Falconi, McHale may be next American tennis stars

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) - American tennis players Irina Falconi and Christina McHale will be playing for medals at the Pan American Games on Friday, and it might not be long before they'll be contending at a Grand Slam. The promising duo already made an impression at this year's U.S. Open, making it to the third round, and their game has been improving at such a pace that they might soon become the next stars in American tennis. "They are certainly part of the future of American women's tennis," U.S. coach Tom Gullikson said. "They've really had a breakout year. They've played a lot of matches and competed well. They really elevated their game." Falconi defeated 192nd-ranked Florencia Molinero of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 Thursday to reach the final in Guadalajara, while McHale was upset by 264th-ranked Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the semifinals and will play for the bronze. Both matches are Friday. McHale was the tournament's top seeded player, while Falconi was No. 2. The duo will also play for the gold in the doubles final. "I'm super thrilled to have an opportunity to get two gold medals for my country," Falconi said. "This is huge for me." Against Puig, McHale was angered with an apparent missed call that went against her when she was down 4-2 in the tiebreaker, but wasn't blaming the loss on that. "I definitely think it was an important call but I'm not going to say that's the reason why I lost," McHale said. "She served very well and I didn't serve very well." A couple of double-faults late in the game also were costly to McHale. "It happens. It's part of the game. Nothing I can do now," she said. "We have doubles now. We are going to get ready and hopefully we are going to get the gold." The 19-year-old McHale is ranked No. 42, the second-highest rank for an American behind No. 14 Serena Williams. The 21-year-old Falconi is fourth among U.S. players at No. 77. The youngsters are having the best year of their careers, and both are thrilled with their chances of continuing to improve and becoming top contenders next season. "We've gained a lot of experience," McHale said. "I think next year we can continue with that and hopefully the results will come. As long we keep working hard, it will happen." Falconi said this season has been a "huge step from last year," and she wants to keep her momentum going. "By this time next year, if I'm top 40 in the world, top 50 in the world, it means we defended all of our points that we got this year," Falconi said. "It would be really impressive." McHale defeated No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in Cincinnati in August, and at the U.S. Open she beat ninth-ranked Marion Bartoli of France in the second round before losing to 29th-ranked Maria Kirilenko of Russia in the third. She said she feels she has what it takes to start contending for titles more often. "I don't set ranking goals, but obviously I want to continue doing well at the Grand Slams and the bigger tournaments," McHale said. "Playing more and more matches on the tour, getting the experience, will help a lot." Gullikson said McHale already knows what she needs to improve on to reach the next level. "One of the things she can probably do better is moving forward and maybe taking a few more balls on the rise," Gullikson said. "Maybe finishing a few more points at the net. "To win titles you have to win five, six matches in a row. Right now she is winning two or three matches a week, which is great, but every match you win, the next opponent is going to be a little bit tougher, ranked higher, more experienced, so it's hard to string five or six together in a row. It comes with time, with discipline." McHale is from Teaneck, N.J., but her family moved to Hong Kong when she was 3 years old because of her father's job. She stayed there until she was 8, and it's where she began playing tennis. Falconi, who lives in Georgia but was born in Portoviejo, Ecuador, moved from 1,054th in the world in 2006 to 217th at the end of last year. Her highest ranking was 73rd, earlier this year. In the second round of the U.S. Open, Falconi had her biggest career victory, rallying to beat 15th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia on center court. She then lost to 18th-ranked Sabine Lisicki in the third round. It was only her second U.S. Open appearance. "She is never going to overpower anybody," Gullikson said. "So she's got to outplay, outcompete and outsmart everybody. She's done a great job getting to where she is right now, and she's done that relatively quickly. She just needs to play against the big players in the big venues like she did at the U.S. Open. "Against Cibulkova, on center court, a lot of players would just freeze up like a deer in the headlights, but she embraced the moment." Her goal for next year is to make the Olympic team for the 2012 London Games. In the long term, all she can think about is becoming the No. 1 player in the world. "Why not?" Falconi asked. --- Follow Tales Azzoni at http://twitter.com/tazzoni