2022 Mercer Tennis Classic: Mercer’s Ristic Falls in Singles and Doubles
MERCER UNIVERSITY - John Drew Smith Tennis Center - OCT 17 - OCT 23, 2022
USTAPro Circuit 60K Event
MACON, Georgia, (October 18,
2022) Qualifying concluded on Tuesday with some high quality tennis some stars
of the future and a Mercer student-athlete took to the courts as professional
women’s tennis is in Macon this week with the Mercer Tennis Classic held Oct.
17-23 at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center off I-75 in Macon. Teodora Ristic of
Serbia, who plays on the Mercer Tennis Team fell in two tight sets, in the
final round of qualifying.
Singles qualifying winners included Lisa Zaar
of Sweden, Olivia Lincer of Poland and Bianca Jolie Fernandez of Canada. Alana
Smith, a graduate student on the NC State women’s tennis team earned a spot in
the main draw.
With a ranking of No. 49, defending champion, Madison Brengle is
the highest ranked player to play in the Mercer Tennis Classic. She showed off
that form on Tuesday dispatching American Christina Rosca 6-4, 6-0 to reach the
second round.
“Having a player like Madison that comes here year after year,
when she doesn’t have to play this tournament says a lot about how much this
tournament is liked by pros,” explained Tournament Director, Eric Hayes.
The women’s event features a 32-player singles
qualifying draw, a 32-player singles main draw and a 16-team doubles draw with
a field made up of WTA professional players as well as up-and-coming juniors.
Mercer tennis players, Ristic and Mary
Courville and the team of Camilla Ciaccia and Eden Sophe Schlagenhauf fell in
toughly contested matched in the doubles main draw.
Ciaccia and Schlagenhauf fell in a third set
match tiebreaker to former college players, Michelin Aubuchon and Mary Lewis
6-4, 3-6, (10-3).
Play resumes at 10:30 am on Wednesday.
Player field notes:
Brengle has been ranked as high as No. 35 in
the world
Emma Navarro, from Charleston SC, is up to a
career high ranking of 127
Most of these players played either the main draw
or qualifying of the 2022 US Open
WSQ Lisa ZAAR (SWE) [2] def Akasha URHOBO (USA)
6-2 7-6(6)
WSQ Olivia LINCER (POL) [4] def Salma EWING
(USA) [12] 6-4 7-5
WSQ Bianca Jolie FERNANDEZ (CAN) [9] def Shatoo
MOHAMAD (USA) 6-2 6-4
WSQ Carolyn ANSARI (USA) def [10] Mary
LEWIS (USA) 6-2 6-3
WSQ Alana SMITH (USA) [5] def Tamara BARAD
ITZHAKI (ISR) [13] 6-1 6-2
WSQ Victoria HU (USA) [16] def Rhiann NEWBORN
(USA) [6] 6-3 7-5
WSQ Ariana ARSENEAULT (CAN) [11] def Teodora
RISTIC (SRB) 6-2 7-5
WSQ Victoria OSUIGWE (USA) [15] def Meisha
KENDALL-WOSELEY (USA) 6-2 5-7 [10-3]
WS Madison BRENGLE (USA) [1] def Christina
ROSCA (USA) 6-4 6-0
WS Thaisa Grana PEDRETTI (BRA)def Adriana
REAMI (USA) 4-6 6-3 6-2
WS Nadia PODOROSKA (ARG) def Samantha CRAWFORD
(USA) 6-2 6-2
WD Elizabeth DANAILOVA (BUL) / Lucie
PETRUZELOVA (CZE) def Bianca Jolie FERNANDEZ (CAN) / Olivia LINCE 7-6(4)
6-1
WD Carolyn ANSARI (USA) / Ariana ARSENEAULT
(CAN) def Liga DEKMEIJERE (LAT) / Fanny NORIN (SWE) 6-1) 6-1
WD Riya BHATIA (IND) / Dia EVTIMOVA (BUL) def
Mary COURVILLE (USA) / Teodora RISTIC 6-2 6-3
WD Micheline AUBUCHON(USA) / Mary LEWIS (USA)
def Camilla CIACCIA (ITA) / Eden Sophie SCHLAG 6-3, 4-6, 10-3
Hina INOUE (USA) def Riley CROWDER (USA) 6-4 6-3
New for 2022 are three evenings of night
matches during the week. (Please check the order of play each day for specific
matches and times.)
Tuesday October 18 - Macon Night, High
Performance Clinic
Wednesday October 19 - Honoring Randy Stephens
Tennis Center for USTA Facility Award
Thursday October 20 - Mercer University Night
Now in its tenth year, the Mercer Tennis Classic will once
again feature many of the best women tennis players in the world. It is the
second biggest professional tournament in the state of Georgia in terms of
prize money (ATP World Tour 250 event - Truist Atlanta Open in July, is the
largest). It is also the longest running professional women’s tennis tournament
in the state of Georgia. The event has been showcased on the Tennis Channel.
Tickets will be available onsite and online this year. $5 per day
and $20 for the entire week.
The Mercer Tennis Classic
has featured players with major titles, including 2014 Macon singles champ,
Kateryna Bondarenko, of Ukraine, and her sister, Alona, who she teamed with to
win the 2008 Australian Open Doubles title, and 2010 French Open singles
champion Francesca Schiavone, of Italy, who was the tournament’s top seed in
2018.