ANNA TATISHVILI (@AnkaTati) TAKES @USTAMacon25K BUTLERCARS.COM TENNIS CLASSIC CROWN
MACON, Georgia, (October 13, 2013) After a week of great weather, outstanding support shown by the Macon tennis community and world class women’s tennis, we arrived at “Finals Sunday” at the 2013 ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon presented by the W.L. Amos Foundation held at Stratford Academy’s Jaime Kaplan Tennis Center.
The best two players all week have been Anna Tatishvili and Ajla Tomljanovic, so Macon tennis fans were treated to a match that could happen in any grand slam tournament around the world.
Let me give away the result saying Tatishvili took the match 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, but both competitors earned the respect of all the spectators.
The points were long and it was high calibre tennis.
Tatishvili got off to a 4-1 start in the first set, but she said it may have been too good of a start.
“Ajla stepped it up in the second set meanwhile I was having a hard time keeping up,” explained the 23-year old from Georgia. The third set was much closer, I was down 1-4, but felt I could’ve been up 4-1.”
Tomljanovic did up the ante in the second set with a blistering array of serves setting up her forehand.
Tomljanovic continued that hot play until 5-3 in the third and that is when Tatishvili started thinking her way around the court and moving Tomljanovic around.
“I never try to quit, “summed up Tomljanovic. “Whenever I go on a court, it’s two to three hours of my work.”
Tatishvili took the third set 7-5 and the inaugural ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon.
In the doubles final, the American duo of Emily Harman and Elizabeth Lumpkin won a first set filled with service breaks 6-3 and got up 5-3 in the second before former University of Mississippi players Kristi Boxx and Abigail Guthrie caught fire.
Boxx and Guthrie took the second set in a tiebreaker and then went on to close out the match in the Match Tiebreak 10-4 to claim the 25K title.
After the match, Boxx said she had predicted a three-set win all along.
“I woke up this morning and talked to my mom and said don’t do what Ole Miss did (in football) last night. Take care of business. I texted her back and said we are going to win this one in three sets.”
Which they did.
Great weather and great fan support for professional women’s tennis in Macon all week.
—RICK LIMPERT
