PVE Player Advances to Semis at US Open National Playoffs

It took an hour longer than she wanted, but PVE native Macall Harkins has advanced into the semifinals of the US Open National Playoffs.

at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. on Friday, Harkins appeared to be cruising in her quarterfinal match against Megan Falcon of Baton Rouge, La. Holding two match points at 5-4 in the second set, she double faulted twice to give away the game and ultimately lost the set on another double fault, but regrouped to pull out a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 victory.

Harkins is now two matches away from winning the tournament and the coveted wildcard into the qualifying draw for the women’s singles event at the US Open, held in New York City from Aug. 23-26.

“I still struggle with staying positive in situations like that," Harkins said. “It’s tempting to think about the match points or the opportunity you had when you’re out there, but it’s so important to regroup and stay in the present.”

The first set of the match was arguably the best tennis of the tournament so far for Harkins. Making over 80 percent of her first serves, she was able to take advantage of the often short replies from Falcon and hit crushing forehand winners.

The only bad patch of form in the second set for Harkins came as she was trying to serve out the match. After losing her serve to level the match at 5-5, Falcon raised the level of her play and began to successfully gamble with hitting harder on her groundstrokes.

“I made too many errors toward the end of that set and she started to raise her level quite a bit,” Harkins said.

Up 5-2 in the third set, Harkins failed to serve out the match once again, but was able to find the range on her shots in the next game, as Falcon sent a forehand into the net to wrap up the match.

Harkins will play unseeded Robin Anderson, of Matawan, New Jersey, in the semifinals Saturday. The two competed in the finals of a wildcard playoff earlier this summer for a spot in the qualifying at the Texas Tennis Open, a Women's Tennis Association event in Dallas. Harkins won that match in three sets.

However, because the first day of qualifying at that event falls at the same time as her semifinal match in New Haven, Harkins was forced to relinquish the wild card in order to continue competing here.

“Had I known the two events overlapped, I probably would have dropped one of them,” Harkins said. “It’s tough to give up the chance to play in a WTA event, but the chance to play in the US Open is a bigger opportunity.”

Anderson received a wildcard into the qualifying draw of the New Haven Open this week, which is a WTA event that is being held at the same site as the US Open National Playoffs. She will play her second round qualifying match in that event in the morning—just before facing Harkins in the afternoon.

“Honestly, I’m hoping they go for a while out there,” Harkins said.