Urbina Defends Mercury Insurance Open Opportunity Tournament Title
Jul 18, 2011 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - For the second consecutive year, Texas A&M's Nazari Urbina has 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 receives a wildcard entry into the prestigious 2011 Mercury Insurance Open to be held July 30 to August 7 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The top seed at this year's Mercury Insurance Open Opportunity Tournament, Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) split the first two sets of the championship match with No. 3 seed Christina Makarova but found herself trailing 4-1 in the final set. Makarova held a 5-3 lead before suffering leg cramps. After Urbina won the next two games to tie the set at 5-5, Makarova retired, giving Urbina the victory.
Urbina, currently 816 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, began the tournament with a first-round bye and then defeated Molly Scott of Coto de Caza, Calif., 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. The 22-year-old Urbina defeated No. 4 seed Gabrielle De Simone of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinals to advance to the championship match.
The 2011 Mercury Insurance Open already has commitments from two-time defending U.S. Open champion and reigning Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters, the former top ranked player in the world Ana Ivanovic, the world's current No. 3 player Vera Zvonareva, 2010 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2010 runner up Agnieszka Radwanska and other top stars on the WTA Tour. More information on the upcoming tournament can be found at www.mercuryinsuranceopen.com
In last year's qualifying draw at the Mercury Insurance Open, Urbina fell to American Coco Vandeweghe, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round. Vandeweghe later advanced to the main draw, where she upset 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva (RUS), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, in the round of 16 before falling to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) in the quarterfinals.
Urbina, who in 2010 became the first freshman in Texas A&M history to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship, played No. 1 singles for the Aggies in 2011 and received a second consecutive at-large berth to the NCAA Singles Championship. She was ranked as high as No. 11 midway through the spring and finished the year ranked No. 29 after going 28-10 (.737) overall, including 16-8 against ranked opponents.
A two-time All-Big 12 Conference selection in singles, Urbina helped lead the Aggies to a 15-9 final record and a 12th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, where the Aggies fell to SMU, 4-3, in the first round. She went 16-6 in dual matches all at the No. 1 line.
Urbina, who will enter her junior year at A&M in the fall, will compete for Mexico at the 2011 World University Games in Shenzhen, China, in August.
Players Mentioned
