Seventeen Tennis Tournament of Champions : MacGregor Advances as Challengers Drop Out

Things keep looking better and better for Palos Verdes’ Cammy MacGregor.

The 16-year-old entered the 1985 Seventeen Magazine Tennis Tournament of Championships as the top-seeded player in the 18-and-under division, in spite of the fact she is competing against many girls two years older.

Her competition was narrowed Tuesday when Tami Whitlinger, the No. 2 seed in the class, withdrew with a case of the chicken pox.

And as the event continued Wednesday at the Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo, so did MacGregor’s run of good fortune.

She easily advanced to the third round with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Leslie Fahrenkopt of Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, another of MacGregor’s top challengers was eliminated. Tennessee’s Halle Cioffi, the No. 4 seed in the 18s, was upset in straight sets by unseeded Ginger Helgeson, 6-4, 6-4.

MacGregor is rated second in the Southern California Tennis Assn. and fourth in the United States Tennis Assn. in the 18s. Still, she said she felt nervous at the outset of her first tournament appearance, after receiving a first-round bye.

“At the beginning, I was a little nervous,” she said. “A lot nervous, actually, because I lost my first game and had to serve in the second.”

She overcame her jitters after the first loss, as she went on to win the next 12 games.

Helgeson, who lives in Maine, immediately took command of her match, and Cioffi was simply never able to recover.

Was Helgeson surprised at eliminating a top seed with such ease?

“No. I came ready for anything,” she said. “I went in determined, and I had thought a lot about the match. I just got prepared in my mind what I had to do. I felt pretty much in control the whole way.”

Cioffi said she had problems motivating herself throughout the match.

“I didn’t play well at all,” she said. “I started out too slow, and then I was coming from behind all match. I couldn’t get going. I couldn’t get up.”

The contest was the first meeting between the players since the 1984 Seventeen Tournament semifinals, when Cioffi beat Helgeson in straight sets. But Helgeson claims that loss wasn’t a factor in her incentive going into Wednesday’s match.

“I’ve improved a lot since then,” Helgeson said. “But I’m sure Halle has, too. I was just up for (this match). I had everything going in my favor. It was a nice day, I was playing a good player, and my family was watching.”

The fact that Helgeson entered the tournament unseeded came as a surprise to both players.

“I was really surprised when I saw that,” Cioffi said. “I mean, she got to the semis last year, and she got third (won the consolation championship).”

Said Helgeson: “I just go with what happens. I felt I should’ve been (seeded), but I don’t get too upset about it. Either way, you gotta beat top players . . . I’m ready to deal with anything that comes my way.”

Although MacGregor is considered the overwhelming favorite, she is still cautious when considering her remaining competition.

“There’s still a lot of pressure out there,” she said. “There’s (third seed) Nicole Arendt and (No. 5) Katrina Adams . . . There’s still a lot of stiff competition. I have to look out for everyone out there.”

Cioffi has no reservation about who will win the tournament.

“MacGregor will win it . . . for sure,” she said.

California’s entries in the other two classes won almost as convincingly as MacGregor on Wednesday.

Lucinda Gurney of Palos Verdes Estates advanced to the third round of the 16s with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Arizona’s Tracie Johnstone. She meets Anna Funderburk of Georgia today.

In the 14s, Los Altos’ Iwalani McCalla beat Oregon’s Lynne Jackson, 6-2, 6-2, to set up today’s meeting against Linda Harvey of Illinois. Harvey has only lost one game in her first two matches.

After first-round byes, top seeds Amy Frazier in the 14s and Jessica Emmons in the 16s, had little difficulty winning their first matches of the tournament.