MASON, OH, USA - July 14, 2007 - Two players who are trying to recapture former glory on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, as well as one of the game's future stars, were all in action in Cincinnati Saturday, as the qualifying kicked off at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open.

Former Top 20 player Alexandra Stevenson and ex-Top 10 player Brenda Schultz-McCarthy both began their campaigns for main draw berths with solid wins, Stevenson taking out wild card and compatriot Julia Cohen, 76(3) 61, and No.5 seed Schultz-McCarthy taking out another American, Ashley Weinhold, 61 61. Stevenson was especially tough on serve, capturing 68% of points on her first delivery and 55% on her second. Schultz-McCarthy was even more deadly, winning 85% of her first serve points and 54% on her second.

Since making main draw appearances at Cincinnati and Los Angeles last year, Stevenson has fallen in qualifying at six Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events, most recently Istanbul in May. She has been playing mainly on the ITF Women's Circuit; this week she hopes a solid qualifying weekend here will propel her into her first Tour main draw of 2007.

Schultz-McCarthy, who also fell in the qualifying here last year, has also dabbled in a mix of Tour and ITF Women's Circuit events, claiming the $25,000 minor league event on the grass courts of Surbiton, Great Britain, just before Wimbledon. The Dutchwoman came out of retirement in early 2006 after having been forced out of the game several years before due to back problems.

Seventeen-year-old Georgian Anna Tatishvili also won her qualifying opener, defeating American Neha Uberoi, 61 63. Also among the winners on Saturday were Americans Stacia Fonseca, Samantha Powers, Kristy Frilling and Katherine Ruckert; New Zealand's Leanne Baker; Belarusian Iryna Kuryanovich; Romanian Anda Perianu and Mexican Melissa Torres Sandoval. Tiffany Kurniawan of the United States was given a walkover from Irishwoman Kelly Liggan, who was still competing at an ITF Women's Circuit event in Boston. Also, the match between American Mami Inoue and South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers was moved to Sunday, as Scheepers will arrive from that same ITF Women's Circuit event Sunday.

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