New Yorker Irina Falconi Earns Berth in the 2011 French Open
Irina Falconi, a native of Ecuador who moved to New York City at the age of four and now resides in Atlanta, along with Tim Smyczek of Milwaukee won the 2011 USTA French Open Wild Card Playoffs on Friday at the Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla., to earn main draw wild cards into the 2011 French Open. The 20-year-old Falconi defeated Julia Boserup of Newport Beach, Calif., 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3, while the 23-year-old Smyczek beat Donald Young of Atlanta, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, in a best-of-five set final. The USTA and the French Tennis Federation have a reciprocal agreement in which men’s and women’s singles main draw wild cards into the 2011 French Open and the 2011 U.S. Open are exchanged.
Falconi, will make her third consecutive appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam event after successfully qualifying for both the 2010 U.S. Open and the 2011 Australian Open. A former two-time All-American at Georgia Tech, Falconi has won three career titles on the USTA Pro Circuit, and reached the final of the $100,000 event in Midland, Mich., earlier this year. She currently owns a career-high WTA ranking of 119th.
Smyczek will make his second appearance in a Grand Slam main draw; he earned a main draw wild card into the 2010 U.S. Open after winning a similar USTA playoff last August. He is having the best year of his professional career, reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP World Tour event in San Jose, Calif., in February, and reaching the second round in Indian Wells, Calif., after winning two matches to qualify for the main draw. He achieved a career-high ATP World Tour ranking of 158th in February and is currently ranked 174th.
Ryan Sweeting, who won his first ATP World Tour title at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships earlier this month, and Christina McHale, who recently broke into the WTA Top 100, won the 2010 playoffs to earn wild cards into the 2010 French Open.
Friday, April 22 results
â–ºWomen’s Final: No. 1 Irina Falconi def. No. 3 Julia Boserup 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3
â–ºMen’s Final: No. 2 Timothy Smycezk def. No. 1 Donald Young 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Wednesday, April 21 results
â–ºNo. 1 Irina Falconi def. No. 4 Grace Min 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
â–ºNo. 2 Timothy Smyczek def. No. 3 Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-0
â–ºNo. 3 Julia Boserup def. No. 2 Beatrice Capra 6-1, 7-6 (5)
â–ºNo. 1 Donald Young def. No. 5 Andrea Collarini 6-0, 6-2
Tuesday, April 20 results
â–ºNo. 3 Denis Kudla def. No. 6 Alexios Halebian 6-3, 6-1
â–ºNo. 5 Andrea Collarini def. No. 4 Jordan Cox 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
