WDSA Women’s Pro Doubles Preview: Strong Field Gears Up For John’s Island Open This Weekend  
by Rob Dinerman


Dateline April 14th --- The third annual John’s Island Open in Vero Beach this weekend, sponsored by John’s Island Real Estate, features a balanced field in which as many as a half-dozen of the nine entered teams are capable of advancing to the winner’s circle, depending on who can peak at the right time. This is true partly because of how evenly matched the teams appear to be, and partly as well due to the withdrawal of the two-time reigning champions Suzie Pierrepont and Narelle Krizek, the result of a severe foot injury incurred by Krizek during her semifinal match in the Hashim Khan Open in Denver last month. Krizek, who tore several muscles in the bottom of her left foot near the heel, will be confined to a walking boot for the next six weeks and will therefore also be unable to play with her sister Tarsh McElhinny in the biennial World Doubles event in Chicago in May.

   Occupying the No. 1 seeding in their absence will be McElhinny and Dana Betts, whose first-round match-up on Friday will be against 2012 U. S. Open finalists Amy Gross and Alex Clark, with the winner to then take on whichever team wins the match between the Carrie Hastings/Tina Rix and Gina Stoker/Victoria Simmonds pairings. In the other half, there will be one qualifying match Thursday evening in which Sarah West and Dawn Gray will face off against WSA women’s pro singles standouts Jenny Duncalf and four-time British Open champ Rachael Grinham, with the winner to then face just-crowned Canadian National Doubles winners Seanna Keating and Steph Hewitt, whose straight-set final-round victory this past Saturday over three-time defenders Betts and Jess DiMauro should give them tremendous momentum coming into Florida. The other quarterfinal will pit Amanda Sobhy (fresh off winning the Texas Open stop on the WSA circuit this past weekend) and Latasha Khan, semifinalists in this event a year ago, against Meredeth Quick and Karen Jerome. The semifinals will take place Saturday afternoon, with the final set for 11 AM on Sunday.