Mallory Anne Cecil (born July 18, 1990) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from the United States.

Biography

A right-handed player from

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Off ...

, Cecil trained at the

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

in Florida, where she was coached by

Nick Bollettieri Nicholas James Bollettieri (July 31, 1931 – December 4, 2022) was an American tennis coach. He pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school, and helped develop many leading tennis players during the past decades, including Andre Agassi, ...

. Her junior career included grand slam appearances and she won the doubles title at the 2007 Orange Bowl, partnering

Melanie Oudin Melanie Jennings Oudin (born September 23, 1991) is an American former professional tennis player. The former world junior No. 2 was a member of the American Fed Cup team from 2009 to 2011 and the winner of the 2011 US Open mixed-doubles title ...

College

While at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

, she received the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female tennis player in 2009, having won the 2009 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships as a freshman, and winning all six of her matches in straight sets. Overall, she compiled a 32–4 record in her debut season with the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

as their top singles player, leading her to leave Duke for what would prove to be a brief professional career. Cecil would eventually return to Duke to finish her degree, and later completed a postgraduate degree at Durham University Business School in England, where she represented the Durham University tennis team and earned a half palatinate.

Tennis career

Cecil had her breakthrough on the WTA Tour when she qualified for the main draw of the

2008 Pilot Pen Tennis The 2008 Pilot Pen Tennis was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the Pilot Pen Tennis, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier II Serie ...

tournament in New Haven, losing in the first round to

Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...

, who she had earlier beaten in qualifying. Errani, who was ranked in the world's top 50, had made it into the main draw as a lucky loser and only narrowly beat Cecil in their main draw match, which was decided by a third set tiebreak. She won two ITF singles titles in 2008 at Hilton Head Island and

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, both in her home state of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. As the reigning NCAA champion Cecil earned a

wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

into the singles main draw of the 2009 US Open and lost in the first round to

Tathiana Garbin Tathiana Garbin (; born 30 June 1977) is an Italian retired tennis player. She was best known for her surprise defeat of the defending champion and the reigning world No. 1, Justine Henin, in the second round of the 2004 French Open. The winne ...

. Cecil qualified for the main draw of the 2009 Challenge Bell in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

and made further WTA Tour appearances as a wildcard at the

Charleston Open The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...

in both 2009 and 2010. In February 2010 she reached the final of the ITF tournament in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

after coming through qualifying, but lost to

Andrea Hlaváčková Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

in three sets. At the Charleston tournament in April she tore the acetabular labrum in her hip and made the decision to leave professional tennis and return to Duke to further her studies.

ITF finals

Singles (2–1)

Personal

Cecil is employed at the WTA as a Business Operations Manager.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil, Mallory 1990 births Living people American female tennis players Duke Blue Devils women's tennis players Sportspeople from Spartanburg, South Carolina Tennis people from South Carolina Alumni of St Mary's College, Durham