Tournament Notes as of November 2, 2011 GOLDWATER WOMEN S TENNIS CLASSIC PHOENIX, AZ NOVEMBER 6-13 TOURNAMENT INFORMATION Site: Phoenix Country Club Phoenix, Ariz. Websites: www.goldwaterwomensclassic.org procircuit.usta.com Facebook: Goldwater Women s Tennis Classic Twitter: @GoldwaterTennis Qualifying Draw Begins: Sunday, November 6 Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, November 8 Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Surface: Hard / Outdoor Prize Money: $75,000 Tournament Directors: Sara and Dan Stablein, (602) 636-9840 goldwaterclassic@phoenixcc.org Tournament Press Contact: Sara Stablein, (602) 647-8989 sstablein@phoenixcc.org USTA Public Relations Contacts: Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, korba@usta.com Eric Schuster, (914) 696-7260, schuster@usta.com Prize money / points SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points Winner $11,400 110 Runner-up $6,080 78 Semifinalist $3,325 50 Quarterfinalist $1,900 30 Round of 16 $1,140 14 Round of 32 $665 1 DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Winner $4,180 Runner-up $2,090 Semifinalist $1,045 Quarterfinalist $570 Round of 16 $380 COMMUNITY EVENTS Sunday, November 6 Kids Day Monday, November 7 Pro-Am, 6 p.m. Thursday, November 10 Military Troops & Veterans Day Friday, November 11 Ladies Lunch and Fashion Show, 11 a.m. USTA/Getty Images USTA PRO CIRCUIT WOMEN S TENNIS RETURNS TO PHOENIX The Goldwater Women s Tennis Classic returns to the USTA Pro Circuit for the third consecutive year. It is the final USTA Pro Circuit women s event of 2011 and is one of two events held in Arizona this year. (Surprise hosted a $25,000 event in February.) It is also one of two $75,000 women s events on this year s calendar. Those expected in the main draw include Irina Falconi, the tournament s top seed, who won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, three weeks ago and captured the silver medal in doubles with Christina McHale. Falconi turned in her best performance as a professional at the 2011 US Open, upsetting No. 14 Dominika Cibulkova in the second round. Falconi played in all four Grand Slam events this year and posted her career-best showing in a WTA event in July, reaching the semifinals in College Park, Md. Falconi is a former standout at Georgia Tech and was named the 2010 college tennis Player of the Year as a sophomore. Also expected in the main draw is 2010 Phoenix doubles champion CoCo Vandeweghe, who broke into the Top 100 for the first time in her career earlier this year after qualifying for the Australian Open and reaching the quarterfinals of the WTA event in Memphis. She also reached the second Getty Images Top seed Irina Falconi won the gold medal in singles at the Pan American Games last month and reached the third round of the 2011 US Open. round of the 2011 US Open and competed in the French Open and Wimbledon. Vandeweghe was named to the U.S. Fed Cup team for the 2010 final versus Italy last November, and as a junior, she won the 2008 US Open girls singles championship. Her mother, Tauna, was an Olympian in both swimming and volleyball, and her uncle is former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe. Also expected in the main draw are: twotime defending singles champion Varvara Lepchenko, an American citizen born in Uzbekistan, who competed in all four Grand Slam tournaments this year and, following the US Open, reached back-to-back USTA Pro Circuit singles finals, winning the title at the $50,000 event in Kansas City, Mo., last month; Jamie Hampton, who qualified for the 2011 Australian Open and last year rose 593 spots in the WTA rankings (from Young American CoCo Vandeweghe broke into the Top 100 this year. She also won her opening match at the 2011 US Open and has competed for the U.S. Fed Cup team.
