Top seeds advance to women’s and men’s finals at PNW Open

The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds from the men’s and women’s brackets advanced Saturday to the championship matches at the PNW Open at the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club.

The No. 1 women’s seed, Petra Rampre, defeated Tacoma native and No. 3 seed Suzanne Matzenauer, 6-0, 6-0.

Matzenauer strained a muscle and had trouble keeping up with Rampre.

“I am really sore,” Matzenauer said. “But I tried my best and really enjoyed my time so far at the tournament.”

Matzenauer, a 2006 Bellarmine Prep grad, teaches tennis in Bend, Oregon, and had taken a break after the birth of her 5-month-old baby girl.

She recently jumped back into competition, and says the PNW Open is her favorite tournament.

“It’s so nice being back,” Matzenauer said. “It’s just so fun and special to play on my home court, and to have everyone just hold my baby and play with her.”

The No. 2 seed, Gail Brodsky, trumped the No. 4 seed, Samantha Hampton, 6-4, 6-4.

Brodsky, a Woodinville native, said Hampton, an 18-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, is always a tough match.

“I knew that I wanted to win the first set so that it didn’t have to go to three (sets),” Brodsky said. .”

Brodsky will face Rampre at 11 a.m. Sunday.

On the men’s side, No. 1 seed Robert Kendrick knocked off the No. 3 seed, Guillermo Gomez, 6-2, 6-3.

“He’s a really great player,” Gomez said of Kendrick. “He just hits a bunch of tough balls that are hard to play against.”

Kendrick will face the No. 2 seed, Kyle McMorrow, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

McMorrow, a University of Washington alum, overcame a current Huskies player and No. 4 seed, Mitch Stewart, in a two-hour match, 6-2, 6-4.

“I executed what I wanted to do very well,” McMorrow said. “I was very patient and picked the right shots to hit against Mitch, who’s really quick and can make the court look very tiny.”

Said Stewart, a Federal Way native:

“I’ve played this tournament many times and it’s always nice to play where you call home.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2015 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Top seeds advance to women’s and men’s finals at PNW Open."