Basica Advances to Semifinals at USTA National Championships

Continuing the trend of playing up an age group, Amanda Basica of Rolling Hills Estates advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Tennis Assn. Girls’ 16s National Championships with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Jennifer Hall of Oklahoma City, Okla., Thursday at Morley Field.

Basica, the tournament’s top-seeded player, will play unseeded Corina Morariu of Boca Raton, Fla., at 10:30 this morning. Morariu was a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 winner over fourth-seeded Leslie Cook of Boyton Beach, Fla., in another matchup of 14-year-olds.

Even before the quarterfinal field had been cut in half, only one player had reached sweet 16. The rest were 14- and 15-year-olds.

Basica, who turned 14 two months ago, is playing in 16s for the second year.

“More competition,” Basica cited as the only reason to move up. “Everyone else moves up, so there’s no reason to stay.

Everyone else who is consistently winning, that is. In 1990, the last time she played 14s, Basica got as high as fifth-ranked before she had outgrown her opponents and moved on.