Your Alabama Pro Athlete of the Week is Alexa Guarachi. Guarachi pulled off the biggest upset of her career on Sunday at Roland Garros, as she and partner Desirae Krawczyk defeated women’s doubles top seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Barbora Strýcová 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals at the French Open. Hsieh and Strýcová came into the tournament as the WTA’s #1 and #2 ranked doubles players in the world. A number of firsts:
- Highest ranked players that Guarachi has ever defeated.
- First time Guarachi or any Alabama women’s tennis player has reached the quarterfinals of a grand slam event.
- First player playing under the Chilean flag to reach the quarterfinals at the French Open.
Runner-up this week is Richard Hendrix. On the second of back-to-back games, Hendrix scored 30 points and added 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals to propel Niigata to an 80-75 win. It marks Hendrix’s first 30-point game since February 2009. Hendrix’s only other two career 30-point games (a 30 and a 31) came in his rookie professional season in the NBADL.
Others of note:
Haylie McCleney closed out the Athletes Unlimited season with a game-deciding 2-run homer. She finished tied for 5th in the individual points standings, was named Athletes Unlimited Defensive Player of the Year.
Erin Routliffe reached the doubles finals of the ITF event in Porto, Portugal.
Krystal Rivers took Game MVP honors in Stuttgart’s season-opening straight-set win.
Lauren Stephenson posted a career low round of 63 and career low score of -8 in the opening round of the LPGA event.
Landon Collins was named the NFLPA Community MVP for Week 3 for his ongoing efforts to address food insecurity in the metro Washington area.
Amari Cooper had 12 catches, 134 receiving yards, and a touchdown.
Marlon Humphrey, over two games (one was Week 3 Monday night), had 15 tackles, 3 passes defended, and a forced fumble. In between, he signed a $98M extension.
Deionte Thompson had 9 tackles and a defended pass.
Reggie Ragland had 6 tackles and a sack.
Ricky Tarrant has two 18-point games in two wins for Spójnia Stargard.
