By LARRY BOWEN

Eagle Staff Writer

Just five points into their championship match at the Texas Summer Grand Slam, Megan Horter tapped her racket to acknowledge a fine shot by Blair Shankle at the end of a hard-fought point.

The top-seeded Horter came to the Mitchell Tennis Center on Thursday not to praise Shankle but to beat the young prodigy. Horter took the first set, but Shankle rallied for a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory in the Girls 16 Singles championship match.

Shankle, a 13-year-old playing up one division, won her second consecutive title at the state's biggest junior tennis tournament. Last year, she captured the championship in Girls 14 Singles.

Because she will not turn 14 until August, Shankle could have competed in the same division again. The home-schooler from Comfort moved up to Girls 16 a few months ago, and she is enjoying the challenge.

"The 14s are great, but I really love the competition in the 16s, going against bigger girls, hitting the ball more," Shankle said. "It's great to win this tournament, with all the good girls that are here."

Horter, 15, reached the UIL Class 5A state tournament this spring as a freshman at Southlake Carroll.

Shankle and Horter have played high-quality tennis against each other in the past, but Horter has not beaten her younger rival. That streak seemed to be in jeopardy after Horter took four consecutive games to win the opening set.

Horter had her blond hair in a ponytail and wore a stylish tennis outfit and visor as she played with flair in the first set. If her name ended with "ova" she could have passed for a young version of the Russian women currently having success on the professional tour.

Shankle played in shorts and a T-shirt with a cap, but there was not much casual about her game in the last two sets. Late in the first set Shankle played into Horter's hands by hurriedly charging the net, but she did not approach as often after that.

"Megan's such a great baseline player," Shankle said. "She can place the ball wherever she likes to, and it's really hard coming to the net on her if you don't have an unbelievable approach shot. I played more aggressive, but I stayed back until I really had an easier shot to hit, instead of trying to force it."

After a first set peppered with dazzling points, Horter's level slipped in the second and Shankle took advantage. After a 10-minute break before the third set, Shankle broke Horter's serve and then faced the pivotal game in the match. Horter's bid for an equaling break went away on an ace that produced the eighth of 10 consecutive games won by Shankle.

"It was a very important game, trying to set the tempo of the third set," Shankle said.

A couple of hours later, Shankle teamed with Samantha Adams of New Braunfels to win the 16 Doubles title. They defeated Crystal Leung of Houston and Nicole Long of Plano 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

The other division titles awarded Thursday went to Peter Leung of Houston in Boys 12 Singles, Nicki Johnson of Plano in Girls 14 Singles, and Shane Vinsant of Keller and Dane Webb of Richardson in Boys 16 Doubles.

Anik Cepeda of College Station is the only area player left in singles after winning a pair of consolation matches Thursday. Cepeda rallied to get past Kourtney Howell of Cypress 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 and then beat Christine Molina of Dallas 6-4, 6-3.

Cepeda will play third seed Millie Nichols of Joshua in the Girls 18 consolation quarterfinal round at 8 a.m. Friday.

Austin Klores of Franklin bowed out of the Boys 18 Singles consolation bracket Thursday. Because of a time conflict with school work, the Texas A&M signee retired after one point against his doubles partner, Max Stevens.

Klores and Stevens are scheduled to play for the Boys 18 Doubles title at 1:45 p.m. Friday.

• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.