Tournament Notes No. 726 to No. 133 at season s end) by reaching the singles final at eight USTA Pro Circuit events, with victories at a USTA Pro Circuitbest four tournaments; and Madison Brengle, who rose to No. 4 in the world junior rankings in 2007 after reaching the girls singles final at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and who qualified for the WTA event in College Park, Md., this summer. Other Americans expected in the main draw include: Alexa Glatch, who is on the comeback trail after an injury-marred 2010 and whose 2011 highlights include reaching the quarterfinals of the WTA event at Memphis and qualifying for Wimbledon, where she lost to eventual champion Petra Kvitova in the main draw; Chi Chi Scholl, who has risen in the world rankings from No. 729 at the end of 2010 to No. 165 entering this week by qualifying for eight USTA Pro Circuit events this year, reaching four semifinals and winning two titles; Ashley Weinhold, who qualified for the Olympus US Open Series event in Carlsbad, Calif., this summer and who won the 2007 USTA Girls 18s title to earn a wild card into the main draw of the US Open; and Julia Cohen, who earned All-America honors in 2009 as a sophomore at the University of Miami and also played collegiately for the University of Florida as a freshman, where she was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association s Rookie of the Year. Cohen won a $25,000 event in Armenia in October. Those receiving main draw wild cards in Phoenix include: former world No. 3 junior Lauren Davis, 18, who ended the 2010 season on a 27-match winning streak sweeping three ITF Junior Circuit tournaments, a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event and the Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs and who this year won the USTA Girls 18 National Championships to earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2011 US Open; 2008 Dunlop Orange Bowl champion Julia Boserup, a full-time trainee at the USTA Training Center- Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., who won the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit singles title in Redding, Calif., in September; and Allie Will, a University of Florida All-American who won 18 of 20 matches at No. 1 singles to lead the Gators to the 2011 NCAA team championship. International standouts expected to play in the main draw are: former world No. 46 Romina Oprandi of Italy, who qualified for the 2011 US Open, where she beat 2009 US Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin in the first round, and who has won three USTA Pro Circuit titles since September; Florencia Molinero of Argentina, who at the 2011 Pan American Games won the gold medal in doubles and reached the bronze medal match in singles, where she lost to McHale; and former world No. 35 Sessil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2005 French Open. Young Americans competing in qualifying include: 16-year-old Madison Keys, who won a USTA playoff to earn a wild card into the 2011 US Open, where she became the youngest player to win a main-draw match since Nicole Vaidisova in 2005; and 17-year-old world No. 4 junior Grace Min, who captured the 2011 US Open girls singles title the first American to win the US Open girls singles title since Vandeweghe in 2008. Following the win, Min was featured in Sports Illustrated s Faces in the Crowd. She trains full-time at the USTA Training Center-Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and reached her first career USTA Pro Circuit final at the $25,000 event in Rock Hill, S.C., in October. Also expected in qualifying are: Lindsay Lee-Waters, a 34-year-old mother of two, who was the leading money winner on the women s USTA Pro Circuit in 2009 and holds 30 USTA Pro Circuit career titles (19 in doubles), tying her for second all-time; 17-year-old Krista Hardebeck, the 2010 Easter Bowl champion, who reached the girls singles quarterfinals at the 2011 US Open; Amanda McDowell, the 2008 NCAA Division I singles champion from Georgia Tech, who qualified for the 2011 US Open National Playoffs Women s Championship; and Alexandra Stevenson, a 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist and a former world No. 18. Other players expected in qualifying include: 2010 US Open National Playoffs women s champion Alexandra Mueller; Macall Harkins, the former Texas Christian University standout, who won the 2011 US Open National Playoffs USTA Southern California Sectional Qualifying Tournament; 2011 US Open National Playoffs singles and mixed doubles runner-up Yasmin Schnack, a former UCLA standout; and Puerto Rico s Monica Puig, who reached the final of the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and who reached the girls singles final at both the Australian Open and the French Open in 2011. Puig won the singles silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, losing to Falconi in the gold-medal match. PHOENIX Past WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2010 Varvara Lepchenko (USA) Melanie Oudin (USA) 2010 Tetiana Luzhanska (UKR) CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) 2009 Varvara Lepchenko (USA) Sacha Jones (NZL) 2009 Sharon Fichman (CAN) Mashona Washington (USA)
Tournament Notes USTA PRO CIRCUIT With 90-plus tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched its Pro Circuit 32 years ago to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it has since grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering more than $2.5 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities nationwide. Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki, James Blake, Justine Henin, Andy Murray and Sam Querrey are among today s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. The USTA Pro Circuit helped launch the careers of two young Americans Melanie Oudin and John Isner. Oudin began 2009 ranked No. 177, but climbed the rankings by winning back-to-back $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit events. With a boost in confidence, she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and the quarterfinals of the 2009 US Open. She peaked at world No. 31 in 2010 and has been a crucial player on the U.S. Fed Cup team. Isner joined the USTA Pro Circuit after turning pro in 2007 and jump-started the best season of his career by winning the Tallahassee Challenger in 2009. Subsequently, he reached the semifinals at two Olympus US Open Series events and upset Andy Roddick en route to the fourth round at the 2009 US Open. Last year, Isner captured his first tour title, reached three tour finals, and also won the longest match in history at Wimbledon. He finished 2010 ranked in the Top 20. Melanie Oudin PLAYER DEVELOPMENT The USTA Player Development program identifies and develops the next generation of American champions by surrounding the top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need to reach their maximum potential. The Player Development program is based at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and also utilizes Training Centers in Carson, Calif., and Flushing, N.Y., as well as a series of Certified Regional Training Centers located throughout the continental United States. 10 AND UNDER TENNIS 10 and Under Tennis is a nationwide USTA initiative that uses the QuickStart Tennis play format and takes a better approach to introducing kids to the game. Balls are lower in compression, so they are easier to hit; racquets are sized for small hands; and the courts are smaller and easier to cover. Full-sized courts can now be reconfigured to accommodate up to six 36-foot courts. In turn, kids learn, rally, play and compete right from the start, and the game becomes more accessible and fun for them. For more information, visit www.10andundertennis.com. NJTL Cities across the country participate in the USTA/National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network, a nationwide network of community tennis organizations seeking to develop the character of young people through both tennis and education. Founded by Arthur Ashe in 1969, more than 550 registered chapters/ programs exist throughout the nation with more than 220,000 participants ages 6-18, making NJTL one of the USTA s largest community-based initiatives. US OPEN NATIONAL PlayoffS The USTA launched the US Open National Playoffs last year, making the US Open open to anyone age 14+ and of all skill levels. This year, more than 1,200 players competed in 16 Sectional Qualifying Tournaments nationwide for a 2011 US Open Qualifying Tournament wild card. A mixed doubles element was also added this year, where the winning team won a main draw mixed doubles wild card. Blake Strode, 24, of St. Louis, defended his US Open National Playoffs men s title this year and Robin Anderson, 18, of Matawan, NJ, won the women s wild card. David Martin and Christina Fusano won the mixed doubles tournament.
