Chicago, IL: It was a clean sweep in every aspect for Lakshmi Tatineni.
The Plainfield East senior won all seven of her matches at the Joliet Central Birds of Steel Tournament on Saturday to capture the No. 1 Singles crown for the third consecutive year.
Tatineni, considered one of the top players in the state, also won the JV tournament as a freshman.
“It was really nerve-racking this morning because I won it so many times,” Tatineni said. “But after the first game, I started getting back into it, calming down.”
Tatineni won all of her matches in two sets and topped Metea Valley’s Michelle Wang (6-1 on the day) 22-20, 21-19 in a back-and-forth unofficial championship match that coincidentally found itself as the pair’s last match of the day.
“She was really good, but I was kind of stubborn,” Tatineni said. “I just kept saying, ‘finish this, no third game’, because I’m exhausted.”
Comments