Two days after becoming the first former Georgia Tech women’s player to win a singles match in a grand slam tournament, Irina Falconi made personal history.
Falconi, who turned professional last summer, scored the biggest win of her career Wednesday, coming from one set down to knock out world No. 15 and No. 14 seed Dominika Cibulkova in the second round of the U.S. Open. Falconi won 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. She was down 0-3 and 1-4 in the final set before a patient rally that forced Cibulkova into repeated unforced errors gave her the match.
“That’s the one thing I just focused on, is to never give up until the last point,” Falconi said by phone as she left the USTA National Tennis Center Wednesday evening. “I just had to believe the entire time I wasn’t going to give up.”
Falconi, an All-American at Tech who left last year after her sophomore season, will move on to a third- round matchup with No. 22 seed Sabine Lisicki. She called the victory surreal. Falconi grew up in New York and …
Archive for August, 2011
Falconi pulls second upset at U.S. Open
Video: Previewing Tech-Western Carolina
Greetings
My Cinesport video interview with Noah Coslov. Best experienced with the monitor off.
Johnson: No decision yet on Lee
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson offered a little more light into his decision regarding Vad Lee on Wednesday’s ACC coaches teleconference. Asked about how Lee, the true freshman quarterback from Durham, N.C., was doing, Johnson said he is “probably well ahead of where we thought he might be.”
He went on to say that coaches hadn’t made a decision on whether to play him this year, which, if you’re into parsing, is a little different than what he had said on his radio show Tuesday night, when he said he knew “what’s in my mind right now” about the decision to play or redshirt Lee. (Unless what was in his mind was one of those question mark bubbles.)
“He’s certainly on our travel squad and will dress,” Johnson said Wednesday. “We’re going to have to make that decision here pretty quickly. But he’s done great. We’re really excited about Vad.”
If indeed a decision has yet to be made, one could reasonably conclude that Lee wouldn’t play Thursday night against Western Carolina in …
What’s your prediction for the season?
Greetings
The much-awaited (since earlier today) 2011 AJC Georgia Tech prediction contest sponsored by Vandelay Industries is upon us. Pretty simple. Pick each game, win or loss, no score necessary. Let’s say the first tiebreaker will be the number of games accurately predicted and the second will be going game-by-game backwards from Georgia.
I don’t know what the prize will be, but I guess I’ve got a few months to figure it out. Maybe the good folks in marketing can send something our way.
To make the reading a little more interesting, give your outlook (no treatises, please. 75 words is enough) and feel free to make another prediction, like, Louis Young will be All-ACC, or, at their pre-game meeting before the Tech-N.C. State game, Paul Johnson will give Tom O’Brien an atomic wedgie.
Also, who will be Tech’s leading rusher and with how many yards, what bowl will Tech go to (if it does) and yes or no on if Vad Lee plays and if yes, what’s his first game.
Deadline is kickoff …
Bohannon on Washington, Sims
Greetings-
Hope you are well. Thanks for following along with my test Tuesday. I realize some of you thought my rules were devoid of logic, but I hope you were more satisfied with how the discussion went.
Anyway, this is the first part of an interview with quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon, who is invariably a great source of information and perspective on his players, as I’ve probably said before. I talked to him mostly for a story about B-back David Sims that I’m planning to write Wednesday to run in Thursday’s paper in advance of the opening game.
I’ll plan to post the rest of it around noon. Thanks for reading and again for following the rules Tuesday.
One more thought about the rules, and we’ll keep going. I know some of you don’t mind and maybe even like the back-and-forth with non-Tech fans, which is fine. This is ultimately for you all, so if that’s what you want to do, it’s up to you. But I’d say that when that happens, it hijacks the thread and turns off …
Tech’s Falconi plays second round Wed.
Former Georgia Tech tennis star Irina Falconi will play her second-round match at the U.S. Open Wednesday. She’ll face No. 14 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the third match of the day on Court 11. The first match begins at 11 a.m.
