By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

The week started with the second day of qualifying at The Peachtree National bank USTA Challenger of Peachtree.

It was another scorcher, only cooled off momentarily by a passing thunderstorm late in the afternoon. It was a big day for players from Japan, despite the loss of top seeded Rika Hiraku. Hiraku lost to Lana Van Rooyen of South Africa 6-4, 6-4. The fifth, sixth and seventh seeded players in qualifying, all from Japan, each advanced to the final rounds of qualifying.

Tomoe Hotta, the fifth seed, had her work cut for her in her win over Gabriela Volekova. She won in two sets 7-6 (3), 6-3. Akiko Morigami, the sixth seed won over a tough competitor in Wendy Fix 6-2, 6-0. Shiho Hisamatsu, the seventh seed, struck quickly in her match against Victoria Hunt, winning 6-0, 6-3. Maiko Inoue played confidently in her win over the eighth seed Nikola Hubnerova 6-4,7-5.

College Park's Jewel Peterson faced the third seed Bryanne Stewart in the first round of matches Monday morning and lost 6-4, 6-4. In the battle between Gainesville and Seminole, Fla., Gators won out as Dawn Buth defeated Lori Grey, 6-1, 6-2. The final match of the day took a while to be played as it was delayed due to the thunderstorm. Amanda Augustus eventually won out over India's Manisha Malhotra 6-3, 7-5.

Qualifying ended Monday with a number of seeded players falling. Monday was a day of success for players from Japan, but Tuesday went to the underdogs. Catalina Castano, the second seed in qualifying, lost to Amanda Augustus 6-2, 6-3, while fourth seeded Julie Steven lost to Dawn Buth in a three-set battle 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Lana Van Rooyen, who made the finals of last week's event in Evansville, Ind., continued her march through qualifying, as she defeated Annica Cooper 7-5, 6-2.

Australia's Bryanne Stewart, the third seed, secured one of the four qualifying spots, as she won over Maiko Inoue 6-2, 6-0. Akiko Morigami, the sixth seed, qualified for the main draw after defeating Amanda Augustus 6-3, 6-1. Lana Van Rooyen took the third qualifying spot in the main draw, winning over fifth seeded Tomoe Hotta 6-3, 6-2. The final qualifying spot went to Dawn Buth, who quickly beat the seventh seed, Shiho Hisamatsu, 6-0, 6-1.

In main draw action Tuesday, Louise Lattimer, the fourth seed of this tournament, won over her doubles partner, Jackie Trail 6-4, 6-4. The sixth seed in the main draw, Francisca Lubiani, had no problems defeating Susie Starrett 6-3, 6-0. Holly Parkinson, who has played tremendous tennis this year, couldn't get it going in her match with Marissa Irvin, losing 6-1, 6-0. Irvin is considered one of the top junior players in the world and is considering going pro.

In the evening matches, the upsets continued. Julie Pulun, the fifth seed in the main draw, lost to Milagros Sequera 6-4, 6-1. The final match of the evening was between the top seeded player in the tournament, Jana Nejedly of Canada, and Russia's Alina Jidkova. Jidkova made the semis at Mahwah, producing wins over Mashona Washington, Louis Lattimer and Jolene Watanabe. Jidkova struck early Tuesday night, going up 5-0 on Nejedly before Nejedly could answer. Jidkova won 6-3, 6-2.

Wednesday, Erika DeLone, the champion at the recent Challenger of Mahwah, defeated Lana Van Rooyen, who had been playing outstanding tennis lately, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. Marietta's Julie Scaringe lost to third seeded Nana Miyagi 6-2, 7-6 (6). Jill Craybas, a former NCAA Champion, beat Maricirs Fernandez 6-4, 6-2, while Vanessa Webb, another outstanding college player, defeated Petra Rampre 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

In the afternoon, the Mike Patton Auto Mall One Point High School tournament produced four winners who will play Sunday between the singles and doubles finals. The winners are Lauren Dillon and Erin Keating from Starr's Mill, Nicole Nather from Fayette County, and Charlsiy Smith from East Coweta. The winner will get her high school team a free entry into the upcoming High School tournament and a free pair of Adidas.

In other afternoon matches in the main draw, Lisa McShea defeated Hila Rosen 6-3, 6-1, Karin Miller won over Haruka Inoue of Japan 6-3, 6-2, and Tomoe Hotta beat Tracy Singian in a brutal match 5-7, 7-6(2), 7-5. Singian had to take several medical time-outs due to cramping and the late afternoon heat was unbearable.

The evening matches were cancelled due to thunderstorms and were played early Thursday morning.

The tennis has been amazing this week and looks to only get better as the field narrows. Saturday will be USTA “Let's get into the game“ Day with face painting, clinics and activities for the whole family. Ticket proceeds will go to the David L. Harris Foundation, a group that supports terminally ill children and their families.

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