MACON, Ga. — The main draw of the 2021 Mercer Tennis Classic gets underway Tuesday at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center in Macon. The USTA Pro Circuit 80K event features four players ranked inside the top 100 in the world.
Tuesday night's schedule is significant because it includes some local flare.
Tournament Director and Mercer Tennis Head Coach Eric Hayes has issued a wild card to Mercer junior Mary Courville, who will team up with graduate assistant Andrea Garcia to compete in the doubles main draw.
Garcia arrived in Central Georgia just a couple months ago, graduating in may from Florida State University as the winningest player in program history.
"It’s funny ‘cause it started as a joke," Garcia said. "I was hitting with Mary one day and Eric goes, ‘Oh my God, you guys could play the doubles tournament,’ and we thought he was joking. It’s been kind of nice to have something to look for, and practice for it."
Courville meanwhile is a graduate of Columbus High School. She's never faced the level of competition that she will on Tuesday, and likely never will while at Mercer. Still, Tuesday night's experience should go a long way in preparing the junior for the season ahead.
"I’m really excited," Courville said. "There’s no pressure on us so we get to just go out and enjoy and play tennis so it’s a little less pressure than a college match honestly. So it’s just going to be fun to go out and compete against some amazing players."
Courville and Garcia two will play their first round match Tuesday night under the lights at 6 p.m. against the Chinese team of Jia-Jing Lu and Xiyu Wang.
Tickets can be purchased on-site at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center, or in advance at www.ustamaconclassic.com.