Jennifer Hopkins, from Leawood, KS, capped off a week of superb tennis with an easy straight set victory over No. 6 seed American Tara Snyder. Hopkins did not drop a set during the tournament and easily took out Synder with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.She defeated two other seeds en route to the final round match-up with Snyder, including No. 8 Renata Voracova (Czech Republic) in the opening round and No. 5 seed Alina Jidkova (Russia) in the semis.
Hopkins showed few, if any, ill effects from her past summer's wrist surgery, playing tenaciously in her win over Snyder. Entering this tournament Snyder held a considerable WTA ranking advantage over Hopkins. Before Hopkins' win she was outranked by Snyder 113 to 220.
The doubles final matched up the No. 2 seed of American Samantha Reeves and South Africa's Kim Grant with the top seeded team, China's Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun. Li and Sun, who have rolled over their opponents all week had little trouble with Reeves and Grant, winning 6-2, 6-3.
The event was played at the Lane Oakes Tennis Center in Paducah, KY.
The winner of the event earns a spot in the qualifying tournament of next month's WTA $110,000 event in Pattaya, Thailand.
Download the final singles and doubles draws here.
The USTA organizes, sponsors and administers the USTA Professional Circuit, the gateway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis professionals and a frequent battleground for established players. The 2003 circuit features nearly 100 events for men and women. Prize money at USTA Professional Circuit events ranges from $10,000 to $75,000, with more than $3 million in purses this year. Players also earn valuable ATP and WTA tour ranking points.
Among the players to have launched notable careers on the USTA Professional Circuit are: Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Lindsay Davenport, Michael Chang, Patrick Rafter, Mary Pierce, Todd Martin, Chanda Rubin, Alexandra Stevenson, Jan-Michael Gambill, Anna Kournikova, Meghann Shaughnessy, James Blake and Andy Roddick.
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