No. 1 and No. 4 Seeds Lose at Coleman
It was a good day for Floridians at the ColemanVision Tennis Championships. Top singles seeds, not so much. Florida’s Allie Will turned the bracket on its ear Wednesday, knocking off No. 1 seed Edina Gallovits-Hall in three hard-fought sets, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) at Tanoan Country Club. Gallovits-Hall came in as the world’s 114thranked singles player. Will, who played collegiate tennis at Florida until last spring, was ranked No. 481.
“(Gallovits-Hall) is a really good player,” said Will, who was all smiles after her upset win. “I just feel like at this altitude, it’s anyone’s tournament. I just tried to stay positive, fight for every point and not make any unforced errors.”
On the other side of the bracket, 17-year-old Floridian Sachia Vickery pulled off a surprise of her own. Vickery was down a set and trailed No. 4 seed Anastasia Roionova of Australia 4-2 in the second.
Vickery rallied to win the final 10 games in a stunning 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 decision.
“She definitely underestimated me,” Vick-
ery said. “She was killing me, killing me, then something just clicked. Once I got it to 4-4 in the second, I knew I had a great chance.”
Vickery was not aware that Will, a frequent practice partner, had ousted Gallovits-Hall.
“Good for Allie,” Vickery said. “Wow, this tournament’s really open now.”
No. 2 seed Michelle Larcher De Brito inherited the favorite’s mantel with a 7-6 (2), 6-1 win over Nicole Rottman on Wednesday. Larcher De Brito was one of the few singles players to advance fairly quickly in a remarkably competitive first round.
Chieh-Yu Hsu and Jan Abaza got the unofficial marathon prize, battling for more than three hours before Hsu prevailed, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.
Will also had to dig particularly deep to keep her tournament hopes alive after trailing Gallovits-Hall 6-5 in the third set. Will was down 0-30 and two points away from defeat when she opted for a gutsy drop shot that brought her opponent to the net. Gallovits-Hall returned the ball only to have Will lob over her for the point.
“If I lost that point, I probably lost the match,” Will said. “It wasn’t my best drop shot either, but it worked out. I was definitely smiling after that one.”
It proved to be a turning point, as Will won the game, grabbed a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker and held on for the victory. She’ll next face Asia Muhammed in today’s singles quarterfinals. Muhammed defeated Madison Brengle 7-5, 6-1.
“This was my first match ever at this altitude,” Will said. “I think it was good for me because it forced me to take some chances and go for it more. That’s what my game needs right now.”
Also advancing in singles Wednesday were No. 6 seed Aison Riske, who defeated Maria Fernanda Alvarez-Teran 6-3, 6-4; No. 7 Heidi El Takakh, who outlasted Elena Bovina 4-6, 6-1, 7-5; No. 8 Jessica Pegula, who edged Jlia Boserup 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Maria Sanchez, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Chi Chi Scholl; and Adrian Perez, who topped Florencia Molinero 6-4, 7-6.
In all, nine of the 16 first-round singles matches went three sets.