While most of the world’s eyes were all set in Rio de Janeiro for the commencement of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games this past weekend, numerous players were battling it out on the ITF Pro Circuit, hoping to one day reach their goal of competing on such a big global stage. Among them were American Jennifer Brady who, in her début at the Challenger Banque Nationale De Granby, went on a hot streak, capturing the biggest title of the week. Other winners this week included another American in Caitlin Whoriskey, who was victorious on home soil, and Russia’s Natalia Vikhlyantseva, who won her first professional title over the weekend.
Brilliant Brady, the Victor in Granby; Vikhlyantseva, Whoriskey, Korpastch Prevail in $25K Finals
In the biggest tournament of the week, it was third-seeded American Jennifer Brady who was victorious in the Canadian city of Granby, a small city three hours away from Ottawa, the nation’s capital. Brady captured her fourth ITF singles title Sunday with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over sixth-seeded Belarusian Olga Govortsova, who had a great week herself as she attempts to break back into the world’s top 100. Speaking of rankings, Brady will move to a career-high of 127 in the world as a result of her victory, as the 21-year-old from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania attempts to make a major splash in the rankings.
Elsewhere, in the three $25,000 finals this weekend, it was Russia’s Natalia Vikhlyantseva, American Caitlin Whoriskey and Germany’s Tamara Korpastch who prevailed, taking home some new hardware this past weekend.
Vikhlyansteva won a battle of the Russian rising stars; the 19-year-old rolling past 17-year-old compatriot Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-3 in just 55 minutes to capture the title in Plzen, while Whoriskey delighted the locals with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Great Britain’s Tara Moore in Fort Worth, Texas. From the qualifying, the American won eight matches in a matter of eight days to capture just her second professional singles title at 28 years of age. At the same time, Germany’s Tamara Korpastch was celebrating her second consecutive title and fourth overall on home soil, and a new career-high ranking of number 185 in the world, with a 6-2, 6-3 over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in Bad Saulgu.
Other winners this week include French rising star Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, Spain’s Eva Guerrero Alvarez, and Austrian wild card Mira Anonitsch, three of the seven champions of $10,000 events across the globe this past weekend.
Hernandez-Fernandez, Qurioz Take Home $25K Crowns
On the men’s side, the biggest events of the week were won by the Dominican Republic’s Jose Hernandez-Fernandez and Roberto Quiroz in Bozen and Decatur, respectively. Hernandez-Fernandez, the top seed in the Northern Italian city of Bozen, defeated sixth-seed Chilean Bastian Malla, 6-4, 6-4, while Quiroz edged out Australia’s Marc Polmans 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(6), claiming his second consecutive final-set tiebreak victory of the week.
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Elsewhere, Norway’s Casper Rudd, Serbia’s Nikola Milojevic, and Belarusian Uladzimir Ignatik were just three of thirteen other men who picked up some new hardware at $10,000 Futures events this past weekend.
Next Week on the ITF Pro Circuit
While tennis at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games kicks into high gear next week, tennis on the ITF Pro Circuit will continue in typical style, with 26 events across four continents being played simultaneously, eight of which are classified as $25,000 events, the biggest tournaments of the week.
With the likes of Océane Dodin, Richel Hogenkamp, Elise Mertens and Tennys Sandgren highlighting the week’s action, what surprises could next week bring?
NOTE: Due to the commencement of the Western & Southern Open next weekend, there will be no ITF Roundup as yours truly will be there to photograph the early rounds. This segment will resume two weeks from now with coverage of the week’s action.