U S T A P R O C I R C U I T P L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N PLAYERS TO WATCH Julia Boserup pg. 2 Madison Brengle Lauren Davis Irina Falconi Edina Gallovits-Hall (ROU) Alexa Glatch pg. 3 Jamie Hampton Krista Hardebeck Madison Keys Lindsay Lee-Waters Melanie Oudin pg. 5 Alison Riske Ahsha Rolle Sloane Stephens Alexandra Stevenson CoCo Vandeweghe pg. 6 Mashona Washington Ashley Weinhold Varvara Lepchenko pg. 4 Mirjana Lucic (CRO) Christina McHale Grace Min Asia Muhammad Irina Falconi ADDITIONAL PLAYERS TO WATCH Robin Anderson pg. 7 Brittany Augustine Gail Brodsky Jacqueline Cako Jennifer Elie Lauren Embree Amanda Fink Nicole Gibbs Ester Goldfeld Chloe Jones Allie Kiick pg. 8 Regina Kulikova (RUS) Lena Litvak Elizabeth Lumpkin Kyle McPhillips Petra Rampre (SLO) Maria Sanchez Chanelle Van Nguyen Sachia Vickery Allie Will Madison Keys ** All players American unless otherwise noted.
P L A Y E R S T O W A T C H Julia Boserup Age: 20 (9/9/91) Hometown: Boca Raton, Fla. Ranking: 245 Boserup won her first career USTA Pro Circuit title in September at the $25,000 event in Redding, Calif., and she also reached the semifinals of the $50,000 event in Raleigh, N.C., and the $25,000 event in Jackson, Miss., to break the Top 250 for the first time. A former junior standout, Boserup had her breakthrough in December 2008, winning the prestigious Dunlop Orange Bowl for her first title on the ITF World Junior Circuit. She also reached the second round of the girls singles at the 2009 US Open and has competed in the junior Australian Open and junior Wimbledon. A two-time practice partner for the U.S. Fed Cup team, Boserup trains full-time at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. Madison Brengle Age: 21 (4/3/90) Hometown: Dover, Del. Ranking: 200 Brengle has posted strong results in 2011, including winning her second career professional title at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Hammond, La., and qualifying for the $100,000 in Vancouver, Canada. In her career, Brengle has played in the main draw at three of the four Grand Slam events, winning USTA wild card playoffs to earn entry into the Australian Open (2007-08) and the French Open (2008). Brengle was also an outstanding junior competitor, rising to No. 4 in the world junior rankings in 2007 after reaching the girls singles final at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Lauren Davis Age: 18 (10/9/93) Hometown: Gates Mills, Ohio Ranking: 272 Davis has transitioned between elite junior play and professional competition in 2011, with success in both. She won the USTA Girls 18s National Championships to earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2011 US Open. Earlier this summer, she captured two USTA Pro Circuit titles at back-to-back $10,000 events in Buffalo, N.Y., and Atlanta. Davis finished 2010 on a 32-match winning streak, capturing two USTA Pro Circuit singles titles to crack the Top 300, and winning three international junior singles titles, including the Orange Bowl, to rise to No. 3 in the world junior rankings. She also won a USTA playoff to earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2011 Australian Open. There, she fell to Australia s Samantha Stosur, the No. 5 seed, in the first round. Irina Falconi Age: 21 (5/4/90) Hometown: Jupiter, Fla. Ranking: 73 Falconi turned in her best performance as a professional at the 2011 US Open, upsetting No. 14 Dominika Cibulkova in the second round in Arthur Ashe Stadium and then taking an American flag out of her bag and carrying it around the court. The US Open completed a year in which the former collegiate standout played in all four Grand Slam events after qualifying for the Australian Open and Wimbledon and winning a USTA playoff to earn a wild card into the French Open. Falconi also reached the main draw of the 2010 US Open as a qualifying wild card. She posted her career-best showing in a WTA event in July, when she reached the semifinals in College Park, Md., and in February she reached both the singles and doubles finals at the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Midland, Mich. She also was selected to represent the U.S. in the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October. Falconi, the 2010 college Player of the Year as a sophomore at Georgia Tech, was born in Ecuador and moved to New York City at the age of 3. She learned to play on public courts in Manhattan. Edina Gallovits-Hall (ROU) Age: 26 (12/10/84) Hometown: Atlanta Ranking: 123 A professional for more than a decade, Gallovits-Hall has competed in all four Grand Slam singles main draws, advancing to the second round six times and improving her ranking each year from 2000 to 2008, when she approached the Top 50. She has finished in the Top 100 each of the last four years and ended 2010 at the highest year-end ranking (No. 75) of her career. After playing primarily in WTA events in 2009, Gallovits-Hall returned to the USTA Pro Circuit, where she reached the semifinals at two $50,000 events and one $75,000 event this year. She has also competed for her native Romania in Fed Cup. 2
