Pressure is off for Ouellet-Pizer

Chloe Ouellet-Pizer had good reason to smile Tuesday morning as she walked off the tennis court at the Champions Club.

The top seed in the girls' draw of the 12-and-under USTA National Open had just advanced to today's final. More importantly, by reaching the final she had guaranteed herself a place in next month's USTA National Championship tournament in Alpharetta, Ga.

"I'm happy because there's been a lot of pressure this week," said Ouellet-Pizer, who's from Chapel Hill, N.C. "I played a little scratchy in the first couple of rounds, but I feel like I've played better the last couple of rounds."

Ouellet-Pizer, ranked No. 38 in the nation in the 12s, splits time between 12-and-under tournaments and 14s events, playing up to face tougher competition. She already had earned enough points to qualify for the National Championships in the 14s but had to come to Chattanooga and finish in the top three to qualify for the 12s.

She did that Tuesday, beating 9 seed Alexandra Sanford of Westerville, Ohio, 6-1, 6-2.

"I tried not to think too much about it and just play my game," Ouellet-Pizer said.

The most eye-catching part of her game is her serve. Instead of a fluid motion with the racket and the ball toss going up at the same time, the left-hander lifts her serving arm up and looks at it, as if making sure it's in the correct position, before tossing the ball and hitting the serve.

"My dad got me started doing it, and I don't even notice it anymore," she said.

Ouellet-Pizer will face Abigail Chiu of Austin, Texas, in the final. In a semifinal battle of 9 seeds, Chiu edged Jaeda Daniel of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 7-6 (3), 6-2. The two traded service breaks and powerful groundstrokes for most of the opening set. After winning the first-set tiebreaker, Chiu was able to take care of business on her serve and take control of the match.

The top two seeds in the boys' draw advanced to today's final. Top seed Abhin Sharma of Alpharetta dropped the first set in a tiebreaker against 3 seed Bailey Showers of Bellaire, Texas, before prevailing 6-7 (2), 6-2, 1-0 (3). Sharma will face 2 seed Alexander Del Corral of Doral, Fla., who beat 4 seed Noah Makarome of Wesley Chapel, 6-1, 6-2.

Sharma hadn't lost more than four games in a match heading into the semis. Through five matches, Del Corral's closest set was his first, 6-4 in the opening round.

Sharma and Del Corral teamed to win the boys' doubles final Tuesday against second-seeded Alex Phillips of Peachtree City, Ga., and Showers. The unseeded team of Floridians Erica Oosterhout and Alyssa Pujals won the girls' title.