Published: September 27, 2008 11:32 pm            

Double-dip attempt

ASHLAND — Carly Gullickson overcame one 5-1 tiebreaker deficit Saturday. She couldn't quite pull it off the second time.

Gullickson, a 21-year-old from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., knocked off top-seeded Mariana Duque-Marino of Columbia 7-6, 6-2 in the singles semifinals of the $50,000 Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital Tennis Classic.

Gullickson trailed 5-1 in the first-set tiebreaker but reeled off the next six points and carried the momentum through the second set.

"When I got behind in the tiebreaker, my shots started going in that weren't before," Gullickson said. "When you are two points from losing a set, you try to be more aggressive. As the score kept getting closer, I felt more confident that I could win it."

Gullickson's victory moved her into today's 1 p.m. championship match against sixth-seeded Varvara Lepchenko, a 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 winner over American Shenay Perry. The final will be televised live on MyZ.

In Saturday's doubles final, Gullickson and partner Julie Ditty of Ashland fell behind 5-1 in a tiebreaker with Liga Dekmeijere and Jelena Pandzic after the teams split sets.

A Ditty ace started the second-seeded team's surge to a 7-6 lead in the first-to-10 tiebreaker, but Dekmeijere and Pandzic responded by winning the next three points and went on to close out the match. Each received $1,330.

"They played well and came up with some big shots on big points," said Ditty, who won last week's Albuquerque doubles title with Gullickson. "Carly and I have been playing well together. We just came up a little bit short today."

Latviaï's Dekmeijere and Croatia's Pandzic, both 25, played together for the first time last week in Albuquerque and reached the semifinals.

"We have been playing unbelievable. We couldn't allow Julie and Carly to win two in a row," Dekmeijere said with a smile.

The entertaining match had a crowd at the Ashland Tennis Center applauding.

Ditty and Dekmeijere each has a doubles win this year over the world's No. 1 team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

Dekmeijere and Pandzic beat the OLBH Tennis Classic's top-seeded doubles team of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in the semifinals.

In the championship, Dekmeijere and Pandzic took the first set 6-3, before Gullickson and Ditty came back to win the second 6-3.

"They play really good," Pandzic said. "I didn't expect, honestly, that we would win. We really wanted this."

Earlier, Gullickson needed some excellent work to get past the 19-year-old Duque-Marino, currently ranked a career-best 101.

Gullickson, unseeded but rapidly moving back up the pro ladder after taking last year off, moved out to a three-game lead in the first set before Duque-Marino mounted a comeback.

"When I got up 5-2, I guess I started thinking about winning the set," Gullickson said. "It got to my head."

Gullickson had to overcome another hurdle in the second set. She was up 1-0 and 40-love, but Duque-Marino came back to win the game.

"I kind of had to blow that off," Gullickson said. "She is tough. I knew going out there that I would have to run a lot of balls down."

Gullickson did just that, and used her all-court game to pull away.

Duque-Marino was trying to become the first No. 1 seed to win a USTA Pro Circuit women's tournament this year. The OLBH Tennis Classic is the 33rd event on the 2008 schedule, including events ranging from $10,000 to $75,000.

"The depth in women's pro tennis is amazing," Gullickson said.

Lepchenko, runner-up here last year, became the first player to reach the Ashland singles final twice with her three-setter over Perry, a wild card and former No. 40 ranked player who is on the comeback trail from knee surgery.

"It feels very special," said Lepchenko, 22. "Everytime I come here, I get matches behind me."

Lepchenko ripped a passing shot to break Perry's serve for a 5-3 lead in the third set. Perry answered with a service break of her own, but Lepchenko hit a nice cross-court volley to set up double-match point and won via a double fault.

Asked what pulled her through the two-hour, 26-minute match, Lepchenko didn't hesitate.

"My dad," she said looking over to Peter Lepchenko, who is also her coach."I was without him last week. I had a lead in Albuquerque (quarterfinal against top-seeded Rosanna De Los Rios) and didn't pull it out."

Lepchenko regrouped after Perry won the second set tiebreaker 7-5.

"She has been a top 50 player and has a lot of experience," Lepchenko said. "It's a very good win."

ROCKY STANLEY can be reached at rstanley@dailyindependent.com.

        

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