P L A Y E R S T O W A T C H Alexa Glatch Age: 22 (9/10/89) Hometown: Newport Beach, Calif. Ranking: 148 Glatch is on the comeback trail after an injury-marred 2010. In 2011, she qualified for Wimbledon and also qualified for WTA events in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Memphis, Tenn., where she advanced to the quarterfinals. Following the 2011 US Open, she reached the final of the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Las Vegas. In 2009, Glatch propelled the U.S. to the Fed Cup final by winning two of the U.S. s three points dropping just six games in four sets against two Top 50 players in its 3-2 semifinal victory against the Czech Republic. As a junior, Glatch reached the girls singles and doubles finals at the 2005 US Open, but she suffered career-threatening injuries in a motor scooter accident shortly thereafter. She returned to the USTA Pro Circuit the following year and won her first career pro title at the $10,000 event in Fort Worth, Texas. Jamie Hampton Age: 21 (1/8/90) Hometown: Auburn, Ala. Ranking: 124 Hampton climbed more than 550 spots in the WTA rankings in 2010 by reaching the final at eight USTA Pro Circuit events, highlighted by four singles titles. She maintained that momentum into this year, qualifying for the main draw at the Australian Open and competing in the main draw of the US Open. She also qualified for WTA events in Indian Wells and Miami, and reached the singles and doubles finals at the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Vancouver. As a junior player, Hampton twice won the USTA Girls 18s doubles title (2007-08) to earn a wild card into the US Open women s doubles draw. Krista Hardebeck Age: 17 (9/20/94) Hometown: Santa Ana, Calif. Ranking: 421 Hardebeck has established herself as one of the most promising junior players in the U.S. over the past two years. She reached both the singles and doubles quarterfinals of the 2011 US Open Junior Championships and reached the third round of the girls singles at Wimbledon. In April 2010, Hardebeck went 12-0 in junior singles play, winning the USTA International Spring Championships and the Easter Bowl without dropping a set to join Sam Querrey and Melanie Oudin as the only players at the time to win both titles in back-to-back weeks. Hardebeck was later awarded a wild card into the 2010 US Open Qualifying Tournament, where she won her opening match. In 2010, Hardebeck was recognized by Sports Illustrated in the Faces in the Crowd section, and she was also named by SI as a player to watch in the coming years. Madison Keys Age: 16 (2/17/95) Hometown: Boca Raton, Fla. Ranking: 301 Keys won the USTA s US Open playoff to earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2011 US Open, where she defeated fellow American Jill Craybas to become the youngest player to win a match at the US Open since Nicole Vaidisova in 2005. Such firsts are not new for Keys. In 2009, she became the youngest player (14 years, 48 days) since Martina Hingis in 1994 to win a WTA tour-level match and the youngest ever to compete in World TeamTennis, defeating Serena Williams in a match in 2010. Keys captured her first professional title at the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Cleveland in 2010. Lindsay Lee-Waters Age: 34 (6/28/77) Hometown: Dunwoody, Ga. Ranking: 343 Lee-Waters, a mother of two, was the leading money winner on the women s USTA Pro Circuit in 2009 and had another successful year in 2010, winning four USTA Pro Circuit doubles events and advancing to two singles finals. Lee-Waters first broke into the Top 50 in 1995, when she qualified for Wimbledon and upset Pam Shriver in the opening round. Since taking time off in 2000 to give birth to her first child, a daughter, Lee-Waters has played primarily on the USTA Pro Circuit. Overall, she holds 30 USTA Pro Circuit career titles (19 in doubles), tying her for second all-time with Nana Miyagi. Lee-Waters has also competed in 13 US Opens, either in the qualifying or main draw, advancing to the second round in 1995 and 2004. 3
