TOURNAMENT NOTES as of July 2, 2011 Presented by 4TH ANNUAL WATERLOO OPEN WOMENʼS TENNIS CHALLENGER WATERLOO, ON - JULY 2 - 10, 2011 Six Canadians still alive in Qualifying! TOURNAMENT INFORMATION Fourteen Site: Waterloo Tennis Club - Waterloo, ON Canadians were in action in the Website: www.wowchallenger.com first day of the qualifying Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, July 2 tournament of Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, July 5 the $50,000 WOW Tennis Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Challenger Surface: Clay / Outdoor presented by Victoria Star Prize Money: $50,000 Motors. Six have survived Tournament Director: John Bezear, (519) 885-3920 to play another [email protected] day. Marianne Jodoin an 18-year-old from Montreal scored a minor upset beating the tournament’s PRIZE MONEY / POINTS no.5 seed Katie Ruckert of the U.S. winning 2-6, SINGLES Prize Money Ranking Points 6-2, 6-3. Jodoin turned the match around in the Winner!!$7,315!!70 second set hitting more solidly and accurately. Runner-up !$3,990!!50 She broke Ruckert early in the set which gave Semifinalist!$2,185!!32 her confidence. She mixed up her play and Quarterfinalist!$1,235!!18 Round of 16! $760!!10 caught Ruckert off-guard several times with drop Round of 32! $475!! 1 shots. Ruckert’s level of play dropped as she made several unforced errors allowing Jodoin to DOUBLES Prize Money (per team) race to a 5-1 lead. Even though Jodoin was Winner!!$2,660! Runner-up !$1,425! broken serving for the set, she closed it out by Semifinalist! $760! returning the favour. The third set was more Quarterfinalist! $380! closely contested but Jodoin held on for the win. Round of 16! $285! .... (Cont page 2) TOURNAMENT NOTES as of July 2, 2011 Presented by 4TH ANNUAL WATERLOO OPEN WOMENʼS TENNIS CHALLENGER WATERLOO, ON - JULY 2 - 10, 2011 Elisabeth Fournier was an early winner when she beat fellow Canadian Erin Routliffe 6-1,6-0 in the first match of the day. Fournier proved the stronger and more consistent player. The 16-year-old Routliffe was caught flat-footed several times revealing her relative inexperience at this level. It was a disappointing performance from Routliffe, who earlier this year won both the National Indoor U16 singles and doubles titles. Her coach, Harry Greenan felt his protégé did not perform as well as she could have. “She played better in last year’s qualifying than she did today.” he said. Routliffe is a Caledon native who trains with Greenan in Guelph. Fournier seen here at the 2010 event Other Canadian winners today were Romanian-born Canadian Ana-Maria Constantinescu who made short work of fellow Canadian Maja Jovic winning 6-1, 6-2; Amy He won 7-5, 6-1 over her South African opponent Joanne Schickerling while Nikolette Budai of London had an easy victory winning 6-0 6-0 over another Canadian Michelle Aristizabal. Two Canadians came close to upsetting seeded players but both came up short. Carmen Sandor took the no.4 seed Ellen Tsay of the U.S. to three sets. Sandor lost the first set 0-6 but gathered herself in the second going up a break to lead 3-0 before Tsay righted herself to make it four all. Sandor broke Tsay’s serve to win the set at 6-4. The third set continued to be a closely contested match with play alternating between long, punishing rallies and unforced errors. At 5-5, Tsay broke Sandor's serve but then could not hold her own thus sending it to a tie-break which Tsay won. Fifteen-year- old Aissa Muamba was perhaps the most impressive of the Canadians today. Ranked no.4 nationally in the U16 singles, the youngster who trains at the Carrefour club in Laval gave a creditable performance pushing the no.3 seed Danielle Mills (USA) in three hard-hitting sets. The players shared the first two sets both decided by tie-breaks. The effort of the two sets appeared to have drained most of Muamba’s energy as she lost the third set 1-6. “I was tired,” she admitted after the match. Muamba, a good athlete plays a powerful and aggressive game with a composure that belies her age. Day 2 of the qualifying will see local player