Kirsten Flower Earns Wildcard Bid into Tier III WTA Event

July 15, 2007

ATLANTA – Kirsten Flower, a rising sophomore on Georgia Tech’s national champion women’s tennis team, has earned a wildcard bid into the main draw of the $175,000 Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open, a tier III Women’s Tennis Association event which taking place in Mason, Ohio this week.

The tournament features some of the top players in the world, including Anna Chakvetadze, Patty Schnyder, Meilen Tu, Severine Bremond, Sania Mirza, Akiko Morigami and Elena Vesnina. Flower will face Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan in the first round Tuesday.

Flower had an outstanding rookie campaign while helping Georgia Tech to its first NCAA team championship in history in 2007. The Columbus, Ohio native played primarily in the No. 3 doubles slot for the Yellow Jacket during the spring and made an immediate impact in her first fall tournament, advancing to the finals before dropping the championship match to her teammate Kristi Miller, 7-6, 7-6.

The tournament is currently in its fourth year as a Tier III stop on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. For tickets or information go to www.cincytennis.com/1/en/tickets or visit www.ticketmaster.com.