|
|
Florida winner Jan Abaza.
|
|
|
Southwest winner Brittany Augustine.
|
|
|
Southern California winner Kaitlyn Christian.
|
Jan Abaza
Age: 15 Hometown: Deerfield Beach, Fla. Career-High Rank: 1,110 (April 2010)
Abaza is making inroads in pro tennis, using the USTA Florida Sectional Qualifying Tournament as a way to grow her young career. Earlier this year, Abaza won the pre-qualifying tournament at the WTA Tour stop in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and also competed in a charity exhibition in Jacksonville, Fla., with Todd Martin and MaliVai Washington. Abaza gained a pro ranking for the first time in April by competing on the USTA Pro Circuit.
--
Brittany Augustine
Age: 18 Hometown: Carson, Calif. Career-High Rank: 520 (June 2010)
Augustine advanced to the Women’s Championships by winning the USTA Southwest Sectional Qualifying Tournament, defeating former world No. 122 Shikha Uberoi in the final. Augustine is a former USTA Girls’ 14s No. 1 and cracked the Top 200 in the ITF World Junior Rankings in 2007. She has also found success on the USTA Pro Circuit, reaching the semifinals of the $10,000 event in Brownsville, Texas, last year for her best pro result.
--
Kaitlyn Christian
Age: 18 Hometown: Orange, Calif. Career-High Rank: 584 (December 2009)
Christian earned a shot at her first Grand Slam event by winning the USTA Southern California Sectional Qualifying Tournament. A standout junior, she achieved a career-high ranking of No. 8 in the USTA Girls’ 18s National Standings last year. Christian has since moved on to the USTA Pro Circuit, where she reached the final in the $10,000 event in Evansville, Ind., in 2009. She has committed to play at the University of Southern California starting this fall.
--
Maureen Diaz
Age: 28 Hometown: Glendale, Calif. Career-High Rank: 592 (May 2009)
Diaz cruised through the draw of the USTA Hawaii-Pacific Sectional Qualifying Tournament, dropping just 12 games in four matches to claim the women’s title. Diaz had an impressive junior career that included reaching the final of the 1998 Easter Bowl. She went on to play No. 3 singles for the University of Southern California and competed on the USTA Pro Circuit and in ITF-level tournaments, winning a $10,000 Futures event in the Philippines in 2006.
--
Courtney Dolehide
Age: 18 Hometown: Hinsdale, Ill. Career-High Rank: 453 (June 2010)
Dolehide advanced with a victory in the USTA Northern Sectional Qualifying Tournament, defeating former collegiate All-American Katie Ruckert en route. On the USTA Pro Circuit, Dolehide reached her first pro final at the $10,000 event in Wichita, Kan., last year, and has since cracked the Top 500. One of the country’s top recruits, she was featured on ESPNRise.com, an ESPN website celebrating high school athletics, and has committed to play for UCLA this fall.
--
Megan Falcon
Age: 25 Hometown: Baton Rouge, La. Career-High Rank: 331 (February 2005)
Falcon dropped just 13 games in winning the USTA Missouri Valley Sectional Qualifying Tournament. A collegiate standout at Louisiana State University, she earned All-America honors and compiled a 98-18 career record (with more than half her wins coming over ranked opponents). This year, Falcon used the USTA Pro Circuit to prepare for the US Open National Playoffs, reaching the semifinals of the $10,000 event in Sumter, S.C., in June.
--
Alina Jidkova
Age: 33 Hometown: Boca Raton, Fla. Career-High Rank: 51 (March 2005)
The most accomplished player in the field, the Russian Jidkova has competed in all four Grand Slams, reaching the second round of the US Open in 2006 and playing in the main draw each year from 2002 to 2007. The winner of the USTA Texas Sectional Qualifying Tournament reached the cusp of the Top 50 in 2005, and holds career wins over Serena Williams, Samantha Stosur, Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova. She also owns one WTA Tour title, winning the doubles in Acapulco in 2005.
