Americans Falconi and Min Advance to Semifinals @USTAMacon50K
Falconi (Photo: R. Limpert)
MACON, Georgia, (October 24, 2014) Bright sun and big time tennis have been the theme to week in Macon for the 2014 Tennis Classic of Macon.
The first match on at the Jaime Kaplan Tennis Center at Stratford Academy was Thursday’s upset winner and wildcard entry, Ellie Halbauer against tour veteran Petra Martic of Croatia. Martic, a former world No. 42 from Split owns three career ITF titles and she’s looking for No. in Macon.
Martic, an aggressive baseliner gave the 17-year old from South Carolina a lesson as she handed Halbauer a 6-2 6-0, an hour long lesson.
In an intriguing match on Court 1, Kateryna Bondarenko continued her comeback to tennis after the birth of her daughter, Karin with a 6-2 6-0 victory over American, Julia Boserup.
Bondarenko, a qualifier here in Macon felt that playing the qualifying has helped her reach the semifinals.
“It helped me get used to the courts as I was in Mexico and the weather was completely different,” explained Bondarenko.
Bondarenko is working her way back up the rankings as she gave birth to her daughter about a year and a half ago.
“I’m traveling with my daughter and husband. It’s different, now it’s all about my daughter and all the time I have, I spend with her.”
As for the sights Bondarenko and her family have seen while in Macon, one place stood out as it does to most new mothers.
“We went shopping to… Target,” added Bondarenko.
The general consensus in Macon on Friday morning was that Madison Brengle was playing the best tennis of anyone in the event.
Irina Falconi disagreed.
Falconi then let her racquet do the talking as she took out the second seeded Brengle with a strong forehand and a well devised gameplan, 6-2 7-5.
Grace Min grew up about 90 minutes from Macon in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Grace Min (Photo: R. Limpert)
She knows what’s it’s like to play tennis in Macon and she appears in great form as she defeated fellow American, Sanaz Marand 6-2 6-2.
“It’s rare that I get to play in Georgia,” said Min after her victory. It’s nice since I have a lot of friends who live here and I get to see a lot of familiar faces.”
All singles semifinals will be held on Saturday and on doubles semifinal that will begin at 10 am..
Friday’s Results:
Petra MARTIC (CRO) def Ellie HALBAUER (USA)WS 6-2 6-0
Irina FALCONI (USA)[8] def Madison BRENGLE (USA) [2]WS 6-2 7-5
Kateryna BONDARENKO (UKR) def Julia BOSERUP (USA)WS 6-2 6-0
Grace MIN (USA) [4] def Sanaz MARAND (USA)WS 6-2 6-2
Anna TATISHVILI (USA) / Ashley WEINHOLD (USA) Irina FALCONI (USA) [2] / Petra MARTIC 6-4 6-2
This is one of the three fall events where U.S. players can earn points for the USTA’s wildcard into the first major of 2015, the Australian Open.
You can see the qualifying draw here: http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/qualifying_draw382.PDF
See the singles main draw here:
Friday’s Tennis Classic of Macon Fast Facts:
– The 32-player singles main draw features players from at least 12 different countries
-Tournament Director Eric Hayes is the men’s and women’s tennis coach at Mercer University. He ran this event in Troy, AL before bringing it to Macon in 2013..
– The Falconi/Min singles semifinal features two players with ties to the state of Georgia (Falconi – GA Tech and Min from Lawrenceville, GA)
Live streaming of the USTA Pro Circuit can be viewed on the USTA Pro Circuit’s website at http://www.procircuit.usta.com.
—R. Limpert
