Beatrice Capra

By Joshua Rey

BOCA RATON, FL – There’s no feeling like the first time, so Tim Smyczek and Beatrice Capra will never forget their Grand Slam debut at the 2010 US Open. But they’ll also remember the three August days they spent baking under the South Florida sun, battling for the right to reach their dreams. 

Neither Smyczek, nor Capra, lost a set in three wins at the USTA Training Center Headquarters this week, where the heat index on court hovered around 120 degrees.

Capra, 18, will not just be making her first appearance in the main draw of a major. Her first-round match in Flushing will also be her first tour-level match of any kind.

Capra and Brengle struggled with nerves and serves in the first set of the women’s encounter. In fact, they combined for six straight breaks in the first six games of the match – surpassing the five service breaks in the three-set men’s finals.

Capra (Ellicott City, Md.) finally established some semblance of serving sanity by saving a break point with a service winner and holding for a 4-3 lead.

The 170th-ranked Brengle (Dover, Del.) followed Capra’s hold with one of her own, and then broke at 4-4 to earn the right to serve for the first set.

Had she been given the choice, she undoubtedly would have rather received.

Capra came up with a nifty stab volley off a blitzing Brengle backhand to reach 30-40, and then broke for 5-5 when Brengle double-faulted. The teen won six more points in a row to take a 6-5, Love-30 lead on Brengle’s serve.

But two Capra errors in the front court – one of which occurred on a set point – allowed Brengle to force a first-set tiebreak.

Playing in front of her peers from the Evert Tennis Academy, as well as Chris Evert herself, Capra elevated her game with three backhand winners in the tiebreak, including a dipping cross-court passing shot that gave her a one-set lead.

"It was really nerve-wracking – None of us could hold our serve," said Capra. "But it was the finals and we both really wanted to win. So of course we were going to come out tight. But as the match went on we both started to ease up and play better."

Rushing the net to end a baseline rally, Brengle took a 3-2 second-set lead in one of the rarest plays in tennis. Her overhead smash was hit so uncontrollably hard that Capra could not dodge it quick enough – the ball bolting into her foot as she stood five feet behind the baseline.

Brengle, 20, immediately broke thereafter for a 4-2 advantage, but dropped her serve when Capra followed three successive overheads with a deftly-touched drop volley winner.

After Capra saved two break points to even the second set at 4-4, she broke Brengle at love to put herself in the precarious position of serving for a spot in the US Open main draw.

"I usually never complain during matches, but it’s so hot, that if we went to a third set, I think I might have started crying," confided Capra, the 10th-ranked junior in the world.

Inspired by her desire to get off the court, Capra cleared her mind and directed her serve at Brengle’s forehand, drawing four errors in the final game to clinch one of the most memorable wins of her young career.

"When Madison’s on, she’s really dangerous," said Capra. "She can hit a winner from anywhere in the court. My strategy was to hit high on her forehand and push her back so that I could move forward."

After losing at the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships in San Diego on August 12, Capra withdrew from the consolation draw. She said she couldn’t see herself playing again until the US Open Juniors.

Now the amateur, whose Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ranking has skyrocketed from 857 to 369 this season, will realize a dream that was unfathomable just one week ago.

"I really didn’t think this was going to happen," said Capra. "I had a rough Nationals and I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I doing with my life?’ And then they offered me this and I came here and honestly, I just wanted to get another match before the [US Open] Juniors. I didn’t think I was playing qualies or main in the women’s [draw]. So I came here and I did my best."

US Open Wild Card Playoff

USTA Training Center Headquarters

Boca Raton, Fla.

August 18-20, 2010

Women’s Singles Final

(2) Beatrice Capra, Ellicott City, Md., def. (1) Madison Brengle, Dover, Del., 7-6(4), 6-4

Men’s Singles Final

(1) Tim Smyczek, Milwaukee, Wis., def. (2) Ryan Harrison, Bradenton, Fla., 6-4, 6-4, 6-4