Mallory Burdette is up 6-2 4-2 on Hradecka. I am expecting big things from her. I actually picked Hradecka in SP before thinking twice. I had chosen Burdette as a loser for my YCWJ team simply because she's a low ranked WC. She destroyed her first round opponent so I thought I had better do a bit of research. Yes, she's ranked 252, but that's because she only started playing pro tournaments in July. She recently finished her third year at Stanford. She was the NCAA runner up, losing a tight match to Nicole Gibbs, another young American who shows promise. They won the doubles title together. Burdette got a wildcard in Stanford and beat Keothovang in her first match, then went up 5-3 against Bartoli before losing 10 straight games. She's very solidly built, think Kleybanova but not as tall. She has a ton of power off the ground. She moves forward and is great at net. She's not quick, but scrambles well and always does something intelligent when she gets to the ball. She employs the Radwanska method of refusing to back off the baseline and instead kneeling on court to block back deep shots. She'll often return hard serves to her forehand with a low slice that's pretty effective. One area for improvement is her serve, which really isn't that fast. However, she places it excellently, which has worked well against the two-handed Hradecka. She won the first 17 points on serve. Still, most serves are in the 90s and I have to think other players will eventually take advantage. Like all broad shouldered players, fitness and foot speed will be extra important. I think she could rocket up the rankings. One point of confusion: will she finish her college degree? The commentator said she hasn't turned pro yet and won't accept prize money here. Seems like it may be time to look into online classes.