Bentley and Stephenson Compete in Professional Event
9/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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Alabama’s rising doubles team of Ashley Bentley and Robin Stephenson will compete in the Ballantrae Tennis Challenger tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Pelham Racquet Club.
The Ballantrae Challenger is a professional tennis event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation. Bentley and Stephenson earned an invitation into the main draw of doubles and will play Tetiana Luzhanska and Aneta Soukup tonight in the tournament’s opening round.
“This is will be a great opportunity and experience for them,” Alabama head women’s tennis coach Jenny Mainz said. “They’ll get to play against really good competition and gain some recognition as well.”
The tournament’s field is made up of 16 doubles teams. Bentley and Stephenson are two of only eight players in the tournament from the United States.
Bentley and Stephenson, both juniors, are ranked sixth in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and took the Flight “A” Championship Saturday at the Roberta Alison Fall Classic.
Sunday, both Bentley and Stephenson competed in the qualifying draw for singles at the Ballantrae Challenger. Stephenson fell in the first round to Aleke Tsoubanos, who played collegiate tennis at Vanderbilt, 6-2, 6-3. Bentley won her first round match defeating Karla Porter 6-1, 6-3, but lost Monday night to Maria Jose Lopez, 7-6, 6-1.
“They have played really well so far,” said Mainz. “They have competed hard and I’m proud of the way they’ve played. Ashley’s match came down to just a few points, but this is really going to help them identify the parts of their game they need to improve upon.”
