
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 31, 1990                   TAG: 9007310132
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SEEDS BURIED IN USTA TOURNEY

Seeded players in the qualifying draw at the USTA Women's Circuit of Roanoke tennis tournament have so far been treated like seeds of a watermelon - expendable and done away with quickly.

After the second day of play in the 100-player qualifying draw, only one seed remained: No. 11 Virginia Whalen.

"Oh, really? I didn't know that," Whalen said Monday night, adding that she's not exactly overjoyed. "I tend to feel more pressure because I feel like I'm a seed and I have to win.'

Sixteen players remain in the qualifying draw. Today's winners will fill the eight qualifying spots in the 32-player main draw. Main draw matches begin at noon today.

The seedings are based on computer points earned by playing in tournaments.

"That just means some people have been playing more than others," tournament director Larry Lineberry said of the seedings. "The seeding in qualifying is not particularly relevant. At this level, there are so many good players."

Seven seeds were beaten Monday: No. 3 Valerie Kohn by Riva Lapidus, No. 4 Laura Hudson by Seiko Ichioka, No. 8 Aila Winkler by Vickie Paynter, No. 10 Emily Leonardi by Jill Waldman, No. 13 Ashley Faherty by Wendy Anderson, No. 15 Danielle Durak by Karolina Jutkiewicz and No. 16 Deborah Moringello by Betsy Sommerville.

On Sunday, Sommerville beat Shawn McCarthy in three sets in the feature match. McCarthy is the twin sister of Shannon McCarthy, who won the Roanoke tournament's singles title last year.

Today, Whalen faces Emilie Vigueira, who beat Genevive Hyacinth, who on Sunday beat the qualifying draw's top seed Lihini Weerasuriya. Whalen, a 19-year-old from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., will be a sophomore next year at Alabama.

"The girl I'm playing is very good. She beat the girl who beat the No. 1 seed, so I'm going to treat her as the No. 1 seed," said Whalen, who has played the top seed in the qualifying at the two most recent USTA tournaments, in Fayettville and Greensboro, N.C. "I'm not going in it [thinking] that I'm seeded at all."

The main draw lost its top seed before the tournament started when Yael Segal elected to play in the Canadian Open this week. She was replaced by Dalia Coriat from Tel Aviv, Israel. Israelis Ilana Berger and Dadosh Medi played for Israel in the Federation Cup tournament in Atlanta 2 1/2 weeks ago. The Israelis advanced to the round of 16 before losing to Spain.

Lineberry said the number of entrants in the qualifying forced him to schedule some qualifying matches at North Cross school in addition to Hunting Hills Country Club and the River's Edge courts. But, he said, that enabled 86 matches to be played Sunday, which in turn allowed all of Monday's qualifying matches to be played at Hunting hills, something that had never been done before.

by CNB