P L A Y E R S T O W A T C H Varvara Lepchenko Age: 25 (5/21/86) Hometown: Allentown, Pa. Ranking: 107 Lepchenko, a native of Uzbekistan, has been a consistent presence in and around the Top 100 for the past seven years. After a steady rise on the USTA Pro Circuit she finished sixth or better on the USTA Pro Circuit prize money list each year from 2005 to 2008 Lepchenko competed in two Grand Slam events in 2009, three in 2010 and all four in 2011 (both in singles and in doubles). Moreover, in recent years she has played in a number of WTA events, reaching the second round in Miami and the round of 16 at five additional tour events in 2011. She also captured her 10th USTA Pro Circuit singles title by winning the $50,000 event in Kansas City in October. Lepchenko has been living in the U.S. since 2001 after receiving political asylum. She changed her nationality in 2007 to play for the U.S., and will officially obtain U.S. citizenship this year. Mirjana Lucic (CRO) Age: 29 (3/9/82) Hometown: Tampa, Fla. Ranking: 117 Lucic was one of the tennis rising stars in the late 1990s, peaking at No. 32 in 1998 and advancing to the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1999. She also won the 1998 Australian Open doubles title with Martina Hingis and, in singles, advanced to the third round at the US Open in 1997 and 1998 and at the French Open in 2001. Lucic, however, went into semiretirement in 2003, playing in just two events between the 2003 US Open and the 2007 WTA event in Memphis both at the $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Dothan, Ala. She officially launched her comeback in 2007 on the USTA Pro Circuit and won the first two USTA Pro Circuit titles of her comeback in 2010, finishing the year ranked in the Top 100 for the first time in 10 years. Lucic competed in all four Grand Slam events in 2011, reaching the second round of the US Open, and also advanced to the quarterfinals of tour events in Strasbourg, France, and Birmingham, England. Christina McHale Age: 19 (5/11/92) Hometown: Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Ranking: 42 McHale became the youngest player in the WTA Top 50 after reaching the third round of the 2011 US Open, defeating No. 8 seed Marion Bartoli in the second round. Three weeks prior, McHale upset world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at the Olympus US Open Series event in Cincinnati. The New Jersey native, who trains at the USTA Training Center-East in Flushing, N.Y., has also reached the third round at Indian Wells and the quarterfinals at Memphis on the WTA tour this year. In addition, she was named to the U.S. Fed Cup team for the World Group Playoff versus Germany in April and to the U.S. squad for the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October. A junior standout, she won the Australian Open girls doubles title in 2009 and cracked the Top 10 in the world junior rankings that same year. Though born in New Jersey, McHale lived in Hong Kong from age 3 to 8 (her father s job was transferred there). She speaks English, Spanish and basic Mandarin. Grace Min Age: 17 (5/6/94) Hometown: Duluth, Ga. Ranking: 552 Min won the 2011 US Open girls singles title without dropping a set, becoming the first American and the first unseeded player to win the US Open girls singles title since CoCo Vandeweghe in 2008. En route to the title, she defeated the No. 2 seed in the first round and knocked off upset top-seeded Caroline Garcia of France in the final. Following the US Open, she peaked at No. 4 in the ITF World Junior Rankings. A standout junior player, Min reached the singles final at the 2010 Orange Bowl and won the girls doubles title at Wimbledon in 2011. On the USTA Pro Circuit this year, she has qualified and reached the quarterfinals at the $25,000 event in Clearwater, Fla., and qualified and advanced to the round of 16 at the $50,000 event in Lexington, Ky. She has trained full-time at the USTA Training Center-Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., since the fall of 2009. Asia Muhammad Age: 20 (4/4/91) Hometown: Henderson, Nev. Ranking: 369 Muhammad learned to play tennis at the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club in Las Vegas, where she trained to become a Top 10 junior. In 2009, she won the doubles title at the USTA Girls 18s National Championships with partner Christina McHale, earning a wild card into the women s doubles main draw at the US Open. Also at the Open that year, Muhammad upset the top seed in the girls singles en route to the round of 16. Muhammad reached her first $50,000 final on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2008 in Las Vegas. This year, she has reached the quarterfinals at $50,000 events in Boston and Raleigh, N.C. Muhammad s father, Ronald, played basketball at USC, and her mother, Faye, was an All- American basketball player at Long Beach State. 4
