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SAN DIEGO — They were 2,820 miles away from the location, but Shelby Rogers and Kyle McPhillips were in a New York state of mind on Sunday afternoon.

The enticement of receiving a wild card into the US Open served as added motivation for Rogers and McPhillips to capture singles titles at the USTA Girls’ 18 & 16 National Championships.

The third-seeded Rogers of Daniel Island, S.C. outlasted No. 4 Nicole Gibbs of Santa Monica, Calif., 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (4), to win the Girls’ 18s title at the Barnes Tennis Center.

The top-seeded McPhillips of Willoughby, Ohio, defeated No. 7 Spencer Liang of Potomac, Md., 6-0, 6-3, to capture the Girls’ 16s title.

Along with their coveted gold balls, Rogers was awarded a wild card into the main draw of the US Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., while McPhillips was given a wild card into the US Open Junior Championships.

"It feels great. There are no words really," Rogers said. "I mean (the wild card) is the only reason I played this tournament, and just coming here with a goal and actually reaching it, it’s like all the hard work has finally paid off."

While Rogers’ gold ball was her first, it was already the seventh for McPhillips, 16.

"I am so excited because I went to the US Open before, but it was only in qualifying," said McPhillips, who won the singles and doubles titles at the Easter Bowl earlier this year. "Now just going to the US Open and being able to play in it is such an honor. It’s a huge tournament, and I am really ecstatic."

Grace Min of Duluth, Ga., and Lauren Herring of Greeneville, N.C., captured the Girls’ 18s doubles title with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Kaitlyn Christian of Orange, Calif., and Whitney Kay of Alpharetta, Ga.

The marathon match between Rogers and Gibbs was a fitting conclusion to a successful first-year run of having both the Girls’ 18s and 16s held at the same site on the same dates.

Rogers, 17, raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first set and a 3-0 lead in the second set before the Stanford-bound Gibbs, 17, began to find her rhythm and mount her comeback.

Gibbs saved a match point at 5-4 in the second set and rallied to take the set on her fourth set point with a forehand winner.

Gibbs managed to save four more match points in the third set before Rogers finally ended the 3-hour, 32-minute battle with a strong backhand down the line that Gibbs could not return.

"Going into the tiebreak, I said, ‘OK, step up. You can do this. You have played countless tiebreaks in your life. Just go for it because you are not going to get another chance,’" Rogers said.

As Gibbs’ final shot sailed wide, Rogers dropped her racket, let out a scream and pumped her fists. The emotional intensity of the match was apparent in the aftermath, with both players shedding tears. Even the officials and spectators were shaking their heads at the high quality of play.

"Having so much on the line made it a little more special and a little more nerve-wracking at the same time," Rogers said. "And to play such an incredible player helped, as well."

Despite her lopsided victory, McPhillips wasn’t completely happy with her play against Liang.

"I feel like I played really steady, but I did not make as many chances as I should have because I came out a little nervous and wasn’t going for my shots," she said. "I wasn’t missing, but I was not hitting as many winners as I wanted to."

McPhillips is bit of an ice cream connoisseur, so there was no question how she was going to celebrate her latest title.

She has a different selection at each stop — cake batter, cookie dough and yellow cake at Cold Stone Creamery, a twist at Dairy Queen, cookie’s and cream at Baskin Robbins and cookie dough at her hometown shop in Cleveland.

McPhillips told the attendants at the Final Eight dinner earlier in the week that one thing she hasn’t done enough of in life is eat enough ice cream.

"My dad likes ice cream, so it must be a family thing," McPhillips said. "We all like ice cream. I was born with a knack for ice cream."

So which flavor was McPhillips going to eat to reward her US Open Junior berth?

"I don’t know. There is frozen yogurt over there that’s delicious," McPhillips said, nodding to the snack bar. "Or I could go to a restaurant and have apple pie with ice cream. There are so many choices. I just don’t know what to do. It’s overwhelming, absolutely overwhelming."

Award winners at the tournament were: 
Girls’ 18s USTA Sportsmanship Award: Grace Min, Duluth, Ga.
Girls’ 16s USTA Sportsmanship Award: Desirae Krawczyk, Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Girls’ 18s Chairman Award: Jan Abaza, Boca Raton, Fla.
Girls’ 16s Chairman Award: Spencer Liang, Potomac, Md.
Molden Award: Josie Kuhlman, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Maureen Connolly Brinker Award (Most Outstanding Player): Shelby Rogers, Daniel Island, S.C.