Flower & Brodsky lead the way with 2 Bronze Balls
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| kirsten flower |
gail brodsky |
Kirsten Flower and Gail Brodsky each exceeded expectations this summer at the National Hard Courts by taking 3rd Place (the Bronze Ball) in Singles in their respective age groups.
Flower went into San Diego's USTA National Girls 16s Hard Courts as the 14th seed, having won the Midwest Sections Singles & Doubles Championships, reached the semis of the USTA Inter Sectionals 16s Competition and the Round of 32 at National Clays. Kirsten then proceeded to win 2 three-set matches and defeat 4 tough So. California players en route to the Singles Semifinals before being defeated by second seed Rica Zalinska. Flower then took down 4th seed Kristen McVitty in a hard fought 3 setter for the Bronze Ball.
"I really didn't expect to do that well at the hard courts. And playing and beating Kristen McVitty, well, I've always looked up to her so I realized that I'm at that level now and I can compete for National Titles, " said an ecstatic Flower.
Brodsky arrived in Atlanta seeded 9th after reaching the quarters at National Clays, and proceeded to defeat the #1 seed Sarah Guzick in the round of 16, then # 5 seeded Asia Muhammed in the quarters before finally being stopped by So Cal's Brittany Augustine in the semifinals. Gail then defeated #3 seed Chloe Jones for 3rd and took home the bronze ball wining 6-2 in the third set .
"I was so happy to get to play Sarah again after she beat me at Clays. I'm proud of the way I competed at the National Hard Courts-I could have lost much earlier, but I fought hard and came out ok," said Brodsky.
Gail also played the International Grass Courts in Philadelphia and the National Open 16s in New Jersey taking 3rd in the Singles and winning the Doubles with partner Madison Brengle. Brodsky finished the summer as an alternate for the Jr.US Open Qualifying tournament. Brodsky is competing at the Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl to qualify for the USTA Team that will represent the United States at the prestigious Les Petit As in Paris in January.
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