P L A Y E R S T O W A T C H Melanie Oudin Age: 20 (9/23/91) Hometown: Marietta, Ga. Ranking: 143 Oudin teamed with countryman Jack Sock to win the 2011 US Open mixed doubles title as a wild card team, upsetting defending champions Bob Bryan and Liezel Huber in the second round. She also reached back-to-back doubles finals at the USTA Pro Circuit events in Albuquerque, N.M., and Las Vegas. Oudin enjoyed consecutive Grand Slam breakthroughs in 2009, defeating former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon and beating three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova en route to the US Open quarterfinals. She peaked at world No. 32 in April 2010 and has been a consistent force on the U.S. Fed Cup team. Oudin, who owns three career USTA Pro Circuit singles titles, has a twin sister, Katherine. Alison Riske Age: 21 (7/3/90) Hometown: McMurray, Pa. Ranking: 146 Riske enjoyed a breakthrough 2010, highlighted by a semifinal showing at the Wimbledon tune-up event in Birmingham, England, where her result earned her a wild card into Wimbledon. 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. She has continued her strong play this year, reaching the quarterfinals in Birmingham and competing in the main draws at the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon. As a junior, Riske rose to No. 2 in the USTA Girls 18s national standings and was a finalist at the 2007 USTA Girls 18s National Championships. She also served as a practice partner for the U.S. s 2008 Fed Cup semifinal against Russia. Ahsha Rolle Age: 26 (3/21/85) Hometown: Miami Shores, Fla. Ranking: 264 Rolle began 2011 by winning the first two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles of the year with partner Mashona Washington, at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit events in Plantation, Fla., and Lutz, Fla. The duo also advanced to the semifinals of the $100,000 event in Midland, Mich., where Rolle reached the singles quarterfinals. Rolle s breakthrough came at the 2007 US Open, where she upset then-world No. 18 Tatiana Golovin en route to the third round. That same year she qualified for the Australian Open and reached the third round at the WTA event in Indian Wells. In 2008, she won a singles match as a member of the U.S. Fed Cup team in the World Group semifinals against Russia. Sloane Stephens Age: 18 (3/20/93) Hometown: Lauderhill, Fla. Ranking: 94 Stephens cracked the Top 100 for the first time in her career after reaching the the quarterfinals of the Olympus US Open Series event in Carlsbad, Calif., and the third round of the 2011 US Open, where she upset No. 23 seed Shahar Peer in the second round. (With the victory, in fact, Stephens became the youngest player in the Top 100.) Also in 2011, Stephens qualified for the French Open for her first Grand Slam singles main draw appearance. Last year she was one of the stars of the world junior circuit, winning the girls doubles titles (with Timea Babos) at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, and reaching the singles quarterfinals or better at the same three junior Slams. Stephens climbed to No. 5 in the world junior rankings in 2009 and helped lead the U.S. to the 2008 Junior Fed Cup title. She also teamed with Robert Kendrick to upset the No. 1 seeds in the mixed doubles at the 2008 US Open. Alexandra Stevenson Age: 30 (12/21/80) Hometown: San Diego Ranking: 256 Stevenson first made waves in pro tennis more than a decade ago, when she became the first female qualifier in Wimbledon history to reach the semifinals (in 1999). She was ranked in the year-end Top 100 each year from 1999 to 2003, peaking at No. 18 in 2002. Injuries drove her rankings into the 600s in 2005, but Stevenson rebounded to climb back into the Top 200 in 2009, advancing to the final at the $50,000 event in Carson, Calif., for her best result on the USTA Pro Circuit since winning the $50,000 event in Midland, Mich., in 1998. So far this year Stevenson has qualified for three WTA events and also qualified and reached the quarterfinals of the now-$100,000 event in Midland. She is the daughter of basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving. 5
P L A Y E R S T O W A T C H CoCo Vandeweghe Age: 19 (12/6/91) Hometown: Rancho Mirage, Calif. Ranking: 118 Vandeweghe broke into the Top 100 for the first time in her career earlier this year after qualifying for the Australian Open and reaching the quarterfinals of the WTA event in Memphis. She also reached the second round of the 2011 US Open and competed in the French Open and Wimbledon. In 2010, her breakout professional season, Vandeweghe defeated five Top 100 players to advance to the quarterfinals of the $2 million event in Tokyo as a qualifier, defeated Vera Zvonareva en route to the quarterfinals of the Olympus US Open Series event in San Diego and was named to the U.S. Fed Cup team for the 2010 final versus Italy. As a junior, Vandeweghe was the 2008 US Open girls singles champion. Her mother, Tauna, was an Olympian in both swimming and volleyball, and her uncle is former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe. Mashona