July 25, 2005

Evansville, Ind. - Kristi Miller, a rising sophomore on the Georgia Tech women's tennis team, competed in her first tournament of the summer, and advanced to the finals of both the singles and doubles bracket of the main draw at the ITF Women's Circuit's Fifth Third Classic, held in Evansville, Ind. this past weekend.

A native of Marysville, Mich., Miller progressed through the qualifying draw with a pair of straight-set victories over Katina Merino and Magdalena Ekert, and won four matches in the main draw before falling in straight sets in the finals of the singles bracket.

In the Round of 32 of the main draw, Miller faced Purdue University's Hala Sufi, and defeated the American, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to draw sixth-seeded Jennifer Elie in the next round. Against Elie, Miller dropped her first set 3-6, but came back with a 7-3 win in the tiebreaker of the second set and won 6-4 in the third frame to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarters, Miller faced the No. 2 seed, Raquel Kops-Jones, a former standout for the University of California, and the Yellow Jacket sophomore split the first two sets, 6-2, 3-6, before Kops-Jones retired in the third set with Miller leading, 3-2. Miller then defeated eighth-seeded Lisa D'Amelio of Australia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the semifinals to setup a meeting with Sarah Taylor of New York City in the finals. Taylor won a grueling first set with a 10-8 victory in the first set and then cruised to a 6-1 win in the second frame to capture the sixth tournament victory of her professional career.

In doubles action, Miller teamed with fellow American Christian Tara, and the duo went 3-1 in doubles play. Miller and Tara downed Marlene and Melissa Ryan, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of doubles to advance to a quarterfinal match against fourth-seeded Naoko Horikawa and Tomoko Sugano of Japan. The American duo won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 and then bypassed their semifinal matchup with Alexis Prousis and Georgia Rose when the duo withdrew, which set up a final meeting with the top-seeded doubles team in the tournament, Wynne Prakusya and Romana Tedjakusuma, both of Indonesia. The Americans then dropped their first match of the tournament when Prakusya and Tedjakusuma recorded a 6-0, 6-1 win in the finals.

Fifth Third Classic
ITF Women's Circuit

Qualifying Draw
Kristi Miller (GT/USA) def. Katina Merino (Brooklyn/USA), 6-0, 6-0
Miller (GT/USA) def. Magdalena Ekert (POL), 6-1, 6-2

Main Draw--Singles
Miller (GT/USA) def. Hala Sufi (Purdue/USA), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Miller (GT/USA) def. No. 6 Jennifer Elie (USA), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4
& Miller (GT/USA) def. No. 2 Raquel Kops-Jones (USA), 6-2, 3-6, 3-2 (Ret.)
# Miller (GT/USA) def. No. 8 Lisa D'Amelio (AUS), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
* Sarah Taylor (USA) def. Miller (GT/USA), 7-6 (8), 6-1

Main Draw--Doubles
Miller (GT)/Christian Tara (USA) def. Marlene Ryan/Melissa Ryan (USA), 6-1, 6-1
& Miller/Tara def. No. 4 Naoko Horikawa/Tomoko Sugano (JPN), 6-3, 6-4
# Miller/Tara def. Alexis Prousis (USA)/Georgia Rose (GBR), W/O
* No. 1 Wynne Prakusya/Romana Tedjakusuma (INA) def. Miller/Tara, 6-0, 6-1

& = Quarterfinals
# = Seminfinals
* = Finals