Falconi, who turned professional following her junior year in 2010, earned her first win in a grand slam tournament Monday with a three-set win over Klara Zakpalova. Falconi is ranked No. 79 in the world.
Cibulkova is the world No. 15 player in the world. She reached the third round at the Australian Open in January and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, where she knocked out world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
Tech’s Jones to play, after all
A day after being listed as doubtful, Roddy Jones was back in the lineup Tuesday.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said that the senior A-back will play in the Yellow Jackets’ season opener Thursday night against Western Carolina.
Johnson was speaking on his radio show Tuesday night from its new location at the Hudson Grille in Midtown. Monday, Johnson listed Jones as doubtful, saying he was “dinged up.”
Jones, who has been selected as one of three captains by coaches for Thursday’s game, has missed only one game in his career and started all of the other 39.
Johnson also said on the show, broadcast on 790 the Zone, that he knows “what’s in my mind right now” regarding the possibility of playing true freshman quarterback Vad Lee, but that it could change. Lee is third on the depth chart behind starter Tevin Washington and backup Synjyn Days, both of whom will play Thursday.
“Vad is way ahead of where we thought he would be, and I think he’s a talented young man, and we’ll see,” …
Johnson on Sims, Watts and his first job
Greetings-
Sorry for the delay. I just got back from an interview with John and Mary Brock, who provided the lead gift for the Georgia Tech indoor facility. Very gracious couple and big Tech fans, as you might imagine. I can tell you that they don’t have keys to the building. We met outside and had to wait for a project supervisor to let us in. A Q&A should be up by the end of the week.
Got a few leftover notes that didn’t make the notebook, and some sort of unrelated but interesting stuff from coach Paul Johnson about his start in coaching and why he calls plays.
Here’s the link to the notebook, which has all the lineup changes and a few other notes. You also should read Jeff Schultz’s post about what Johnson said about how he would stop the rash of NCAA rules violations.
1. Johnson lauded starting B-back David Sims again for his work ethic and unwillingness to give up when he switched positions and started fourth on the depth chart. In talking about Sims as well as B-back …
Tech depth chart out, lineup notes
Greetings-
Some quick notes from coach Paul Johnson’s Monday news conference in advance of Georgia Tech’s season opener Thursday against Western Carolina.
1. Johnson said A-back Roddy Jones is doubtful (undisclosed injury). Jones has appeared and started in all but one game in his Georgia Tech career. Johnson said he was “dinged up.” Embry Peeples would start in Jones’ place. Backup A-back Marcus Wright is also on the injured list.
2. B-back David Sims will start. The depth chart lists Preston Lyons and Charles Perkins as No. 2. After saying last week that Perkins was not working hard enough in practice, he and Johnson met. “I think we’re on the same page,” Johnson said.
3. True freshman guard Trey Braun will not start, after all. Coaches considered different combinations, but decided to keep Will Jackson at guard and make Braun the No. 3 guard. Either Catlin Alford or Ray Beno will start at left tackle in place of Phil Smith, who is suspended for two games. Braun will play, …
Falconi first-round winner at U.S. Open
UPDATED, 9:04 p.m.: Former Georgia Tech tennis star Irina Falconi won her first-ever grand slam match Monday, taking out world No. 44 Klara Zakopalovan 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Former Georgia Tech tennis star Irina Falconi will play in the main draw of her fifth consecutive grand slam event Monday with a match against Klara Zakopalovan of the Czech Republic. (Update: I wrote earlier it was 11 a.m. I stand corrected. It’s the third match on Court 8, the first of which began at 11.) It’s a pretty tough draw for Falconi, who has risen from No. 184 at the beginning of the year to No. 78, making her the No. 5 American. Zakopalovan is No. 44 in the world. She’ll also play doubles with Edina Gallovits-Hall.
She has made the semifinals of two of her past three tournaments, smaller events in Washington D.C. and Vancouver.
Falconi, from New York, calls the U.S. Open the best of the four slams. (For the record, she calls the Australian Open “the nicest,” the French “the grindiest” and Wimbledon …
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