Pro Circuit Recap – Ryan Shane & Sam Monette Sweep Futures in US & Canada; Irina Falconi Wins K Event in Mexico; Emina Bektas Awesome in Albuquerque

Tagged with: Alex Lawson, Alicia Barnett, Amy Zhu, Emina Betkas, Evan Zhu, Henry Craig, Irina Falconi, Jasmine Lee, Johann Willems, Nate Lammons, Nicholas Hu, Pro Circuit Weekly Totals, Ronnie Schneider, Ryan Shane, Sam Monette

While John Isner was keeping Team World alive in the Laver Cup there were several other players with college ties that were leaving their mark on pro events across the globe. Ryan Shane, who won the 2015 NCAA singles championship during his junior season at Virginia, swept both the singles and doubles titles at the $15K Laguna Niguel (CA) USA 31 Futures. Shane teamed up with former ACC rival Ronnie Schneider to win the doubles title with a 7-5, 6-2 win over TCU senior Trevor Johnson and BYU graduate Patrick Kawka. Two days later Shane won his third career singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Denver graduate Henry Craig. Shane only dropped one set on the week and won his last four matches going away. Shane picked up 18 ATP points with the win and when they are added in next week he’ll have a new career high ranking of around 480. 

 

Indiana graduate Sam Monette won his second career doubles title and first career singles title at the $25K Niagara, Canada F8 Futures. Monette and Harvard graduate Nicholas Hu rolled over St. John’s graduate Gary Kushnirovich and Yanais Laurent 6-0, 6-2 in the doubles final. In the singles final Monette defeated the top seed Sam Barry 6-3, 7-6(4). Monette won 10 of 11 sets on the week including a come from behind win over the No. 2 seed Illinois graduate Dennis Nevolo in the quarterfinals. Nevolo served for the match up 6-4, 5-4 but Monette broke at love and then after taking the second set in a tiebreak he ran away in the third set. Monette picked up 27 ATP points for the win which will bump his current career high ranking of 679 up to around 526. 

 

 

Irina Falconi, who was a two-time All-American at Georgia Tech, won the ITF $100K in Tampico, Mexico, with a 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 win over Louisa Chirico. Falconi won three of her five matches in straight sets with the other scare coming in the second round against Anastasia Potapova. Falconi won the opening set 6-4 and was up a break in the second at 4-3 but Potapova came back to take the set 7-5. Falconi jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set and was serving for the match with two match points but Potapova got the break for 5-1. Potapova then reeled off five more games to take a 6-5 lead but Falconi managed to hold and then rolled through the tiebreak 7-4. Falconi won $14,630 plus picked up 150 ranking points which moved her ranking up from 206 to 145. 

 

 

Michigan graduate Emina Bektas won her third career singles title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over USC graduate Maria Sanchez at the ITF $80K in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bektas defeated the No. 2 seed Sofia Kenin (WTA 110) in the first round and then won back-to-back three setters over USC graduate Sabrina Santamaria and the No. 8 seed Sesil Karatantcheva. In the semifinals Bektas defeated Sherazad Reix (WTA 264) in straight sets. Bektas picked up 115 ranking points with the win and moved up to a new career high of 234. 

 

 

Mississippi State graduate Hua-Chen (Jasmine) Lee won her second singles title of the year with 6-2, 6-2 win over Tamaryn Hendler at the ITF $15K in Hua Hin, Thailand. Lee won all five of her matches in straight sets and didn’t drop more than six games in any match. Lee has gone 29-5 since finishing school in May and she has made the final in four of six events. Lee’s current ranking is 645 and when the 12 points from this past week are added in her ranking will rise to around 565. 

 

 

Notre Dame graduate Alex Lawson and SMU graduate Nate Lammons won the doubles title at the $25K Plaisir, France F20 Futures with a 4-6, 7-6(7), 10-4 win over Antoine Hoang and Gregoire Jacq. Lawson and Lammons trailed 6-4, 5-3 but they broke on the no-ad/match point for 4-5 and then held two more times to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak they trailed 6-4* but fought off both match points and then fought off one more at 7-6* before taking the tiebreak 9-7. In the third set supertiebreak Lawson and Lammons led wire-to-wire and won 10-4. It was the first career pro title for Lawson while it was Lammons fifth of the year and seventh overall. Lawson currently has a doubles ranking of 228, which is a career high, while Lammons is just 13 spots off his career high of 310. 

This past weekend was a good one in the Zhu household as Amy and Evan each won their first pro titles and they both happened to be in the same place – Hammamet, Tunisia. Amy, who played at Michigan from 2012 to 2014, teamed up with Mia Nicole Eklund to defeat Vasilisa Ponasenko and Beatrice Lombardo 6-1, 6-4. Zhu and Eklund won back-to-back matches in third set supertiebreaks with their biggest scare coming in the semifinals against Angelica Moratelli and Isabella Shinikova. Zhu and Eklund trailed 5-1 in the supertiebreak but they rallied to win 9 of the next 11 points to take it 10-7.  

Evan, who is a sophomore at UCLA, teamed up with Harri Heliovaara to defeat Luis Britto and Marcelo Zormann 6-1, 6-4 at the Tunisia F27 Futures. Zhu and Heliovaara won all four matches in straight set with their closest match coming in the second round in a 6-4, 6-3 win over Louis Chaix and Laurent Rochette.

Johann Willems, who played one season at Texas Tech, won his first pro title at the Turkey F35 Futures in Antalya. Willems teamed up with Michiel De Krom to defeat Alexander Rler and Vit Kopriva 6-7(0), 6-2, 11-9 in the doubles final. Willems and De Krom trailed 9-7 in the supertiebreak and won the next four points to win it 11-9. 

 

 

Northwestern graduate Alicia Barnett won her first pro title at the ITF $15K in Madrid, Spain. Barnett teamed up with fellow Brit Olivia Nicholls to defeat Marina Bassols Ribera and Julia Payola 6-1, 6-2 in the doubles final. Barnett and Nicholls won all four matches in straight sets with their only competitive match coming in the second round when they won 7-6, 6-3. 

 

Below is a list of last weekend’s winners and runner-ups on the pro circuit.