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More Tennis

• Local tennis: Naples' Witten loses first-round match in U.S. Open qualifying
• Local tennis: Marco's Embree eliminated in consolation round at USTA Girls 18s National Championship
• Local tennis: Marco's Embree wins two consolation matches at USTA Girls 18s National Championship

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Marco’s Lauren Embree won her fist professional tournament over the weekend.

An amateur, Embree did not take the first prize money in the Via Christi Pro Tennis Classic in Wichita, Kansas.

Total prize money for the tourney was $10,000. As an amateur Embree will get expenses, about $400.

Unranked, since she plays in few pro tournaments, Embree’s toughest opponent was No. 3 seed Nathalia Rossi of Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Embree edged Rossi in the first set, 6-4, but lost a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6. In the final set Embree took over, winning easily, 6-1.

“I might have been bothered at first because she was a lefty,” Embree said. “It became a matter of who made fewer mistakes. My ground strokes didn’t let me down. I kept hitting the ball deep and high and then attacking on any short volley.

In the semifinals she dropped Jacqueline Cako, 6-3, 6-4 and beat Jamie Hampton by the same score in the finals.

Of the tournament, “I just wanted to have a solid tournament and see how it went from there.”

Her next competition will be the National USTA Jr. Clay Courts Tournament in Memphis, Tenn. this month.