2011 US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS UPDATE
LAST WEEK’S RECAP:
Former World No. 50 Mashona Washington and a Brother-Sister Duo Win in Texas; Former and Current Collegians Capture Titles in Oklahoma; And Tony Larson and Megan Falcon Will Make a Return to the US Open National Playoffs Championship
Former world No. 50 Mashona Washington, 35, of Houston, has played in the US Open main draw six times and will vie for a chance to return to Flushing after winning the singles title at the USTA Texas Sectional Qualifying Tournament in Arlington, Texas. In the women’s final in Arlington, Washington defeated former University of Tennessee standout Rosalia Alda, 6-4, 7-5. Washington cracked the Top 50 in 2004. That year, she advanced to the quarterfinals at the Olympus US Open Series events in Stanford, Calif., and New Haven, Conn., defeating then-No. 7 Maria Sharapova in New Haven. A year later, Washington reached the third round at Wimbledon. Washington 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 mixed doubles in Texas, the first brother-sister duo has advanced to the mixed doubles championship. Harrison and Samantha Adams, 17 and 19, respectively, both of New Braunfels, Texas, won the mixed doubles in a three-set thriller, defeating Lenka Broosova and Jordan Rux, 5-7, 7-5, [10-7]. Samantha is a sophomore at Texas Tech and Harrison is a junior at New Braunfels High School. In men’s singles, former Southern Methodist University standout Artem Baradach, 22, of Dallas, defeated high schooler Juan Moreiras in another three-set final, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Baradach earned two consecutive trips to the NCAA National Championships by playing almost exclusively as Southern Methodist’s No. 1 player. The computer science major transferred to SMU from Stony Brook.
The mixed doubles final at the USTA Missouri Valley Sectional Qualifying Tournament in Norman, Okla., featured an all-Oklahoma collegiate rivalry, as current Oklahoma State players Yawna Allen and Trevor Horstmann took on Oklahoma University women's coaches Brook Connelly and Dave Mullins. In the end, Connelly, 25, of Oklahoma City, and Mullins, 32, of Norman, Okla., won the match, 6-2, 6-1. In men’s singles in Oklahoma, 18-year-old Jackson Withrow, of Omaha, Neb., dropped just one set in five matches en route to the title, defeating former junior rival Chris Haworth, 6-3, 6-4. (Haworth is a recent high school graduate from Oklahoma City who has won three high school state championships.) Withrow is a former Missouri Valley junior standout who won three state high school championships and rose to No. 1 in the Missouri Valley and No. 8 nationally in the boys’ 18s rankings. Withrow committed to play for Texas A&M and began working with the team in January. In women’s singles, former University of Memphis No. 1 player Ashley Murdock, 23, of Memphis, Tenn., won the singles title, defeating Whitney Wofford, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Megan Falcon will make a return to the US Open National Playoffs – Women’s Championship after winning the USTA Northern Sectional Qualifying Tournament in Minneapolis. Falcon, 25, of Baton Rouge, La., won the USTA Missouri Valley sectional qualifier last year and this year won four straight matches without dropping a set to win the USTA Northern title. Falcon is a former standout at LSU who compiled a 98-18 career record (more than half of her wins came over ranked opponents). She is now a regular on the USTA Pro Circuit. In men’s singles, Tony Larson, 27, of Brooklyn Park, Minn., defended his title with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Nelson Vick. Larson, who is a local teaching pro, overpowered a strong field with victories over Tobias Wernet, the University of Minnesota’s No. 1 player this year, former professional player Tyler Cleveland and Vick, who will be a sophomore at Ohio State, en route to the championship. Larson will be making his first trip to the US Open National Playoffs – Men’s Championship, as a scheduling conflict prevented him from playing last year.
In the mixed doubles in Minneapolis, two former college standouts captured the title, as Imke Reimers, 25, of Minneapolis, and Erik Donley, 37, of Duluth, Minn., defeated Wernet and former University of Minnesota standout Dana Young, 6-2, 7-5. Reimers, originally from Germany, is the all-time leader in doubles wins at the University of Nebraska and has served as a graduate assistant coach for Minnesota while she pursues her Ph. D in economics. Donley led Minnesota to three Big 10 titles in his four years at the school (1992-96) and played Circuit events in 1997 and 1998, posting a 17-27 doubles record.
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 final US Open National Playoffs Sectional Qualifying Tournament will be hosted by USTA Southern in Alpharetta, Ga., July 1-6.
Players competing in the USTA Southern Sectional Qualifying Tournament include: Former world No. 6 doubles player Luke Jensen, 45, of Atlanta, who is now the head women’s tennis coach at Syracuse University; Jensen won 10 ATP Tour doubles titles, including the 1993 French Open with younger brother Murphy, and has more than 250 doubles wins Amanda McDowell, 23, of Atlanta, the 2008 NCAA women’s singles champion Phillip Eilers, 25, of Evansville, Ind., who won the USTA Intermountain Sectional Qualifying Tournament last year and formerly played for the University of Utah Zach Fleishman, 31, of Playa Del Rey, Calif., who peaked at No. 127 in the world in 2007 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Olympus US Open Series event in Los Angeles; he has competed in qualifying for the US Open and has qualified for both Wimbledon and the Australian Open Christina Fusano, 31, of Plymouth, Calif., who competed for the University of California and holds 12 career USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles Catherine Harrison, 17, of Germantown, Tenn., who was a girls’ 16s finalist at the 2010 Dunlop Orange Bowl and who reached the singles semifinals at the 2010 USTA Girls’ 18s National Clay Court Championships Guillermo Gomez, 24, of Spain, a three-time All-American for Georgia Tech who finished at No. 13 in the final ITA rankings this year Alexa Guarachi, 20, of Destin, Fla., who finished her sophomore year at the University of Alabama and was named the ITA Southern Region Player to Watch; she played in all four Grand Slam events as a junior Alexandra Hirsch, 26, of Atlanta, who played at Wake Forest and now competes on the USTA Pro Circuit
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/Darrin 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 Nicole Melichar/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/Ellis Ferreira Age: 27; Hometown: Russia/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 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
USTA Pacific Northwest Aleksandar Vlaski Marie-Eve Pelletier Marie-Eve Pelletier/Aleksandar Vlaski Age: 29; Hometown: Kirkland, WA Age: 29; Hometown: Quebec, Canada Ages: 29/29; Hometowns: Quebec, Canada/Kirkland, WA US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS SECTIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT RESULTS
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
USTA Texas Artem Baradach Mashona Washington Samantha Adams/Harrison Adams Age: 22; Hometown: Dallas, TX Age: 35; Hometown: Houston, TX Ages: 19/17; Hometowns: New Braunfels, TX
USTA Missouri Valley Jackson Withrow Ashley Murdock Brook Connelly/David Mullins Age: 17; Hometown: Omaha, NE Age: 23; Hometown: Memphis, TN Ages: 25/32; Hometowns: Oklahoma City, OK/Norman, OK
USTA Northern Tony Larson Megan Falcon Imke Reimers/Erik Donley Age: 27 ; Hometown: Brooklyn Park, MN Age: 25; Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA Ages: 25/37; Hometowns: Minneapolis, MN; Duluth, MN