Friday at 11 a.m. at Manker Patten, eight young, talented ladies and holders of high Southern and national rankings will go at it with a spot in the Saturday semifinals on the line.
Some have played each other in juniors, while others are meeting for the first time
Friday – Women’s Open Singles … 11 a.m.
No.1 Emma Kurtz (HS senior) vs. Suzanne Zenoni (Elon College)
No.2 Kenya Jones (headed to Ga. Tech) vs. Caitlyn Merzbacher (U. of Minn.)
No.3 Ansley Speaks (Furman) vs. McCartney Kessler (Calhoun, Ga. – home schooled)
No.4 Brittany Huxley (MTSU grad) vs. Danielle Vines (headed to Furman)
The Top seed is Emma Kurtz (Atlanta) with a top 15 ranking who faces Suzanne Zenoni (Elong College) …
What should be a real good one is No.4 and recent Middle Tenn. Univ. grad Brittany Huxley against unseeded Danielle Vines (national top 20) who won her third straight high school state singles title in May and is headed to Furman in the fall.
The bottom half has No.2 seed Kenya Jones who is headed to Ga, Tech taking on U. of Minn. freshman Caitlyn Merzbacher and unseeded McCartney Kessler (Calhoun Ga. Rising HS junior) who takes on No. 3 Ansley Speaks (Furman).
Notes: Vines and Jones won the Girls Southern Winter 18s doubles and Jones won the singles title … Kurtz won the Orange Bowl 16s singles a couple of years ago and was runner-up to Vines and Jones in those Southern Winter 18s.
Thursday’s Round of 16 - Long Matches … A pair of excellent round of 16, 3-setters, Vines defeated former Yale player Stephanie Kent, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 … Kent was team captain in 2012 and played No.4 singles on a Bulldog team which lost to Stanford in the NCAA second round …
Merzbacher rallied to beat recent U. of the South grad Lindsey Liles, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), who was a singles and doubles All-American (NCAA D-III) this past season, the ITA National Senior Player of the Year and a CoSIDA Academic All-American.
Round of 16 Results
No.1 Emma Kurtz (HS) def. Rosalyn Small, 6-0, 6-0
Suzanne Zenoni (Elon College) def. Kaylan Griffith, 6-1, 6-3
No.4 Brittany Huxley (MTSU) def. Presley Thomas (Baylor School), 6-3, 6-2
Danielle Vines (headed to Furman) def. Stephanie Kent (Yale grad), 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
McCartney Kessler (HS junior) def. Sophie Abrams, 6-1, 6-0
No.3 Ansley Speaks (Furman Jr.) def. Sofia Blanno, 6-0, 6-1
Caitlyn Merzbacher (U. of Minn.) def. Lindsey Liles (U. of the South), 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No.2 Kenya Jones (headed to Ga. Tech) def. Yasmin Foster, 6-0, 6-0
Men’s Open – Singles Friday Quarterfinals, 9 a.m.
Defending Champ and No.1 seed Nathan Pasha (U. of Ga. grad in 2015 playing No.3 singles) won two matches Thursday to advance to Friday’s championship quarters. No. 2 seed Harrison O’Keefe also won twice … O’Keefe is a junior at USC, while Pasha won the national 18s doubles hardcourts (Kalamazoo) and All-SEC as a senior at Georgia.
Quarterfinals
No.1 Nathan Pasha vs. No.8 Vikram Hundal
No.3 McClain Kessler (U. of Fla.) vs. No.6 Steven Karl (U of Tenn.)
No.5 Andrew Carter vs. Julian Bradley
No.2 Harrison O’Keefe vs. Lucas Plesky
Round of 16 Results
No.1 Nathan Pasha def.
No.8 Vikram Hundal def. Davis Thrailkill, 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 McClain Kessler (Fr. U. of Fla.) def. Patrick Toomey, 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 Steven Karl (U. of Tenn.) def. John Peacey, 6-4, 6-4
No.5 Andrew Carter (U. of Louisville grad 2012) def. Kavir Kumar, 6-3, 6-4
Julian Bradley def. No.4 Samir Ifikhar, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
Lucas Plesky def. No. 7 Jonathan Wolff, 7-6, 9-7, 6-2
No.2 Harrison O’Keefe (Jr., U. of South Carolina) def. Alex Steryous, 6-3, 6-2
Men’s 45s Doubles
Tommy Boone-John Sorrow def. Michael Hoops-David Cobb, 3-6,6-2, 11-9
Men’s 55s Doubles
Thorny Strang-Mike Parker def. David Frank-Mike Westerman
Tomas Blano-Eduardo Garbaldi def. Gary Legg-Ted Bennett, 6-0, 6-2
“Old Men” Win in 55s: Able to play in the 65s, but mid-60s something Thorny Strang (McCallie tennis) and hall of famer Mike Parker (East Ridge HS wrestling) decided to play down an age division (to give someone else a chance at winning the 65s) this year and defeated David Frank-Mike Westerman, 6-0, 6-0, Thursday in a round of 16 match ... their win put them within reach (in their dreams) to pass Smith-Lutz, Hewitt-McMillan, McEnroe-Fleming, Emerson-Laver and Newcombe-Roche for career wins.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net