Oct 21, 2022

2022 Mercer Tennis Classic: Brengle Looks to Repeat, American Volynets in Semis

MERCER UNIVERSITY - John Drew Smith Tennis Center - OCT 17 - OCT 23, 2022

USTA Pro Circuit 60K Event

MACON, Georgia, (October 21, 2022) The Mercer Tennis Classic has moved into the semifinals of singles and the finals of doubles this week, held Oct. 17-23 at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center off I-75 in Macon.

Singles winners on Friday included top seed and defending champ, Madison Brengle, Thiasa Grana Pedretti and Katie Volynets.

Tournament No. 2 seed, Panna Udvardy of Hungary moved to the next round with a hard fought victory over Kateryna Bondarenko.

Brengle fell behind 3-1 to Taylor Townsend before finding her range. Unforced errors by Townsend opened the door for Brengle to do her normal and keep the ball in play. More of the same in the second set as Brengle closed that one out 6-3.

“She just doesn’t miss,” commented Mercer Tennis Classic Tournament Director, Eric Hayes.

Brengle next faces No. 7 seed Taylor Townsend. Townsend has dropped just three games in her first two matches. Brengle is 14-4 in her career at the Mercer Tennis Classic.

Two young Americans squared off on Center Court for a spot in the semis. Charleston’s Emma Navarro and Katie Volynets, who has been slowly moving up the rankings. Both have played Macon on multiple occasions.

Volynets took command to start the match. Two breaks later she earned a 6-3 first set. An even second set where Navarro saved a match point went to a tiebreaker. Navarro came out aggressive to build a lead in the breaker and take it to a third set.

The final set was neck and neck until Volynets broke at 4-3 to gain control and a spot in the final four.

Brengle is looking for a “double” this week as she is also in the doubles final.

Coach Hayes is looking for a big turnout on Saturday for the singles semifinals and the doubles final.

Thaisa Grana PEDRETTI (BRA) def Nadia PODOROSKA (ARG) 7-6(4) 6-4

Madison BRENGLE (USA) [1] def Taylor TOWNSEND (USA) [7] 6-3 6-3

Panna UDVARDY (HUN) [2] def Kateryna BONDARENKO (UKR) 6-2 6-1

Katie VOLYNETS (USA) [4 def] Emma NAVARRO (USA) [5] 6-3 6-7(7) 6-3

WD Anna ROGERS (USA) / Christina ROSCA (USA) [1] Carolyn ANSARI (USA) / Ariana ARSENEAUL 6- 3 6-3

Madison BRENGLE (USA) / Maria MATEAS (USA) [3] Alexandra OSBORNE (AUS) [2] / Adriana REIMI 6-2 6-3

Play resumes with singles semifinals on Saturday along with the doubles final.

Player field notes:

Brengle is now 14-4 all-time in singles in Macon

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

Note:

Thursday October 20 - Mercer University Night. Mercer Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Susie Gardner assisted with the coin toss before the night match.

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.