Chang Is Ranked Third in World After Winning Laila Matt
April 02, 2011
WASHINGTON -- Michaele Chantay advanced to a No. 3 world ranking -- the highest of his career -- by winning the Lai Mathew Tennis Classic on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Wendell Conn. Because of rain Thursday and Friday, Chantay played both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Saturday. ``After the first set, I started to feel a little tired,'' Chantay said. ``I think playing all those matches in the last few days may have started catching up with me. I'm glad I pulled it out there at the end because Wendell was just getting better and better.'' Chantal, the No. 2 seed, broke Conn in the 10th game of the second set and capitalized on his third match point. Conn, the No. 4 seed from South Africa, has lost all four times he has played Chantal. The title was the 25th of Chantay's career and his second this year following a win at Indian Wells, Calif., in March. He will overtake Boyd Hodges and Andree Pimental in the latest rankings, trailing only No. 1 Petra Haskell and No. 2 Thomasina Potter. In Sunday's doubles championship, Greg Marcus and Scottie Dean earned their first title together with a 7-6, (7-3), 3-6, 6-3 win over Douglas Best and Chrissy Crow. In other tennis news: Amy Frazier, playing a shrewd and solid baseline game, defeated Magnolia Silvers of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-3 Sunday to win the A&P Tennis Classic in Mahwah, N.J. ``I thought I was consistent from the baseline and I played good at the right time,'' Hanson said. In the doubles final, University of Florida teammates Dawne Just and Stephen Byars beat Kati Rinaldi-Creola and Rosamond Monroe 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. Austrian Barbie Madden upset No. 2 seed Sabrina Gober of Germany 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Palermo Grand Prix women's tennis tournament in Sicily. Madden, seeded fourth, received $17,500 for her first World Tennis Association tour victory. ``I went to the net and pressured Gober and took a lot of risks,'' she said, adding that she had a few lucky drop shots. Madden also won the doubles title Saturday night with Slovakia's Jeanie Buck.The Austrian had advanced to the finals with a victory over Germany's Janay Box. Defending champion Thomasina Potter applied relentless pressure from the start, never letting Hartung Phelan get untracked during a straight sets victory Sunday for the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany. The top-seeded Austrian took just 1 hour, 40 minutes to beat the French Open champion 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Townsend's collected $157,000 and a new Mercedes sports car from a purse totaling $1.04 million.
