Julie Ditty wins ColemanVision Tennis Championship

Julie Ditty won the singles title of the ColemanVision Tennis Championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico, defeating No. 1 seeded Paraguayan native Rossana de los Rios 6-4, 7-6 (3). It was the first singles title of the year for Ditty, the No. 2 seed from Ashland, Kentucky.

In the first set, Ditty started strong, leading 4-0 and later 5-2. However, de los Rios rallied, closing to 5-4. Ditty then broke de los Rios’s serve to close out the set. Throughout the match, de los Rios had the more powerful groundstrokes, but Ditty adopted a strategy featuring numerous lobs and moonballs that drove de los Rios back nearly to the fence surrounding the court and neutralized her power.

Ditty took a 5-2 lead in the second set, then failed to convert on six match points before de los Rios fought back to tie the match at 6-6, sending the second set to a tiebreak. Ditty lead throughout the tiebreak and eventually won it 7-3, on a double fault by de los Rios.

Later in the day, Ditty and American teammate Carly Gullickson, the tournament’s No. 2 doubles seed, defeated the No. 4 seeded team of Jorgelina Cravero and Betina Jozami, both from Argentina, by a score of 6-3, 6-4.