Jamea Jackson wins opening tennis match at Wimbledon

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Jamea Jackson set up a second round meeting with Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova after outlasting Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 today at Wimbledon.

Jackson, who is currently the fifth ranked American player on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, rebounded from a tough first set loss yesterday when her first round match was postponed because of the rain delays.

With Lindsay Davenport considering retirement, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati all but officially retired, and Venus and Serena Williams still playing tennis sporadically, American fans are starting to realize that maybe it is time to finally start looking to the future. Commentators, journalists, and former players alike have warned that it would only be a matter of time before the United States fails to dominate on the world stage, but it looks like the US may have a new star just over the horizon.

Jamea Jackson rocketed to stardom in April when she anchored the United States in their quarterfinal Fed Cup tie against Germany. Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison knew that she was taking an underdog squad, but the fact that Lindsay Davenport, and Venus and Serena Williams passed up the opportunity did not daunt the team. Thanks to the combined efforts of not only Jackson, but also tour veteran Jill Craybas, the US scored a momentous 3-2 upset over Anna-Lena Groenefeld and the German squad.

Ever since her victory at Fed Cup, Jackson has continued to prove that she is one of the hottest young tennis stars from the United States. She hit a career high of No. 54 in the world only a few weeks ago, and at this point, I am looking for her to be in the top thirty by the US Open.

Jackson will face fifteenth seed Daniela Hantuchova in the second round.

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