It’s time for the second half of the first round of the main draw at the HEB Women’s Pro Tennis Open at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin, with at least one player who’s gotten plenty of court time.
Thaisa Pedretti started and ended Tuesday by playing the longest match in Dropshot’s history, and now the Brazilian will be the final match of the day on Court 1, facing Whitney Osuigwe, a native of Bradenton, Fla. Pedretti will be looking to put up the same fight she did yesterday, when she defeated Jiangxue Han 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 in a match that took over four hours.
A few players have an opportunity to gain ranking points without facing a seed: wild cards Karina Miler and Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz, a Longhorn, face off in Court 3. Qualifiers Rinon Okuwaki and Carmen Andreea Herea, another Longhorn, face on Court 2. Also qualifiers Jasmijn Gimbrere
and Yujia Huang of China, pictured above, face on Court 5.
Some of the tournament’s top-seeded players will see action for the first time today, including No. 1 Ekaterina Makarova, who will play Japan’s Haruka Kaji in the second match on Court 3. No. 3 Alina Charaeva will face off against Kayla Cross, a 19-year-old Canadian, in the second match on Court 2.
It will be another action-packed day in Austin, as the November sun will continue to scorch all day. Following the conclusion of singles play, doubles will continue its first round of play, featuring several matchups of Longhorns, current and former.
The Texas first-year duo of Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz will take on junior Vivian Ovrootsky and recent graduate Charlotte Chavatipon. — Lindsey Plotkin