MASON — Eaton junior Mallory Hitchcock had to dig deep to win her first district tennis singles title.

Hitchcock, a two-time state doubles champion, had to rally from a set down to defeat Martha Thompson of Cincinnati Indian Hill, in the Division II SW District final, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.

Hitchcock won her opening round match 6-0, 6-0 over Morgan Collins of Tippecanoe on Thursday, Oct. 12. In the quarterfinal, she won 6-3, 6-3 over Caroline Brown of Cincinnati Indian Hill to qualify for the state tournament.

Saturday’s semifinal and finals were for seeding at the state tournament.

Hitchcock won her semifinal match 6-3, 7-5 over Caroline Boyle of Hamilton Badin before knocking of Thompson in the final.

“In the finals, it was an opponent we were very familiar with from the junior tournaments,” Eaton coach and Mallory’s dad John Hitchcock said. “On top of that, the Thompson girl was the D2 singles finalist in state last year as a freshman in which she was playing for Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. So she was coming in with a little swagger of her own and had a fast start to the match, while Mallory was a little flat and not fully engaged yet.

After the first set, Mallory settled down, according to her coach.

“After letting go of the first set it was time to try and reset and fully realize that there is a reason why you have to win two out three sets in tennis to win the match,” John Hitchcock said. “She (Mallory) had to be ready to suffer and be miserable because every point they were having was long and physical. Not only that, but it felt like a true home match for the IH player as there was a lot of cheering and fanfare going on for her.”

The match was also played indoors due to the weather conditions.

“Compounding the issue was the fact we were playing indoors due to the weather, 0and they were set up directly behind her court,” her coach said.

As the match went on, Mallory continued to adjust.

“For the remainder of the match Mallory tweaked her game plan slightly but more than anything stepped up her game and got to a better place mentally,” John Hitchcock said. “She had never lost to this girl in juniors, but they have been close. So, she knew she could do it. And lo and behold she was able to preserve. After winning the second set, Mallory stole back the momentum slightly but more importantly created doubt in her opponent’s mind set. She was up 5-3 in the third but failed to break serve. Then, similar to her first match, serving at 5-4, she closed the door and silenced that crowd. It was a truly great win for her. Not only to come back but to do so in that environment shows a lot of character and I couldn’t have been more proud of her.”

John Hitchcock said the Mallory was able to dominate her opening round opponent.

“So obviously the first round was a bit of a mismatch,” he said. “However, from that point on she had the most difficult path to the finals. We knew the Brown girl from IH was a solid player and arguably she was the fourth or fifth strongest player out of the entire group, so facing her in the qualifying round wasn’t ideal. And as the score indicates, Mallory had to be locked in and play some fundamentally sound tennis to get through the match.”

In the semis, it was another familiar opponent.

“In the semifinals, we were also very familiar with her opponent from Mallory’s USTA Jr. tournaments,” John said. “I think both girls were a little nervous to start and Mallory was able to take advantage in the first set. In the second set both girls finally settled into their games except neither girl could hold their own serve. Finally, after going up 6-5, Mallory was able to hold and close out the match.”

The state tournament will be held Thursday and Friday, Oct. 19-20 at The College of Wooster and John sees a tough road to the final as he wouldn’t be surprised if at least three players from the SW District to battle it out with a player from the Central District for the title.

“As we look ahead to State, it truly could come down to any of these top three girls from our SW district and a girl from the Columbus area, who actually is the defending State Champion as a freshman,” He said. “The NE District will be sending some very good players down that could pull off an upset if someone is not careful. But it’s State and anything can happen. We’ve been lucky enough to be participants for a few years and I have seen many players get caught up in the moment and under perform.”

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr