Monday, July 16, 2001
Teen conquers Met; next, the world
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tanya Luzhanka's first Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tennis Championship will probably be her last.
Tanya Luzhanka
(Yuli Wu photo)
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Luzhanka, a 16-year-old from the Ukraine with professional ambitions, played flawless tennis Sunday in defeating two-time women's champion Kara Molony-Hussey 6-2, 6-0 on the clay courts at Lunken Playfield.
“I'd like to come back next year, but I'll probably be playing at Wimbledon,” Luzhanka said. “This year I played in the juniors but next year I want to play in the main draw.”
The victory was Luzhanka's fourth and third over a seeded opponent.
She opened last Sunday with a victory over Kathy Budde (6-0, 6-0) and followed by wins over (No.6) Amy Frisch (6-3, 6-1), (4) Kimberley Jones-Schaefer (6-3, 6-4) and defending champion Emelia Anderson (5-7, 6-1, 6-4).
Luzhanka will leave tomorrow for a satellite tournament in Baltimore, followed by one in Evanston, Ill. If she does well, she plans to play in the U.S. Open juniors in August.
Luzhanka's steady and powerful hitting was so dominant the Sharonville resident won the last 10 games after playing Molony-Hussey to a 2-2 standoff in the first set.
“She is a good player and very strong mentally,” Molony-Hussey said.
“I had a lot of chances in the first set but didn't capitalize. She gained a lot of confidence in the first set and rolled with it in the second. By this I mean, she started to play more aggressively in the second.”
Molony-Hussey watched Luzhanka and Emelia Anderson battle in Saturday's semifinals and came away with a strategy to play aggressively, take pace off the ball and hit some slicing shots.
“She kept the ball so high and so deep that I couldn't slice,” the 21-year-old Molony-Hussey said. “I tried to take advantage of her serve because they were the only balls not back by the base line.”
Luzhanka started playing tennis seven years ago. Soon, she and her mother, Vicky, moved to Israel, where tennis and training facilities are more abundant.
The family came to Cincinnati in December and lives with a family friend, Bobby Carter, in Sharonville. Because she established residency before Jan. 1, Luzhanka was eligible to compete.
Initially, Luzhanka wasn't thrilled about playing in the Met. Today, she is thrilled at taking home the trophy.
After arriving from England two weeks ago, Luzhanka was expecting to take a week off to rest for the next satellite tournament. But Carter encouraged her to enter.
“I didn't know anything about this tournament nor did I want to play in it, ” Luzhanka said. “But after the first match, I realized it was important in Cincinnati. It was good experience, and I'm glad I won.”
Winning so easily surprised Luzhanka.
“I was looking for a close match,” Luzhanka said. “I watched her play a little on Saturday but couldn't determine any weaknesses. My strategy was to keep the ball in play and hope she made mistakes.”
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Teen conquers Met; next, the world