Sandra Dynka in action as she had a bye in the first round. Matches on Sunday start at 10 a.m. TOURNAMENT NOTES as of July 2, 2011 Presented by 4TH ANNUAL WATERLOO OPEN WOMENʼS TENNIS CHALLENGER WATERLOO, ON - JULY 2 - 10, 2011 The fourth annual Waterloo Open Women (WOW) tournament presented this year by Victoria Star Motors takes place July 2 -10 at the Waterloo Tennis Club located in Waterloo Park. The tournament, which for the past three years has been at the $25,000 level is upgraded this year to the $50,000 level. Aside from the benefits to the players of a bigger pay day and more points for wins, spectators can expect to be treated to a higher standard of play. Action begins with a 32- player draw qualifying tournament on Saturday July 2 at 10 a.m. This event runs to Monday July 4. Included in the qualifying draw are 14 Canadians which includes the local wild card recipient Sandra Dynka. 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 Carol Zhao, Elisabeth Abanda, Kimberley-Ann Surin and Sonja Molnar. They will be joined by fellow Canadians Sharon Fichman, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Eugenie Bouchard. The doubles event is a 16-pair draw. Last year, Canadians Elisabeth Abanda and Katarena Paliivets won the doubles crown. The draw ceremony takes place 3 p.m Sunday July 3 at the Waterloo Tennis Club. Main draw matches begin Tuesday July 4 at 11a.m. This year’s WOW entry list features participants from twenty countries. While the tennis action will be on the Waterloo club courts, it won’t be the only entertainment on offer. The KIA Kids Tennis Fair, an event to introduce the game to youngsters and also to promote the tournament, will take place Monday July 4 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 6 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 the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program. 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 the match starts at 5 p.m, and Thursday and Friday at 5:30 p.m. The quarterfinals of the singles begin at noon on Friday; the semi-finals on Saturday will also start at noon, followed by the doubles final. The singles final is on Sunday starting at 12:30 p.m. Gates will open at 11:30 a .m. Admission is free to the public for the entire tournament. WOW Past Champions Singles Doubles Year Winner Finalist Year Winner 2010 Julia Cohen (USA) Fatima Al Nabhani (OMA) 2010 Elisabeth Abanda - Katarena Paliivets (CAN) 2009 Johanna Konta (AUS) Heidi El Tabakh (CAN) 2009 Alexandra Mueller - Allie Will (USA) 2008 Alexandra Mueller (USA) Sharon Fichman (CAN) 2008 Akiko Yonemura - Tomoko Yonemura (JPN) TOURNAMENT NOTES as of July 2, 2011 Presented by 4TH ANNUAL WATERLOO OPEN WOMENʼS TENNIS CHALLENGER WATERLOO, ON - JULY 2 - 10, 2011 PLAYERS TO WATCH Alison Riske (USA) Age: 20 (7/3/90) Ranking: 117 Riske enjoyed a breakthrough 2010, moving steadily up the rankings and bearing down on the Top 100. Her year was highlighted by a semifinal showing at the Wimbledon tune- up event in Birmingham, England, where she defeated Ana Chakvetadze and Yanina Wickmayer before falling in three sets to Maria Sharapova. (Her showing in Birmingham earned Riske a wild card into Wimbledon.) After losing in the qualifying of the 2010 US Open, Riske returned to Circuit events and reached four consecutive ITF Circuit finals (all at $50,000 tournaments or better), winning three. Overall, she improved her ranking more than 750 places from the start of 2009 to the end of 2010, finishing the season at a career-best No. 115. As a junior, Riske rose to No. 2 in the USTA Girlsʼ 18s national standings and was a finalist atthe 2007 USTA Girlsʼ 18s National Championships. She also served as a practice partner for the U.S.ʼs 2008 Fed Cup semifinal against Russia. At Wimbledon this year she took the number 2 seed, Vera Zvonareva to three sets before losing 0-6 6-3 3-6. Sharon Fichman (CAN) Age: 20 (12/3/90) Ranking: 248 Fichmanʼs best result of the the year was winning the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Plantain, FL in January. She has made the finals of six doubles events in 2011.