Danielle Lau | Midland Daily Press

Here’s our recap of SoCal’s finest competing all over the world last week!

All eyes focused on Memphis this past weekend, where American Ryan Harrison found his own Graceland in securing his first ATP title, moving up nineteen points to #43 in the world with a triumph over Nikolo Basilashvili in straight sets. Harrison did not drop a set throughout the entire tournament, including a dominant win over Sam Querrey (Santa Monica) in the round of 16. Remarkably, Harrison came oh so close to a Memphis sweep, teaming with Steve Johnson (Redondo Beach) to reach the doubles final. Querrey and Johnson head to Delray Beach this week for an ATP 250 event.
After a stunning loss at Maui in January, Ernesto Escobedo (West Covina) rebounded to the quarterfinals at the ATP Challenger in Tempe, AZ and reached a career high #113 in world rankings.
In ITF action, wild card Danielle Lau (Arcadia) reached the final in Surprise, AZ opposite eventual champion and countrywoman Caroline Dolehide. Lau dispatched top seed Tatjana Maria of Germany in the first round, 6-1, 6-2.
In fact, multiple SoCal women reached career-high rankings this week, including Newport Beach’s Julia Boserup (#99), and Asia Muhammad of Long Beach (#131). Kayla Day (Santa Barbara) jumps to #181 as well. Boserup and fellow Californian Coco Vandeweghe (Rancho Santa Fe) are headed to Dubai for this week’s WTA Premier Event.