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Pan Am - U.S. Women fall to Brazil in bronze-medal doubles match
By Craig Sesker // USA Wrestling // July 22, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Americans Audra Cohen and Megan Falcon were unable to capitalize after having three set points and proceeded to drop the next 11 games in a 7-5, 6-0 loss to Brazil's Joana Cortez and Teliana Pereira in the Pan American Games bronze medal doubles match Sunday at Marapendi Country Club.
Cohen (Plantation, Fla.) and Falcon (Alameda, Calif.) built a 5-2 lead in the opening set before a boisterous crowd of Brazilian fans on Center Court. They had one set point at 5-2, but eventually lost the game. They had two set points in the next game with Falcon serving, but the Brazilian team rallied again to stay alive.
The unseeded U.S. team struggled from there as the third-seeded team from Brazil won the final five games of the opening set. The Americans couldn't recover and were swept in the second set as the large crowd of Brazilian fans erupted when their team closed out the match.
The U.S. fought off two match points before their run finally came to an end in the final match of the women's tournament.
"We got up 5-2 and we stopped playing high-percentage tennis - we tried some low-percentage shots and made some errors," Team USA Coach Brian Kalbas said. "They started coming back and we got a little nervous and started letting things get to us a little bit."
The fired-up home crowd did its share of chants and cheers, including the wave, in an atmosphere that resembled a Davis Cup match.
"Their players really fed off the crowd," Kalbas said. "Once we lost the lead and things got really tight, the crowd really became a factor and we couldn't recover."
Cohen and Falcon, playing together for the first time, finished a respectable 2-2 in the doubles competition. They upset No. 4 seed Marie-Eve Pelletier and Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in the quarterfinals on Saturday before throwing a scare into the team from Brazil in the bronze-medal match.
"Audra and Megan did a real good job," Kalbas said. "For having never having played together and coming in here unseeded, they did real well. They made it to the semis and had a chance to play for a medal. Hopefully, it was a great experience for them. I'm sure they are disappointed they didn't win a medal, but I'm proud of the job they did here."
SUNDAY'S RESULTS
Women's doubles, bronze-medal match - (3) Joana Cortez-Teliana Pereira (Brazil) dec. Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla.)-Megan Falcon (Alameda, Calif.) 7-5, 6-0
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