The day belonged to the youngsters at the $50,000 RBC Bank Women's Challenger tennis tournament on Saturday at the North Hills Club in Raleigh.
Kids Day saw two busloads of children from area Boys & Girls Clubs arrive for tennis clinics, food and fun, and it also saw a young Australia-born player, Johanna Konta, play her way into Sunday's championship match, defeating Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-2, 6-4.
At 1 p.m. Sunday, Konta will play USTA Pro Circuit veteran Lindsay Lee-Waters of Georgia, who defeated 18-year-old Alison Riske of Pennsylvania, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3.
An all-American doubles final at 11 a.m. Sunday will feature Alexandra Mueller and Ahsha Rolle - who knocked out No. 1 seeds Julie Ditty and Carly Gullickson - taking on youngsters Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs.
While the pros were competing, more than 90 children from the Boys & Girls Club of North Carolina spent the morning learning about tennis at a clinic sponsored by Prince, which donated a racket for each child. The kids put those rackets to use on 16 courts as they learned basic skills from pros from the North Hills Club and elsewhere in the Triangle. Tournament title sponsor RBC Bank donated an ACC cinch backpack for each participant.
RBC BANK WOMEN'S CHALLENGER
May 15
North Hills Club
Clay courts
Singles
Saturday's results
Johanna Konta (AUS) def. Mirjana Lucic (CRO) [7] 6-2, 6-4
Lindsay Lee-Waters (USA) [5] def. Alison Riske [2] 2-6, 7-6(), 6-3
Sunday's schedule
Johanna Konta (AUS) vs. Lindsay Lee-Waters (USA) [5], 1 p.m.
Doubles
Alexandra MUELLER (USA) [3] / Ahsha ROLLE (USA) vs. Kristie AHN (USA) / Nicole GIBBS (USA), 11 a.m.
