RANCHO SANTA FE, October 6, 2022 (by Steve Pratt)
The singles winners of the past two US Open Junior Girls’ singles titles – 18-year-old Robin Montgomery and 17-year-old Alex Eala – both took different routes advancing to the second round on Wednesday at the Rancho Santa Fe Open taking place this week at the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club.
Washington D.C.’s Montgomery had been sidelined with a wrist injury since the start of June before winning three matches at the Berkeley Tennis Club $60K two weeks ago and advancing to her first USTA Pro Circuit singles final above the $60,000-level falling in the EPIC Templeton Tennis Ranch final last Sunday. Montgomery, who won both the singles and doubles US Open Junior title in 2021, beat former UCLA star Catherine Harrison Wednesday, 6-4, 7-6 (3), as the first round was completed at the USTA Women’s Pro Circuit $80,000 event.
Montgomery joined No. 4-seed Nao Hibino of Japan as both singles and doubles winners on Wednesday as Montgomery partnered with fellow American Ashlyn Krueger to defeat Kendra Bunch and San Diego’s Sabastiani Leon, 6-4, 6-1, in a first-round doubles match later in the day.
The qualifier Eala from the Philippines, ranked just inside the world Top 300, won her third straight match in as many days at the RSF Open downing tournament wild-card Dalayna Hewitt, 6-1, 2-6, 6-0. In August, Eala become the first player from the Philippines to ever win the US Open.
The tournament did lose its top-seed and defending champion Rebecca Peterson as she was forced to default her match before it began because of an lingering neck issue. American Adriana Reami, who has lost Tuesday in final-round qualifying was the benefactor as she was inserted as a lucky loser into Peterson’s No. 1 slot at the top of the draw and fell to fellow American and qualifier Hina Inoue, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5, in the closest match of the day.
The tournament is part of the USTA Competitive Pathway circuit. Check the tournament’s website here and Eventbrite page here. For more information on the Presenting Sponsor Gillian and Prentiss – Compass, click here.
First Round Main-Draw Singles Results
Ashlyn KRUEGER (USA) Katarzyna KAWA (POL) [6] 6-4, 6-3
Alex EALA (PHI) Dalayna HEWITT (USA) 6-1, 2-6, 6-0
Diana SHNAIDER Anna ROGERS (USA) 6-2, 6-4
Storm SANDERS (AUS) Urszula RADWANSKA (POL) 6-2, 6-0
Nao HIBINO (JPN) [4] Janice TJEN (INA) 6-2, 6-2
Robin MONTGOMERY (USA) Catherine HARRISON (USA) 6-4, 7-6(3)
Marcela ZACARIAS (MEX) Whitney OSUIGWE (USA) 6-3, 6-3
Arianne HARTONO (NED) [8] Chieh-Yu HSU (TPE) 6-4, 6-2
Hina INOUE (USA) Adriana REAMI (USA) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
Sophie CHANG (USA) Ena SHIBAHARA (JPN) 6-1, 6-4
Danielle LAO (USA) Renata ZARAZUA (MEX) 6-2, 6-4
Katrina SCOTT (USA) Ellen PEREZ (AUS) 6-2, 7-6(6)
