Pro Circuit Round-up: Gibbs, Li reach finals

Two USTA Pro Circuit events produced a pair of American singles finalists last week, as Nicole Gibbs and Ann Li each reached the championship match at their respective events.

Gibbs (pictured above) finished runner-up at the ITF World Tennis Tour W80 event in Palm Harbor, Fla., while Li was a finalist at the W25 event in Jackson, Miss. There was one set of American champions on the week, as Quinn Gleason and Ingrid Neel won the doubles title in Palm Harbor, while Hanna Chang and Caitlin Whoriskey reached the doubles final in Jackson.

Gibbs, a Cincinnati native, edged closer to the WTA’s Top 100 with her final run, rising from No. 124 to No. 113. The top seed in the event, she battled through a pair of three-setters in the Florida heat and took out No. 6 seed Ellen Perez and No. 3 Danka Kovinic en route to Sunday’s final. After a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over the Montenegran Kovinic in the semifinals, Gibbs ran out of steam against a fresher Barbora Krejcikova in the 6-0, 6-1 title match.

Krejcikova, the No. 5 seed, dropped just one set in her championship run—the very first set of her tournament, against American qualifier Ingrid Neel. She also took out No. 4 Whitney Osuigwe, 6-2, 6-4, in the quarters.

Gibbs has competed in the US Open singles main draw in each of the last seven years, dating back to 2012, and had a career-best run to the third round in 2014. The 26-year-old, who reached a WTA career-high ranking of No. 68 in 2016, also reached Round 3 at the Australian Open in 2017 and has competed in the main draw at all four Grand Slams. Though she fell at the final hurdle on Sunday, the seven-time ITF singles champion already has one USTA Pro Circuit title in 2019, at the W25 event in Rancho Santa Fe in February.

In the Palm Harbor doubles event, Gleason and Neel won the title as the No. 4-seeded duo, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) and Lizette Cabrera (Australia) in the final, 5-7, 7-5, [10-8]. The final’s opener was the only set they dropped in four matches on the week.

Similar to Gibbs, Li fell victim to a fresher opponent in the championship match after a tough, three-set semifinal win. The No. 2-seeded Li took out No. 4 Olga Govortsova, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, in Saturday’s semis before dropping a 6-3, 6-2 final to Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa, the tournament’s top seed.   

In the doubles final, Chang and Whoriskey fell to Kawa and her namesake partner, Katarzyna Piter, 7-5, 6-1. The Polish champions were the No. 1 seeds at the event.

Other notable results from Americans on the ITF Circuit last week include:

Women:

• Sarah Lee was a singles and doubles finalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 event in Tabarka, Tunisia.

Wheelchair:

• Bryan Barten was a singles semifinalist and doubles finalist at the Busan Open ITF 2 Series event in Busan, Korea.

(Photo credit: Tunisia Abraham)