| Fitzpatrick/Veselinovic Scale New Heights with Second Successive Title |
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| Saturday, 01 March 2008 17:33 |
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Monte Carlo Tennis Academy duo Anna Fitzpatrick and Ana Veselinovic have won back-to-back doubles titles on US soil to send their rankings higher than ever before. The pair, who lifted the winners' trophy in Clearwater, Florida last week, joined forces to win another impressive title at the $25,000 event in Fort Walton Beach. Fitzpatrick and Veselinovic beat Dutch pair Nicole Thyssen and Pauline Wong 6-3 7-6 (4) in the final, fighting back from a 4-0 deficit in the second set. "We are really happy to win back to back titles," said Fitzpatrick. "We fought hard in the 2nd set to get back even and eventually win it - we didn't get disappointed and let the set go, we kept fighting." The victory is likely to catapult Veselinovic's doubles ranking to inside the top 200 for the first time, while Fitzpatrick will rise almost 80 places in two weeks to around No.230. MCTA Director of Tennis David Sammel said: "This is impressive. Back to back titles are rare at challenger level and this is an achievement that deserves respect. We are a proud academy today and hopefully they can make it a hatrick in the 50K in Vegas this week if they get in! The points are not yet on the computer from either tournament which is tough on them if it means missing out on Vegas." |
