Top-Seeded Anderson to Play Freshman Loeb for Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Singles Championship
UCLA vs. USC in "West Coast" doubles final
Singles Draw
Doubles Draw
Singles Backdraw
Doubles Backdraw
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. (Oct. 5) - As the dust settles at the Riviera Country Club and matches wrap up on day three of main draw action, the singles and doubles finals have been set for tomorrow at the 2013 Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships. No. 1 seed Robin Anderson of UCLA will take the court against North Carolina freshman qualifier Jamie Loeb. In doubles, USC's Giuliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis will battle UCLA's Anderson and Jennifer Brady in a Pac-12 showdown.
Robin Anderson advanced to both the singles and
doubles final on Saturday
Photo by Allen Weiss
Anderson earned her spot in Sunday's final with a 7-6(6), 6-3 win over qualifier Cristina Stancu of Texas A&M. Anderson hopped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Romanian challenger broke back to get things back on serve. Stancu broke Anderson at 4-all to serve for the first set, but the Bruin stayed focus and found a way to break back.
Each player held one more time to force a tiebreaker, but Anderson won three straight points from 2-2 to open up a 5-2 lead. Three points later, Anderson captured the first set. The Aggie kept her composure, holding serve to open the second set. However, Anderson broke at 1-all and didn't look back from there, rolling to a 6-3 triumph and a berth in the final. With Saturday's win, she became the first UCLA player to make the singles final since Keri Phebus did in 1994. No UCLA player has ever won the Women's All-American Championship.
In the other semifinal, Loeb won the first set over No. 2 seed Lauren Herring (Georgia), 6-2, in dominant fashion. However, Herring gained control in the second set, shooting to a 5-2 lead and the match seemed to be destined for a third set.
Loeb found the gear she's found in the second set all tournament, rattling of three straight games and eventually forcing a tiebreaker. With momentum on her side, Loeb won the tiebreaker and, with that, a chance to play Anderson in the final. Loeb is the first North Carolina player to advance to the finals at Riviera.
In doubles, both semifinals proved to be one-sided. Anderson won her second match of the day, teaming up with Brady in a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tar Heels Whitney Kay and Caroline Price. The Bruin pair is the first in school history to make the doubles final.
Whitney Kay and Caroline Price saw their run at Riviera end in the semifinals
Photo by Allen Weiss
In the other semifinal, Olmos and Scandalis continued their winning ways against Kristie Ahn and Carol Zhao of Stanford. The Trojan pair dominated from start to finish in a 6-3, 6-0 victory. The Women from Troy are trying to keep the title in Southern California, as teammates Sabrina Santamaria and Kaitlyn Christian were the first from USC to win it all last year. A Santamaria injury forced the top-ranked duo out of this year's tournament.
In the doubles consolation final, Michigan's Emina Bektas and Brooke Bolender earned an automatic bid to the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships with an 8-5 win over Georgia Tech's Kendal Woodard and Megan Kurey. The tournament is held from Nov. 7-10 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY. The singles consolation final will be contested tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. with Julia Elbaba of Virginia and Brianna Morgan vying for the title and a bid to Flushing.
Tomorrow's singles championship begins at 11 a.m., followed by the doubles final, which will start no earlier than 1 p.m. Tune in to Radio Tennis, as they continue live broadcasting the exciting action.
Follow the ITA on Twitter, @ITAtennis, for updates and news from Pacific Palisades or search for the hashtag #RivieraITA to find other tweets from those tweeting the events from the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships. Check out the ITA Facebook page or the 2013 All-American Championships webpage for more updates.