Washington Age: 35 (5/31/76) Hometown: Houston Ranking: 640 Seven years after she peaked at No. 50 in the world in the WTA singles rankings, Washington remains an elite doubles player and a top contender on the USTA Pro Circuit. She holds 14 career USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles, including back-to-back $25,000 crowns in Florida this year in Plantation and Lutz with Ahsha Rolle. In singles, she also advanced to the 2011 US Open National Playoffs Women s Championship. In 2004, Washington advanced to the quarterfinals at the Olympus US Open Series events in Stanford, Calif., and New Haven, Conn., where she defeated then-no. 7 Maria Sharapova, and a year later she reached the third round at Wimbledon. Her rise was halted by a knee injury suffered in 2006 while playing for the U.S. Fed Cup team; due to the injury, she did not compete in singles again for more than a year. Ashley Weinhold Age: 22 (6/20/89) Hometown: Austin, Texas Ranking: 181 Weinhold won her second career USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $25,000 event in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in February, and one month later she upset 2009 US Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin in the first round of the $25,000 event in Pelham, Ala. She has since reached the quarterfinals or better at three USTA Pro Circuit events. Weinhold first made her mark on the USTA Pro Circuit by winning the 2006 singles title at the $10,000 event in Southlake, Texas, and the following year she won the 2007 USTA Girls 18s National Championships to earn a wild card into main draw of the US Open. Weinhold served as a practice partner for the U.S. Fed Cup team in 2008 and played for the World TeamTennis St. Louis Aces in 2009. 6
A D D I T I O N A L P L A Y E R S T O W A T C H Anderson Brodsky Embree Fink Gibbs Player Name Age / Hometown Ranking Player Information Robin Anderson 18 (4/12/93) Matawan, N.J. 647 Freshman at UCLA. Won the 2011 US Open National Playoffs Women s Championship. Won her first professional title in 2011 at the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Landisville, Pa. Reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 US Open juniors, and advanced to the semifinals of the Easter Bowl. Trained at the USTA Training Center-East in Flushing, N.Y. Brittany Augustine 20 (9/19/91) El Segundo, Calif. 840 Reached the semifinals of the $10,000 event in Brownsville, Texas, in 2009, her best USTA Pro Circuit showing. Practiced with the Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport while with the 2003 Junior U.S. Fed Cup Team. Father was a pro soccer player in Trinidad and Tobago. Gail Brodsky 20 (6/5/91) Brooklyn, N.Y. 233 Won a $25,000 ITF event in Spain in July 2011, and reached quarterfinals or better at four straight $25,000 ITF events in Australia to open the year. Earned a wild card into the 2008 US Open after winning the USTA Girls 18s National Championships; also played in the US Open main draw in 2009. Mother was a gymnast and father was a professional rower in Ukraine, where Gail was born. Jacqueline Cako 20 (8/30/91) Brier, Wash. 634 Owns two career USTA Pro Circuit singles titles. Reached the final at the 2011 ITA All-American Championships as a sophomore for Arizona State. Formerly competed in gymnastics, but stopped competition after growing to 5-foot-10. Jennifer Elie 25 (9/22/86) New York 473 Reached the semifinals of the $50,000 event in Boston on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2010.... Holds two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles. Has competed in international ITF Circuit events in Mexico, Sweden, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Coached by her father. Lauren Embree 20 (1/10/91) Naples, Fla. 773 Made her Grand Slam debut in 2009 after winning USTA wild card playoff to gain entry into the French Open. Won the clinching match to help lead the Florida Gators to the 2011 NCAA women s title as a sophomore. Reached the singles and doubles finals at 2009 USTA Girls 18s National Championships and 2009 Easter Bowl (where she won the doubles title). Four-year letter winner at USC. Named the ITA Rookie of the Year in 2006. Won the Pac-10 singles and doubles championships her senior year. Advanced to the singles final at the USTA Pro Circuit $50,000 event in Lexington, Ky., in July 2011. Won her first pro title at $10,000 event in Atlanta on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2008. Helped lead the Stanford Cardinal to the 2011 NCAA team final as a standout freshman. Reached the final of the USTA Girls 18s National Championships in consecutive years in 2010-11, and reached the girls semifinals at the 2011 US Open. Reached her first professional final in 2011 at the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Buffalo, N.Y. As a junior, reached the singles and doubles quarterfinals at the 2010 Australian Open, and won the singles title at the 2009 International Hard Court Championships. Is playing collegiately for Duke University. Won her first pro tournament in doubles in Wichita, Kan., and reached her first singles final in Brownsville, Texas, both $10,000 events on the USTA Pro Circuit, in 2009. Amanda Fink 24 (12/4/86) Calabasas, Calif. 