GETTING TO KNOW: IRINA FALCONI

Written by: Staff on 2nd September 2011

GETTING TO KNOW: IRINA FALCONI

Irina Falconi of the US returns to Gisela Dulko of Argentina during their first round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 22 May 2011. EPA/HORACIO VILLALOBOS |

(Courtesy of USTA)

GETTING TO KNOW: IRINA FALCONI

Irina Falconi realized a lifelong dream when her match on Wednesday was moved to Arthur Ashe Stadium following Venus Williams’ withdrawal from the tournament. She made the most of the opportunity, knocking off No. 14 seed Dominika Cibulkova, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, to move into today’s third-round match against No. 22 seed Sabine Lisicki. Here’s a closer look at the 21-year-old from Alpharetta, Ga.:

• Falconi was a collegiate standout at Georgia Tech. She earned All-America honors as a freshman and was the No. 1 player in the 2009-10 season-end Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings as a sophomore, posting a 40-3 overall record. She turned pro following her sophomore year.

• She received a wild card into the 2010 US Open Qualifying Tournament and subsequently became just the 10th qualifying wild card in US Open history to qualify for the main draw, where she fell to No. 19 seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round.

• Since leaving Georgia Tech, Falconi has made steady progress on the USTA Pro Circuit. She was No. 7 on the 2010 USTA Pro Circuit prize money list and, in March of this year, reached the finals of both the singles and doubles at the $100,000 event in Midland, Mich., to close in on the Top 100.

• Falconi has played in the main draw of all four Grand Slams in 2011. She qualified for the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and she won a USTA playoff to earn a wild card into Roland Garros.

• She posted her best-ever WTA result in July when she reached the semifinals in College Park, Md., and entered the US Open ranked No. 79 in the world, just two spots shy of her career best, which was achieved earlier in August.

• She lived in New York from ages 3 to 14 and would come to the US Open annually with her parents.