Christina McHale looks to keep up a great summer at the US Open, upsetting Marion Bartoli
After her three-set first round victory over Aleksandra Wozniak in the first round of the 2011 US Open, Christina McHale called it her best win of the summer, which is not a trivial label, considering her victories over world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 17 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last few weeks.
However, the ‘best victory’ label for that win was short lived.
On Wednesday, McHale, 19, upset No. 8 Marion Bartoli 7-6 (2), 6-2 to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her soaring career, at her favorite tournament, the US Open.
McHale is from nearby Englewood Cliffs, N.J. and trains year-round at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the home of the US Open.
The crowd was considerably in McHale’s favor in her first two matches, including a bunch of family members who still find it extremely exciting to see the 19-year-old on the big stage. They will become more and more used to it, however, as McHale has taken her game to another level this year and surged up the WTA rankings to a career-high No. 55, and hopes to keep her US Open run going.
“It is still weird and exciting for them and for me,” McHale said of her family watching her play in the US Open. “It is still super exciting to be here. It is so nice, after a long day, I can go to my own bed, wake up and have breakfast at my house. I am enjoying it so far and hopefully I can keep it going.”
McHale earned her first career Grand Slam main draw victory at the 2009 US Open, defeating Polona Hercog in the opening round, earning her a night match in Arthur Ashe Stadium against Maria Sharapova. But now has played in the main draw of all four Grand Slams in the same year for the first time in her career and this is surely just the first year of many.
As she moved up the WTA rankings, she was able to enter more tournaments and credits the increased match experience, as well as increased strength, as reasons for the improvement in her game.
“I feel like I am playing well, I have played a lot of matches, I am feeling match ready and excited to be in the next round,” she said. “I have more experience now. I think that is the biggest thing. The nerves are still there but I am getting better at handling it.”
She trains at the tennis center at the USTA National Training Center East when she is at home with general manager of USTA Player Development Patrick McEnroe and USTA coaches Jay Gooding and Jorge Todero. When she was 14, she moved from her home in New Jersey to live and train at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. McHale had been splitting time between Boca and a club in New Jersey for awhile but earlier this year, made the decision to just train at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where she will be close to home. Although now it is a switch to see the tennis center filled with hundreds of thousands of people for the US Open.
“It is so weird, just a couple weeks ago, nothing was up,” she said of the tennis center’s transformation. “I train here and everything just changed around for the Open. The best part is getting to stay at my house.
"I wanted to be home more, and they have a really good set-up. I just went there to practice for a few days when I was home and it felt right," McHale said of her training change. "Everything just feels good now, to be able to be home and have good training there.”
The coaches are working with McHale on increasing her aggressiveness to go with her increased strength, including coming to net more and taking the ball early, and have been a tremendous support system for her.
She earned her second career Grand Slam main draw victory at Wimbledon this year, defeating Ekaterina Makarova 8-6 in the third set in the opening round, which turned into a springboard for her summer. She reached the third round in Carlsbad, the third round in Cincinnati (where she defeated Wozniacki) and the quarterfinals in New Haven.
Just a year ago, however, McHale was thinking of putting off playing professional tennis after graduating from high school. She had been forgoing all prize money in tournaments in order to maintain her amateur status for NCAA eligibility, should she want to compete in college. She had been thinking of going to college for at least a year, although her tennis career was going very well, including reaching the round of 16 in Charleston and won a USTA Wild Card Playoff to earn her first main draw entry to Roland Garros.
But after her first match at Roland Garros, she changed her mind. Even though she lost, she decided she had to give pro tennis a try.
"It was just when it felt right," she added of the timing of her decision last year. "When I went (to the French Open), I didn’t go there with the intention to turn pro. It was just after the tournament, we decided to. My parents wanted me to do whatever I wanted to do, and they would support my decision.”
It has turned into a great decision for the player who first started hitting tennis balls as a four-year-old child when the McHales lived in Hong Kong. The family relocated to Hong Kong from New Jersey for her father John’s job in international finance when Christina was a young child and stayed for six years.
Her mother, Margarita, who is originally from Cuba, had started playing tennis when her older sister Lauren was a baby, and loved it, competing in a league with a few other women. When they moved to Hong Kong, Margarita wanted to keep playing tennis and when Christina was four and Lauren was six, she started letting them hit balls with her, figuring it would be something entertaining and something for them all to do together. She did not know she was building two future tennis stars. Lauren is a successful collegiate player at the University of North Carolina.
