Stewart Beats Kenin in All-Florida USTA Pro Circuit Gainesville Final

Katerina Stewart

In the all-Florida final at the USTA Pro Circuit Gainesville $10,000 women’s tennis tournament on Sunday, top-seeded Katerina Stewart of Miami outlasted qualifier Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to win her first USTA Pro Circuit title of 2015.

“Kenin was serving up 3-2 in the final set, but lost three straight games,” wrote blogger Colette Lewis of zootennis.com. “Stewart was broken at love serving for the match, but Kenin went down 15-40 serving at 4-5, and Stewart converted her second match point to claim her fourth $10,000-level title.”

The 17-year-old Stewart was not challenged until the semifinals when in three sets she defeated No. 4 seed Katerina Kramperova of the Czech Republic, who she had lost to in last year’s Gainesville final.

The 16-year-old Kenin in her semifinal beat a fellow qualifier, 17-year-old Kaitlyn McCarthy of the U.S. Kenin did not face a seeded player until the final, reaching her first USTA Pro Circuit championship.

Both players are former champs at the USTA Florida ‘Bobby Curtis’ Junior State Singles Championships, and Kenin ended 2014 with her biggest juniors win at the ITF Grade A Metropolia Orange Bowl in December at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Fla.

Kenin and Marie Norris, who qualified into the doubles main draw, lost in the final to American Ingrid Neel and Fanni Stollar of Hungary.

Since 1979, 17 USTA Pro Circuit alums (including five Americans) have achieved the No. 1 world singles rankings. Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Lindsay Davenport, Pete Sampras, Justine Henin, Jim Courier and Andre Agassi are among the game’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. For more info go to www.usta.com/Pro-Tennis/Pro-Circuit.