Sports
Harkins Falls Out of US Open National Playoffs
The PVE native falls to Robin Anderson 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.
For Palos Verdes Estates native Macall Harkins, the road to the US Open came to a crushing end Saturday afternoon.
Competing in the semifinals of the US Open Nationals Playoffs at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., Harkins was the heavy favorite going into her match against unseeded Robin Anderson of Matawan, New Jersey. However, she found no answers to the counter-punching game of her opponent while struggling to find the range on her own shots, committing numerous unforced errors on her way to a 6-1, 6-2 defeat.
“I definitely didn’t play my best tennis out there, but I think a lot of that had to do with her playing so aggressively and not giving me time to set up the way I wanted to,” Harkins said.
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Anderson swept through the first eight points of the match and eventually raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set. Harkins held serve to get on the scoreboard, but an angled backhand winner from the Matawan native wrapped up the opening set.
In the second set, Harkins began to mix up the pace on her shots, alternating high and looping backhands with deep forehand drives, which threw off the rhythm of her opponent.
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“She was playing better towards the end of the match and I think I started to revert back to being a little too defensive,” Anderson said.
The players remained on serve until 2-2 in the second set, when a pair of double faults from Harkins gifted Anderson a 3-2 lead. Two games later, a volley winner from Anderson sent her up 5-2, and an easy service hold ultimately wrapped up the match.
“My serve was giving me a lot of free points out there and I think she was having difficulty reading it,” Anderson said.
Harkins turned pro in the summer of 2009 after a college career at Texas Christian University, where she was part of the top-10 ranked NCAA doubles teams. Since turning pro, she has won three singles and four doubles titles on the ITF pro circuit, which is equivalent to the minor leagues in baseball. She is currently ranked No. 419 in singles and No. 238 in doubles.
Harkins said she will now prepare to compete in series USTA Pro Circuit events this fall.
