This afternoon the singles' main draw of the second leg of "PLDT-SMART ITF Women's Circuit" in the birthplace of Lea Salonga was released. This tourney with total prize money of US $ 10,000 is still taking place at the prestigious and historical Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila. Tomorrow all the players will be back in swinging their racquets on hard court (outdoor) made of truflex acrylic along with "Dunlop" as its official balls.
Same as last week, New Zealander Sacha Jones and China's Lu Jia-Jing topped the draw and no accident they were ousted in the second round of the first leg. Jones will play her opening round against Sophia Mulsap of Thailand. Both players, Jones and Mulsap are 18 years old and they had no record of meeting before. This Auckland resident is currently at WTA 306, she had her best result so far at Carson 50K in California last May. Jones has beaten Indonesia's number one Sandy Gumulya, Ayu Fani Damayanti and Lavinia Tananta. In fact, Tananta trails in her head to head with Jones, 0-2.
Second seeded Lu is going to be challenged by her compatriot Zhong Yi. Lu recorded her best outcome this season when she claimed her 10K titles back to back in Khonkan and Nonthaburi, Thailand last August. En route to the two finals, she bumped off Jeong Yoon-Young and Mulsap in Khonkan then in Nonthaburi, she defeated Tananta and Mulsap again. Lu will turn 19 years old tomorrow.
Third seeded Vietnamese Nguyen Thuy-Dung who crashed out in the first round last week will face another Thai teenager, Nicha Lertpitaksinchai. Nguyen's top performance so far this year as 10K's semi-finalists in Khonkan, Thailand and Gurgaon, India. Nguyen survived the scare and eventually won over Lertpitaksinchai in three sets of their first clash at Chiang Mai 10K, Thailand.
Fourth seeded Yumi Nakano of Japan will battle against her compatriot, Tomoko Taira in the opening round. Last September at Kyoto 10K in Japan, Nakano arrived at her best result with semi-final appearance after lingering struggle since last May in total of 12 tournaments. Fifth seeded Tananta is scheduled to play with 26 years old Cassandra Barr from Australia in the first round. Then sixth seeded Tomoko Dokei of Japan will play against Jessy Rompies for their second meeting in the opening round. Last year in Jakarta 10K, also in the first round Rompies shocked Dokei in a close match and won 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3.
The two remaining seeds, seventh seeded Ayu Fani Damayanti will face local Pinoy and wild card Michelle Pang in the first round. Finally last but not least, 17 years old and eighth seeded Li Ting of China will start her campaign by facing "come back" and local wild card, Czarina-Mae Arevalo. This 23 years old Pinoy has been away from the tour for a year and last year here at Manila 10K, she was a quarter-finalist.
Two quarter-finalists of the first leg last week, Malaysian Jawairiah Noordin and Juan Ting-Fei from Chinese Taipei could not continue their fine form this past week-end. Noordin crashed out in the first round of qualifying, while Juan lost in the final round of qualifying.
In doubles, top seeded pair of Japan, Tomoko Dokei and Tomoko Taira will face Thai pair, Lertpitaksinchai and Mulsap in the first round. Second seeded Alisa Ogorodova/Lavinia Tananta will play against Guo Zhi-Xian/Yang Yi of China in the opening round. Another Chinese duo, in their first round, Li Ting/Zheng Jun-Yi will be challenged by Yumi Nakano/Yoo Mi (Japan/South Korea) and fourth seeded Damayanti/Rompies will clash with local wild card duet, Arevalo/Pang also in the opening round.
Picture of Jones at WTT in Washington DC (07/2008) - courtesy of dreamstime.com
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