Sept. 6, 2002

University of Illinois assistant women's tennis coach JoAnne Russell this afternoon earned a berth with partner Ros Fairbank of South Africa in Sunday's women's senior doubles final at the U.S. Open in New York. Russell and Fairbank disposed of Hana Mandlikova of Austria and Olga Morozova of Russia, 6-2, 6-1 to advance. Their opponents Sunday at approximately 1:30 p.m. EDT will be Mima Jausovec of Yugoslavia and Ilana Kloss of South Africa, who beat Andrea Leand and Robin White of the USA, 6-3, 7-6 (1). U.S. Open officials assign doubles partners in the senior divisions. Russell and Kloss teamed together two years ago at the Open and reached the finals.

"This is great fun," said Russell, who played from 1975-88 on the WTA tour and has played in the seniors competition for the last 12 years. "It keeps me on my toes. I have to be in shape and to be able to hit well with our college players. (Illinois Head Coach) Sujay (Lama) coached me on my serve before I left home, and he encouraged me to poach (shift positions laterally during serves). And it worked!"

There were eight doubles teams in the seniors division in two pools of four. Each duo plays all of the other teams in the pool, and the two pool winners play in the final. Casual tennis fans will remember the names of several of the participants in the tournament, Rosie Casals, Wendy Turnbull, Zina Garrison and Virginia Wade from their days on the pro tour. Russell and Fairbank blanked Garrison and Wade in their last match.

Fans can follow all of the action from Flushing, N.Y. on the internet at www.usopen.org.