Two American teenagers will meet for the inaugural Party Rock Open singles title, battling for the opportunity to be presented with the champion’s trophy by global celebrity Redfoo.
Shelby Rogers, 19, or Charleston, S.C., will take on 18-year-old No. 2-seed Lauren Davis of Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1 p.m. Sunday final at the Party Rock Open, a women’s $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event sponsored by Redfoo’s Party Rock clothing line.
Davis held on to beat Russian-born Australian Anastasia Rodionova, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4 and Rogers beat qualifier Adriana Perez of Venezuela, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Just last week in the first round of the Albuquerque, N.M., USTA Pro Circuit event Davis beat Rogers 6-3 in the third. “The match went like three and a half hours,” Rogers said. “That was really a tough one to lose.”
In between the two semifinal matches on Saturday night, a festive crowd of approximately 1,000 looked on as Redfoo sung two of LMFAO’s chart-topping songs while a slew of kids stormed the stadium court at Darling Center in a Flash Mob dance-off.
“Tonight was really an unprecedented night in USTA women’s pro circuit history,” said co-tournament director Tyler Weekes. “We had a seven-time Grammy Award winner on our courts between matches singing his popular songs. It really was an amazing night.”
Added co-tournament director Jordan Butler: “Wow. Just check out our Facebook page to see the energy and excitement the Flash Mob created. Redfoo singing ‘I’m Sexy and I Know It’ and the ‘Party Rock Anthem.’ Las Vegas and the great tennis community here were treated to a special night tonight thanks Redfoo.”
In the doubles final to follow on Sunday, the top-seeded team of Anastasia Rodionova and Arina Rodionova will face Elena Bovina of Russia and Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania.
Log onto www.RadioTennis.com to hear Ken Thomas do his live Internet stream at the Patry Rock Open through Sunday.
The Party Rock Open is presented by Nevada Orthopedic & Spine Center, Las Vegas’ premier orthopedics group. Other sponsors include: USTA-Nevada, CourtThink, LLC, Agent Atleta, Ltd., WG Communications Group, Cox Communications, ESPN 1110 AM, The Point 97.1, 98.5 KLUC, your local All State Insurance agent Dwain Frazier, Marty Hennessey Foundation, Ryan Wolfington, Granello Bakery, Solinco strings, Western Cab Company, Marquis Aurbach and Coffing, www.10sBalls.com, ASICS, Marcy Saxe at Realty One Group, and Perrier water.
It was the end of an era at Crandon Park for the Miami Open last year. From the Lipton, to the Nasdaq 100, to the Sony Ericsson, to the Sony, to the Miami Open presented by Itau, Key Biscayne saw it all.