Lauren Davis will Play on a Big Stage in Australia

Lauren Davis hits a serve against CoCo Vandeweghe. Photo by: Rick Limpert

Ohio teenager Lauren Davis will get her first taste of Grand Slam tennis on Monday, and it will be on one of the biggest stages in tennis.  She also will match up with one of the biggest names in women's tennis and a favorite to win the 2011 Australian Open in 5th-seeded Sam Stosur.

Davis earned the USTA's Australian Open wildcard last month at a qualifying tournament in Atlanta.  While she is only ranked in the 400's, Davis is on quite a roll heading to Australia. She won 27 consecutive matches and 36 out of 37 including two Pro Circuit events, the Dunlop Junior Orange Bowl along with the Eddie Herr Junior Championships before her victory in Atlanta.

In Atlanta, Davis rolled through the competition including a 6-2, 6-2 upset over CoCo Vandeweghe in the finals.  Vandeweghe was ranked more than 300 spaces ahead of Davis, but Daivis looked to be the fitter and more prepared player that day.  At first glance, Davis appears to be one-trick pony baseliner.  But after watching her, she's much more.  While she does rely on her speed to motor around the court, she has a nice slice backhand, and when drawn into the net, she showed no fear and good anticipation by putting away volleys.  She also mixes up her serve well for a player 5'3", but this is an area of her game she can improve on.

It will be a different world for Davis on a showcourt against a player with a big game like Stosur, but if she sticks to what she does best and isn't intimidated by Stosur right off the bat, she should make Stousr work for this match. 

How will Davis fare?  Well, I don't think the USTA will think they wasted a wildcard here.  I see Davis starting a little slow, but I expect to see her keep fighting to the end with something like a 6-1, 7-5 result. It's a loss, but it should give Davis an idea of how she stacks up against the best in the world and what she will need to do, and work on to compete with them each week on tour.  Davis also turned pro this week in order to accept the $20,000 in prize money minimum the Australian Open offers.

As she plays more, Davis' ranking should head up quickly.  Reaching the top-200 by the summer shouldn't be out of the question.  She has a long way to go, but with her working hard and a great attitude, there is no limit for this young American who is really just breaking onto the big time tennis scene.