The main draw is set. On the last day of qualifying, eight ladies advanced to the main draw. Wimbledon junior doubles finalist Caty McNally beat Salome Devidze 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Peyton Stearns defeated national champion Elysia Bolton 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-3. Katerina Stewart, Abigail Desiatnikov, Kolie Allen, Cassie Mercer, and Jada Robinson filled out the rest of the main draw with victories.
As those women filled out the main draw, some main draw matches already began. Allie Kiick, seeded fifth, defeated fellow American Stephanie Nemtsova 6-0, 6-1. Kennedy Shaffer was in dominate form as she beat Anastasia Nefedova 6-1, 6-2. Shaffer will play the winner of tomorrow’s match between McKenzie Myers and Abigail Desiatnikov.
Top seeded Caitlin Whoriskey downed former Grand Slam champion Alona Bondarenko. Whoriskey managed to convert five of her thirteen break points. Whoriskey also won 82% of her first serve points which helped lead the way to a first round victory 7-5, 6-1.
Main draw play continues on Wednesday with both local wildcard recipients scheduled to play. Dalayna Hewitt, who earned the wild card in June by winning the local Woodie Championship (City Championships) is scheduled to play Alexandra Morozova. Hewitt returns back to Evansville after winning both singles and doubles in a junior ITF event. Her opponent has won two career doubles titles on the Pro Circuit.
McKenzie Myers will also be featured on Wednesday. Myers, who trains at Tri-State Athletic Club, was given a local wild card into the main draw. This is the third straight year in which Myers has received or earned a local wild card. In 2015, Myers earned the local main draw wild card by winning the wild card tournament hosted by the Evansville Community Tennis Association. Last year, Myers and Addison Brown were given a local wild card to play in the main draw of doubles. Due to a scheduling conflict Myers was unable to play in the singles qualifying draw. Myers will attend Miami (OH) University next fall. She represented Memorial High School at the IHSAA state finals this year. She was the first Memorial player to reach the state finals since Macie Elliott won the title in 2010-2011. Myers will play Abigail Desiatnikov. They are the third match scheduled on Court 9.
Wednesday will also feature a terrific match-up of two incredibly talented girls. Alexa Graham, who just completed her first season at the University of North Carolina, where she received ALL-ACC honors and was named to the All-ACC Academic Team. She holds two USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Pro Circuit singles titles ($10,00 Hilton Head Island, S.C. in 2015, and $15,000 Victoria, Canada, in 2017). Her opponent Ann Li, received a wild card to play in this years event. Li reached this year’s Wimbledon junior final, facing Claire Liu in the second ever all-American girls final at Wimbledon, dating back to 1947. She has reached a career high ranking of no. 14 in the ITF World Junior Rankings. She has committed to play at Louisiana State University. In their last matchup Graham defeated Li 7-5, 6-4.
Wednesday, July 26 – SCHEDULE
Court 1 – starting at 9 a.m.
Ellie Douglas vs Peyton Stearns
Katerina Stewart vs Whitney Osuigwe
Garcia/ Proctor vs Bondarenko/ Nefedova
Derienzo / Raszkiewicz vs Kiick / Stewart
Court 7 – starting at 9 a.m.
Jada Robinson vs Taylor Johnson
Dalayna Hewitt vs Alexandra Morozova
Kolie Allen vs Cassie Mercer
Abrams/Song vs Morozova vs Nemtsova
Court 9 – starting at 9 a.m.
Cameron Morra vs Marcela Zacarias
Alexa Graham vs Ann Li
Makenzie Myers vs Abigail Desiatnikov
Daavettila / Graham vs Stearns / Tona
Court 12 – starting at 9 a.m.
Lorraine M. Guillermo vs Anika Yarlagadda
Caty McNally vs Jaeda Daniel
Guillermo / Kobelt vs Leon / Petrick
Douglas / Johnson vs Shaffer / Zacarias