Fifth-seeded Elena Gabriela Ruse of Romania was out on court at the Grade A Metropolia Orange Bowl International Championship trying to finish off her season with another showing of top form.
Last week at the Eddie Herr International, Ruse journeyed all the way to the final before her run ended in the final to Dalma Galfi of Hungary 64 75. Prior to losing to Galfi, Ruse scored three consecutive top flight wins over Anna Blinkova, CiCi Bellis and Fanni Stollar.
On Tuesday, during her 64 61 first round win over American wildcard Kylie McKenzie, Ruse’s battle scar from the Eddie Herr was visible. Her left thigh was wrapped tightly with a bandage.
“Today was a difficult match but I tried to stay aggressive throughout,” said Ruse, of defeating McKenzie, who is the USA’s reigning 16-and-under national champion. “I have some problems with my leg so I tried to not stay too much on the court. It’s not a big problem. I did it when playing against CiCi Bellis in the quarterfinals last week. It was a very good tournament there and I’m hoping it will be the same here this week.”
Ruse admits that countrywoman Simona Halep, the world No. 3 who reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open this year, is an inspiration as well as a mentor. The two even share the same physical trainer.
“We are staying together a lot when she is in Bucharest,” said Ruse, of her relationship with Halep. “She tells me all about tennis, that it’s important these days to always stay aggressive, keep your energy and always be positive you’re going to be there.”
“Before Wimbledon she told me about what happens on the grass,” Ruse added. “She told me it’s very fast so my serve has to be very good for it to go good.”
Ruse won the Grade 1 Canadian Open Junior Championships singles and doubles title this summer.
Another player who had a big week at the Eddie Herr was American Reilly Opelka. The 6-foot-10 Opelka won the Grade 1 Boys’ title last week and is hoping to follow that result with success at the Orange Bowl.
The 17-year-old Opelka was a wildcard into the Orange Bowl last year with a ranking of No. 660. This year, Opelka, who trains at the USTA training facility in Boca Raton, is ranked No. 48 in the world.
“I’ve improved a lot in a year,” Opelka said. “I’d say the biggest difference is that I’m a lot stronger and understanding my game a little more.”
Five of the world’s top eight junior players – No.1 Andrey Rublev of Russia, No. 4 Stefan Kozlov of USA and No. 7 Taylor Fritz of USA for the boys, and No. 1 Xu Shilin of China and No. 2 CiCi Bellis of USA for the girls’ — are likely to earn spots in the upcoming ITF Junior Masters. The brand new event for the Top 8 in the 18-and-under boys’ and girls’ players will qualify for the prestigious event to be held April 3-5, 2015 at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu, China.
A number of other key seeds in the girls’ draw moved into the second round on Tuesday: No. 6 Fanni Stollar of Hungary defeated Emily Smith of Great Britain 61 64, No. 7 Sofya Zhuk of Russia defeated Kelly Chen of USA 75 46 62, and No. 8 Sandra Samir of Egypt defeated Jessica Ho of USA 61 61.
Other seeds to advance on Tuesday were: No. 5 Michael Mmoh of USA defeated Majed Kilani of Tunisia 61 62, No. Yeong Sun Chung of Korea defeated Roveri Sidney 36 63 76.