[Sakibomb25]

That's a depressing preseason list, both for us and the Pac-12, but we're a young team. CT, care to offer any predictions/hopes for our players' individual rankings at the end of the season?? I could use some preseason encouragement!

I think leaving Connie Ma off the newcomer rankings is going to look like an all-time rankings error. She's going to play high in our lineup from day one, and she might be our #1. By the end of the year, I think Ma, Alexandra Yepifanova, and Blake are all top 100-type players, and probably Geller and Houghton ranked as well. Talent-wise, the group of Yepifanova, Ma, and Valencia Xu is the best single incoming trio I can think of us ever having, and I mean that. It's a bonkers group. 

FYI, the KPSF Open was held at the Golden Gate Park Tennis Courts last week (it's a USTA event rather than a college-sanctioned ITA event), and it had players from Stanford, USF, St. Mary's, among others, including local younger and older players. Here's how the players were seeded:

(1) Connie Ma 
(2) Jovana Jovic (Serbian pro)
(3) Yepifanova
(4) Mariia Kozyreva (St. Mary's 5th year)
(5) Xu
(6) Geller
(7) Blake (surprisingly low!)
(8) Niluka Madurawe

Also playing, but unseeded, was India Houghton. 

First round:
(1) Ma def. Emma Pell (HS player) 6-0, 6-1
Arianna Capogrosso (USF senior) def. (6) Geller 7-5, 7-5
(5) Xu def. Sophia Sappa (HS player) 6-1, 6-1
(7) Blake withdrew due to injury before her match started, giving her opponent a walkover
Houghton def. Emily Tan (HS player) 7-5, 6-2
(3) Yepifanova def. Katsiaryna Skachkova (Belarussian pro) 6-2, 6-3
(8) Madurawe def. Alexis Johnson (UOP sophomore) 6-0, 6-0

Second round: 

(1) Ma def. Caragh Courtney (USF) 6-0, 6-2
(5) Xu def. Phoebe Xiaoyao Jiang (HS player) 6-1, 6-0
Houghton def. (3) Yepifanova 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
(8) Madurawe def. Natalie Dias (HS player) 6-0, 6-0

Quarterfinals:

(1) Ma def. Capogrosso (USF) 6-0, 6-0
(5) Xu withdrew due to injury before she was set to play Mariia Kozyreva from St. Mary's, giving her a walkover
Houghton def. Mya Bui (USF) 6-0, ret.
(2) Jovana Jovic def. (8) Madurawe 6-2, 6-0

Semifinals

(1) Ma def. (4) Mariia Kozyreva (St. Mary's) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
(2) Jovana Jovic def. Houghton 6-3, 6-4

Championship

(1) Ma def. (2) Jovic 6-3, 7-6

So, congrats to Connie Ma on her first collegiate title in her first time wearing a Stanford uniform! A lot of high school players and other folks, since it's a USTA open tournament, so we can't put too much stock in it, but there are still some useful takeaways:

1. The seeding: Ma was the top seed. Out of the new/returning Stanford players, Ma was the top seed. And the three freshmen were the three highest-seeded players from Stanford. I'm not reading too much into Blake's seeding--she's not playing #5 for us this year, so that there are four players ahead of her is probably a feature of a busier summer schedule for them compared to her. 
2. Ma cruising: she won her first three matches easily against lesser players, but then knocked off two legitimately good players in Kozyreva and Jovic to take the title. That's impressive stuff.
3. Houghton making a leap? Seeing her beat Yepifanova, albeit in a third-set match tiebreaker, is a really good win. If she's stepped up her game this year, that's a great sign for us. 
4. No bad losses. Not one player took a loss that should be beneath them. There were some injury withdrawals, but I'm guessing Lele wanted players to bow out at the slightest sign of a tweak and not risk anything major. We'll have to watch for Blake and Xu at the next tournament, but one thing you often see at fall tournaments is inexplicable results and disappointing losses, and we didn't see that here.

Thanks for all the detailed info! Looking forward to this year's team. It is a shame Gordon won't be playing with the team, especially if she is at Stanford... but sounds like she just wants to move on. But we would be very, very good with Gordon in the line-up.

Just how good are Yepifanova and Xu? Would they be ranked No. 1 in any other years? Granted I know rankings are never accurate and change depending on the year, but hoping that this past year was a rather deep year in terms of talent since we have the No. 1, 2 and 4 ranked players (heading into HS senior years).

I am also hoping that Gellar and Houghtelling made some big strides as well.

