USTA Pro Circuit $25K Daytona Beach Women’s Tennis Preview; Wild Card Tourney

One wild card winner will gain entry to the main draw of the USTA Pro Circuit’s $25,000 Daytona Beach Women’s Pro Tennis Tournament, and two other players will receive qualifying wild cards when the Daytona Beach Women’s Pro Tennis Wild Card Tournament begins on Dec. 31, 2016.

“The winner gets direct entry into the $25,000 Daytona Beach Women’s Pro Tennis Tournament on Jan. 8-15, 2017,” says Tournament Director Tom Kelly. “Two other wildcards can be earned by finishing second, or winning the contest between the back draw and the third place winner.”

The deadline for entry for the wild card tournament is Dec. 28.

Americans entered in the main draw of the $25,000 Daytona Beach Women’s Pro Tennis Tournament on Jan. 8-15, 2017 are Sofia Kenin, Kristie Ahn, Robin Anderson, Lauren Albanese, and Danielle Rose Collins.

Last year’s event was won by Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, the No. 3 seed, who in the final topped unseeded 17-year-old Olga Fridman of the Ukraine 0-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the Florida Tennis Center in Daytona Beach.

The 21-year-old Jabeur in the semifinals upset No. 2 seed Grace Min 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. In the early rounds Jabeur dispatched of Americans Taylor Townsend, the former No. 1 junior in the world in three sets, and another American in Bernarda Pera. Jabeur, the 2011 French Open girls’ champ, survived three three-set wins during the week. She improved to 8-4 in career ITF-level finals, winning her first on U.S. soil.

The doubles title was won by No. 4-seeded Russians Natela Dzalamidze and Veronika Kudermetova, who in the final defeated No. 3-seeded Canadians Sharon Fichman and Carol Zhao 6-4, 6-3.

Former Daytona Beach Women’s Open singles and doubles champs:

2016 — Ons Jabeur (TUN), Natela Dzalamidze/Veronika Kudermetova (RUS)
2015 — Darya Kasatkina (RUS), Jan Abaza/Sanaz Marand (USA)
2014 — Anna Tatishvili (GEO), Nicole Melichar (USA)/Teodora Mircic (SRB)

“The Daytona Beach pro tournament kicks off a three-city Florida tour with events scheduled for Lake Nona and Wesley Chapel,” Kelly said.

The Daytona event will be followed by the Orlando Professional Tennis series women’s event beginning Jan. 9 at the USTA National Campus in the Lake Nona region of Orlando, then the Saddlebrook USTA Pro Circuit Women’s $25K at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel. For more info go to www.usta.com/Pro-Tennis/Pro-Circuit/2017_womens_pro_circuit_tournaments__january.

For more info on the Daytona Beach wild card tournament or to enter go to www.protennisdaytona.com.