Jayawickrema Advances to ITA Tournament Final
7/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
July 28, 2011
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Stephen F. Austin redshirt freshman Jithmie Jayawickrema reached the finals of the ITA/University of Cincinnati tournament last week. It continues a trend of successful tournaments for SFA players during the 2011 summer.
This is another great result for Jithmie," said head coach Patrick Sullivan. "Making it to the final in a big-draw tournament like this shows not only that she is playing at a high level but also that she's very fit, which is something she has really worked hard to improve over the last six months. Kelsey Haviland is the top player on a very good team, and had several wins over top-100 college players last season. Beating her that convincingly is a very solid win."
Jayawickrema, the top-rated player from Sri Lanka, entered the 64-player draw as the No. 8 overall seed. She ousted Kentucky's CeCe Witten in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Jayawickrema defeated All-Big 10 selection Kelsey Haviland from Ohio State, 6-3, 6-1, to advance to the semifinals. Jayawickrema advanced to the finals where she lost to Michigan's Emina Bektas.
In addition to her success in singles play, Jayawickrema also advanced to the quarterfinals in the doubles' competition as well. She was teamed with Indiana junior Mikaela Carlson.
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