Japan’s Mai Hontama will face American Mary Stoiana tomorrow at 12 p.m. in the ITF W50 Austin singles final.
No. 4 seed Hontama, currently ranked No. 260 with a career-high of No. 105, is eyeing a spot in the Australian Open qualifying draw. A win tomorrow would not only secure her a main-draw wildcard into the ATX Open, but also lock in her place at the first Grand Slam of the year. She reached the championship match with a gritty comeback against top seed Anastasia Gasanova, rallying from 0–4 down in the third set before taking the decider 7–5.
Across the net stands No. 7 seed Mary Stoiana, a former Texas A&M Aggie riding strong momentum. She recently reached the quarterfinals of the AUSTIN125 and was a runner-up earlier this fall at the W100 in Tyler, Texas, under the guidance of Argentine coach Francisco Vittar. After a month of training at the Carlos DiLaura Academy, Stoiana now looks to cap her run with the W50 title — and the accompanying wildcard into the ATX Open.