Anderson, Pandzic Win Pro Circuit Events Sunday
Kevin Anderson of Illinois won the $15,000 USTA Men's Pro Circuit event in Loomis, California yesterday, defeating No. 1 seed Ivan Miranda of Peru 7-6(4), 6-3 in the final. Anderson, a finalist in the previous week's tournament in Woodland Calif., is now at a career best ranking of 419, and as is the case whenever a collegian has success on the Futures Circuit, the speculation starts: will he return to school for his senior year?
That question was posed by the Sacramento Bee, and Anderson, in this brief story is quoted as saying: "I definitely feel ready (to turn professional), but Illinois is a great environment, I have a lot to improve, and I have a great coach." He goes on to say it will take a leap to the Top 200 to change his plans to return to school. For a more detailed account of his victory, see this story from the fightingillini.com website.
The $10,000 women's event in Ft. Worth, Texas was won by Jelena Pandzic of Fresno Pacific. Pandzic, who was runnerup to Miami's Audra Cohen in last fall's ITA Individual Indoor Championships, has also had a very impressive start to her summer. As a qualifier, she reached the finals of the Houston Pro Circuit event earlier this month, where she was beaten in three sets by Asia Muhammed. Last week she was still relegated to the qualifier, but lost only five games in four matches, and in the main draw, lost only one set, defeating 15-year-old Lauren Embree of Florida in the final. (Embree, a qualifier herself, had an outstanding tournament, defeating Georgia All-American Natalie Frazier in the quarterfinals and top seed Vilmarie Castellvi in the semifinals.)
Pandzic was an NCAA finalist back in 2004, as a freshman at Fresno State, but was ruled ineligible to compete in Division I the following year. She enrolled at nearby Fresno Pacific, an NAIA school, and her only loss in two dual seasons was that three-setter to Cohen. According to this even shorter story in the Fresno Bee, Pandzic is now pursuing her tennis as a professional.
9 comments:
Colette,
Just thought I would show you this link. Kalamazoo was ranked the number 70 sports event that you must attend in your lifetime by an ESPN writer.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/070625
Kevin Anderson always plays much better as an individual than he does for Illinois. Why, I have no clue. I almost expect him to make it to the semis, finals or win futures events during the summer.
However, he did impress me by making it to the semis of NCAA's this year. If he can play at a level during the college season that he does on his own he is easily going to contend for the title next year, if not be the favorite since he has a bigger game than Devvarman does.
He is a college player I can see making it on the tour after college. By making it I mean top100-150, I lower my standards of "making it" for people who attend college since I dont expect them to be top30. I know others do not agree, but that is a level that turns you a profit and gets you seeded at qualifying for majors. We should all be so lucky.
This question doesn't apply to this post, but Colette,
do you know of any "rising seniors" that have verballed to any colleges or universities? By this time last year, many of the top players knew exactly who was going to come at them on July 1st.
What do you think?
I really haven't heard of any, other than Claire Bartlett verbally committing to Virginia.
Yeah Drew Courtney also verbally committed to UVA
i dont know why certain guys go to certain schools when there is no way they will play a single match during their 4 years. players need to realize how tough college tennis is and choose appropriate places. there is nothing worse then being # 10 on a team for 4 years.
zand who would you be referring to?
maybe some people actually care about getting a good education and would rather go to a GOOD school even if they wouldnt be high in their lineup...
i think its possible to find a good school that fits the level of the student athletes' talent. there are so many choices it seems a shame to spend so much time on tennis to go to a school that you will never play for. seems a waste of years of hard work when there are certainly schools as good or better in most cases, with more appropriate tennis levels. i feel kids should be able to start as freshmen to stay motivated and improve. otherwise, it is just a study in frustration.
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