Greatest Womens Pro tour Upsets. These are some of the better tournament runs in Women's pro tour history; they document not necessarily tournament winners, but some of the best performances from lower seeded players.
Paola Longoria losing not once, but twice in the 2016-17 season. She lost the Pan-Am games final to Rhonda Rajsich and
lost in the semis of the season ending tournament in her name to Samantha Solis (only the 2nd time Samantha has beaten Paola
in more than 40 head to head matchups. Its hard to say that a win over a player in and among itself is an upset, but any defeat
of Paola Longoria right now is a major event.
Josee Grand'Maitre stunned the field at the 2009 Miami event, advacing to the semis as a #20 seed by defeating three seeded
tour players, each in 5 greuling games. This was Grand'Maitre's career best showing, before bowing out to #1 seeded Rajsich in 3.
Paola Longoria, in a statement of what was to come, makes the final of New Orleans 2007 as a 14 seed/qualifier in one of her first
tournaments on record. She beats #3 seed Wachtel, #6 seed Bellows and #2 seed Gudinas before losing to #1 seeded Rajsich.
Kerri Stoffregen (later Wachtel) made the final of the 2001 Chicago tourney as a #19 seed, beating the #14 seed Burth, then
easily beating the up and coming #3 seed Rajsich in the round of 16. From there she beat fellow upset-minded #27 seed Kim Russell in the quaters and
then former tour champ Jackie Paraiso in a 5-game struggle in the semis. She dropped the final in 3 straight to Gudinas but a #19
seed in a final is rather rare. This result was enough to vault her to #8 in the next tourney.
Kerri Wachtel beating Cheryl Gudinas en route to winning the 2001 US Open. Gudinas had won seven straight tournaments and was
in the midst of an era where she easily won the tour title each year. But Wachtel handled her easily in four games in teh semis
of the year's biggest tournament before beating #2 Paraiso in the final. Though not really an "upset" by her seed at the time (She
was the #4 seed in the tournament), Wachtel one of just a small group of Major winners in the history of the tour.
Claudine Garcia as a #26 seed makes the semis of the first event of the 2001-02 season, in one of her first ever tour appearances.
It was her best career finish; she finished that season ranked 7th and then disappeared from the tour. She played a few events in
2002-3, but then disappeared from the tour for nearly a decade before playing some events in 2010-11.
Rhonda Rajsich makes finals of the 2000 US Open as the #44 seed. Beats #21 in a walk-over, but then beats #12 (Morris) 3 straight,
#5 (Acosta) in four games, #4 (Hallander) in four games and then #1 Paraiso in 5 tough games en route to the final, where she loses
to Van Hees (Huczek). Amazing run. Rajsich was litereally the lowest seeded player of the 44 players in the draw. The next pro
tour a month after the US Open, Rajsich is seeded 5th.
Former Champ Caryn McKinney making the US Open semis at age 40 in 1998, or her making the semis in 1996 in the first US Open
having basically retired years prior. In 1996 McKinney blitzed through qualifying to beat the #3, #14 and #6 seed before pushing
#2 seed Gudinas to 5 games in the semis. This after having not played a competitive pro match since late 1992.
Randy Friedman making the finals of an WIRT stop in 1996 in what looks to be perhaps her first women's pro stop?
Karin Walton winning 1979 Nationals; it was her sole tourney win in the database, yet secured her a Pro tour title. She
beat the tour's #1 player (Wright) in the semis, the #3 player (Marriott) in the final, and took advantage of some early upsets
of the rest of the top players (Harding lost in the 16s, Greer lost in the semis) to take the title.