The week started with the

second day of qualifying at The Peachtree National bank

USTA Challenger of Peachtree.

It was another scorcher,

only cooled off momentarily by a passing thunderstorm

late in the afternoon. It was a big day for players from

Japan, despite the loss of top seeded Rika Hiraku. Hiraku

lost to Lana Van Rooyen of South Africa 6-4, 6-4. The

fifth, sixth and seventh seeded players in qualifying,

all from Japan, each advanced to the final rounds of

qualifying.

Tomoe

Hotta, the fifth seed, had her work cut for her in her

win over Gabriela Volekova. She won in two sets 7-6 (3),

6-3. Akiko Morigami, the sixth seed won over a tough

competitor in Wendy Fix 6-2, 6-0. Shiho Hisamatsu, the

seventh seed, struck quickly in her match against

Victoria Hunt, winning 6-0, 6-3. Maiko Inoue played

confidently in her win over the eighth seed Nikola

Hubnerova 6-4,7-5.

College

Park's Jewel Peterson faced the third seed Bryanne

Stewart in the first round of matches Monday morning and

lost 6-4, 6-4. In the battle between Gainesville and

Seminole, Fla., Gators won out as Dawn Buth defeated Lori

Grey, 6-1, 6-2. The final match of the day took a while

to be played as it was delayed due to the thunderstorm.

Amanda Augustus eventually won out over India's Manisha

Malhotra 6-3, 7-5.

Qualifying

ended Monday with a number of seeded players falling.

Monday was a day of success for players from Japan, but

Tuesday went to the underdogs. Catalina Castano, the

second seed in qualifying, lost to Amanda Augustus 6-2,

6-3, while fourth seeded Julie Steven lost to Dawn Buth

in a three-set battle 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Lana Van Rooyen, who

made the finals of last week's event in Evansville, Ind.,

continued her march through qualifying, as she defeated

Annica Cooper 7-5, 6-2.

Australia's

Bryanne Stewart, the third seed, secured one of the four

qualifying spots, as she won over Maiko Inoue 6-2, 6-0.

Akiko Morigami, the sixth seed, qualified for the main

draw after defeating Amanda Augustus 6-3, 6-1. Lana Van

Rooyen took the third qualifying spot in the main draw,

winning over fifth seeded Tomoe Hotta 6-3, 6-2. The final

qualifying spot went to Dawn Buth, who quickly beat the

seventh seed, Shiho Hisamatsu, 6-0, 6-1.

In main

draw action Tuesday, Louise Lattimer, the fourth seed of

this tournament, won over her doubles partner, Jackie

Trail 6-4, 6-4. The sixth seed in the main draw,

Francisca Lubiani, had no problems defeating Susie

Starrett 6-3, 6-0. Holly Parkinson, who has played

tremendous tennis this year, couldn't get it going in her

match with Marissa Irvin, losing 6-1, 6-0. Irvin is

considered one of the top junior players in the world and

is considering going pro.

In the

evening matches, the upsets continued. Julie Pulun, the

fifth seed in the main draw, lost to Milagros Sequera

6-4, 6-1. The final match of the evening was between the

top seeded player in the tournament, Jana Nejedly of

Canada, and Russia's Alina Jidkova. Jidkova made the

semis at Mahwah, producing wins over Mashona Washington,

Louis Lattimer and Jolene Watanabe. Jidkova struck early

Tuesday night, going up 5-0 on Nejedly before Nejedly

could answer. Jidkova won 6-3, 6-2.

Wednesday,

Erika DeLone, the champion at the recent Challenger of

Mahwah, defeated Lana Van Rooyen, who had been playing

outstanding tennis lately, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. Marietta's

Julie Scaringe lost to third seeded Nana Miyagi 6-2, 7-6

(6). Jill Craybas, a former NCAA Champion, beat Maricirs

Fernandez 6-4, 6-2, while Vanessa Webb, another

outstanding college player, defeated Petra Rampre 4-6,

6-1, 6-0.

In the

afternoon, the Mike Patton Auto Mall One Point High

School tournament produced four winners who will play

Sunday between the singles and doubles finals. The

winners are Lauren Dillon and Erin Keating from Starr's

Mill, Nicole Nather from Fayette County, and Charlsiy

Smith from East Coweta. The winner will get her high

school team a free entry into the upcoming High School

tournament and a free pair of Adidas.

In other

afternoon matches in the main draw, Lisa McShea defeated

Hila Rosen 6-3, 6-1, Karin Miller won over Haruka Inoue

of Japan 6-3, 6-2, and Tomoe Hotta beat Tracy Singian in

a brutal match 5-7, 7-6(2), 7-5. Singian had to take

several medical time-outs due to cramping and the late

afternoon heat was unbearable.

The evening

matches were cancelled due to thunderstorms and were

played early Thursday morning.

The tennis

has been amazing this week and looks to only get better

as the field narrows. Saturday will be USTA "Let's

get into the game" Day with face painting, clinics

and activities for the whole family. Ticket proceeds will

go to the David L. Harris Foundation, a group that

supports terminally ill children and their families.

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