Little women: Perez, Anderson reach Redding final

No. 5 seed Adriana Perez of Venezuela volleys during her
2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2) victory over Catherine Harrison on Thurs-
day in the second round of the $25,000 Redding Challenger.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Professional tennis isn't just the land of the giants, although it sometimes seems that way.
   Petite Adriana Perez of Venezuela and tiny Robin Anderson of Matawan, N.J., will meet today at 12:30 p.m. for the title of the $25,000 The Ascension Project Women's Challenger at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.
   Perez, seeded fifth, dismissed seventh-seeded Allie Kiick of Plantation, Fla., 6-3, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinals. Kiick, 18, is the daughter of Jim Kiick, the fifth-leading rusher in Miami Dolphins history.
   Anderson, 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters), topped 5-11 (1.80-meter) Julia Boserup of Newport Beach 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in a matchup of unseeded players. Boserup, who turned 22 on Monday, won the 2011 Redding title but missed the first six months of this year with a bulging disc.
   Perez and Anderson, both 20, will face each other for the first time. Perez, ranked No. 237 in the world, seeks her second Challenger title in her third final. Anderson, a UCLA junior ranked No. 624, will play in her first Challenger final.

Unseeded Robin Anderson, shown in the second
round on Thursday, beat Julia Boserup in the semi-
finals after trailing 4-6, 3-5. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Both players survived close calls en route to the final.
   Perez edged unseeded Catherine Harrison, Anderson's teammate at UCLA, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) in the second round. The No. 1 Venezuelan then beat top-seeded Olivia Rogowska of Australia 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
   Anderson, who reached the singles round of 16 and doubles final in the NCAA Championships in May, trailed Boserup 5-3 in the second set. Boserup double-faulted nine times in the match, and Anderson converted five of 16 break points.
   Anderson also will play in the doubles final, which follows the singles. In an all-American encounter, Anderson and Lauren Embree will face Jacqueline Cako and Kiick. Both teams are unseeded. Cako (pronounced CAY-ko) won last year's doubles title with American Sanaz Marand.
   Cako graduated in three years from Arizona State in biological sciences in May and was named the Pacific-12 Conference Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She plans to attend medical school after her pro tennis career.