--
Rachel Kahan
Age: 18 Hometown: Unionville, Conn. Career-High Rank: No rank
Kahan lost just seven games in four matches to win the USTA New England Sectional Qualifying Tournament. She competed all over the world during her junior career, cracking the Top 200 of the ITF World Junior Rankings in 2009. In June, she qualified for the $10,000 tournament in Hilton Head, S.C., in just her fourth USTA Pro Circuit event. Kahan will attend Duke University in the fall.
--
Alexandra Mueller
Age: 22 Hometown: Abington, Pa. Career-High Rank: 280 (July 2009)
Mueller earned a wild card into the 2004 US Open Qualifying Tournament, advancing to the second round. After sweeping through the USTA Middle States Sectional Qualifying Tournament, she may find herself returning to the US Open this year. Mueller won her first pro title at the age of 15 at the $10,000 ITF event in Mont Tremblant, Canada, and currently holds five USTA Pro Circuit titles (including four this year).
--
Belinda Niu
Age: 16 Hometown: Portland, Ore. Career-High Rank: No rank
Niu is an up-and-coming junior looking to break into the Grand Slams at the US Open after winning the USTA Pacific Northwest Sectional Qualifying Tournament. Niu, who trains at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., won the USTA Girls’ 16s National Clay Court Championships in 2008 and, this year, swept the singles and doubles titles at the Panama Bowl, an ITF-level junior event, to ascend to No. 219 in the world junior rankings.
--
Jessica Pegula
Age: 16 Hometown: Boca Raton, Fla. Career-High Rank: 905 (December 2009)
Pegula dropped just five games in three matches to capture the women’s title at the USTA Intermountain Sectional Qualifying Tournament, and after competing in the US Open juniors qualifying tournament last year, she is looking to take the next step to the women’s singles in 2010. Pegula is currently ranked No. 83 in the world junior rankings. In 2009, she reached the quarterfinals of the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Sumter, S.C.
--
Eleanor Peters
Age: 22 Hometown: Washington D.C. Career-High Rank: 1,031 (May 2008)
Peters defeated her former childhood rival, Tara Iyer, in the final of the USTA Mid-Atlantic Sectional Qualifying Tournament, winning the title at the Certified Regional Tennis Center in College Park, Md., where Peters and Iyer trained as kids. Following a stellar junior career, Peters played No. 1 for the University of Maryland before transferring to Syracuse University, where she compiled a 33-3 record this past season for head coach Luke Jensen.
--
Samantha Powers
Age: 21 Hometown: Rome, Ga. Career-High Rank: 878 (July 2007)
After losing just five games in her four matches, Powers was tested in the final before pulling out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over University of Alabama recruit Alexandra Clay to win the USTA Southern Sectional Qualifying Tournament. Powers has been competing in USTA Pro Circuit and ITF-level events since 2005 in tournaments all over the world, including Italy, Portugal, Spain and Australia.
--
Evangeline Repic
Age: 15 Hometown: Oakville, Canada Career-High Rank: No rank
Repic defeated fellow Canadian Erin Routliffe, 6-1, 7-5, to capture the USTA Midwest Sectional Qualifying Tournament and move closer to her first Grand Slam event. Repic, the youngest player in the Midwest women’s draw, reached the semifinals at the All Canadian Junior Tennis Championships in April. In 2009, she was a member of the Canadian team that qualified for the ITF World Junior Tennis Competition (14-and-under).
--
Katerina Sevcikova
Age: 28 Hometown: Yonkers, N.Y. Career-High Rank: No rank
Sevicikova was the first woman to advance to the Women’s Championships, winning the USTA Eastern Sectional Qualifying Tournament. The Czech native competed at the University of Missouri and went on to obtain a master’s degree in Sports Business Management from Manhattanville College in New York. She currently works as a senior tennis professional in Bedford, N.Y., less than an hour away from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
--
Romana Tedjakusuma
Age: 34 Hometown: Tracy, Calif. Career-High Rank: 82 (April 1994)
Tedjakusuma reached the third round of the 1994 Australian Open and also played in the main draw of the US Open that same year. Sixteen years later, she is once again in the running to compete in a Grand Slam after winning the USTA Northern California Sectional Qualifying Tournament. Competing since 1990, Tedjakusuma has won one Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles title and has played for Indonesia in Fed Cup.