Florida Gators
Riviera/ITA All-American
WTennis Has Mixed Results at Riviera All-American Qualifying
Thursday, October 5, 2006 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida's Whitney Benik and Nina Suvak lost their quarterfinals doubles match at the qualifying event for the Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championships, but thanks to a late withdraw advanced to the main draw of the prestigious tournament.
The Gator pair began Wednesday's play with an 8-4 victory over Stanford's 26th-ranked pair of Celia Durkin and Theresa Logar, but lost in the third round to Pepperdine's Sylvia Kosakowski and Bianca Dulhgheru, 9-7. However, Benik and Suvak earned a berth into the 16-team main draw due to a withdraw of a higher-ranked team that already had gained admission into the main event.
“In their second round match, Whitney and Nina were able to keep their unforced errors to a minimum and that was key to their first win,” UF associate head coach Dave Balogh said. “Against Pepperdine, they got off to a really slow start and fell behind, 6-1. They were able to really battle back, getting within 7-6, but just couldn't get the break they needed. It just worked out for them later in the day that they earned a spot in the main draw. Hopefully, they'll use it to their advantage and have another good run.”
Also competing on Wednesday was the Gator pair of Lolita Frangulyan and Diana Srebrovic, which lost their second round bout to Duke's Daniela Bercek and Elizabeth Plotkin, 8-6.
“Lolita and Diana also fell behind early in their match, but they battled back,” Balogh said. “They got off to a slow start, but regrouped and earned a few breaks to get back into the match, but just couldn't overcome the slow start.”
The quarterfinalists from the qualifying draw advance into the 16-team main draw, which begins Thursday.
Srebrovic, ranked No. 8 in the country, received an automatic berth into the main draw of the 32-player singles event, which also gets underway Thursday when she plays California's Zsuzsanna Fodor in the opening round.
The Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships is the premier outdoor hard court event of the fall collegiate season, considered the first leg of the Grand Slam.
In Oct. 2004, Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan emerged from the pre-qualifying draw and took home the doubles crown. Other Gator champions at the Riviera include: Jill Craybas (1995 singles champion), Lindsay Dawaf (2001 doubles champion) and Jessica Lehnhoff (2001 singles & doubles champion).
Riviera/ITA All-American Championships Qualifying
Riviera Tennis Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
UF Results Only
Doubles, Second Round (Round of 16)
Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak (33), UF def. Celia Durkin/Theresa Logar (26), Stanford 8-4
Daniela Bercek/Elizabeth Plotkin (25), Duke def. Lolita Frangulyan/Diana Srebrovic (38), UF 8-6
Doubles, Third Round (Quarterfinals)
Sylvia Kosakowski/Bianca Dlugheru (28), Pepperdine def. Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak (33), UF 9-7
END OF REPORT
