2011 US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS UPDATE

LAST WEEK’S RECAP:

2010 US Open National Playoffs Runner-up Wins in Southern ; 1999 Men’s Doubles Runner-up and Former World No. 29 Patricia Tarabini Win Mixed Doubles

2010 US Open National Playoffs runner-up Cecil Mamiit will vie for another chance to return to the US Open after winning the singles title at the USTA Southern California Sectional Qualifying Tournament in Claremont, Calif., this weekend. Mamiit defeated former world No. 42 Jeff Tarango, 42, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., 6-4, 6-3, in the final. Mamiit upset No. 1 seed Luis Perez in the semifinals. Mamiit, 34, of South Pasadena, Calif., won the NCAA singles title as a freshman at USC in 1996 and has played in each of the four tournaments. He was a regular at the US Open, competing in either the main draw or the qualifying on 10 occasions and reaching the second round of the main draw in 1999. Mamiit also competes for and captains the team. In last year’s US Open National Playoffs final, Mamiit lost to Blake Strode, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(1). Strode will also be returning to the US Open National Playoffs Championships this year after winning the USTA New England Sectional Qualifying Tournament in mid-May.

In the mixed doubles in Claremont, Tarango and partner Patricia Tarabini, 42, of Carlsbad, Calif., defeated Kaitlyn Christian and Chris Kearney 7-6, 6-2. As an accomplished doubles player, Tarango climbed as high as No. 10 in the world in doubles and reached the men’s doubles final with partner Goran Ivanisivec. Tarango advanced to the third round in all four Grand Slams in singles and peaked at No. 42 in the world in 1992. As a collegian, he led Stanford University to two NCAA team titles as the No. 1 singles and doubles player. He won two ATP singles titles and 14 doubles titles in his 15 years on tour and advanced to the second round in singles at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, . He currently serves as a Director at Large on the USTA Board of Directors. Tarabini, who competes for Argentina, peaked at No. 12 in the women’s doubles rankings in 1998 and captured 15 WTA doubles titles in her career. She also reached four US Open women’s doubles quarterfinals. In singles, Tarabini reached the third round of the US Open in 1987 and 1989 and cracked the Top 30 in 1988.

In the Southern California women’s singles final, Macall Harkins, 25, of Palos Verdes, Calif., defeated USC four-year letter winner Amanda Fink, 24, of Calabasas, Calif., 6-4, 7-5. Harkins is ranked No. 483 and won the doubles title at the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Hilton Head Island, S.C., earlier this year (and reached the singles final). She previously competed at Texas Christian University and received the Southwest Region Jr. Leadership & Sportsmanship Award.

The US Open National Playoffs – Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles Championships will be held during the New Haven Open at Yale, an Olympus US Open Series women’s event in August. The US Open National Playoffs mixed doubles champions receive a main draw wild card into the 2011 US Open. The US Open National Playoffs men’s and women’s singles champions earn a wild card into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, held the week prior to the US Open.

NEXT EVENTS:

The next US Open National Playoffs Sectional Qualifying Tournaments are hosted by USTA Texas in Arlington, Texas, June 20-25; USTA Valley in Norman, Okla., June 22-26; and USTA Northern in Minneapolis, Minn., June 23-26.

Players competing in the USTA Texas Sectional Qualifying Tournament include:  Mashona Washington, 35, of Houston, who peaked at world No. 50 in 2004, and continues to play on the USTA Pro Circuit, where she has won 13 career doubles titles, including back-to-back $25,000 crowns in Florida this year in Planation and Lutz; in 2004, she advanced to the quarterfinals at the Olympus US Open Series events in Stanford, Calif., and New Haven, Conn., where she defeated then-No. 7 , and a year later she reached the third round at Wimbledon  Colin Hoover, 21, of Arlington, Texas, who won this Sectional Qualifying Tournament last year and is a standout player for Texas A&M  Glenn Baxter, a 65-year-old from Granbury, Texas, who is competing in men’s singles and is an active USTA League player

Players competing in the USTA Missouri Valley Sectional Qualifying Tournament include:  Romana Tedjakusuma, 34, of Tracy, Calif., who won the USTA Midwest sectional qualifying tournament in singles this year and will now vie for a mixed doubles spot; she is a regular USTA Pro Circuit player and competed for Indonesia as a member of the country’s Olympic team and Fed Cup team; she also reached the third round of the in 1994 and holds one WTA doubles title  Chris Haworth, a recent high school graduate from Oklahoma City, who has won three high school state championships

