Alison Van Uytvanck captures Red Rock Pro Open singles title

A subtle fist pump was Alison Van Uytvanck’s only gesture of celebration on the court after winning the Red Rock Pro Open singles competition, likely because she didn’t have the energy to do anything else.

The 22-year-old Belgian tennis player, who was the top seed of the $50,000 Pro Circuit event, outlasted 17-year-old Sonya Kenin 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 during a two-and-a-half hour match Sunday at the Red Rock Country Club.

Van Uytvanck pocketed $7,600 for winning the tournament and prevailing in a final match during which blustery conditions made things difficult.

“I was just trying to hang in there,” Van Uytvanck, who is ranked No. 113 in singles, said. “(Kenin) was playing really well. I didn’t field the balls well, I was tired, I had played a lot of matches and there were pretty tough conditions today.”

Van Uytvanck boasted the better serve and forehand in the match, though in the early going she had trouble with her ball placement. Kenin, an amateur ranked No. 243 in singles, made fewer mistakes in the first set and the early parts of the second to erase two 2-0 deficits.

Van Uytvanck settled in by the middle of the second set, and while Kenin was able to keep battling back the Belgian managed to win the tiebreaker. Van Uytvanck had two aces and one double fault on her serve during the tiebreaker, emblamatic of a day on which the wind affected both players’ timing behind the service line.

“We always had to wait to serve because the ball was going everywhere,” Van Uytvanck said.

Kenin got out to a 2-0 lead in the third set, but then it was Van Uytvanck’s turn to erase a deficit. Van Uytvanck won the last six games as Kenin grew tired to clinch her second singles title of the year. Kenin also had to take an injury timeout in the third set because her left leg felt tight.

“I got more nervous and more passive, and she stepped up her game,” Kenin, a wild-card entry in the tournament, said. “It’s hard to play with a leg that’s hurting.”

The tight singles match took place shortly after Maria Sanchez of the U.S. and Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands earned $2,786 by winning the doubles competition. The pair, playing in their second tournament together after winning a $75,000 event in Albuquerque, New Mexico, two weeks ago, defeated Jamie Loeb of the U.S. and Chanel Simmonds of Souuth Africa 7-5, 6-1.

Krajicek, who won the 2015 Red Rock Pro Open singles competition, admitted afterwards that she and Sanchez were outplayed for most of the first set. The pair, seeded second in the tournament, turned it on to win the final two games of the first set and won the second handily.

Sanchez, ranked No. 54 in doubles, and Krajicek, ranked No. 122 in doubles, already have talked about continuing a so-far productive partnership into the fall and potentially into some bigger tournaments next year.

“This was a really good test to see if it was going to work out, and it couldn’t have gone better,” Krajicek said. “I think, for this level, it’s obvious we’re doing well.”

Ben Gotz is a sports reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Contact him at bgotz@reviewjournal.com or follow him on Twitter @BenSGotz