Sachia Vickery is the Miramar girl whose mother worked two jobs in order to pay for a world-class tennis education. That investment is starting to pay off, judging by Vickery's unofficial debut on the national tennis scene Monday night in an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden.
That was the site of the Billie Jean King Cup, where the main attraction was lightning-round matches between top women players like Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams, who won their match.
Prior to that match, as spectators took their seats, Vickery beat another tennis prodigy -- 16-year-old Nicole Gibbs from Manhattan Beach, California. Sorry, but I can't seem to find the score, and the link to the Newsday article that mentions Vickery is for subscribers only. [See update below]
Later today, we'll see if we can get in touch with Vickery's mother, whom I met while writing this 2007 article about three of South Florida's best young female players. When we last checked in on the family, Vickery was training in France.
UPDATE: Vickery's mother, Paula Liverpool told Juice that the match was timed
for 30 minutes, after which the two players were tied at three games
apiece. Vickery won the sudden-death tiebreaker to take the match. Vickery, who will turn 15 in a couple months, recently qualified for a Women's Tennis Association ranking. Only 985 players separate her from the No. 1 slot.
After the jump, video of Vickery from the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in Bradenton this past December, a tournament she won.