Oct 18, 2022

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.