Marlo Schiffman is doing her best to make sure she doesn’t grow up too fast.
Her tennis game, though, is maturing exponentially.
Schiffman, an eighth-grader in the Upper St. Clair School District, competed in the 18-and-under division of the Fox Chapel Junior Open last week against some of the best high school singles players in the WPIAL. Not only did she hold her own, she finished second in the 10-player bracket, losing to Franklin Regional senior Natalia Perry, 6-1, 6-2, in the final.
“I always like to compete against older girls because it gives me a great challenge,” Schiffman said. “I like to give the girls a run for their money because they don’t expect younger kids on the court because they underestimate the younger kids because they think that, because they’re younger, they don’t have experience. But when they play somebody like me, they realize that they’re not the only ones that can give somebody a challenge.”
Schiffman is only 13 but is already considered to be a four-star recruit by tennisrecruiting.net. She is currently the No 1 player in Pennsylvania in her age bracket, No. 28 in the Middle States Region and No. 187 in the nation. At Fox Chapel, she was the No. 5 seed according to her USTA ranking, and defeated fourth-seeded Jessica Fanning of Bethel Park, 6-0, 6-0, and top-seeded Olivia Warner of Eighty Four, 6-3, 6-2, just to reach the finals.
Fanning is a one-star college recruit who was the No. 15 seed in the 2014 WPIAL Class AAA girls singles finals, while Warner is a two-star recruit from Ringgold who competed in the Section 4-AAA singles and doubles tournaments last season.
At 5 feet 2, Schiffman is not the most imposing player for her age, yet she has had a modicum of success against older and more physically developed players. Her overall USTA-sanctioned record of 183-175 is a testament to the amount of time she puts into her game and her success is a direct correlation.
“When I play girls like that, they have probably had their growth spurt and they probably have gone through changes that have made them stronger,” Schiffman said. “I have no problem competing with them and, I like the challenge and I know they’re going to give me a good game.”
Though Schiffman finished second against older competition at Fox Chapel she has won her share of tournaments this summer. On July 30, she captured the West Virginia Open with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Warner in the finals and defeated Katherine Izzo, 6-2, 6-2, in the Mt. Lebanon Memorial Day Open in May.
“I usually look for things in the warmup and see how they react to the ball and what shot they’re comfortable and what they’re not comfortable with,” Schiffman said. “I know how to play my game whenever we start the match.”
Even though she can beat high school players and stay with some of the best in the area, Schiffman isn’t looking to the Upper St. Clair high school team and taking her turn on the court for the Panthers just yet.
“I plan on playing in high school and I don’t really have interest in an academy because I like to have the school environment where I can still have a balance of my friends and have an after-school activity,” Schiffman said. “I’m just going to enjoy my year in eighth grade and I can wait.”
First Published: August 14, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
