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Vincent Spadea wins Calabasas Challenger
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Shenay Perry captures title in Lawrenceville
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By Sally Milano, USTA.com
Top-seed Vincent Spadea of Boca Raton, Fla., captured his second USTA Pro Circuit singles title of the year Sunday at the Mercedes Benz of Calabasas USTA $50,000 Pro Tennis Championships, but it wasn’t an easy road to the championship for the 34-year-old from Boca Raton, Fla. Spadea had to battle his way to the final, where he defeated unseeded Sam Warburg of Sacramento, Calif., in two close sets.
Spadea easily won his first-round match against Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico, 6-4, 6-1, but the competition got more intense for him from there. He was forced to go the distance in his next three matches, posting three-set wins against qualifier Izak van der Merwe of South Africa, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2, in the second round, Prakash Amritraj of India, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4), in the quarterfinals, and No. 8 Frank Dancevic of Canada, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the semifinals. He went on to defeat Warburg, 7-6 (5), 6-4, for the championship.
In addition to his victory in Calabasas, Spadea’s other USTA Pro Circuit results in 2008 include winning the singles title at the Waco Challenger three weeks ago and reaching finals at the Waikoloa and Tulsa Challengers. On the ATP Tour, he advanced to the semifinals at Newport, the quarterfinals at Delray Beach, Nottingham and Adelaide and the third round at the Australian Open. He is currently ranked 81st in the ATP rankings.
Warburg, 25, had an impressive run to the final, upsetting No. 7 seed John Isner, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in the second round and No. 6 Donald Young, 7-5, 7-6 (2), in the semifinals. A four-time All-American at Stanford University, who won the NCAA doubles championship in 2004, Warburg was playing in his second USTA Pro Circuit final of the year, having also advanced to the last round at the Yuba City Challenger in early June. He is currently ranked 155th in the world.
In doubles, the second-seeded Serbian duo of Ilia Bozoljac and Dusan Vemic captured the title, coming back to defeat qualifiers Somdev Devvarman of India and Nathan Healey of Australia, 1-6, 6-3, 13-11, for the championship.
Perry Downs Ditty to Win Lawrenceville Singles Title
Shenay Perry proved she is well on her way back from a right knee injury she suffered last year, winning her first singles title in more than two years at last week’s Gwinnett Sports Commission Tennis Classic, a $50,000 event in Lawrenceville, Ga.
Perry, 24, from Coral Springs, Fla., cruised through all five of her matches without dropping a set. She upset the tournament’s top two seeds en route to the championship, easily downing top-seed Rosanna de los Rios of Paraguay, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals and No. 2 Julie Ditty, 6-1, 6-3, in the final.
Perry, who was ranked as high as No. 40 in the world in 2006 and is currently listed at No. 245, has now reached the quarterfinals or better in three of her last four tournaments, winning in Lawrenceville, advancing to the semifinals in Ashland, Ky., and reaching the quarterfinals in Troy, Ala., all $50,000 events.
Ditty, a 29-year-old native of Ashland, fared better in doubles than she did in singles, teaming with Carly Gullickson to beat Indonesians Yayuk Basuki and Romana Tedjakusuma, 3-6, 6-4, 12-10, for the championship. Ditty recently became the all-time record holder for most wins on the USTA Pro Circuit, when she swept the singles and doubles titles in Albuquerque, N.M. With her win in doubles, she now has won a career total of 33 USTA Pro Circuit championships.
Florida State’s Aubone Claims Second Career Futures Title in Hammond
Florida State Seminoles’ junior Jean-Yves Aubone captured the second pro title of his career Sunday at the Tangipahoa Men's $15,000 Pro Tennis Classic in Hammond, La. The victory improved the 20-year-old Miami native's USTA Futures Circuit record this year to an impressive 18-5.
Aubone was outstanding throughout the week, upsetting seeded players in four of his five matches, including three of the top four seeds -- No. 1 Nicholas Monroe of the United States, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, in the quarterfinals, No. 4 Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the semifinals and No. 3 Artem Sitak of Russia, 6-4, 6-0, in the final.
The 20-year-old from Miami, who earned All-America honors last year and who is currently ranked 13th in the men’s singles pre-season ITA Rankings, won his first pro championship at the Peoria, Ill., Futures in July as a member of the 2008 USTA Summer Collegiate Team. He followed up that performance by reaching the final of the Joplin, Mo., Futures, the next week.
In doubles, American wild cards Brett Joelson and Bryan Wooten claimed the title, defeating Levar Harper-Griffith of the United States and Sebastian Rieschick of Germany, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8.
Hardenberg Wins in USTA Pro Circuit Debut in St. Louis
Lindsey Hardenberg, a freshman at the University of Virginia, made her first appearance on the USTA Pro Circuit a memorable one. The 18-year-old from Fairfax Station, Va., captured the first pro title of her career Sunday at the Dwight Davis Merrill Lynch Championships, the first USTA Pro Circuit women’s event ever to be held in St. Louis.
Hardenberg, from Fairfax, Va., qualified into the main draw and then stunned top-seed Allie Will, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, in her first-round, main-draw match. She went on to defeat two other seeded players en route to the title – No. 8 Petra Padalikova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Anda Perianu of Romania, 7-5, 7-6 (6), in the two-hour, 46-minute final.
In doubles, third-seeds Perianu and Anna Orlik of Belarus cruised to the final without losing a set, taking home the title with a 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 2 seeds Tomoko Dokei of Japan and Mami Inoue of the United States.
This week on the USTA Pro Circuit:
There are two events taking place on the USTA Pro Circuit this week. The women are competing at the $25,000 Comcast Professional Women's Challenger in Augusta, Ga., while the men are in action at the 2008 Texas 76ers Pro Event in Memory of Steve Noonkester in Mansfield, Texas.
Coming up next:
Rising young stars Jesse Levine, Donald Young and John Isner are among the players scheduled to compete at the $50,000 Ford Tennis Championships in Louisville, Ky., next week.