Tennis ace Sachia Vickery advances in US Open

Tennis ace Sachia Vickery advances in US Open
Associated Press / Mic Smith, File

American Tennis Ace, Sachia Vickery whose Guyanese mother Paula Liverpool has guided her career to many successes on the court, is once again making headlines, this time, at the US Open. She defeated American player, Jamie Loeb in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 and advanced to the Round of 64 after defeating Russian Natalia Konstantinovna Vikhlyantseva on Tuesday.

After losing the first set 4-6, Vickery rebounded to win 6-4, 6-1. Vickery will face another Russian, Sofia Kenin on Wednesday (August 30) as she continues her great run at the US Open. This is the second time Sachia is playing in the main draw of the US Open.

The outstanding player who has skills matching the likes of American tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams, her idols, has been quite impressive with her powerful strokes, winning all her qualifying matches, putting her smack in a group of outstanding young tennis players worldwide.

Vickery, 22 years old, won all of her qualifying matches and will come up against Russian Natalia Konstantivovna Vikhlyantseva, when she takes to the court on this week at the US Open in Flushing, in the main draw.

According to a New York Times article, Vickery, who is a rising star on the American tennis scene, has made it this far in her young career with a combination of talent, court savvy, desire and great athletic genes.

Vickery said it is the dedication of her mother, who worked two jobs so that she could continue to play, tennis, stating that she might never have gone any further in her tennis career, than hitting a paddle ball off the wall of their modest home in Miramar, Florida

“What she has done for me is inspiring,” Vickery said. “It’s helped me to grow stronger as a person. When you’re not used to getting everything easily, you fight harder for it. Every time I go on the court, my mentality is, fight, fight. It has helped me, so I’ll never complain.”

The tennis phenom, as of March 2017, is ranked 134th in the world in singles. Vickery has won two singles tournaments on the WTA’s lower-level International Tennis Federation circuit and one doubles tournament on this circuit.

In 2013, she won the USTA National Junior Championships. She was then given a wildcard to compete in the main draw of the 2003 US Open in women’s singles. Here, she beat former Wimbledon semifinalist Mirjana Lucia 6–4, 6–4, but eventually lost, in the second round, to qualifier Julia Glushko 5–7, 3–6. Vickery has made two quarterfinal appearances at WTA events In Stanford and Nottingham.

In 2015 Vickery qualified for the main draw of the Championships Wimbledon where she faced world number eight Ekaterina Makarova first round, this was her third main draw appearance at a grand slam.

Vickery also won her first two ITF pro circuit events in 2015 in Plantation and Sunrise Florida. In 2016, she qualified for the main draw at Roland Garros, her fourth main draw appearance at a Grand Slam.

In 2014 Vickery earned a wildcard for the 2014 Australian, according to Wikipedia.