286 Nicole Gibbs 18 (3/3/93) Manhattan Beach, Calif. 624 Ester Goldfeld 18 (7/4/93) Brooklyn, N.Y. 834 Chloe Jones 21 (2/1/90) Baldwin City, Kan. 996 Qualified for the $50,000 event in Troy, Ala., on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2010. Reached back-to-back quarterfinals at $10,000 events in Landisville, Pa., and Sumter, S.C., in 2009. Doubles finalist at the 2007 Easter Bowl with Asia Muhammad. 7
A D D I T I O N A L P L A Y E R S T O W A T C H Kiick Litvak McPhillips Rampre Vickery Player Name Age / Hometown Ranking Player Information Allie Kiick 16 (6/30/1995) Miami 774 Won her first professional title in 2011 at the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Amelia Island, Fla. Won the girls 16s title at the 2010 Dunlop Orange Bowl. Reached the girls doubles quarterfinals of the 2011 USTA International Spring Championships. Daughter of former Miami Dolphins running back Jim Kiick. Regina Kulikova (RUS) 22 (1/30/89) Switzerland 133 Born in Kazakhstan. Reached the third round at Wimbledon in 2009 (as a qualifier) and in 2010, defeating No. 27 seed Alisa Kleybanova in 2009. Qualified for the 2010 Australian Open. Won the 2011 USTA Pro Circuit $75,000 event in Albuquerque, N.M. Won two $50,000 events on USTA Pro Circuit in 2009 (Kansas City, Mo., Las Vegas). Lena Litvak 22 (11/15/88) Bronx, N.Y. 395 Born in the Ukraine. Played at Harvard for one year before turning pro. Won the 2011 USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Bethany Beach, Del. Qualified for two $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit events in 2009 (Dothan, Ala., Vancouver). Has competed in ITF Circuit events in Australia Korea, Greece, Israel and Portugal. Elizabeth Lumpkin 25 (5/24/86) Naperville, N.M. 745 Won the doubles title at the $10,000 event in Amelia Island, Fla., on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2010. Won her first pro title at the $10,000 event in Evansville, Ind., in 2009. Helped lead UCLA to the NCAA team title in 2008. Served on the Bruin Athletic Council for three years and earned the West Region Arthur Ashe Leadership Award. Won the 2011 Easter Bowl. Won her first professional title in 2011 at the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Cleveland, where she reached her first pro final in 2009. Won the 2010 USTA Girls 16s National Championships and swept the girls 16s singles and doubles titles at the 2010 Easter Bowl. Committed to play collegiately for UCLA in the fall of 2012. Kyle McPhillips 17 (4/5/94) Cleveland 736 Petra Rampre 31 (1/20/80) Slovenia 204 Won USTA Pro Circuit $50,000 titles in Raleigh, N.C., and Boston in 2011. Reached the third round in doubles at the French Open in 2000. Has competed for Slovenia s Fed Cup team. Maria Sanchez 21 (11/26/89) Modesto, Calif. 697 Finished her senior season at USC at No. 3 in the collegiate rankings. Won the 2010 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships women s singles title. Named to the 2011 USTA Collegiate Team for the second consecutive year. Has won two career USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles. Advanced to the quarterfinals at $50,000 event in Las Vegas in 2011. Chanelle Van Nguyen 17 (1/19/94) Miami 921 Won the girls 16s title at the 2008 Dunlop Orange Bowl. Reached the final at both the 2009 USTA Girls 16s National Championships and the 2008 USTA Girls 14s National Clay Court Championships. Reached the doubles semifinals of the 2011 USTA International Spring Championships. Reached the final at the 2010 International Spring Championships and the round of 16 at the 2010 US Open juniors. Reached the semifinals at a $25,000 event in Colombia in 2011 and at a $10,000 event in Evansville, Ind., on USTA Pro Circuit in 2009. Won the girls 14s title at the 2008 Easter Bowl. Helped lead U.S. to consecutive titles at World Junior Tennis Championships (14 and under), 2008-09. Has worked with father of Williams sisters, Richard. Sachia Vickery 16 (5/11/95) Miramar, Fla. 500 Allie Will 20 (4/20/91) Boca Raton, Fla. 530 Helped lead the University of Florida to the 2011 NCAA team title as a sophomore. Won the 2011 ITA All-American title in October 2011. Reached her first singles final at the $10,000 event in Atlanta in 2010. Once attempted to return Andy Roddick s serve. 8
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