SEMIFINALS SET AT THE PARTY ROCK OPEN
Mayo Hibi (Photo: Craig Glover)
American Melanie Oudin to Face 17-Year-Old Mayo Hibi For First Time; CoCo Vandeweghe Meets Anna Tatishvili In Other Semifinal
LAS VEGAS (Sept. 27, 2013) – Mayo Hibi rallied from down 5-1 in the second set to upset top-seeded Alja Tomljanovic of Croatia 6-2, 7-6 (4) and advance to the semifinals at the Party Rock Open on Friday.
The 17-year-old Hibi, who moved to Irvine, Calif., at age 2 and represents Japan, will face 23-year-old American Melanie Oudin not before 6 p.m. on Saturday in the second semifinal being played at the Darling Tennis Center in the USTA Women’s $50,000 event.
CoCo Vandeweghe (Photo: Craig Glover)
In the first semifinal at 4 p.m., American CoCo Vandeweghe will meet Anna Tatishvili of Georgia. Both took different routes to the semis as Vandeweghe had a routine 6-3, 6-4 win over Madison Brengle while Tatishvili downed American qualifier Allie Kiick, 5-7, 6-0, 6-0.
Both Hibi (2013) and Oudin (2008) are former ASICS Easter Bowl junior champions and have never faced each other before.
“I haven’t seen much of her play because she’s younger, but I know she had a marathon match in the first round and I saw some of that,” said Oudin, who has dropped just one set in three rounds. “We’ll see. I just need to play my game.”
Vandeweghe beat Tatishvili in their only career meeting on grass at an ITF pre-Wimbledon warm-up tournament last year.
Kiick was playing in her fifth match in as many days. “I think she just got a little tired,” Tatishvili said. “I practice with Allie a lot and know her pretty well. I think I wasn’t playing my game and wasn’t attacking. After the first set I changed my game plan and started attacking more.”
Vandeweghe will also contest the doubles final on Sunday as she and Austrian partner Tamira Paszek, the No. 2-seeded team, beat the young U.S. pairing of Samantha Crawford and Sachia Vickery, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-8, in the night’s final match.
The Party Rock Open is Las Vegas’ only professional tennis tournament, and is named for LMFAO’s Redfoo and his Party Rock franchise’s title sponsorship. The Party Rock Open is Presented by ProtectYourBubble.com, an award-winning gadget insurance company.
The event is a USTA $50,000 Pro Circuit women’s tournament with a 32-player field in singles and 16 doubles teams.
—Steve Pratt
Quarterfinal Singles
Anna Tatishvili (GEO) def. Allie Kiick (US) [q] 5-7, 6-0, 6-0
Melanie Oudin (US) def. Chanel Simmonds (RSA) 6-2, 6-2
CoCo Vandeweghe (US) [6] def. Madison Brengle (US) 6-3, 6-4
Mayo Hibi (JPN) def. Alja Tomljanovic (CRO) [1] 6-2, 7-6 (4)
Semifinal Doubles
Denise Mursean (US) / Caitlin Whoriskey (US) def. Stephanie Bengson (AUS) / Sacha Jones (AUS) 6-1, 6-3
Tamira Paszek (AUT) / CoCo Vandeweghe (US) [2] def. Samantha Crawford (US) / Sachia Vickery (US) 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-8
Saturday’s Singles Semifinal Schedule
Stadium Court, starting at 4 p.m.
Anna Tatishvili (GEO) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (US) [6]
Not before 6 p.m. Melanie Oudin (US) vs. Mayo Hibi (JPN)
Tennis Atlantic 