Featherston wins record fifth Mayor’s Cup crown

St. Francis Prep senior Shinann Featherston won her tournament-best fifth Mayor’s Cup individual crown Sunday, knocking off Hannah Berner of Beacon, 6-1, 6-4. Earlier in the day, she took out Hunter’s Julia Xu, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals.
The top-seeded Featherston, who won her first crown as an eighth grader, never lost a set in the tournament that pits the best Catholic, public and private school players against one another in the area.
It was a busy day in the sweltering heat for the Rockaway Park star, headed for North Carolina in the fall. She rose early in the day to film a clip for a television interview, getting to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing at 6 a.m. She took on Xu at 9 a.m. and Berner at 1 p.m.
“She must be bionic,” St. Francis Prep Coach John Brennan joked. “She doesn’t complain about anything. I am just in awe of her mental toughness. On a day like that, it would be easy to say I am tired; this is too much on a hot day. But that’s not the way she thinks.”
St. Francis, who claimed their ninth consecutive Mayor’s Cup team title the week before and their 144th straight match victory, also won the girls doubles title. In fact, that was a certainty since both teams in the final were from SFP. Christine Eng and Kathleen Uy topped Madel Julano and Michelle D’Alleva, 6-3, 7-6 (5).