Mall Upsets No. 1 Junior at U.S. Open

Anne Mall of Laguna Niguel upset top-seeded Kristin Godridge of Australia, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, on Tuesday in a first-round match in the girls’ junior division of the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York.

“I made some good passing shots when she was at the net,” said Mall, a former Dana Hills High standout who won the 1990 Southern Section singles title. “She got a little bit frustrated when I didn’t make many errors.”

Mall said she wasn’t intimidated by drawing the top-seeded player in the first round.

“I just went into the match thinking I could win,” Mall said. “It (the victory) didn’t surprise me.”

It was the second victory of the day for Mall, 16, who is unseeded in singles. She and partner Anne Miller of Midland, Mich., defeated Helene Kappler of Venezuela and Maryla Madura of Poland, 6-2, 6-1, in a first-round doubles match.

Mall, who graduated early from high school and who will play at UCLA this season, meets Diana Spadea of Boca Raton, Fla., in a second-round singles match today. She will also team with Miller in a doubles match against Elena Lihovtseva and Julia Latrova of the Soviet Union.