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.
