Players, community enjoy a successful Rancho Santa Fe Open

The second annual Rancho Santa Fe Open was a big success for the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club. The competitive women’s USTA Pro Circuit event was held at the club from Oct. 3-9.

“We achieved all of our goals, the community and players were really happy,” said RSF Tennis Club Manager John Chanfreau. “All in all, a huge success. We had a great turnout from the community, both to celebrate the kick-off as well as throughout the tournament. We are so grateful for the support of our sponsors, many of whom are integral parts of our community.”

Marcela Zacarias of Mexico captured the biggest professional tennis title of her career as she topped fellow unseeded player Katrina Scott from Woodland Hills, Calif., 6-1, 6-2, to win the $80,000 tournament.

“The one thing about our winner is that she was an underdog but fought her way through every match,” Chanfreau said. “The sincerity of her reaction to winning was very touching to everyone.”

Zacarias saw the top half of the draw open up after defending champion Rebecca Peterson was forced to withdraw due to a neck injury. She also played in a second finals match on Oct. 9 as she and partner Giuliana Olmos battled in the doubles final, an exciting match that ended with a 10-point tiebreaker after the teams split sets.

“I’ve been out here doing this for 11 years and I wasn’t going to leave without winning a big one,” an emotional Zacarias told the crowd after the match. “Yeah, for sure this is the biggest day of my career. I keep playing and improving myself. It’s pretty tough out here at times, and I’m just so happy that all my hard work has paid off.”

Zacarias, who entered the tournament with a world ranking of No. 166 and won her 17^th career ITF singles title, took home a check for $12,191 and 115 valuable ranking points.

The runner-up Scott has been a top United States prospect for the past several years and decided to relocate to Columbus, Ohio, in 2020 during the pandemic to train with renowned coach David Kass. Like Zacarias, Scott was playing in the biggest final of her young career.

The RSF Open winners, RSF Tennis Club staff and young players.

(Luke Redondo)

“I have to give all the credit to Marcela, she played a great match,” said Scott, who earned $6,518 and 70 WTA points. “I came out a little bit slow, but nothing to take away from her.”

Following the singles final, Elvina Kalieva of Florida and Katarzyna Kawa of Poland captured the doubles final with a 6-1, 3-6, 10-2 win.

The presenting sponsor of the RSF Open was Gillian and Prentiss, the team of Gillian Gillies and Prentiss Van Den Berg of Compass,

“We keep growing as a tournament. In our second annual year, it is becoming a staple. It is great to see 10 of our competitors then playing in the San Diego Open,” said Chanfreau of the ATP Tour 250 event held the following weekend.

Young tennis players and RSF Tennis staff at the RSF Open.

(Luke Redondo)