(Calabasas, CA), Varvara Lepchenko (Allentown, PA) had won 18 of her last 19 matches –

including 11 straight – on her “home court.” As the no. 2 seed in this year’s field, coming in with

a world ranking of no. 142, Lepchenko was heavily favored against the 21 year-old Fink, a USC

Trojan and member the U.S. Collegiate tennis team. In a rare match-up of hard-hitting lefties,

Lepchenko never seemed to find her game. Fink herself also struggled at times, noting

afterwards that it was “a weird momentum match” with “lots of errors by both players.”

Nevertheless, after Lepchenko made a desperate rally to take the second set, Fink took total

control of the match with consistent ground strokes in the face of a rash of unforced errors by

Lepchenko, taking the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Fink is playing the Pro Circuit summer season for

the first time since 2006, when she made her Mecco Cup debut reaching the main draw as a

surprise qualifier. Returning to Allentown two years later, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2008

Mecco Cup is by far Fink’s best result in a professional tournament.

To continue her magical run, Fink will have to get by veteran Brenda-Schultz McCarthy

(Netherlands). The 37 year-old former world no. 9 today easily dispatched Tomoko Yonemura

(Japan) 6-3, 6-2 in relatively routine fashion.

In other action around the grounds of the Westend Racquet Club, top seed Stephanie Dubois

(Canada) defeated 17 year-old rising American Mallory Cecil (Bradenton, FL). Though Dubois

ran away with the final set, Cecil stayed right with the no. 100 player in the world through a tight,

high quality first set. While Dubois moves on to a quarterfinal confrontation with no. 8 seed

Regina Kulikova (Russia), the tennis world will surely hear more from Cecil in the near future.

Another young American, Lauren Albanese (Parkland, FL), is a little further along in her career.

The no. 258 player in the world moved into her second straight Mecco Cup quarterfinal with a 6-

3, 6-2 victory over fellow 18 year-old Kristina Kucova (Slovakia), winner of the 2007 US Open

Junior Championship. Albanese is extraordinarily focused these days, working towards a

qualifying berth in the 2008 US Open. Though she is very appreciative of past support from the

USTA, she explained after today’s match that she wants to earn a spot in the draw and “do

something” at the Open “on her own.” Tongue planted firmly in cheek, the 18 year-old Albanese

suggests that at this point, USTA wild cards “should be going to younger players.”

Albanese kicks off Friday’s quarterfinal round taking on Chin-Wei Chan (Taipei) in the 10 AM

feature match on Stadium Court. Chan defeated former top 50 player Lindsay Lee-Waters

(Dunwoody, GA), Lepchenko, and Dubois en route to the final of last week’s Boston $50k Pro

Circuit event.