| Yuliana Fedak (UKR) |
6 |
6 |
| Alexandra Stevenson (USA) |
4 |
1 |
Local favorite, Alexandra Stevenson, showed flashes of brilliance that made her a Wimbledon semifinalist, but it was not enough as she dropped a first-round Acura Classic qualifying match on Saturday to Yuliana Fedak of the Ukraine, 6-4, 6-1.
Unforced errors and signs of a pectoral strain were Stevenson’s downfall in the encounter, which took exactly one hour, as she struggled to get back into the match after dropping her opening service games in each set.
Down 2-0 in the first set, Stevenson easily held serve at love as she hit an ace on game point. She tied the set at 2-2 as she broke Fedak in the next game as the Ukrainian hit a forehand wide.
Stevenson fell behind 4-2 but held and then broke Fedak for the second time in the set.
At 4-4, Fedak broke back by hitting several key volley winners to take a 5-4 lead. She held serve when Stevenson netted a forehand, giving Fedak the first set.
In the second set, it was all Fedak as she built a 3-0 lead and cruised to the victory as she won the set in 26 minutes.
Fedak converted on four of seven break point opportunities during the match.
- Fedak will face American Lilia Osterloh in a second-round qualifying match.
- Fedak turned professional in 1998.
- Fedak reached the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event in Canberra in 2005.
- Fedak played on the 2004 Ukrainian Fed Cup team.
- Stevenson is a San Diego native and a graduate of La Jolla Country Day
- Stevenson was the first female qualifier to get to the semi-finals of Wimbledon which was her debut at that event.
- Stevenson began playing at age nine.
- Stevenson achieved her career high ranking of 18 in the world in 2002
For more match summaries, please click here.
|
