Florida Gators
Riviera/ITA All-American Qualifying - Day 1 of 2
Mather Advances to Third Round of Qualifying at Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championships
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 | Women's Tennis
University of Florida senior Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) rallied for a gutsy three-plus hour singles victory to highlight an otherwise tough day of qualifying action at the 2011 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships on Tuesday at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Mather staged a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory against Southern California's Caitlyn Christian in the round of 32, after posting a 6-2, 6-4 first-round win against LSU's Whitney Wolf.
The Gator senior must win one more round to earn one of eight spots in the 32-player main draw that will be contested Oct. 6-9.
Mather faces South Carolina's Diana Stojic in the third round on Wednesday.
Mather will be vying to join UF teammates Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) in the main draw of the national event. Embree and Will both received automatic berths into the main draw, as did the Gator doubles teams of Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) and Will, and Embree and Mather in the 16-team doubles draw.
Alex Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) won their respective first round singles matches, but dropped their second-round bout and ended their showing at the singles event.
Oyen lost her singles match in the first round to Tennessee's 31st-ranked Brynn Boren, 6-3, 6-0.
“It was a great day for Joanna and a little disappointing for others,” UF associate head coach Dave Balogh said. “Everyone fought hard, we just need to get more match-tough. Our play was ok, but to advance at a tournament with this caliber of player you need to play very well and we weren't as sharp as we needed to be.”
Cercone began the day with a win versus Utah's Callie Craig, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3, but dropped a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 decision to North Carolina's Lauren McHale.
Janowicz opened with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Yale's Elizabeth Epstein and fell to Southern California's Zoe Scandalis 6-2, 6-4.
In doubles action, Florida's pair of Cercone and Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) lost their opening round qualifying match, 8-4, to Clemson's Monika Hochanova and Klara Vyskocilova.
2011 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, Qualifying
Riviera Tennis Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
UF Results Only
Qualifying Singles, Second Round (Round of 32)
Lauren McHale, UNC d. (34) Alex Cercone, UF 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
(26) Joanna Mather, UF d. (60) Caitlyn Christian, Southern California 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Zoe Scandalis, Southern California d. (37) Olivia Janowicz, UF 6-2, 6-4
Qualifying Singles, First Round (Round of 64)
(34) Alex Cercone, UF d. Callie Craig, Utah 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3
(31) Brynn Boren, Tennessee d. (73) Sofie Oyen, UF 6-3, 6-0
(26) Joanna Mather, UF d. (52) Whitney Wolf, LSU 6-2, 6-4
(37) Olivia Janowicz, UF d. (92) Elizabeth Epstein, Yale 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Qualifying Doubles, First Round (Round of 32)
Monika Hochanova/Klara Vyskocilova, Clemson d. (26) Alex Cercone/Caroline Hitimana, Florida 8-4
