HENDERSON, Nev. (October 7, 2021) – Second-seeded Allie Kiick overcame a match point against friend and longtime rival Louisa Chirico pulling out a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals at the USTA Pro Circuit Women’s $60,000 event taking place this week at the Whitney Mesa Tennis Complex.

The 26-year-old Kiick said she is healthy and happy to be back on the court after struggling the past couple of years with a stage II skin cancer diagnosis and severe knee injuries that kept her away from the game for three years and two months.

“I’m overall very happy with the result and the way I played,” said Kiick, who had split two previous career pro matches against Chirico, both on clay. “I saw her name at the bottom of the draw next to mine and said, ’You’ve got to be kidding me.’ ”

Chirico was serving at 6-5 in the third-set tiebreaker, but Kiick took the point to even the match at 6-all and served out two more points for the win that ended right at the two and a half hour mark.

Kiick is in Las Vegas with her full-time travel coach Lisa Raymond, the former WTA star and world No. 1-ranked doubles player who won 11 major titles in doubles during her storied career.

Kiick will next face another Florida friend and rival Chanelle Van Nguyen in the quarterfinals on Friday. The former UCLA star Van Nguyen downed Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-3, in her second-round win.

“We’ve actually never played each other on the Pro level, but I’ve known her since we were in the juniors,” Kiick said of Van Nguyen.

Kiick said she hopes to finish the year strong with USTA Pro Circuit appearances upcoming in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Macon, Ga., and Tyler, Texas.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals on Thursday were qualifier Marcela Zacarias of Mexcio, No. 6-seeded Emina Bektas, Tara Moore of Great Britain, American Dalayna Hewitt, Russia’s Anhzelika Isaeva, and American Hanna Chang, the tournament’s No. 4 seed.  

Admission to the tournament is free and all fans are encouraged to wear masks and follow standard health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. All players and staff will be subject to the ITF World Tennis Tour health and safety protocols. The tournament will be streamed live on www.usta.com/procircuit.

Thursday Round of 16 main-draw singles:

Marcela Zacarias (q), Mexico, def. Erica Oosterhout (q), US, 6-1, 6-1

Emina Bektas (6), US, def. Hiroko Kuwata, Japan, 6-3, 7-6 (6)

Tara Moore, Great Britain, def. Lulu Sun (7), Switzerland, ddef  6-2, 1-6, 6-2

Dalayna Hewitt, US, def. Amy Zhu, US, 6-3, 7-6 (6)

Allie Kiick (2), US, def. Louisa Chirico, US, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)

Chanelle Van Nguyen, US, def. Tereza Mihalikova, Slovakia, 6-4, 6-3

Anhzelika Isaeva, Russia, def. Sophie Chang, US, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Hanna Chang (4), US., def. Yuiko Lily Miyazaki, Japan, 7-5, 7-6 (5)