Tournament Notes July 10
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TOURNAMENT NOTES as of July 10, 2012 5TH ANNUAL COOPER CHALLENGER WATERLOO, ON - JULY 7 - 15, 2012 Day 4 of the Cooper Challenger TOURNAMENT by Pat Craton INFORMATION The fairy tale run came to an end Tuesday for local player Sandra Dynka when she was beaten by Nicole Melichar of the USA 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the main draw of the 50K Site: Waterloo Tennis Club - Waterloo, ON Cooper Challenger presented by Victoria Star Motors. Website: www.cooperchallenger.com Both players were evenly matched in the first set. Dynka played a disciplined game hitting balls deep especially with her Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, July 7 backhand which was her more secure wing. At 4-4, Dynka was up 15-40 on Melichar’s serve but lost the next two points when Main Draw Begins: Monday, July 9 her returns hit the net tape. After two deuces Melichar won the game and it was Dynka to serve at 4-5. Unfortunately, she saved Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles her worst service game for last as she committed three double faults on the way to losing her serve and the set. Finding herself Surface: Clay / Outdoor down an early break in the second set, Dynka started rushing her shots and instead of the deep balls she was hitting in the first Prize Money: $50,000 set, her balls were now falling mid-court which allowed Melichar to pounce on them. With Melichar up 4-1, one could Tournament Director: sense the growing confidence in the American’s game when she Helen McArdle, (519) 574-0046 started attacking more and coming to the net. It wasn’t long [email protected] before she won the set 6-1. Whereas the first set took about an hour, the second was over in half that time. Still, it had been Dynka’s best tournament result by far at this event. Her father PRIZE MONEY / POINTS Miroslaw said that the experience over the last few days has convinced his daughter that she can compete with these young SINGLES Prize Money Ranking Points women on the professional circuit and that she hopes to give the Winner!!$7,315!!70 circuit a try when she graduates from school. Runner-up !$3,990!!50 Semifinalist!$2,185!!32 Next up were a pair of Canadian wild cards, 19-year-old Quarterfinalist!$1,235!!18 Marianne Jodoin against 24-year-old Stephanie Wetmore who Round of 16! $760!!10 recently graduated with her master’s degree in sports Round of 32! $475!! 1 management. Jodoin came out the winner 6-2, 6-2 against an opponent she had never met and knew nothing about. “I was DOUBLES Prize Money (per team) nervous at the beginning especially as it was against another Winner!!$2,660! Canadian but I saw it as an opportunity to go beyond the first Runner-up !$1,425! round for the first time in a main draw” she said. When Semifinalist! $760! Wetmore raised her game in the second set, Jodoin said she had Quarterfinalist! $380! to do likewise. “I came to the net more often and got more free Round of 16! $285! points as a result,” she explained. TOURNAMENT NOTES as of July 10, 2012 5TH ANNUAL COOPER CHALLENGER WATERLOO, ON - JULY 7 - 15, 2012 The most punishing match of the day had to be the one between Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and Austrian Tina Schiechtl the number 8 seed. Played in the heat of the early afternoon, the two players hit high topspin shots that kept them deep on the baseline. Dabrowski was often the first to make a move to shorten the rallies by taking the ball on the rise and moving in. This worked for her in the tie-break to win the second set after losing the first 6-4. In the deciding third set, Dabrowski went up 2-0 and this is when Schiechtl started mixing up the play more by slicing the ball to move Dabrowski around the court. To her credit, Dabrowski continued to hit aggressive shots but Schiechtl was a human back-board. In the afternoon heat, it became a battle of attrition. The score in the third set was 6-2 to Schiechtl, but the game was a lot closer than that. Two other Canadians lost in the first round. Sonja Molnar from Guelph lost to Jennifer Elie of the USA 4-6, 2-6 and Elisabeth Abanda to the Taiwanese-born American Chieh-Yu Hsu 3-6, 1-6. Winners on Tuesday included Alexandra Mueller, the champion here in 2008, over fellow American Nadia Echeverria Alam 6-2, 6-3, no. 7 seed Nicole Rottmann of Austria over Japan’s Miki Miyamura 7-5, 6-3, Justyna Jegiolka of Poland over Aki Yamasoto of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 and