TEMPLETON, September 28, 2024 (by Steve Pratt)
For 25 months from February of 2022 to March of 2024, Usue Arconada sat on the sidelines, save for two matches played in 2023.
But the 25-year-old Naples, Fla., resident said she never doubted she would make it back to the professional tennis circuit following two wrist surgeries.
“It’s what I always wanted to do – to come back,” said Arconada, after she rallied to beat No. 2 seeded Rebecca Marino, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, in 2:15 in the quarterfinals Friday at the EPIC Central Coast Tennis Classic taking place at the Templeton Tennis Ranch. “There was no doubt in my mind.”
There were stop and starts along the way, Arconada admits. Little injuries that are common for pro athletes who are forced to not play because of an injury. “At first the surgeon told me it would be a year before I played again,” Arconada said. “But we ran into some problems. When you take that much time off it’s hard to come back and get your body back to where it needs to be. It’s not an easy road back. Mentally it was really tough just because of the ups and downs with little injuries.”
On Saturday, Arconada will take on a Southern California player in 20-year-old Katrina Scott, who beat her good friend and 2022 US Open doubles partner No. 5 seeded Elli Mandlik on Friday, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in one of all four quarterfinal matches that went to three sets.
Arconada is training full-time with her coach Mike Sell in Charleston, S.C., the home base of current No. 8 player in the world Emma Navarro. “She’s such a great player and has done really great this year,” said Arconada, who hits with Navarro regularly and did so as recently as last week.
In fact, the Bueos Aires, Argentina, native Arconada decided to make her comeback in March in Charleston receiving a wild card into the WTA125 and the following week’s WTA Charleston Open.
Arconda reflected, “Also, coming back and not having played for two years you feel like a different person; you are a different person because so much time has passed. So you are kind of re-learning to trust yourself and getting that confidence and fight back that you had when you were a young girl. It was just missing from life for two years, so that’s a long time.”
Currently ranked No. 636, Arconada used a special exemption due to her injury to gain entry this week, and will do the same next week in Rancho Santa Fe. She has her sights set on the Australian Open in a few months to continue her pro tennis journey.
In the other singles semifinal on Saturday, it will be top-seeded Renata Zarazua of Mexico facing 19-year-old LSU freshman Cadence Brace. Zarazua, who beat Iryna Shymanovich from Belarus, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, was last year’s CCTC singles finalist.
One doubles semifinal was contested on Friday as the top-seeded team of Zarazua and Shymanovich were forced to pull out because of a lingering injury to Zarazua. The walkover gave No. 4 seeds Rebecca Marino and Carmen Corley a spot in the finals, which will take place, where they will face No. 2 seeded Sophie Chang and Rasheeda McAdoo, who between them have won 33 ITF doubles titles, including their only title together, an ITF W75 in Portugal in June.
The event is open to the public; tickets start at $25 and are available at: www.centralcoasttennisclassic.com, where you can also find news and updates on the tournament.
