JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Former Lancaster Catholic standout Lauren Zink has received a wild card entry into next week’s inaugural women’s Pro Circuit Tennis Challenge, a United States Tennis Association event that will be contested on the hard courts at the Hempfield Area Recreation Commission in Landisville.
All matches are free to the public, with qualifying rounds set for Sunday and Monday at 9 a.m.
The tournament continues with the main draw Tuesday through Friday at 9 a.m., with feature matches set for Wednesday through Friday at 5:30 p.m.
The semifinals are Saturday at 10 a.m., with the singles championship — followed by the doubles championship — Sunday at noon.
The field is headed by Alexandra Mueller, 20, an Abington native who is ranked 345th in the world.
Zink had a standout career for Lancaster Catholic, winning three Lancaster-Lebanon League singles titles, a pair of District 3 singles crowns and two PIAA singles championships.
She went on to earn All-American status four times for William & Mary, and was ranked as high as fourth in the NCAA during her collegiate career.
Zink and her husband, Bent Creek Country Club director of tennis George Zink, are past mixed doubles and husband/wife champions in American Platform Tennis Association competition.
And Zink is the reigning APTA women’s doubles champ. She and Cindy Prednergast teamed to win the crown in March.
The Pro Circuit Tennis Challenge is sponsored by Koser Jewelers of Mount Joy, and offers a $10,000 purse — $1,600 to the singles winner.
Players like Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, James Blake and the world’s top-ranked women’s player, Justine Henin — who announced her retirement on Wednesday — got their start in USTA pro circuit events.
