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www.mybaycity.com February 6, 2013
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TENNIS TONITE: No. 1 Teen Taylor Townsend at Dow Corning Tennis Tonight

February 6, 2013       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Top seed at Midland, Lauren Davis, of Gates Mills, Ohio, is ranked No. 90 in the world. (Photo courtesy Wilson Sporting Goods)
 

In Wednesday night action at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Americans teens Sachia Vickery and Taylor Townsend will square off,with feature matches beginning at 7 p.m.

In doubles former top 10 player Brenda Schultz-McCarthy joins her niece Jainy Scheepens against the all-American team of Nicole Melichar and Chiara Scholl.

The hallmark 25th anniversary of the Dow Corning Tennis Classic at the Midland Community Tennis Center continued on Tuesday with all final round qualifying matches and seven first round singles matches in the main draw taking place.

Rising American star Mallory Burdette impressed the crowd in her opening round win, while No. 1 seed Lauren Davis and American teen Samantha Crawford also won their first round matches.

In the upset of the day, Burdette took out No. 3 seed Stephanie Foretz Gacon. Down 1-3 in the opening set, Burdette found the range on her serve and aggressive baseline play by reeling off 11 of the final 13 games.

Burdette, a finalist in last year's NCAA women's singles championship, didn't even have a pro ranking until last July. But after reaching the third round at the US Open, winning the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Vancouver, Canada and clearing the first round at the WTA event in Stanford, California, she decided to hit the pro tour full time. She's since moved her ranking up to No. 145 and has no ranking points to defend until this summer.

"There's no pressure on me at this point," said Burdette. "I'm just playing with house money."

Burdette will play fellow American Samantha Crawford in a second round match. Crawford, last year's US Open girls' singles champion, fought off two match points in a tense 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2) win over Samantha Murray of Great Britain. Murray served for the match twice at 5-4 and 6-5 in the final set, but Crawford saved her best tennis for the finishing stages of the match and reeled off five consecutive points in the final set tiebreaker.

"I was trying not to focus on how much I was feeling because when it gets that close in a match, every shot makes a difference. I just wanted to worry about each point and see where that got me," she said.

Two-time Dow Corning Tennis Classic champion Jill Craybas prevailed against fellow American Chiara Scholl 6-0, 6-3, while Jessica Pegula prevailed against 2011 DCTC finalist Irina Falconi in another all-American match 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. In the evening session, No. 1 seed Lauren Davis of the US defeated Claire Feuerstein of France in a nearly three-hour match 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

In addition, all four players who advanced through the final round of qualifying are Americans: Chieh-Yu Hsu, Sachia Vickery, Alexandra Mueller and Alexandra Stevenson. They are joined in the main draw by two 'lucky losers,' Victoria Duval of the US and Maria-Fernanda Alves of Brazil, who got in due to the withdrawals of Camila Giorgi and Melanie Oudin. The lone match to be completed as of press time was a first round doubles match between top seeds Liga Dekmeijere and Stephanie Foretz Gacon against Melinda Czink and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

The Dow Corning Tennis Classic is in its 25th year on the USTA Pro Circuit, making it the longest-running women's event on the USTA Pro Circuit. Several former competitors at the event have gone on to win Grand Slam titles and reach the top 10 in the rankings. Past competitors include seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and Olympic gold medalist Justine Henin, three-time Grand Slam singles champion Maria Sharapova, two-time Grand Slam singles champion Mary Pierce, 2011 French Open singles champion Na Li, 2010 French Open singles champion Francesca Schiavone, and two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Anna Kournikova.

ABOUT THE USTA PRO CIRCUIT

With approximately 90 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 34 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 nearly $3 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities nationwide.

Mardy Fish, Maria Sharapova, John Isner, Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Querrey, Li Na and Andy Murray are among today's top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. The USTA Pro Circuit is world-class tennis administered on the local level and played on local tennis courts as part of the fabric of communities nationwide -- an opportunity for current and new fans to experience the excitement and intensity of the professional game in their neighborhood. ###

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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