France’s Sherazad Benamar a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Erin Clark of the USA. Four doubles matches were played on Tuesday with the no. 1 team of Sharon Fichman and Marie-Eve Pelletier having an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over the Japanese team of Akita and Yamasoto while Marianne Jodoin and Sonja Molnar were surprising winners over Erin Routliffe and Carol Zhao, both participants in the recent junior Wimbledon event, by a score of 6-4, 6-2. Dabrowski and her partner Shuko Aoyama won 6-2, 6-2 over Fatma Al Nabhani and Nicole Melichar. Sharon Fichman & Marie-Eve Pelletier (photo by Andrzej Godlewski) Sonja Molnar & Marianne Jodoin (photo by Andrzej Godlewski) Wednesday matches include no. 1 seed Sharon Fichman playing her first singles match and the intriguing match up between two Canadians – Carol Zhao a rising star and veteran Marie-Eve Pelletier. The popular Pro-Am tournament which this year will benefit Tennis Canada’s Tennis Matters campaign takes place Wednesday evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Waterloo Tennis Club. TOURNAMENT NOTES as of July 10, 2012 5TH ANNUAL COOPER CHALLENGER WATERLOO, ON - JULY 7 - 15, 2012 The fifth annual Cooper Challenger presented by Victoria Star Motors tournament takes place July 7 -15 at the Waterloo Tennis Club located in Waterloo Park. This is the second year that the prize money for the tournament is at the increased $50,000 level. The first three years of the tournament the event was at the $25,000 level. As last year showed, aside from the benefits to the players of a bigger pay day and more points for wins, spectators will be treated to a higher standard of play. Action begins with a 32- player qualifying draw tournament on Saturday July 7 at 9 am. This event runs to Monday July 9. Included in the qualifying draw are a number of Canadians which includes the local wild card recipient Alison Drainie. The last four players of this event will enter into the 32-player main draw. Four Canadians have been granted wild cards to the main draw singles. They are Elisabeth Abanda, Marianne Jodoin, Sonja Molnar and Stephanie Wetmore. They will be joined by fellow Canadians Sharon Fichman, Marie-Eve Pelletier, Gabriela Dabrowski and Carol Zhao. The doubles event is a 16-pair draw. Last year, Canadian Sharon Fichman captured the singles title and Americans Alexandra Mueller and Asia Muhammed won the doubles crown. Main draw matches begin Monday July 9 at 10 am. This year’s entry list features participants from fourteen countries. For two players, American Danielle Mills and Canadian Carmen Sandor, this will be their fifth time competing in Waterloo as they have participated in the event every year since the tournament began in 2008. While the tennis action will be on the Waterloo club courts, it won’t be the only entertainment on offer. The tournament will have a kickoff event called the Road To Wimbledon. This event will be held at Wildcraft restaurant on July 7th at 6 pm and will include the draw ceremony and a silent auction of amazing items. All proceeds from the event will benefit the YWCA’s The Power of Being a Girl conference. The Kids Tennis Fair, an event to introduce the game to youngsters and also to promote the tournament, will take place Monday July 9 at the Waterloo Public Square from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mini tennis courts will be set up and a fast serve speed cage will be available for children to try their hand at the game and to win prizes. Gary Winter, head pro at the Waterloo Tennis club, along with a couple of the women pros will be on hand to lead the proceedings. The radio station, 91.5 FM The Beat will also be there to help keep bodies and feet moving. The Wildcraft Pro-Am tournament on Wednesday July 11th will see twenty amateurs taking turns partnering ten women pros in round-robin play. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the amateurs will have the privilege of testing their skills against the pros. The winner will be Tennis Canada’s Tennis Matters. Last year $2,000 was raised by the Pro-Am event to benefit this program. There will be a feature match in the evenings for the benefit of the after-work crowd. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday the matches starts at 5 pm. The quarterfinals of the singles begin at 11 am on Friday; the semifinals on Saturday will also start at 11 am, followed by the doubles final. The singles final is on Sunday starting at 12:30 pm. Gates will open at 11:00 am.