Glatch seals professional status

Bryce Alderton

Alexa Glatch, a 15-year-old tennis player from Newport Beach,

announced Monday she has officially turned professional.

Glatch, who made her Women’s Tennis Association Tour debut in

March at Indian Wells and is currently the highest-ranked (seventh)

American female in the International Tennis Federation standings,

signed on with Octagon, which represents such WTA players as Elena

Dementieva, Amelie Mauresmo and Nadia Petrova.

Glatch recently won an ITF event in Malaysia and reached the

finals of another tournament in Thailand.

She claimed both girls 18s singles and doubles division titles at

the prestigious Easter Bowl championships last month, the second time

in three years Glatch has won both crowns at the event.

“I had been doing well and this [playing professional tennis] is

what I want to do, it’s been my dream,” Glatch, who has played eight

WTA events and was ranked 355th on the circuit, said on Tuesday from

Newport Beach.

Glatch lost only four games during a string of four matches that

ended with the singles semifinal at the Easter Bowl.

The week prior to the Easter Bowl, Glatch reached the girls

singles final of the United States Tennis Association International

Spring Championships held in Carson.

Micky Lawler of Octagon will represent Glatch, named the 2003

Junior Player of the Year by Inside Tennis Magazine after winning at

the Orange Bowl (16s) and Easter Bowl (14s).

“I’ve met her [Lawler] before and she is great,” Glatch said. “I

think it’s going to work out well.”

Glatch leaves Thursday for a $50,000 pro circuit tournament in

Charlottesville, Va.

Glatch, ranked No. 1 in girls 18s singles by

tennisinformation.com, an independent web site not affiliated with

the USTA, said the announcement will not alter her schedule for the

remainder of the year.

USTA rankings put Glatch at 11th in girls 18s.

In two weeks she will leave for Europe, where she will compete in

junior Italian and French Open championships.

Last summer, Glatch reached the second round of U.S. Open

qualifying.

Syd Ball, father of former Corona del Mar High standout brothers

Cameron and Carsten Ball is one of Glatch’s two primary coaches.

Katie Schlukebir, who competed for six years on the WTA Tour,

travels and also coaches Glatch.

Alicia Molik, 24, a five-time WTA singles and six-time doubles

champion ranked eighth in the world, along with Gisela Dulko, a

six-time ITF singles winner ranked 37th in the world, also signed

with Octagon on Monday.