PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Florida freshmen Lauren Embree of Marco Island and Allie Will of Boca Raton each beat two ranked opponents and moved within one more victory of making the main draw in the ITA All-American Championships Tuesday at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Embree and Will teamed on the doubles court where they upset SMU’s 13th-ranked and third-seeded duo of Marta Lesniak and Aleksandra Malyarschikova, 8-6.
Florida’s Marrit Boonstra of The Netherlands and Joanna Mather of Duluth, Ga., the 10th-ranked and No. 2 seeded duo in the 32-team qualifying draw, upended Texas’ Vanja Corovic and Stephanie Davison, 8-4, in their opening match.
“Overall, we were in a lot of tough situations, but we kept our composure and that was what set us apart today,” UF associate head coach Dave Balogh said. “This is a great start for us.”
Embree routed North Carolina State’s 70th-ranked Lenka Hojckova, 6-0, 6-1, in the first round and she ousted FIU’s 52nd-ranked Liset Brito, 6-4, 6-1, in the second round. Embree takes on Vanderbilt’s 46th-ranked Catherine Newman in the third qualifying match Wednesday. The winner earns one of eight open spots in the main draw.
“Lauren played great today and never gave either of her opponents a chance,” Balogh said. “She was very aggressive in both matches and played well in transition.”
Will made the most as a “lucky loser” after she lost in the final round of pre-qualifying action, but was awarded a spot in the qualifying draw. Tuesday, she beat DePaul’s 66th-ranked Anna Redecsi, 6-2, 7-5. She then earned a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 decision over Washington’s 58th-ranked Denise Dy.
HAMUI LOSES: Florida tennis player Johnny Hamui of Wesley Chapel fell in the second round of qualifying at the ITA All-American Championships Tuesday in Tulsa, Okla., losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to Christoph Thiemann of Ole Miss.
Additionally, all of the morning’s qualifying consolation matches, including the one between Florida’s Antoine Benneteau of France and Oregon’s Marco Verdasco, were canceled by rain.
Qualifying play lasts through Wednesday, and the main draw begins Thursday. The Gators’ No. 23-ranked Alexandre Lacroix of France will participate in the main draw. No. 11 Carlos Cueto of Spain was also invited to play in the main draw, but will not compete as he continues recovering from tendonitis.