The girls took to the game right away, but also were excellent swimmers, and when the McHales returned to New Jersey, their swim and tennis coaches recognized their talent and recommended they focus on one sport, where they could really excel. Lauren picked tennis, and Christina, wanting to play with her sister, did too.
And she is now the fourth-highest ranked American woman in the world, although she tries not to think too much about her ranking, knowing how it can fluctuate. Next she plays No. 25 Maria Kirilenko, but whoever the opponent, she will keep focusing on each point and playing well on the big points and hopes it will not be her last singles match this tournament.
“I just tried to do my best on every point and I hope I can keep it going,” McHale said.
Women's Bios
Christina McHale
Country: United States of America
Birth Date: 11 May 1992
Birth Place: Teaneck, NJ, USA
Residence: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA
Height: 5 ft. 5 in. ( 1.65 metres )
Weight: 108 lbs. ( 49.1 kilos )
Plays:
Turned Pro: N/A
An Interview With: Christina McHale
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Q. You said the first round win was the best of your summer. Did that now top that one?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah. I'm so excited to have beaten a player like Marion, especially have it happen here at the US Open.
Q. You rank it higher than the Wozniacki win?
CHRISTINA McHALE: I think they're different wins. I had never really, at the Grand Slams, made it past the second round. Yeah, that was a good win for me, too, but I think to have it happen here at the Grand Slam is exciting for me.
Q. When you get ahead in the second set against a big name player like Bartoli, in your mind what do you know you have to do to not letdown?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I knew that like I had to try. I couldn't let her I couldn't play like any sloppy games. I had to try and compete really hard in the second set because I knew she was going to try even harder, too, to get the second set because she lost the first. Yeah, when I went from 3 Love to 3 2, I was like, C'mon, Christina, don't let it get back to 3 All. That game was a big game to get it to 4 2.
Q. What shots did you play in that game?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Uhm, I was serving. I think we had a couple rallies. There was not one particular shot in that game.
Q. The net cord point.
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, yeah, I got lucky there.
Q. How significant was that, in your mind?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, for sure. It put me up 40 15, so... Yeah, it definitely helped.
Q. How big was the one before that where she shouts, C'mon, you get the ball back?
CHRISTINA McHALE: That's actually happened to me before. What happened to her happened to me. I knew that I would get the point because I'd had the opposite happen to me where I lost the point.
Q. You actually yelled out in the middle of a point?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I thought the person wasn't going to get it. I thought it was a winner. I had the same thing where I said, C'mon, too early, and you automatically lose the point.
Q. You don't seem to say a lot on the court. How would you describe yourself and your demeanor?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I think it's my personality not to show too much, I guess, not to show too much negative or positive. I try to stay in the middle.
Q. What have you learned since Paris that helps you get through games like that?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I think like that was a really, really tough loss for me, but I think it's helped me to learn how to close out matches earlier.
Q. Marion was impressed with your movement today. Do you feel you were moving better today than you were in other matches?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Uhm, I felt like I was yeah, I had to constantly, because she just hits the angles really well and takes it early. I felt like I constantly had to move that way in order to have a chance.
Q. Have you tried the egg that Novak is using or has used?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I've tried it before.
Q. Did you think it helped?
CHRISTINA McHALE: I don't think I did it enough to be able to say.
Q. What was it like?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Uhm, it's different. But, yeah, I didn't do it enough to be able to comment on it.
Q. There's obviously a kind of a lull in American women's tennis, in tennis overall for young players. In your dreams, do you imagine you could fill that void and become the next great player that we have?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Uhm, yeah, that's what I'm working towards. I think there's a lot of American players, young American players, right now that are all kind of pushing each other. So I think it's exciting.
Q. Talk about that process. How does it help to have kind of an ensemble?
CHRISTINA McHALE: We all push each other to want to do better, yeah.
Q. When you did this egg, as we call it, was it last year or this year? Is it like being inside an oven? What is it like in there?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I tried it last year just a couple times. And, yeah, it feels like you're on an airplane.
Q. The pressurized air?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Uh huh.
Q. You did it the same place that Novak did it, the same house?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah.
Q. How long were you in it?
CHRISTINA McHALE: I mean, it's like little sessions. I don't even remember, like seven minute sessions.
Q. When I get off an airplane I feel terrible.
CHRISTINA McHALE: I didn't do it enough to be able to give you like an expert opinion on it. I don't know.
Q. You're the hometown favorite. How does it feel to make it to your first third round of a major championship here?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, it's huge. I mean, I'm so excited right now. I've been working really hard, uhm, you know, on the practice court. So, yeah, it's exciting to have it happen here especially.
