca has added her name to the Florida tennis history books alongside Chris Evert and Mary Joe Fernandez with back-to-back wins at the USTA Florida Section State Closed Tennis Championship.

Fonseca of Lutz captured her second state title Thursday in the 16-and-under age group with six consecutive wins in straight sets during six days of competition in Orlando. She won the same tournament in the 14-and-under age group last year.

"I was able to do something I had never done in this tournament and that still is impressive to me," Fonseca said. The magnitude of her achievement, she said, hadn't set in yet.

During the first three rounds, she beat Naomi Davies of Fort Myers 6-1, 6-1; Jessica Baron of Miami 6-1, 6-0; and Jeanne Schwartz of Wellington 6-0, 6-3.

In her semifinal, Fonseca knocked off No. 2 seed Julia Cohen from Weston 6-1, 6-1. She defeated Shannon Robinson of Boca Raton 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Thursday morning, she defeated Clearwater's Bugsy Bauer 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Bauer had bested the No. 1 seed in the semifinals to earn a berth in the final.

With a win under her belt, Fonseca is looking ahead to her next big competition -- the grass-court nationals in mid July in Virginia Beach.

"Now I will just keep on training and get ready for the next tournament," she said.

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