Zoe Hives, left, and Danielle Wagland with their trophies after the New South Wales Junior International Tennis Federation grade four tournament final.
ZOE Hives placed runner-up in the New South Wales Junior International Tennis Federation grade four event that finished on the weekend.
The Kingston teenager, a 2012 Junior Fed Cup representative, went into the tournament as the number two seed, but was beaten in the final by top seed Danielle Wagland from Gordon in NSW.
It was Wagland’s second ITF junior title in five months, following on from her victory in the BNP Paribas Junior Open in Noumea, in New Caledonia in June, as well as her weekend’s title at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
Hives was competitive but was unable to outshine the top seed’s game.
The final score was 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Wagland said she had to work hard to overcome Hives.
“Zoe started making more balls in the second set.
“I changed up my game a little bit in the third and started to become more defensive,” Wagland said.
“I was hammering her forehand because her backhand was really solid in the second set.
“I knew I had to change something up to get it back on my advantage.
“I started to make more first serves towards the end of the set so I could try and hold my serve, so that helped.”