(by Steve Hopkins)

Cuenca, Ecuador is hosting the WTT Youth Contender Series.  The events began on August 19th and will continue through August 31.  The Girls Singles events concluded today – with USA’s Rachel Wang and Sally Moyland each logging impressive runs.

In the U15 Girls Singles event, Rachel Wang entered without a listed seed.  She topped  Heid Bravo 3-0, then topped Mariana Rodriguez 3-0, then took out the event’s fourth seed Angelica Arellano 3-0 before a tighter 3-2 win over Arianna Estrella in the Semifinal.   Rachel fell short in the Final, losing 0-3 to Shary Munoz of the Dominican Republic.  However, it was a great run just to reach the Final – and at just 15 years old, we can expect many more great runs.

Both Moyland and Wang entered the U17 Girls Singles event as well.  Rachel won her first round match, but then lost 1-3 to eventual finalist Giulia Takahashi of Brazil.  Sally had a bye in the first round, and then logged two wins before falling 2-3 to top seed and eventual event winner Suhana Saini.  Both Americans lost to a Finalist – and both held leads in the matches they lost.

Sally Moyland also entered in the U19 Girls Singles event.  Sally topped both Brazillian entrants with a win over Laura Watanabe 3-1 in the Quarterfinals, and a 3-2 win over Giulia Takahashi in the Semifinals.  Ultimately, the event’s top ranked player, India’s Yashaswini Ghorpade defeated Sally in the Final.  Like Rachel’s result in the U15, Sally’s run all the way to the Final was a great result – and as she is only 15, we can expect many more entertaining runs in the future.

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