Boca’s Levine falls in French Open Qualifier

Published May 2nd, 2008

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

Jesse Levine said it was nice to be home, but he won’t be leaving Boca Raton with the prize he was after.

Levine, a 20-year-old former University of Florida student, fell 6-2, 7-5 to fellow American Wayne Odesnik in the French Open Qualifying final at Boca West Country Club Thursday.

Odesnik returned the favor after Levine defeated him in the Australian Open Qualifier earlier this year by cruising through the first set, then rallying from 4-2 down to take the second set and the match.

“He played too good in the first set, he came up with a lot of the goods,” Levine said. “And then second set, I started mixing it up a little bit more and started getting some more points that way. Wayne thrives when I try to rip it with him and I was getting overpowered, I’m not a huge guy.”

After committing several unforced errors in the first set, Levine kept Odesnik off balance in the second set with his serve and volley, and Odesnik became unhinged.

He had two straight unforced errors to drop the sixth game, but down 15-40 in the next game, he rallied to even the match and Levine made the critical mistake, hitting a backhand into the net to give Odesnik the game.

“Concentration went a little bit and I was frustrated a little bit,” Odesnik said.

“Next thing I know it was 4-2 the other guy.”

Levine will have two more chances to qualify for the French Open at a tournament this weekend in Tunisia and another next week in Bradenton. It’s been nearly a year since Levine left Florida and decided to pursue a pro career, and he’s had mixed results.

Levine won his first-round match at the Australian Open, but other than another first round win in the SAP Open, he has lost in the opening round of each event he has competed in this year – including the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships and the Ericsson Open.

“It’s tough,” he said. “A lot of traveling, a lot of ups and downs. That’s part of tennis. You’re going to have your ups and your downs. Hopefully, I can get on another up. I had a big up in the fall. I was on a roll for a while, so hopefully I can get on another one like that.”

Scores in the women’s bracket are:
• Lauren Albanese defeated Ahsha Rolle of Coral Springs, 6-1, 6-0.
• Melanie Oudin defeated Julia Boserup 1-6, 6-1, 6-1.
• Madison Brengel defeated CoCo Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-2.
• Christina McHale defeated Alexa Glatch 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.