Women Perform Well in National Clay Court Qualifier

Tuesday, September 21

Baltimore, Md.

Michigan

ITA National Clay Court Qualifying

9/23/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Four members of the University of Michigan women's tennis team completed competition in the qualifying portion of the 1999 National Clay Court Championships Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 21-22) at the Suburban Club of Baltimore County.

Junior Szandra Fuzesi (Budapest, Hungary/Balassi Balint Gimnazium) received the opportunity to play in the qualifying singles draw, after finishing with a 2-1 record in the pre-qualifier. Fuzesi took advantage of the opportunity, posting a first-round 8-3 victory over South Alabama's Tracey Gobey before losing a hard-fought 8-6 match to Georgia's Anne Nguyen (ranked No. 71 nationally in singles by the ITA).

Fuzesi carried her excellent play into doubles as she teamed with junior Alison Sinclair (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins HS). The tandem posted a 1-1 qualifying-draw record and came within one win of reaching the 32-team main draw doubles field. Fuzesi and Sinclair opened with a first-round bye and posted a 9-7 victory in the second round over Ohio State's Claudia Castro and Monica Rincon before falling to UTEP's Tanja Magoc and Jana Perkova by an 8-5 score in the deciding match.

Seniors Danielle Lund (Leominster, Mass./Leominster HS) and Brooke Hart (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson HS) lost in first-round qualifying singles action. Lund suffered an 8-4 loss to Duke's Erica Biro, while Hart lost 8-3 against Mississippi's Mariana Eberle.

Lund and Hart will compete in the 32-team main draw doubles portion of the National Clay Court Championships beginning Thursday (Sept. 23). In the first round, they will play No. 3 seed Mariana Eberle and Celeste Frey of Mississippi, ranked No. 5 in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Following are match-by-match results:

Szandra Fuzesi/Alison Sinclair (Qualifying Draw)
First Round - Bye
Second Round - d. Claudia Castro/Monica Rincon (Ohio State), 9-7
Third Round - l. Tanja Magoc/Jana Perkova (UTEP), 8-5
Finished with a 1-1 record

Szandra Fuzesi (Qualifying Draw)
First Round - d. Tracey Gobey (South Alabama), 8-3
Second Round - l. Anne Nguyen (Georgia), 8-6
Finished with a 1-1 record

Danielle Lund (Qualifying Draw)
First Round - l. Erica Biro (Duke), 8-4
Finished with an 0-1 record

Brooke Hart (Qualifying Draw)
First Round - l. Mariana Eberle (Mississippi), 8-3
Finished with an 0-1 record

Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423