Falconi Feels Right at Home

Georgia Tech Sophomore Wins All-American Singles Championship

Pacific Palisades is a long way from home for Irina Falconi, but over the last two years she has been as confident on the courts at Riviera Tennis Club as she would be in her own backyard. A year after she and Georgia Tech teammate Amanda McDowell won the doubles crown at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships, the sophomore from Jupiter, Florida, won the singles title last Sunday, needing less than an hour to upset Georgia’s Chelsey Gullickson, 6-2, 6-1, in the finals. Gullickson, seeded No. 2, held serve to open the match but was broken in the third game and again in the seventh by a player who mixed up her shots and pace so effectively that it threw the Bulldogs’ sophomore off her game. “I really can’t compare one to the other,” Falconi said of her doubles and singles titles. “I love this place. I love the people here. I’ve played Chelsey twice over the last two years and she beat me in three-setters. I didn’t think I had her until she had that backhand long on match point.” Using drop shots and deep slices to slow down the pace, Falconi chose her spots to come in carefully and was content to keep the ball in play until her opponent made an error. “My serve was the least of my worries,” said Gullickson, who was vying to become the first Georgia player to win the singles title since Lisa Crane in 1983. “I was trying not to giver her any free points. I like it out here but it’s a lot different than Athens [Georgia].” One of the unique aspects of this tournament is also one of Falconi’s favorites: girls are invited to stay with local ‘host’ families instead of facing curfew at team hotels–and for the second year straight year she spent the week at Rick and Susie DeWeese’s house in the Marquez neighborhood. “I like to think I use the same strategy with everyone I play,” said Falconi, the No. 8 seed after eking out a 7-5, 7-6 (6) semifinal victory over Washington’s Venise Chan, who had eliminated defending champion Kelsey McKenna of Arizona State the round before. “Every tournament I play I intend to win–that’s the goal,” Falconi said. “I strongly believe the score doesn’t tell the whole story.” Riviera was hosting the event for the 25th consecutive time. The last player to repeat as singles champion was California’s Suzi Babos in 2006-07. “I’m going to try to defend next year and the year after that for sure,” said Falconi, who won 30 singles matches and earned Campbell/ITA All-American honors as a freshman for the Yellowjackets last fall. Gullickson, also a sophomore, was extended to three sets twice in the early rounds and even though her two matches prior to Sunday’s final were straight sets victories, three of the four sets were decided by tiebreakers. In the consolation draw, Notre Dame’s Kali Krisik and Kristy Frilling beat Clemson’s Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic to capture the doubles title and Fresno State’s Anastasia Petukhova swept Yasmin Schnack of UCLA, 6-4, 6-3, in the singles final. Falconi was not the only player to win her second Riviera title on Sunday. An hour and a half later, so too did Caitlin Whoriskey, who paired with Tennessee teammate Natalie Pluskota to capture the doubles championship with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over Florida freshmen Lauren Embree and Allie Will in an All-SEC final. Now a senior, Whoriskey won the doubles title here two years ago with a different partner, classmate Zsofia Zuber. This time, Whoriskey and Pluskota had to knock off three of the nation’s Top 20 duos to reach the finals, including an 8-3 triumph over Stanford’s No. 2-ranked Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette in the quarterfinals. “Knowing the surroundings and the environment and having won it before definitely helps but you still have to play smart and make your shots to win,” said Whoriskey, who felt comfortable all week at the home of Rustic Canyon resident Jill Baldauf. “It’s a good way to start the season. We’ll see them again in dual matches and that doubles point really counts so hopefully we can draw from this.” The Volunteers’ tandem looked overmatched in the first set as Embree and Will mixed pinpoint passing shots with well-placed topspin lobs to break Pluskota in the second game and Whoriskey in the eighth to build a 5-3 lead. With Embree serving at 40-15, Pluskota netted a forehand return and suddenly the Gators’ twosome was one set away from the championship. However, the Tennessee tandem regrouped and seized every opportunity to rush the net and finish the point. The strategy worked, and in a game that went to six deuces the Vols took a 4-0 lead in the second set when Embree fell down lunging for a forehand volley. Whoriskey hit three volley winners as she and Pluskota broke Embree to open the third set. Pluskota consolidated the break with an overhead smash and hit a clean winner to break Will for a 3-0 advantage. Twelve minutes later it was all over and this year’s final champions were crowned. “We came in ready and match tough, they just played better the last two sets,” Will said. The Kogan Family has been hosting players for five years and mother Pam was delighted to have Embree and teammate Marrit Boonstra visit this time. “They are the nicest girls and their coach said it really helps them to stay relaxed and play better if they like the place they’re staying.” Florida’s duo was unseeded yet advanced all the way through qualifying and the main draw before coming up one set short in the finals. Still, they showed the maturity of more experienced players with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 semifinal upset of North Carolina’s No. 4-ranked Sophie Grabinski and Sanaz Mirand. “At the beginning we knew they were both going to play back so we wanted to be more aggressive and force them to make winners,” Whoriskey said. “In the first set we were one or to steps behind so we weren’t getting after it fast enough. Fortunately, we were able to turn it around.”