Qualifying Concludes For Women's Professional Tennis Tournament

SAN DIEGO, CA — Australian Ellen Perez was among six players qualifying for the singles main draw of the inaugural $757,900 San Diego Open WTA 500 women's tennis tournament Sunday and the unlikeliest.

Perez advanced when Russian Anna Kalinskaya retired from her match with Perez leading 4-1 at the Barnes Tennis Center.

"You never want to win in that kind of fashion, but I'm really happy with where my tennis is," said Perez, a doubles specialist who is 348th on the Women's Tennis Association singles rankings. Kalinskaya is ranked 58th.

Perez was a last-minute replacement for Russian Liudmila Samsonova, who got a spot in the main draw when Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia withdrew.

Perez was at her hotel when she was informed the resulting qualifying vacancy was hers. The 26-year-old lefthander didn't have much time to prepare, but still managed to defeat Russian Varvara Flink, 6-1, 6-1, in 54 minutes Saturday.

"It was a bit of a rollercoaster -- I wasn't sure if I was going to make it in time for the match," said Perez, who is also in the doubles main draw. "I got the call at the last second that I was actually in. To get out there and put on a solid performance without a good warm-up, I was really happy. I thought I played at a high level."

American Caroline Dolehide upset 36th-ranked Jil Teichmann of Switzerland, , 6-4, 6-2, saving seven of the eight break points she faced.

"It was a really aggressive match from both of us," said Dolehide, who is ranked 177th. "I think stepping inside the court and playing aggressive helped me out a lot today. I love playing in California, especially San Diego, because I played the juniors here. I have a lot of great memories with my family here. I love coming back."

Two other Americans also qualified for the 28-player singles main draw. Louisa Chirico defeated fellow American Ashlyn Krueger, 6-3, 6-1, in 54 minutes while Robin Montgomery defeated fellow American Bernarda Pera, 1-6, 6- 1, 6-4.

Colombian Camila Osorio upset Qinwen Zheng of China, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a three-hour match. Zheng was seeded third in the qualifying and ranked 28th. Osorio was seeded 11th and ranked 73rd.
Donna Vekic of Croatia was Sunday's other winner, defeating American Lauren Davis, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Sunday's losers received $5,410 while the winners are guaranteed at least $8,080.

Main draw play begins Monday. The main draw includes six of the top eight players, led by top-ranked Iga Swiatek, the 2022 French Open and U.S. Open champion.

The tournament received its name from the number of ranking points the champion receives. The WTA 500 tournaments are the fourth tier of tournaments on the main WTA Tour, after the four Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Finals and nine WTA 1000 tournaments.

— City News Service