Urbina Wins Mercury Insurance Open Opportunity Tournament
Jul 19, 2010 | Women's Tennis
July 19, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M's Nazari Urbina (pronounced na-ZAR-ee ur-BEE-nah) recently won the Mercury Insurance Open Opportunity Tournament, which took place at the San Diego (Calif.) Tennis and Racquet Club over the weekend. By winning the tournament, Urbina received a wildcard entry into the prestigious 2010 Mercury Insurance Open to be held July 31 to August 8 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) was the No. 3 seed at the opportunity tournament. After receiving a first-round bye, Urbina defeated Stanford-bound Amelia Herring, 6-0, 6-1. The 21-year-old Urbina then posted a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Gabriella Desimone, who has committed to play at USC.
In the semifinal match, Urbina downed Stephanie Hoffpauir of UCLA, 6-1, 6-1, to advance to the championship match.
Urbina faced No. 4 seed Allison de Nike in the finals. De Nike, who reached the third round of the U.S. Open three years ago, was coming off a 6-3, 6-2 semifinal win against top-seed April Bisharat. Urbina defeated de Nike, 6-2, 6-4, to capture the tournament title and receive the wildcard entry.
The 2010 Mercury Insurance Open already has commitments from 19 of the top 30-ranked players in the world, including No. 2-ranked Jelena Jankovic (SRB), No. 5 Samantha Stosur (AUS), and No. 9 Vera Zvonareva (RUS), as well as Lindsay Davenport of the United States. More information on the upcoming tournament can be found at www.mercuryinsuranceopen.com
This past spring, Urbina became A&M's first-ever freshman to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship and ended her rookie season 32-6 (.842), ranking fourth in the A&M all-time records for wins and second for winning percentage in a single season. An All-Big 12 selection in both singles and doubles and the Big 12 Conference No. 2 singles champion, Urbina was named the 2010 ITA Texas Region Player to Watch and finished the year listed No. 50 in final ITA singles rankings.
