Pro Media & News

Pro Circuit Round-up: Osuigwe heads big week for U.S.

Arthur Kapetanakis | April 29, 2019


Less than two weeks after her 17th birthday, Whitney Osuigwe was the big winner after a week filled with American success on the USTA Pro Circuit. The former world junior No. 1 claimed her second career ITF singles title, defeating Madison Brengle in an all-U.S. final at the W80 event in Charlottesville, Va.

 

Ann Li edged Usue Arconada in a second all-American final, at the W25 event in Osprey, Fla., while Tommy Paul—fresh off his title run in Sarasota, Fla.—was a finalist at the ATP Challenger 80 event in Tallahassee, Fla. 

 

Osuigwe’s title came on the Pro Circuit’s biggest event of the week (in terms of prize money) and lifted her to a new WTA career high. After breaking into the Top 200 for the first time earlier this year, the Florida native now sits at No. 139. The win also vaulted her to the top of the standings in the USTA Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, which is now halfway through its four-week women’s window. 

 

"I try not to worry about it too much," she said of her position in the challenge. "When I won the Australian Open wild card last year, my mindset was just to develop my game and keep getting better. So I'm not going to worry about it, and if it comes it's just a bonus."

 

Should the teen compete in the French Open main draw on her favored red clay, it would be her third consecutive Slam main-draw singles appearance. She made her major debut at the 2018 US Open by way of a wild card, earned by way of her USTA National Championships title, and gained entry into the 2019 Australian Open via the USTA Wild Card Challenge. A French Open junior singles champion in 2017, she would be seeking her first senior Grand Slam victory in Paris this spring.  

 

In her first season exclusively on the professional circuit, Osuigwe’s star continues to rise. She notched her first career WTA main-draw win at the Miami Open in March, and has now scored her first title of 2019. 

 

Seeded eighth on the Charlottesville green clay, Osuigwe earned her title the hard way, knocking off the tournament’s Top 2 seeds and winning each of her last three matches in three sets. She battled past top seed Taylor Townsend (the 2014, 2016 and 2018 Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge winner) in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 quarterfinal victory before topping Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, in the semis. 

 

In the final, against the second-seeded Brengle, Osuigwe claimed the title with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 result.

 

"I definitely think my forehand and my movement won me this match," she said in a post-tournament interview. "Probably my [77 percent] first-serve percentage as well.

 

"My strategy was to just step in on her serve and just hit heavy balls over her shoulder, and I think I did that pretty well."

 

Taylor Townsend, Caty McNally and Quinn Gleason all reached the singles quarterfinals at the event. In doubles action, Townsend and Asia Muhammad teamed up for the title. 

 

At the Osprey W25 event, Li was a 6-3, 7-5 final winner over Arconada. The No. 3-seeded champ took out the tournament’s top seed, Elena Gabriela Ruse of Romania, in the semis. Alexa Glatch and Elli Mandlik reached the quarters at the event, while Pamela Montez won the doubles title.

 

The men’s event in Tallahassee delivered a rematch of the final in Sarasota one week earlier. This time, Paul and Tennys Sandgren squared off one round earlier but produced an almost identical result. In the Saturday semifinal, Paul advanced, 6-4, 6-3. Last week’s final ended, 6-3, 6-4, in Paul’s favor.

 

In the final, the No. 9-seeded Paul fell, 6-2, 6-2, to unseeded Emilio Gomez of Ecuador.

 

Noah Rubin reached the quarterfinals at the event, and he paired with Thai-Son Kwiatkowski to reach the doubles final.

 

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

 

Women:

  • Sabrina Santamaria reached the doubles final at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup in Istanbul, Turkey.
  • Ellie Halbauer reached the singles final at the ITF WTT W25 event in Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy.
  • Sofia Sewing reached the singles semis at the ITF WTT W15 event in Bucaramanga, Colombia, where Akilah James was a quarterfinalist.
  • Amy Zhu was a singles semifinalist at the ITF WTT W15 event in Cancun, Mexico, where Zoe Scandalis was a singles quarterfinalist and Madison Westby reached the doubles final.
  • Sarah Lee reached the doubles final at the ITF WTT W15 event in Tabarka, Tunisia.

Men:

  • Dennis Uspensky was a singles finalist at the ITF WTT M15 event in Cairo, Egypt. 
  • Gage Brymer reached the singles final at the ITF WTT M15 event in Cancun, Mexico, where Christian Langmo was a doubles champion. George Goldhoff was a doubles champion at the event, while Austin Rapp was a doubles finalist.

Wheelchair:

  • Dana Mathewson was a women’s doubles champion at the Japan Open ITF Super Series event in Fukuoka, Japan, where David Wagner was a quad singles finalist.

 

Pictured above: Charlottesville champion Whitney Osuigwe (right) and finalist Madison Brengle (left). Photo courtesy of Whitey Reid.

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