University of Florida freshman Alex Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) and junior Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) advanced to the qualifying draw of the 2010 Riviera/ITA Women’s Tennis All American Championships after both won their respective third round matches on Sunday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Cercone (pronounced sir-CONE) defeated Georgia’s Alina Jerjomina, 6-3, 6-3, while Mather downed Georgia Tech’s 113th-ranked Christina Ngo, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2, to advance to the qualifying draw that is scheduled for Oct. 5-6 at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Cercone and Mather join Gator sophomore Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium), who earned an automatic spot in the 64-player qualifying draw where competitors need to win three matches to advance to the main draw.
Hitimana takes on Alabama’s Alex Clay in the first round, while Mather is scheduled to play Stanford’s Stacy Tan and Cercone will face Notre Dame’s Shannon Mathews.
Also on Sunday, freshman Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) was in action and lost her third-round match, 7-5, 6-2, to Georgia Tech’s Jillian O’Neill. While Oyen’s singles competition in finished at the event, she will pair later in the week with sophomore Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) in the main draw after receiving an automatic berth.
On the doubles court, Cercone and Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) began the day defeating Tulane’s Levy and Kurdaldze, 8-2, but lost to eighth-seeded Bhambri and Nagaraj from N.C. State, 8-6, ending their bid one win shy of competing in the qualifying draw.
2010 Riviera/ITA Women’s Tennis All American Championships Pre-Qualifying
Los Angeles * Los Angeles Tennis Center
Sunday, October 03, 2010
UF Results Only
Singles, Third & Final Round (Rnd of 16)
(98) Joanna Mather, UF d. (113) Christina Ngo, Georgia Tech, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
Alex Cercone, UF d. Alina Jerjomina, Georgia, 6-3, 6-3
Jillian O’Neill, Georgia Tech d. Sofie Oyen, UF, 7-5, 6-2
Doubles, Second Round (Rnd of 16)
Alex Cercone/Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Levy/Kurdaldze, Tulane, 8-2
Doubles, Third & Final Round (Rnd of 8)
(8-seed) Bhambri/Nagaraj, NC State d. Alex Cercone/Caroline Hitimana, UF, 8-6
