Sisters stopped in Coleman quarterfinals
Ivana, Carmen Corley enjoy experience at pro event
There was no Corley magic Friday at the Coleman Vision Tennis Championships.
But the smiles still couldn’t be wiped from the faces of Albuquerque’s first family of tennis for the week after the 18-year-old Ivana Corley and 16-year-old Carmen Corley made history in the 20th anniversary of the women’s professional event played at Tanoan Country Club.
A day after the sisters, each of whom has won state high school titles with Eldorado High School, became the first locals to ever win a main-draw match at the Coleman Vision, on Friday they ran into a pair of
focused veterans not nearly as charitable as the pair the Corleys upset in Thursday’s round of 16.
It took 24-year-old Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and 23-year-old An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium just an hour to beat the Corleys 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals in front of an estimated 300 fans in what was likely the largest Friday afternoon crowd for a doubles match the tournament has seen in its two decades. And there was no mistaking the players they were there to see.
“It’s a treat for us to be able to play and have them here supporting us — and be so supportive,” said Ivana Corley of the large crowd, which included a large contingent of Corley family members enjoying the historic week. “But it just wasn’t there today for us. And they (Eikeri and Mestach) played really good.”
The pros played mostly error-free tennis, making the younger, inexperienced Corleys earn every point they got. But, while they were in clear control throughout, the pros saw flashes in the Corleys that left them impressed.
“They serve pretty big,” Mestach said. “I don’t know how old they are, but they’re quite inconsistent. That’s mostly what I think we both noticed . ... But (they) had some real big shots.”
Added Eikeri, “They definitely have some great potential.”
The Corley sisters had eight double faults and struggled to get their first serve in throughout the match.
“I think we returned better (yesterday) and we definitely served a whole lot better yesterday,” said Carmen. “I think it was easier to stay pumped yesterday because it was close throughout the whole match.”
Friday, the sisters played from behind in most games and, even when they did force deuce, were rarely able to close those games out with winners.
But the experience of the week, which included each winning a singles qualifying match, have each eager to get back into action.
The good news is Ivana, who has committed to play collegiately at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, hits the road today with her dad, Eddie, for a $25,000 pro circuit event in Stillwater, Okla., while Carmen leaves Sunday with her mom, Maria, for Austin, Texas, for a junior tournament.
“There’s nothing better than just getting more and more match experience,” Ivana said. “And this week is going to be so huge for us going forward.”
While Ivana and Carmen impressed this week, they’re the first to tell anyone who’ll listen Albuquerque hasn’t seen anything, yet.
Their 10-year-old twin sisters, Vivica and Vianca, “are way better than we were at that age,” Carmen said of her sisters who got to watch their older siblings make history in this week’s tournament. “They’re really good.”
SEMIS SET: Maria Sanchez, who won the 2012 Coleman singles title and last year’s doubles championship, finally got a fast start Friday, winning the first set for the first time this week in a 6-1, 7-6(3) quarterfinal win over Sanaz Marand 6-1, 7-6(3). It was an about-face from last year’s qualifying draw when the two met and Marand won 6-2, 6-1.
Sanchez plays fellow American Sophie Chang at 10 a.m. today in the first semifinal. Chang, who is also in the doubles semis, beat Jovana Jaksic 6-3, 6-3 on Friday, her second consecutive straight sets win.
In the other semifinal, American Emina Bektas will play France’s Sherazad Reix. Bektas, who beat two of the tourney’s top eight seeds en route to the semis, beat No. 8 Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria on Friday 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4. Reix defeated Great Britain’s Tara Moore 7-5, 7-5 on Friday.