Men’s Seeds Odesnik, Guccione, Wolmarans, Ball Advance
Ellie Stings Women’s 3-Seed Stephens; No. 2 Riske Wins in 3
By Jim Durham, Lexington Challenger Media Director
Lexington, KY (July 19) – Former Tennessee star Rhyne
Williams, wearing a shirt with the vibrant color favored by his SEC rival, sent
the hometown fans away on a blue note Tuesday night, beating Kentucky Wildcat
star Eric Quigley for the first time ever 6-3, 7-6 (6).
Quigley, who is traveling with the USTA Summer Collegiate
Team, didn’t give the partisan crowd much to cheer about on Big Blue Night at
the Lexington Challenger until he fought back from love-40 at 1-1 in the second
set. Though he ultimately lost the game, his Vol foe knew he was finally in for
a match at the University of Kentucky’s Boone Tennis Center. “Q” fought
valiantly in the tiebreaker, but in the end hit far too many long forehands –
some of the unforced variety.
“This is the first time I’ve beaten Quigley in six or seven
tries, so I’m happy,” Williams said with a relieved smile. “He’s really good at
taking balls early, so I tried to back him up.”
Williams, who won the NCAA Indoor and was runner-up in the
NCAA singles (outdoor) tournament last month as a sophomore, and rising senior Quigley
were certain to be Top 5 in the collegiate pre-season rankings this fall. But,
that won’t happen after Williams – who won a Futures event at Innisbrook (FL)in
early July – turned pro at the Aptos (CA) Challenger last week.
The Knoxville native will get a true test of his pro game
when he faces top-seeded James Ward, a British Davis Cupper, in one of the 7
p.m. features Wednesday. Top-seeded Melanie Oudin, who won her first pro
tourney in Lexington (2008), has Chanel Simmonds of South Africa in the other.
In the only true upset of the day, Jennifer Ellie (ranked
488 in the world) stung third-seeded Sloane Stephens (No. 131) 6-4, 7-6 (6). “She
normally doesn’t make a lot of errors, so I knew I had to be on my A game,”
said the 24-year-old from Brooklyn, who was quietly pleased to defeat a
teenager ranked 357 spots above her.
“I’ve actually come close to beating a couple of Top 40
women,” said Ellie, noting she felled a seed in Lexington last year. As fate
would have it, she could face that same foe – Maria Alvarez-Teran – in the
second round Thursday. The Bolovian is only 256 ranking spots ahead of Ellie.
The only other women’s seed to see action, No. 2 Alison
Riske pulled out a three-setter against Krista Hardeback. The other six seeds
have first rounds Wednesday.
Three of the four to make it through qualies are well known
on the college scene: former Southern Cal No. 1 Amanda Fink, Stanford No. 1
Hilary Barte, and Florida No. 2 Lauren
Embree, who won the clinching match against the Stanford Cardinal in the recent
NCAA team competition. Wimbledon Junior Doubles champion Grace Min, a rising
high school senior from Lawrenceville, GA, is the fourth.
Back on the men’s side, seeds Wayne Odesnik (2), Chris
Guccione (3), Fritz Wolmarans (4) and Carsten Ball (5), last year’s Lexington
champ, all prevailed in straight sets.
In a match that ended past midnight, Nicholas Monroe held
on to beat Alex Musialek – UK’s No. 2 from Dax, France – 6-4, 7-6 (2). A winner
of five Challenger doubles titles since finishing at North Carolina in ’04, the
Tar Heel left the Wildcat faithful feeling a little bluer.
