GETTING TO KNOW YOU: CHRISTINA MCHALE

Written by: Staff on 29th August 2011

GETTING TO KNOW YOU: CHRISTINA MCHALE

US tennis player Christina McHale returns the ball to Italian tennis player Francesca Schiavone in their first round match at the Italian Open Tennis Tournament (Masters series), in the Central Stadium at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 10 May 2010. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI |

Christina McHale enters the 2011 US Open as the youngest woman in the Top 100 and the No. 4 American in the world rankings, trailing only Serena Williams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Venus Williams. (McHale will break into the Top 60 for the first time when the new rankings are released today.) Here is a little more information on this up-and-coming American star:

McHale grew up in New Jersey and still lists her official residence as Englewood Cliffs, N.J. When she was younger, she would come to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to train.

She has posted victories this summer over top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, reaching the quarterfinals at the New Haven Open at Yale and the round of 16 at three additional Olympus US Open Series events.

In addition, this year McHale played on the U.S. Fed Cup team for the second straight year; reached the quarterfinals of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C., defeating Daniela Hantuchova en route; reached the third round at Indian Wells; and won a $50,000 ITF Circuit event in Rome as a qualifier.

Only 19, McHale has already played in all four Grand Slam events, and she reached the second round in singles and the round of 16 in doubles at Wimbledon earlier this year.

This will be McHale’s third appearance in the main draw of the US Open. In 2009, she swept the singles and doubles at the 2009 USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn wild cards into the US Open, where she won her opening-round singles match before falling to Maria Sharapova in the second round. McHale and 2006 USTA Girls’ 18s champion Lauren Albanese are the only two USTA Girls’ 18s winners to post a victory at Flushing Meadows since the turn of the century.

Christina’s older sister, Lauren, 21, is also an accomplished player. She was the No. 1 player for Princeton as a freshman, earning the 2009 Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors, before transferring to the University of North Carolina. Lauren McHale earned All-America honors in doubles this past season for the Tar Heels, who finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in the country.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU (in 30 words or less)

Event	Player	Hometown	The Skinny
WS	Irina Falconi	Jupiter, Fla.	2010 NCAA Player of the Year reached the main draw of last year’s US Open as a qualifying wild card.
MS	Ryan Harrison	Brandeton, Fla.	19-year-old is ranked a career-best No. 67 after reaching the semifinals at two Olympus US Open Series events this summer.
WS	Madison Keys	Boca Raton, Fla.	2011 USTA Girls’ 18s doubles champion won a USTA playoff to earn the last wild card into the women’s singles main draw.
WS	Varvara Lepchenko	Allentown, Pa.	Uzbekistan native has finished in the Top 150 each of the last six years; she is currently ranked No. 101.
WS	Bethanie Mattek-Sands	Phoenix	American veteran, who has reached the second round here each of the last four years, was the highest-ranked woman not seeded at the 2011 US Open.
WS	CoCo Vandeweghe	Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.	Niece of former NBA standout Kiki Vandeweghe won the US Open girls’ singles title in 2008.