Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 25, 1993 TAG: 9307260286
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Qualifying begins at 8 a.m. today and continues Monday. Main-draw matches begin Tuesday and lead to Saturday's semifinals and the Aug. 1 championship match.
The tennis equivalent of baseball's minor leagues, the tournament features low-ranked professionals and top college players competing for prize money and ratings points.
A 13-year-old named Mary Pierce won the doubles tournament in 1989. Pierce now ranks 14th in the world in singles.
A look back at some other players who passed through Roanoke finds some ascending, some treading water and others out of the game.
\ TAMI WHITLINGER
Neenah, Wis., native (above) lost in semifinals of 1989 Roanoke tournament about a month after she turned pro. . . . Ranked 70th, she has won $50,352 this year, $315,911 in her career. . . . Has won two singles titles, both in '89, but her best year was '91 when she was ranked as high as 41st in the world and reached the fourth round of the French Open. . . . The 24-year-old former Stanford University player is 90-78 in career matches.
\ AI SUGIYAMA
Won the 1992 Roanoke event when Tatiana Ignatieva defaulted because of injury. Sugiyama (above) won the first set 6-2 and trailed in the second 2-3 when Ignatieva was forced out. . . . Ranked 159th, she is expected to defend her only career singles title and would be one of the highest-ranked players ever to enter the Roanoke tournament. . . . Has won $27,208 this year and $48,643 in her career. The 18-year-old Tokyo native turned pro in October.
\ JULIE SHIFLET
The Virginia Beach, Va., native (above) has one career tournament victory - the 1990 USTA Women's Circuit of Roanoke, when she was 17 years old and undecided whether to turn pro or go to college. . . . Attended William and Mary before announcing she had turned pro in August. . . . Has struggled since, compiling a career record of 56-62. . . . Ranked 248th. . . . Has won $8,188 this year and $35,350 in her career.
\ KRISTINE KURTH
Won the 1991 Roanoke tournament the summer after deciding to transfer from William and Mary to Stanford, where she is preparing for her senior year. . . . Returned to Roanoke in '92 but lost a first-round main-draw match to Ignatieva. . . . The Massapequa Park, N.Y., native was ranked 16th in the national collegiate rankings in 1991, and she finished the 1993 school year ranked 42nd. . . . Her computer ranking, because she has not played many tournaments, is 551.
\ SANDRA BIRCH
The 1988 Roanoke winner was selected Tennis Magazine/Volvo college player of the year in 1991. . . . Her college coach, Frank Brennan, said injuries helped lead Birch to retire from competitive tennis, and he said the Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford is a stock-market analyst with Merrill Lynch in New York City. . . . The Huntington Bay, N.Y., native won $30,201 through 1992 and had a career record of 30-24.
\ TATIANA IGNATIEVA
The 19-year-old from Minsk, Belarus, defaulted in the singles final of the 1992 Roanoke event. . . . Ranked 106th, she has won $27,365 this year, $43,985 in her career. . . . Made the Wimbledon draw but was eliminated in the first round. . . . Was ranked in the 700s when she moved from Minsk to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1990 but entered the Roanoke tournament ranked 227th. . . . Has yet to win a tournament.
\ RACHEL JENSEN
Was seeded No. 1 at Roanoke in 1991 and 1992, advancing to the semifinals her first year (losing to Kurth) and getting to the quarterfinals last year. . . . Ranked 254th, she has two career singles tournament victories. . . . The 20-year-old Norcross, Ga., native has won $8,751 this year and $35,801 in her career. . . . Although she has lost nine of 15 matches this year, her career record is 57-51.
\ CAROLINE KUHLMAN
A semifinalist in a $25,000 event in Roanoke in 1985, she had double-knee surgery to relieve tendinitis in 1986 after two All-America years at the University of Southern California. . . . Ranked as high as No. 52 in 1986, the 26-year-old Covington, Ky., native returned to competition in the summer of '90, when she reached the round of 16 in Roanoke. . . . Ranked 83rd, she has won $47,802 this year and $194,097 in her career, during which she has five singles titles.
\ SHANNAN McCARTHY
Won the 1989 Roanoke tournament, her only career singles victory, while a student at the University of Georgia. . . . Turned pro in June 1992. . . . Ranked 175th. . . . Is ranked higher in doubles (63rd) and has four doubles tournament titles. . . . Has won $25,771 this year, $93,136 in her career. . . . The 23-year-old from Athens, Ga., is 19-12 in matches this year and 87-52 in her career.
\ USTA PAST WINNERS
1992: Ai Sugiyama, Japan, default over Tatiana Ignatieva, CIS
\ 1991: Kristine Kurth, U .S., def. Paloma Collantes, Spain
\ 1990: Julie Shiflet, U.S. def. Lisa Albano, U.S.
\ 1989: Shannan McCarthy, U.S. def. Shawn Foltz, U.S.
\ 1988: Sandra Birch, U.S. def. Nana Miyagi, Japan
by CNB