Lee-Waters readies for showdown with Glatch

Lindsay Lee-Waters has heard the George Costanza jokes before. Lee-Waters, you see, is a mother of two, and her oldest is a daughter named Sevyn — the same name that the “Seinfeld” character wanted desperately to name his child.
“We always hear that,” said Lee-Waters, smiling. “We love that show.”
Lee-Waters was ranked No. 33 on the USTA pro circuit before she gave birth to Sevyn — eight years ago. After taking time off following the pregnancy, Lee-Waters was able to climb back into the top 70 but then gave birth again, to
3-year-old son Heath.
Now, at the age of 31, Lee-Waters is attempting a final ascent.
Ranked 286th on the USTA pro circuit, the Oklahoma native who has lived in Atlanta for the past decade, has looked strong in her first two matches of the Boyd Tinsley USTA Women’s $50,000 Pro Tennis Championships.
On Thursday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club, Lee-Waters easily disposed of Natalia Ryzhonkova, 6-1, 6-1, to move into a quarterfinal showdown today with Alexa Glatch, the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
Glatch was a straight sets winner over Heidi El Tabakh. In other matches, No. 3 seed Carly Gullickson, No. 4 seed Ekaterina Bychkova and No. 5 seed Olga Puchkova all advanced.
Meanwhile, Mirjana Lucic, who upset No. 2 seed Angela Haynes on Wednesday, easily took care of Alison Riske, 6-1, 6-1.
Lee-Waters used an aggressive style against Ryzhonkova.
“I think I served very well and attacked the returns really well,” she said. “I just executed.
“I feel like each match I’ve gotten better. I’m really happy.”
Lee-Waters, who is coached by her husband, Heath, has made it to the second round in three of the four grand slams. She’s had some impressive wins in her career over the likes of former top players Chanda Rubin and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy.
Lee-Waters has won two doubles championships at the Boyd Tinsley event. Her best singles finish was a quarterfinals appearance.
The match with Glatch today should be a good one. Glatch defeated Lee-Waters in a tough three-setter last year.
“She’s playing really well,” said Lee-Waters of Glatch, “but I’m not focused on her so much. I’m trying to get better at my game and see how it goes.”
After her victory on Thursday, Glatch said she was still a bit jet-lagged from her recent trip to the Czech Republic, where she represented the U.S. in the Fed Cup. However, you’d never know by the way she played.
Glatch overpowered El Tabakh from the baseline and did a great job of mixing in some finesse when she had to. “I played pretty well,” Glatch said. “It was better than [Wednesday]. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. The last match against [Lee-Waters] was a battle. She’s a good player. She’s pretty
consistent, but she plays aggressively and has an all-around good game.”
Lee-Waters said her current goal is to get back into the top 200 by the end of the year.
“I’m still working on just getting back into good shape and trying to get my game better, and to just trying to enjoy each day,” she said.
Usually, Lee-Waters brings her kids to every tournament. However, they didn’t make the trip with her this time to Charlottesville.
It’s pretty obvious that Lee-Waters has no regrets about motherhood.
“At times, it can be tough,” she said, “but having kids has just been a blessing.”
Will there by any more additions to the family?
“No, that’s it!” she said, laughing.