Harrison Confident Heading into Clay Court Opener; Davis Wins Atlanta 10K; Falconi Joins Lobsters

It's been a long day of travel, but I'm here in Memphis for the USTA Girls 18s Clay Courts, and I'll have live coverage beginning Monday and extending through the final next Sunday. The first rounds of both singles and doubles were played today, with seeds taking the court for the first time in Monday's second round. Dangerous unseeded players Katrine Steffensen, Julia Elbaba, Kelsey Laurente, Anna Mamalat and Denise Starr all won today; Steffensen will challenge defending champion and No. 11 seed Caroline Price tomorrow and finalist Whitney Kay, the No. 2 seed, will be tested by Starr in Monday's action.

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal has been covering local junior Catherine Harrison's participation in this event for all four years I've been attending this tournament, and this year she's the subject of a more in-depth feature that focuses on the improvements she's made in her game. The No. 4 seed in the tournament this year, Harrison says her backhand and fitness are both improved over a year ago, when she made the semifinals, and says, "This year, I don't feel I have a weakness. I like all my strokes."

For the draws, see the TennisLink site.

In the $10,000 Atlanta Pro Circuit event, top seed Lauren Davis beat No. 2 seed Alexis King 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 to win her second tournament this month and her tenth match in a row. Davis is next scheduled to compete at this week's $50,000 event in Lexington Kentucky, but the main draw has not yet been released.

See the Pro Circuit page at usta.com for the results of the other finals this week and qualifying for upcoming tournaments.

In Austria today, Allie Kiick lost in the final of the ITF Grade 1, dropping a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 decision to No. 7 seed Klara Fabikova of the Czech Republic. Dennis Novak of Austria, the No. 4 seed, beat top seeded countryman Patrick Ofner 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. At the Grade 1 in Morocco, Matias Sborowitz of Chile and Indy De Vroome of the Netherlands were the winners. William Kwok of the US won the boys doubles with Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan.

Unseeded Austin Siegel of the US won the ITF Grade 4 in Curacao, beating top seed Robert Livi of the US 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Siegel and Walner Espinoza of Panama also collected the doubles title.

Irina Falconi cut short her training sessions post-Wimbledon to help the Boston Lobsters, whose replacement for CoCo Vandeweghe, Chanelle Scheepers, was injured. This Boston Herald article explains how the former Georgia Tech All-American ended up playing World Team Tennis this month, on very short notice.