Amherst’s Allison McCann just keeps winning, but this time she wasn’t sure she could do it.
She had already won, in wildly dominant fashion, an individual tennis Western Massachusetts title and then an individual state title.
On Thursday, she traveled to Harvard University for the United States Tennis Association’s New Balance High School Tennis Championship to compete against players on a national level.
In two attempts in 2014 and 2015, she advanced as far as the quarterfinals in the 64-player tournament.
Even this year, with her current winning streak, she had doubts about winning heading to the posh, state of the art Beren Tennis Center on the Harvard campus.
“I wasn’t expecting to win this,” McCann said. “I was seeded fourth.”
But she did, beating second-seeded Alexis Merrill of Virginia 7-5, 6-1 to take home the title and become the best player in the country at her age.
“It’s super exciting to win a tournament like this,” McCann said. “It’s a big tournament with a lot of good players. I’ve been practicing a lot, and it’s great to have it pay off. It’s almost hard to process.”
In the round of 64, McCann lost a set to New Jersey’s Scarlett Blydenburgh. She went on to beat Blydenburgh 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 but losing a set for McCann is extremely uncommon. She lost a set once during her senior year at Amherst Regional.
“I wasn’t playing great on the first day,” McCann said. “I was pretty tight. But I started playing better. Once I realized I could win I started playing better.”
The tournament presented McCann with some unfamiliar opponents, which was a challenge considering the talent level present.
Even though she won every other match without losing a set, McCann identified her quarterfinals match against Sarah Rahman of New York as one of her toughest matches.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s fun to play new players,” McCann said. “Every point against her (Rahman) was a grind. It was the middle of the day, and it was super hot. We went back and forth, and I was cramping a little.”
McCann went on to beat Rahman 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).
Now that McCann has won everything there is to win at the individual level in high school tennis and USTA events, some rest might be a good option before heading to Dartmouth in the fall to play Division 1 tennis.
But that is not McCann’s style. She will board a plane on Friday to travel to California to play in a USTA team tournament representing New England.
“This is the longest stretch of tennis that I’ve ever played,” McCann said. “I do get tired. But I love to keep practicing and getting better.”
While in Boston, McCann enjoyed some luxuries courtesy of New Balance.
“We all stayed in a hotel,” McCann said. “We went to the New Balance headquarters and got a lot of free stuff. We went to a Red Sox game. Playing on the Harvard courts was amazing, too.”
In the round of 32, McCann bested California’s Kathy Wang 6-5, 6-4 before taking down Kateri Martin of Connecticut 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16.
In the semifinals, McCann beat Anna Li of Pennsylvania 6-4, 6-2.
