3rd & 4th playoff
USA vs. Spain
USA defeats Spain 2-1 to come in 3rd place in the 2009 ITF Senior World Team Championships!
The USA Young Cup team clinches a bronze medal!
Our #2 singles player, Renata, played Leticia Almrall of Spain. Renata was down in the 1st set 3-5 and came back winning 4 games in a row to win 7-5. Then Renata kept her momentum going in the 2nd set and won 6-2!! Great job Renata!
USA 1 Spain 0
Our #1 singles player, Vesna, played Ana Maria Segura. Vesna had a great start in the 1st set and was up 5-1 when Ana came charging back to be up 6-5. Vesna held serve to make it 6-6 and went into a tie breaker. Ana won the tie breaker 7-1.In the 2nd set Vesna lost 6-1 to a very strong ground stroking Ana Maria Segura.
The match came down to our doubles team of Rachel and Renata who played against Ana Maria Segura and Rosa Bielsa of Spain. Rachel and Renata played a great 1st set with crisp volleys and awesome hands at the net. They won 6-3. In the 2nd set they were down 3-0 very quickly. Then they were down 4-1 and ended up losing the set 3-6. They got very pumped up for the 3rd set and had the strategy to be very aggressive and get to the net! This strategy paid off for the Americans and they went on to win the match 6-2!!
I am very honored to be writing this blog because this was a big win for us over Spain. We are very excited to be bringing home the bronze medals!
In this blog I am being interviewed by my team mates.
Rachel Gale-Interview
Rachel is the Assistant Tennis Coach at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I love my job and being so fortunate to coach under head coach Kelly Weaver! The Meredith girl’s tennis team has made it to the NCAA’s this year and two days after I get back from Turkey I will go with my team to the NCAA tournament. The girls on the team are a very special group of individuals! It is great to have a job you love.” Rachel is also a teaching pro at Lochmere swim and tennis club in Raleigh, NC.
This is Rachel’s 2nd World Team Championships. She played on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup team in Turkey in 2008. This year Rachel was a playing captain.How do you like being a playing captain?
After today’s doubles match I can say I LOVE being a playing captain! It was nice to play with Renata and pull out the win for our team mates!! I have totally enjoyed being with my team: Renata, Vesna and Carolyn all week long. We really bonded during this week! I have enjoyed interviewing them and writing these blogs each day. My team has been very supportive and they have made it easy for me to be their captain! This experience has been second to none! My team has given 100% of themselves in this tournament and for this I thank them very much!!
On behalf of the 2009 Young Cup Team I would like to thank the USTA promoters and sponsors for this opportunity to play for our country. We are honored to be promoting tennis to our younger and older players in the United States. Tennis is a sport of a lifetime and the Young Cup team has cherished this opportunity and was proud to bring home a 3rd place finish!
Your 2009 Young Cup Team Members,
Rachel Gale-Captain
Vesna McKenna
Renata Marcinkowska
Carolyn Wei