Players competing in the USTA Northern Sectional Qualifying Tournament include:  Megan Moulton-Levy, 26, of Monroe, Mich., who won four USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles last year; she is a former All-American at the College of William & Mary, where she became the first player in school history to reach the singles semifinals of the NCAA Championships (2006)  Treat Conrad Huey, 25, of Alexandria, Va., who competes for the Philippines and has ranked in the Top 100 in doubles for most of this year, capturing three ITF-level doubles titles overseas; he will compete in mixed doubles with Moulton-Levy  Megan Falcon, 25, of Baton Rouge, La., who won the USTA Missouri Valley Sectional Qualifying last year and compiled a 98-18 career record at LSU (more than half of her wins came over ranked opponents)

2011 US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS SECTIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Section Men's Winner Women's Winner Mixed Doubles Winners

USTA Eastern Steve Erickson Petra Jurova Beatrix Bielik/Darren Cohen Age: 23; Hometown: Emerson, NJ Age: 18; Hometown: Bratislava, Slovakia Ages: 30/27; Hometowns: Valley Stream, NY/Lafayette, CA

USTA Southwest Bojan Temunovic Sylvia Kosakowski /Sam Harrison Age: 22; Hometown: Scottsdale, AZ Age: 24; Hometown: Downey, CA Ages: 17/18; Hometown: Stuart, FL/Gilbert, AZ

USTA New England Blake Strode Lena Litvak Whitney Jones/Blake Strode Age: 23; Hometown: St. Louis, MO Age: 22; Hometown: Ukraine/New York City Ages: 24/23; Hometowns: St. Louis, MO

USTA Florida Oleg Dmitriev Caroline Dailey Amanda Rodgers/ Age: 27; Hometown: /Dania Beach, FL Age: 16; Hometown: Sarasota, FL Ages: 18/41; Hometowns: Bradenton, FL/Holmes Beach, FL

USTA Mid-Atlantic Damon Gooch Skylar Morton Skylar Morton/Patrick Daciek Age: 24; Hometown: South Africa/Bethesda, MD Age: 17; Hometown: Bethesda, MD Ages: 17/21; Hometowns: Bethesda, MD/Severna Park, MD

USTA Northern California Chris Wettengel Yasmin Schnack/Eric Roberson Age: 29; Hometown: Las Vegas Age: 23; Hometown: Elk Grove, CA Ages: 23/24; Hometowns: Elk Grove, CA/Sacramento, CA

USTA Hawaii-Pacific Angelo Niculescu Maureen Diaz Maureen Diaz/Erik Nelson-Kortland Age: 30; Hometown: Lake Oswego, OR Age: 29; Hometown: Glendale, CA Ages: 29/32; Hometowns: Glendale, CA/Marina del Rey, CA

USTA Midwest Eric Quigley Romana Tedjakusuma Sandy Niehaus/Wil Lofgren Age: 22; Hometown: Peewee Valley, KY Age: 34; Hometown: Tracy, CA Ages: 16/26; Hometowns: Cincinnati, OH

USTA Intermountain Angelo Faustino Vasilisa Bardina Yana Ruegsegger/Miika Keronen Age: 22; Hometown: Littleton, CO Age: 23; Hometown: Denver, CO Ages: 34/40; Hometowns: Lakewood, CO/Longmont, CO

2011 US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS SECTIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT RESULTS

USTA Pacific Northwest Aleksandar Vlaski Marie-Eve Pelletier Marie-Eve Pelletier/Aleksandar Vlaski Age: 29; Hometown: Kirkland, WA Age: 29; Hometown: Quebec, Ages: 29/29; Hometowns: Quebec, Canada/Kirkland, WA

USTA Middle States Nathan Healey Robin Anderson Veronica Corning/Nathan Healey Age: 31; Hometown: Wyomissing, PA Age: 18; Hometown: Matawan, NJ Ages: 19/31; Hometowns: Beverly, MA/Wyomissing, PA

USTA Southern California Cecil Mamiit Macall Harkins Patricia Tarabini/Jeff Tarango Age: 34; Hometown: South Pasadena, CA Age: 25; Hometown: Palos Verdes, CA Ages: 42/42; Hometowns: Carlsbad, CA/Manhattan Beach, CA