Gorman’s Thompson twins to compete in junior U.S. Open

Victoria Sun

Monday, Aug. 27, 2001 | 10:29 a.m.

Their dreams of playing the doubles main draw of the U.S. Open thwarted by a third-place finish at the USTA Girls 18s Super National Hard Court Championships, Christian and Catrina Thompson were determined to put their disappointment behind them by concentrating on school work and trying again next year.

But last week, the 16-year-old twin sisters received a phone call that changed everything.

On the other line was their father, Bob, who called from work to tell his daughters they had received a wildcard into the U.S. Open girls juniors doubles championships, which start Sept. 3 at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York.

"Catrina, she was screaming when we found out," Christian said. "It was pretty exciting.

"We actually scared the dogs."

The soon-to-be juniors at Bishop Gorman High School won't get to play in the main draw with the possibility of facing superstars such as sisters Venus and Serena Williams or top-seeded singles player Martina Hingis.

But they are going to the U.S. Open, their first Grand Slam, which is all that matters.

Americans Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati are among the many top pros who have played in the junior U.S. Open. Both are former junior singles champions.

The Thompson twins -- Catrina was born 10 minutes before Christian -- won the USTA Girls 18s Super National Clay Court doubles title in July and finished third at the hardcourt championships earlier this month. Had the sisters won the Super Nationals, they would have earned a wildcard into the main doubles draw of the Open.

"So we were really disappointed," Catrina said of finishing third at the hardcourts. "That was our goal this whole year.

"To find out that we made it into the juniors was pretty cool, anyway. One of the USTA national coaches said it's pretty overwhelming. We've never been to New York before so we're really looking forward to going."

One person who won't make the trip is their coach, Ken Shioi, who works out of TPC at Summerlin. Shioi is getting married around the same time.

The sisters have mixed emotions about going to Flushing Meadow without their coach.

"He's helped us a lot," Catrina said. "We're sad he's not going, but we'll probably be phoning him a lot."

Christian is No. 40 in the country in singles and Catrina No. 46 based on the USTA's girls 18s seedings. When the next doubles ratings are released, the sisters are expected to be ranked No. 1 or No. 2.

This summer, they got a taste of professional tennis by playing in USTA Challenger events, tennis' equivalent of triple-A baseball.

Catrina made it through the qualifying rounds of the USTA Challenger tournament in Oklahoma City and reached the quarterfinals in singles. At Waco, Texas, Christian also made it to the main draw before losing in the first round.

As freshmen at Bishop Gorman, Catrina and Christian lost only one game en route to capturing the 4A state doubles title.

Last year, Catrina teamed with classmate Kristin Turner to win state doubles while Christian, who was recovering from a wrist injury that kept her sidelined for three months, finished third in the state singles.

College coaches started taking notice of the petite sisters when they were in junior high school. They made an even bigger name for themselves after they won the USTA Girls 14s Clay Court doubles championships and were the No. 1 ranked doubles team.

They've already received correspondence from many of the top tennis programs in the country.

Whatever college they decide on, they plan on going together.

"We like it here because our family is here, so Las Vegas has been really nice to us," Christian said. "It just depends.

"We definitely are going to go together. So whatever school takes us, we'll go."