[Sakibomb25]

That's a depressing preseason list, both for us and the Pac-12, but we're a young team. CT, care to offer any predictions/hopes for our players' individual rankings at the end of the season?? I could use some preseason encouragement!

I think leaving Connie Ma off the newcomer rankings is going to look like an all-time rankings error. She's going to play high in our lineup from day one, and she might be our #1. By the end of the year, I think Ma, Alexandra Yepifanova, and Blake are all top 100-type players, and probably Geller and Houghton ranked as well. Talent-wise, the group of Yepifanova, Ma, and Valencia Xu is the best single incoming trio I can think of us ever having, and I mean that. It's a bonkers group. 

FYI, the KPSF Open was held at the Golden Gate Park Tennis Courts last week (it's a USTA event rather than a college-sanctioned ITA event), and it had players from Stanford, USF, St. Mary's, among others, including local younger and older players. Here's how the players were seeded:

(1) Connie Ma 
(2) Jovana Jovic (Serbian pro)
(3) Yepifanova
(4) Mariia Kozyreva (St. Mary's 5th year)
(5) Xu
(6) Geller
(7) Blake (surprisingly low!)
(8) Niluka Madurawe

Also playing, but unseeded, was India Houghton. 

First round:
(1) Ma def. Emma Pell (HS player) 6-0, 6-1
Arianna Capogrosso (USF senior) def. (6) Geller 7-5, 7-5
(5) Xu def. Sophia Sappa (HS player) 6-1, 6-1
(7) Blake withdrew due to injury before her match started, giving her opponent a walkover
Houghton def. Emily Tan (HS player) 7-5, 6-2
(3) Yepifanova def. Katsiaryna Skachkova (Belarussian pro) 6-2, 6-3
(8) Madurawe def. Alexis Johnson (UOP sophomore) 6-0, 6-0

Second round: 

(1) Ma def. Caragh Courtney (USF) 6-0, 6-2
(5) Xu def. Phoebe Xiaoyao Jiang (HS player) 6-1, 6-0
Houghton def. (3) Yepifanova 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
(8) Madurawe def. Natalie Dias (HS player) 6-0, 6-0

Quarterfinals:

(1) Ma def. Capogrosso (USF) 6-0, 6-0
(5) Xu withdrew due to injury before she was set to play Mariia Kozyreva from St. Mary's, giving her a walkover
Houghton def. Mya Bui (USF) 6-0, ret.
(2) Jovana Jovic def. (8) Madurawe 6-2, 6-0

Semifinals

(1) Ma def. (4) Mariia Kozyreva (St. Mary's) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
(2) Jovana Jovic def. Houghton 6-3, 6-4

Championship

(1) Ma def. (2) Jovic 6-3, 7-6

So, congrats to Connie Ma on her first collegiate title in her first time wearing a Stanford uniform! A lot of high school players and other folks, since it's a USTA open tournament, so we can't put too much stock in it, but there are still some useful takeaways:

1. The seeding: Ma was the top seed. Out of the new/returning Stanford players, Ma was the top seed. And the three freshmen were the three highest-seeded players from Stanford. I'm not reading too much into Blake's seeding--she's not playing #5 for us this year, so that there are four players ahead of her is probably a feature of a busier summer schedule for them compared to her. 
2. Ma cruising: she won her first three matches easily against lesser players, but then knocked off two legitimately good players in Kozyreva and Jovic to take the title. That's impressive stuff.
3. Houghton making a leap? Seeing her beat Yepifanova, albeit in a third-set match tiebreaker, is a really good win. If she's stepped up her game this year, that's a great sign for us. 
4. No bad losses. Not one player took a loss that should be beneath them. There were some injury withdrawals, but I'm guessing Lele wanted players to bow out at the slightest sign of a tweak and not risk anything major. We'll have to watch for Blake and Xu at the next tournament, but one thing you often see at fall tournaments is inexplicable results and disappointing losses, and we didn't see that here.

Thanks for all the detailed info! Looking forward to this year's team. It is a shame Gordon won't be playing with the team, especially if she is at Stanford... but sounds like she just wants to move on. But we would be very, very good with Gordon in the line-up.

Just how good are Yepifanova and Xu? Would they be ranked No. 1 in any other years? Granted I know rankings are never accurate and change depending on the year, but hoping that this past year was a rather deep year in terms of talent since we have the No. 1, 2 and 4 ranked players (heading into HS senior years).

I am also hoping that Gellar and Houghtelling made some big strides as well.