EDWARDSVILLE - Chloe Koons of Glen Carbon played well in winning the girls 18-and-under singles at the Tiger Tennis Classic on Saturday at the Edwardsville Tennis Center, winning the round-robin format by taking both of her matches. Koons defeated Mia McIssac of Fairview Heights 6-0, 6-1 and Lucy List of Robinson 6-2, 6-2 to take the championship.

Koons felt that she played well throughout the tournament, and has also been working on new shots to add to her game.

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"Overall, I think it went pretty well," Koons said with a smile and laugh. "I think I played pretty well this match. I was working on something new, so I think I wasn't making my shots as usual, but I guess that makes it fun, trying to work on coming to the net and finishing points earlier. That's going to come with more errors, but I try to make myself do it, so I'm glad that I didn't, like, abort that plan," she also said with a smile and laugh.

Koons felt that she played well the entire weekend and improved slightly in one phase of her game.

"I only played two singles matches, so it's pretty short," Koons said. "But I tried doing that with my other singles match. So overall, I think that I improved maybe slightly on attacking the net."

Koons' plans for playing on the summer circuit include playing as many tournaments as possible, with a goal of improving her ranking in the United States Tennis Association.

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"I'm just going to try and play as many tournaments as I can," Koons said, "and just like boost my UTR. I'm excited to play again because I didn't play at all last summer, so now, this summer, I'm hoping to compete more, so I'm kind of pumped about it."

The summer circuit last year was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which left a big dent in much of the American sporting calendar, both amateur and professional. Koons is very happy to be playing again.

"Yeah, it feels good being back," Koons said with a smile.

As far as goals for the summer season, Koons hasn't really set anything specific.

"Just overall getting stronger," Koons said. "I don't have specific goals for the summer. Maybe I should though, she said with a laugh.

As always, Koons plans on having fun playing tennis and get ready for the fall season with Edwardsville High, where she helped the Tigers to a sectional championship, but couldn't play in a state tournament as the IHSA had canceled it due to the pandemic. The cancellation helped give her a new appreciation of the sport.

"Yeah, I'm getting ready for the fall season," Koons said. "I"m excited. I'm hoping to do really well at state. I think this year because of the pandemic and last year, it's given me an appreciation for going to state and traveling. So now, I'm just like there's a fire lit in me. I want to do especially good at state this year."

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