AUBURN, Ala. – Several Auburn women's tennis players have had successful summer tournaments over the last few weeks.
Rising senior Taylor Russo played in an ITA Summer Circuit event in Orlando, winning the doubles "A" draw with Alabama's Kylie Moulin. The pair downed the team of Taylor Bridges and Paris Corley (LSU) 8-5 in the final to claim the tournament title. They also defeated Amanda Bandrowski (Hope College) and Mira Gladstone (Davidson) in the semifinal 8-5 and earned an 8-1 win in the first round.
Russo also advanced to the semifinals in the singles "A" draw. She earned wins over Amanda Bandrowski (Hope College) and Jenna Dean (Charlotte) before falling in the semifinal.
Most recently, rising sophomore Yu Chen competed in a professional tournament in Mexico, the IFT W15 Cancun, advancing through the qualifying rounds and into the main draw quarterfinals. Along the way, she defeated several other collegiate players, including Danielle Willson (USC), Payton Andrews (North Alabama) and Oleksandra Gorchanyuk (Kansas) before falling in the tournament quarterfinal. For her performance, she earned 18 ITF World Tennis points toward her world ranking.
Rising juniors Madeline Meredith and Lindsay Song played in an ITA Summer Circuit event in Tuscaloosa in late June. Meredith won her first two singles matches in straight sets before retiring in the quarterfinal. The pair also played a doubles match together, falling in the first round, and Song played two matches in the tournament.
Rising senior Georgie Axon, who did not play in 2018-19 because of injury, has played in three tournaments in her native Great Britain over the last month-plus, putting together a 13-2 record since the end of May. She advanced to the final of the LTA British Tour North Oxford event in late May before finishing as runner-up. Axon also made it to the semifinals in the Fast4 event at the same tournament and was a quarterfinalist in late June at the LTA British Tour West Worthing.
Russo, Chen, Meredith, Song and Axon are Auburn's five returning letter-winners from the 2018-19 season. The Tigers will begin their first season under new head coach Caroline Lilley in the fall.