Oct. 14, 2008

SOUTHLAKE, Texas (Southlake Tennis Center)- SMU tennis freshman Marta Lesniak (Wroclaw, Poland) made a successful run through the main draw of the Fidelity-Southlake Women's Pro Classic this past week, reaching the Quarterfinals after winning the event's qualifying tournament the previous week. In the round of 16, Lesniak easily defeated (6-3, 6-3) Anda Perianu, a former All-American from the University of Oklahoma who has been ranked as high as 120 in the world. Lesniak's amazing run finally came to an end when she dropped a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 match to Chloe Jones, a top-5 American junior from the class of 2008.

The Southlake tournament is part of a series of professional events held throughout the world. Players hoping to develop a professional tennis career start at this level, working their way up the ranking system by earning points for their results. Each tournament offers players circuit points, helping them to qualify for larger events. Many current professionals, such as former #1 players Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova started their careers at this level. Last year's FSWPC winner, Alexa Glatch, played in the US Open Main Draw this year, after winning three matches in the Qualifying event.

"Anda Perianu is a phenomenal player - we're talking about someone who was a top-5 college player and has reached the 3rd round of the French Open, so this is a very impressive win for Marta" said SMU assistant coach Patrick Sullivan. "At the same time, I am not at all surprised by the result. As long as Marta is willing to continue to work hard to develop discipline, talent will never be the limiting factor for her."

The Mustangs return to action Oct. 17 in Houston as play begins in the 28th Annual Rice Classic.