Q. How has your family been doing and how have you been doing post hurricane? Were you hit at all?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Oh, yeah, I am staying at my house. We were lucky. We just had like really bad winds that night. But, no, we had no damage to our house. The houses around us as well were fine. We were lucky.
Q. The move in February to come back here and train here and live at home, how much has that made you happier or been better for you?
CHRISTINA McHALE: It's so nice to be able to be home. With all the traveling that I do, it always feels amazing to come home and be able to train at home. I get to spend more time here. It's huge for me.
Q. How would you describe this place a couple weeks ago?
CHRISTINA McHALE: It's so different seeing it when no one is here, nothing is set up. Now it feels completely different.
Q. Has it helped to make you feel really comfortable here?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah. I mean, I'm getting to stay at my house while I'm here. I'm sleeping in my own bed and all that. Yeah, it's weird, but it's so nice to have that.
Q. You saw what happened to Melanie a couple years ago here. Do you have a sense of how much the American public wants to glom onto someone?
CHRISTINA McHALE: I try not to think about that too much. I mean, when I go out there every time on the court, I'm going to try my best, try to compete really hard.
Q. Patrick McEnroe said he's hit with you a bunch of times here. What do you get out of that?
CHRISTINA McHALE: It's so nice having him around. We've hit a lot throughout the year when I've been here. Yeah, I mean, it's really nice having someone like him around to hit with and give advice.
Q. Most kids who grow up in the Metropolitan area have a favorite US Open story when they were young. Do you have something you recall coming here the first time?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Someone asked me this the other day. I don't remember a particular match. I just remember we'd all get here when the gates opened and we'd literally spend the whole day here, all of our friends, running from court to court, trying to get an autograph, a picture. It was so much fun for us.
Q. I know you said you like to stay even keeled. Today you were pumped up. Was that a response to the crowd, what she was doing?
CHRISTINA McHALE: No. I think, yeah, I was the crowd was definitely helping me. No, I just knew like I had to try to pump myself up to stay like engaged in the match, yeah.
Q. You didn't come from tennis parents. Do you think that's been good for you? Were you aware of some of the reputations out there growing up?
CHRISTINA McHALE: My parents have always been really supportive. My sister played, too, so, yeah, they've been always so supportive. So it's nice.
Q. What's it like being on the road with your mom?
CHRISTINA McHALE: It's great. I always like having someone with me, whether it's my sister, my mom, or my dad. It's nice.
Q. Do you remember the Maria match two years ago?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yes.
Q. Was that spotlight almost too bright, and do you have any idea how...
CHRISTINA McHALE: I didn't have as much experience then. I think, yeah, now I'm more experienced. But still, I mean, I still have, yeah, a lot more experience that I have to learn still.
Q. Do you have any idea what this ride might be like going forward now?
CHRISTINA McHALE: No. I'm just going to get ready for the next match, yeah.
Q. How well do you know the other young Americans, Coco, Sloane, Irina, Madison?
CHRISTINA McHALE: How well do I know them?
Q. Yes.
CHRISTINA McHALE: Uhm, yeah, we've all grown up together playing juniors and stuff. We all know each other.
Q. Did you get an autograph on that afternoon?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Which one?
Q. You were talking about your friends looking for autographs. Did you get any?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah. We got everyone, I think.
Q. Such as?
CHRISTINA McHALE: I think I got Rafa's autograph. That was exciting for us. We got Agassi, too. Yeah, so...
Q. Does it feel weird knowing you're the one whose autograph they're seeking?
CHRISTINA McHALE: It still feels weird, yeah.
Q. Marion said it seemed like you knew where she was going all the time. She didn't know if you were reading her or you were just having a good sense of anticipation. What was it today?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Uhm, well, I just knew how to always be on my toes and ready to react to her shots because she takes the ball really early. I guess it was a combination of both maybe. I started anticipating better as the match went on. Or I just reacted when I saw it, yeah.
Q. With you and Novak Djokovic having a relationship with Gordon, anything you've been able to glean from that?
CHRISTINA McHALE: I don't train over there anymore.
Q. Since you started training with this new team, can you talk about how they've helped you, maybe any changes you've made?
CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I mean, from when I first came here they were all really supportive, all the coaches. The kids, too. It's nice being in an environment training here. Yeah, it's really good training for me and they're all so supportive.
Q. Are you at the point where when you step on the court against anybody you think you can beat them?
CHRISTINA McHALE: No, I don't I try not to before the match think about the result when I'm going out there. I just try and focus on each point.
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