THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408040750
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Virginia Beach's Julie Shiflet showed off her improved quickness around the tennis court Wednesday, and she wound up needing every bit of it to earn a chance to show it again Thursday.
The top-seed Shiflet outlasted Japan's Noa Akahori, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, in a first-round match of the USTA Women's Circuit of Norfolk tournament at Old Dominion University.
Shiflet was one of seven seeds to make it safely into Thursday's second round. Only eighth-seeded Miki Yokobori of Japan was stopped short; she fell to qualifier Jennifer Callen of Concord, Mass., 6-3, 6-1.
Unseeded Angela Lettiere, the NCAA champion from the University of Georgia, also reached the second round by knocking off Madoka Kuki of Japan, 6-0, 6-4.
This tournament has been tough for the Japanese contingent. All five players from Japan in the main draw lost first-round matches.
Lettiere will take on second-seeded Claudine Toleafoa of New Zealand when the tournament resumes today at 10 a.m.
The Shiflet-Akahori match took well over two hours, but Shiflet said she knew she could be in for a marathon as soon as she saw the draw.
``We'd never played before, but I've played a lot of Japanese players and they never gave up without a fight,'' she said.
The smooth-stroking Akahori kept up that tradition, as she battled Shiflet on virtually even terms down to the final game, then held off four match points before Shiflet could close it out.
Shiflet, who credited a new training regimen for allowing her to get to shots more quickly, will now face Lindsay Lee of Atlanta in a second-round match today at approximately noon. Lee advanced with a straight-sets victory over Laura Sham of South Africa on Tuesday.
In first-round doubles action, top seeds Karin Miller of Bradenton, Fla., and Varalee Sureephong of Haines City, Fla., rallied to beat Shiflet and Tonya Evans of Philadelphia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. by CNB