Monday, July 09, 2001
World-ranked teen opens eyes in Met
16-year-old wins match 6-0, 6-0
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tanya Luzhanka
(Brandi Stafford photo)
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The debut of unknown Tanya Luzhanka in the Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tennis Championship Sunday at Lunken Playfield was eye-opening. A nationally-ranked 16-year-old from Tel Aviv, Israel, Luzhanka showed no weaknesses in defeating Kathy Budde 6-0, 6-0 in a women's singles match that took less than 30 minutes.
Luzhanka holds the No. 50 world ranking in the 18-and-under juniors and is No. 700 in the world in the senior rankings.
“My mother (Vicky) and I came to Cincinnati in December,” Luzhanka said. “We live with a friend, but I haven't spent much time here since arriving.”
Residents of Cincinnati and surrounding counties are eligible to participate in the tournament if they establish residency on or before January 1.
During the last six months, Luzhanka has played in numerous junior tournaments throughout Europe, including the French Open and Wimbledon.
At Wimbledon, Luzhanka won a singles qualifying match before losing in the second round. She was eliminated in the first round of the main draw in doubles.
Luzhanka, who works with Craig Boynton and Kelly Jones in Cincinnati, returned to the city earlier this week.
Born in the Ukraine, Luzhanka was involved in ice skating because of the cold climate and availability of practice facilities.
“I don't remember why, but the rink I practiced at was permanently closed,” Luzhanka said. “That's when I decided to try tennis.”
The next year, Luzhanka and her mother moved to Israel, where the abundance of courts and tennis clubs helped her development immensely.
Luzhanka appears to have the complete game. Besides an overpowering serve, she also has a strong forehand and a powerful backhand that may be the key weapon against the seeded players.
“I'm not interested in college,” Luzhanka said. “My only goal is to play professional tennis. The future is now but it would be much easier financially if I had a sponsor.”
Luzhanka plays Amy Frisch tonight at 7 in the round of 16.
MEN'S ACTION: Youth prevailed in Sunday's continuation of Saturday's suspended men's singles match between 18-year-old Marshall Kuresman and Mike Dektas, the No. 11 seed.
Leading 6-5 in the third set with Dektas serving, Kuresman fought off two match points to pull out a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory to advance to the round of 32 and tonight's match against Chris Compton.
“I was playing well on Saturday and would have liked to finish it,” said Kuresman, a recent Sycamore graduate who will attend DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.
Kuresman never competed in a state tournament, unlike his older brother, Ed, who qualified to the Ohio high school state tournament four times.
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World-ranked teen opens eyes in Met
