Mercer Tennis Classic gets underway

          Tennis weather appears to be on tap for the Mercer Tennis Classic, which starts its 10th tournament Monday morning at John Drew Smith Tennis Center.

          The Classic is the longest running women’s pro tournament in Georgia, and second-biggest such event in terms of prize Monday.

          Tickets - $5 per day, $20 for the week – are available onsite and online.

          Action started on Sunday with a “One on One Doubles” event, with $5,000 in prize money. It’s a “crosscourt serve-and-volley Singles game including the doubles alley. Players are required to serve-and-volley on both serves or there is a loss of point; Half volleys are allowed.  All players are awarded TWO POINTS for winning volleys and overheads — hit in the air — that the opponent cannot touch or reach.”

          Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska topped N.C. State’s Alana Smith 4-1 to win.

          The event has a 32-player singles qualifying draw, 32-player singles main draw, and 16-team doubles draw, the field ranging from up-and-coming players to WTA longtime pros.

          Two former champs are in the field, Madison Brengle from last year and Rebecca Peterson from 2015. Brengle is currently ranked 51st in the world and Peterson 101st. Of the top 12 seeds, half are ranked within the top 127.

          Anna Rogers and Christine Rosca top the doubles seeds. And Mercer’s Naya Tillet and Teodora Ristic are in the qualifying draw.

          Play starts at 10 a.m. Monday.

          Tuesday is Macon Night, with a high performance clinic. On Wednesday, the tournament will honor the Randy Stephens Tennis Center for recently being named one of the top tennis facilities in the country in the eyes of the United States Tennis Association.

          Stephens is a member of the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame, Georgia Tennis Professionals Hall of Fame, the USPTA Southern Tennis hall, as well as the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame. And helps out longtime friend Jaime Kaplan with the Stratford tennis programs.

          And Thursday is Mercer Night.

          To volunteer, contact tournament director – and Mercer head coach – Eric Hayes at 301-2269.