Sports

Tornado Black rolls into U.S. Open junior quarters

The Tornado claimed another victim.

Approximately 24 hours after defeating fourth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets, 15-year-old Tornado Alicia Black advanced to her first quarterfinal in a Junior Girls’ Grand Slam after knocking off Italian Jasmine Paolini, 6-3, 6-3, Thursday afternoon on Court 8 at the U.S. Open.

The Florida native, who converted on 5-of-10 break points and won 73 percent of points on her opponent’s second serve, is one of  two Americans to make the quarterfinal. Black will next face 16-year-old Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus on Friday.

After falling in the second round in her first Flushing appearance last year, Black had not envisioned making it this far.

“It means a lot because I don’t think there’s that many Americans left,” said Black. “Since you’re from the U.S.A., it’s cool because you’ve got everyone cheering for you and [have] all the support from the fans.”

Due to the financial burdens of travel, Black came to New York only with her coach, while her family and friends stayed home in Florida, watching her online.

“Right when I got off the court, I got like 20 texts,” said Black. “My mom probably had a heart attack almost. I took like six match points to close it out.”

Since Black primarily plays in junior tournaments, she carefully selects which events she will travel to. But in order to help reduce expenses, Black, and her sister, Hurricane Tyra Black – the top-ranked 12-and-under girl in the country – use involvedfan.com, which allows athletes to raise funds from fans to help alleviate the financial responsibilities of competing in sports.

Together, the sisters have raised $2,255 from 19 donors. In exchange for varying contributions, they sign autographs, make phone calls and even play with fans.

“It’s really cool. It helps get athletes out to a lot of tournaments and helps us train,” said Black. “I played a guy in a match one day. He was pretty good, but I won 6-2. It was still a fun match…It was a little bit awkward, but I kind of got used to it.”

Black is learning, winning is real easy to get used to.