Lauren Embree is one step away from advancing to the main draw at the Red Rock Pro Open 50k.
The former Gators All-American won her second-round match in the qualifying bracket on Monday, defeating Romania’s Cristina-Madalina Stancu 6-4, 6-2.
Embree has not dropped a set through her first two matches and has given up just 10 games throughout the four sets she has played so far.
Embree will face Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko today in the qualifying round finals.
If Embree wins the match, the 22-year-old will be one of four players to proceed to the tournament’s main draw.
While the former UF standout advanced on Monday, Florida’s Brianna Morgan’s did not.
The UF junior — Florida’s lone member on its 2014 roster competing in Las Vegas — fell in her second-round qualifying match to Bondarenko in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Morgan struggled mightily in her matchup against Bondarenko, winning just one service game compared to Bondarenko’s six.
Morgan scored just 17 points when she was on the serve.
With Morgan eliminated from play, the Gators look ahead to their next tournament of the fall — the 2014 Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships, which begins on Saturday and lasts until Oct. 5 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Last season, Morgan and then-senior Sofie Oyen lost in the first set of the main draw.
Morgan reached the consolation finals, where she lost to then-No. 9 Julia Elbaba from Virginia, while Oyen fell in her first match in the consolation bracket.
Senior Lauren Embree serves during a match between Florida and Georgia on Oct. 24, 2011, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
