Moros Gets Sharper, Makes Girls’ 16 Final

The tougher the player, the tougher she plays. That’s the kind of week it has been for Christina Moros.

Moros, the Sarasota, Fla., steamroller, has been gaining momentum on approach to today’s final of the Girls’ 16 National Tennis Championships at Morley Field.

Her performance in Friday’s semifinal was not only as good as she has played all week, Moros thought it was her best performance of the year.

“Everything was working,” she said. “I’ve gotten better as the matches have gotten tougher.”

On the unfortunate receiving end of all this precision was Spring Valley’s Vanessa Rooks, who could do little to turn her luck around in a 6-0, 6-3 thrashing that took 50 minutes to unfold.

“She played really good, she deserves a lot of credit,” said the third-seeded Rooks.

Earning her way into today’s 11:30 a.m. final opposite unseeded Moros was top-seeded Amanda Basica of Rolling Hills Estates, who took twice as long to wrest a 6-4, 6-4 victory from unseeded Corina Morariu of Boca Raton, Fla.

But it was Moros who owned the day. From her blistering serve to her go-for-it play at the net, her performance was as punishing as the humidity that has dogged these players all week, except she barely noticed the heat.

“For me, this is cold,” she said.

The temperature of the court didn’t come into play nearly as much as its speed. Rooks and Moros played their match on the stadium court, which is known to have a faster surface than the rest.

“On the faster court she played really well. Her serve was really going good,” Rooks said.

Serve, volley, ground strokes, approach shots, footwork. All were in full working order for Moros, whose game has been compared to that of Gabriela Sabatini.

“She has topspin, she plays the slice, she’s an all-court player,” United States Tennis Assn. representative Carol Watson said. “They look at Christina and see a Sabatini because she does all those things. She’s taking more chances and they’re paying off.”

Moros, who like Sabatini trains in Florida and has South American roots, said the similarities are purely coincidental.

Friday it was an unending barrage of Moros attacks. No sooner had Rooks’ unleashed a shot than Moros was all over it and stuffed it back.

“I’m always that way,” she said. “If you’re going to win, you ought to do it right. Don’t let anyone else hand it to you.”

When the tournament committee handed out seedings, Moros was left out of the top eight and had to settle for an alphabetical seeding, which means little. But Moros said her seeding was fair and likes the fact that the pressure’s off . . . for now.

Not that she doesn’t welcome a tournament title and the expectations that would accompany one.

“I’ll have to handle it. It’s not good to avoid it,” she said.

Rooks had a harder time avoiding high hometown expectations, and although disappointed with the loss, she certainly didn’t hang her head.

“I was only taking it a round at a time,” said Rooks, who will be a junior at Monte Vista High this year. “It’s not the end of the world, I still have school.”