Yesterday Saturday was the first use of the Costa Rica Country Club new covered courts in a tournament setting. It was a smashing success as tennis fans could view action on 8 courts almost simultaneously from the elevated mezzanine area. Players no longer must contend with windy conditions or the difficult serve toss at 11am with the sun directly overhead. The courts are spectacular!
The Boys 32 player Qualy included 2 rounds while only the first round action was played in the Girls Qualifying draw. On the Boys side there were upsets as 4 of the 8 seeds went down. No. 1 seed Christian GRONFELDT of Denmark ranked 184 was defeated by Avner WONG of USA ranked just 1015 in a 3 set second round thriller going down 10-8 in the 3rd set tiebreak. Another notable win was the second round match between Tomas MENZEL PICCIOLI of Chile ranked 351 and seeded 8th and Sklar Phillips of USA ranked 1009 where the North American took the match by an easy 6-0, 6-1 margin. The Chilean was probably not feeling 100%. The remaining 4 matches will determine who gets into the Main Draw from the Qualy.
The Girls Qualy first round went more by the book as 7 of 8 seeds and better ranked players prevailed, 3 with byes. The 7th seed loss was not really an upset as Ireland O`BRIEN of USA ranked 367 beat the Canadian Charlize CELEBRINI ranked a similar 330. A notable match was played on court 5 where Sena YOON of USA ranked 508 dispatched the better ranked Swedish player Louise TERNSTROM (386) by a 6-2, 7-5 score. The Girls play 2 rounds today to whittle down the field to the final 4 that will get their ticket to the Main Draw which starts Monday morning.
