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MCTA Stars Return to Action
Wesley Moodie begins his US Open
qualifying campaign on Tuesday when
he takes on Japanese No. 1 Takao
Suzuki in the first round in New
York.
The 28-year-old from South Africa,
who joined the Monte-Carlo Tennis
Academy in June, is the No. 14 seed
in the qualifying competition as he
bids to reach the main draw for the
fourth time in his career. Last
year, he defeated Max Mirnyi and
Gael Monfils before losing to World
No. 2 Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-6(5),
7-6(4) in the third round, equaling
his previous best Grand Slam
performance at Wimbledon in 2003.
Meanwhile, Ilija Vucic will be
hoping to achieve his first
professional singles ranking this
week after receiving a wild card
into the ITF Futures tournament in
Subotica in his native Serbia.
The 16-year-old, who reached the
doubles semifinals last week in Novi
Sad to earn his first doubles
ranking, will face Nemanja Kontic of
Montenegro in the first round.
MCTA stars Anna Fitzpatrick and Ana
Veselinovic also return to action
this week for the first time since
their successful spell in Canada
last month. Veselinovic captured the
singles and doubles titles in
Calgary and moved to a career-high
No. 344 in the Sony Ericsson WTA
rankings, while Fitzpatrick, a
semifinalist in the Wimbledon Junior
Championships, jumped to No. 368.
The two compete on clay at the
$25,000 ITF tournament in Moscow,
where Veselinovic takes on second
seeded Russian Anna Lapushchenkova
in the first round. Fitzpatrick, who
lost in the first round of
qualifying to Elizaveta
Tochilovskaya, teams up with
Veselinovic in the doubles.
Coach Antony Hampson is also
traveling with Finland’s Henri
Kontinen this week as the
17-year-old looks to earn his first
professional ranking points.
Kontinen, a prospective candidate
for the MCTA, qualified for the
Futures tournament in Helsinki and
faces Estonian Jurgen Zopp in the
first round of the main draw.
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