June 14, 2005

Fort Worth, Texas - Kewa Nichols and Story Tweedie-Yates both advanced out of the first round at the $10,000 Baylor Medical Center at Southwest Fort Worth Pro Tennis Classic on Tuesday. Nichols won her first main draw professional match of her career, while Tweedie-Yates was victorious for the first time as an official professional.

Nichols, a soon-to-be sophomore for the Horned Frogs, won the first match for TCU on the day when she topped No. 816 Chrissie Seredni of the United States in straight sets. Nichols opened by winning the first, 6-3, and in the second, she won a marathon set by the count of 7-6 (13).

The Austin, Texas, native faces No. 748 Biffy Kaufman of the United States in second round action on Thursday. Kaufman knocked out the No. 8 seed and No. 640 ranked Laura Ritchey-Thomas, 6-2, 6-1.

No. 654 Tweedie-Yates, who was an ITA All-American this past season for the Frogs, topped Maja Kovacek of Croatia in her first round action by the count of 6-3, 6-4. It was the second time in a month that the Redmond, Wash., native has defeated Kovacek, as she knocked her out of the NCAA Singles Championships in May.

Tweedie-Yates will face off with either American Tamara Encino or Tetiana Luzhanska of Ukraine in the second round. Encino, who is No. 722 in the world, and Luzhanska, who is the No. 5 seed and the No. 528 ranked player, will square off in a match on Wednesday.

TCU sophomore-to-be Nicole Leimbach, who is the No. 6 seed and ranked No. 618 in the WTA, will open play against No. 715 Beau Jones of the United States at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. Two more Frogs, Gloriann Lopez and Andrea Morgado, will play in the doubles main draw on Thursday.