Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA

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RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - Hurlburt88 - 03-13-2020

I appreciate this. We are obvious hitting a drought in our core topics!

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - ColoradoTree - 03-19-2020

I thought this was a nice piece on how some college tennis teams reacted to the news of the season getting shut down: https://tennisrecruiting.net/article.asp?id=321798095

Nothing Stanford-specific, but the UNC and UCLA women are both represented, and the main point seemed to be how sudden and fast-moving the story was (of course) and the resiliency of the players.

I, for one, would read the heck out of stories discussing various teams' reactions to the news of their seasons being canceled, what they're doing to take their minds off things, how this affects things like student visas (for Emily Arbuthnott, given that students have been kicked out of housing), grad school applications, etc. The same goes for Stanford alums now in professional sports whose seasons have been interrupted. How are Nicole Gibbs and Kristie Ahn, for example, dealing with the tour being shut down when they're in that band of players who make enough money playing tennis to keep playing tennis, but aren't getting wealthy, given the expenses that come from being a tour player. Much like a number of restaurants and retail stores won't come out the other side of this, what about the careers of former Stanford student-athletes, especially those that depend on weekly prize money rather than guaranteed contracts? If they left early, is now when they switch gears and come back and do spring quarter remotely? How are people training while being under a shelter-in-place order in the Bay Area (if they're still nearby)? How is everyone coping?

These are people we've connected with (albeit in a surface-level sports fan kind of way), and that connection to Stanford athletics is one of the things that keeps us connected to the university itself. This has been quite an upheaval for everyone, but Stanford remains a community, even for those of us live far away. With social distancing and self-quarantining, maintaining those community connections in any way we can is important. With no sports scores to look at or game recaps to read, I think all of us could benefit from the Athletic Department using its now-largely-idle hands to put out some human interest pieces like this.

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - eb388 - 04-28-2020

This mentions that Arbuthnott may return: https://gostanford.com/news/2020/4/27/womens-tennis-hello-from-the-farm.aspx

"Arbuthnott, an economics major, was accepted into Stanford's management science and engineering master's program last week. She planned to turn pro after graduation in June, but now is strongly considering returning for a fifth season."

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - ColoradoTree - 04-28-2020

(04-28-2020, 04:44 AM)eb388 Wrote: This mentions that Arbuthnott may return: https://gostanford.com/news/2020/4/27/womens-tennis-hello-from-the-farm.aspx

"Arbuthnott, an economics major, was accepted into Stanford's management science and engineering master's program last week. She planned to turn pro after graduation in June, but now is strongly considering returning for a fifth season."

The piece is a really nice look at one of the smartest student-athletes around, both in general and in the odd place that is Stanford under coronavirus. It's a great article, and I highly encourage everyone to check it out. (It was nice to learn, for example, that international students who wanted to stay were allowed to, and that students without good living situations to return to were also allowed to stay.)

Whether pro tennis is really in her future is debatable, but it makes all the sense in the world for her to get the first year of her master's program paid for by playing another year. It's also highly unlikely we have a pro tour in a functioning form this summer and likely fall, and even if there were, they're going to focus on the high-dollar TV events that would highlight the biggest players. So, it's the players trying to break into the pro tour--and really, everyone outside the top 75 or so--who will feel the pinch. Staying now makes a lot of sense for her.

Really, this could be the end of the tennis careers of a great many players who have been hanging around the top 100 but not breaking through into the top 50, like Nicole Gibbs and Kristie Ahn. At a certain point, in a sport that requires you to show up and play to get paid, you can't keep doing this and support yourself. (I assume that Albane Valenzuela and Andrea Lee wish they'd made a different decision this year.) And it might mean that some nascent pro careers never really get off the ground.

Oh, and the ITA released its list of All-Americans this year, and as expected, Michaela Gordon is a singles All-American! She is now a three-time All-American in singles and a four-time All-American overall (she was a doubles All-American her freshman year when she paired with Emily Arbuthnott).

Congrats to Michaela!

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - eb388 - 04-30-2020

Good point about next year's pro tour. And it will be good to have her in the lineup another year especially if seniors at other top schools are thinking the same thing.

Looks like Stanford got the top 2021 recruit according to Tennis Recruiting. https://www.tennisrecruiting.net/player.asp?id=832289

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - BobK - 04-30-2020

Wow awesome.

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - ColoradoTree - 04-30-2020

(04-30-2020, 12:13 PM)eb388 Wrote: Good point about next year's pro tour. And it will be good to have her in the lineup another year especially if seniors at other top schools are thinking the same thing.

Looks like Stanford got the top 2021 recruit according to Tennis Recruiting. https://www.tennisrecruiting.net/player.asp?id=832289

Alexandra Yepifanova is a nice get, though there's a long time until signing day for her to reevaluate or decide to turn pro (the top few players in each class are always a danger to go pro). She has been intent on college tennis for awhile, though, so I bet this sticks, even though it's about as early a verbal commitment as we've seen in a while. She was a finalist at the U.S. Open girls' tournament last year, she's been ranked inside the top 20 in the ITF juniors rankings, she's tall (she was 5'11" like three years ago, so that might have changed), and she's mostly been playing an international schedule at ITF tournaments. I don't totally know her backstory, but she's Russian-born, lived in Massachusetts for awhile, and has been at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida (she is a naturalized American and plays internationally as an American, fyi). This article explains why she's exactly our kind of recruit: https://www.usta.com/en/home/stay-current/national/alexandra-yepifanova--blaise-bicknell-make-case-for-college-tenn.html

Here's what next year's roster looks like, for now at least:

5th years (TBD): Arbuthnott, Higuchi
Seniors: Gordon, Shin
Juniors: Choy, Madurawe
Sophomores: Blake, Mossmer
Freshmen: India Houghton, Ana Geller

Committed HS seniors: Yepifanova, other spot TBD

If I'm Emma Higuchi, I think I call it a career (or grad transfer to have tennis pay for a grad program somewhere). If Arbuthnott comes back, the odds that Higuchi stays in the lineup are very slim with Houghton and Geller coming in. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to see Shin fall out of the lineup, with Choy, Madurawe, and Houghton all climbing above her.

If Arbuthnott comes back, I think we're looking at a singles lineup as follows: (1) Gordon; (2) Blake; (3) Arbuthnott; (4) Choy; (5) Houghton; and (6) Shin. That said, if Madurawe or Geller vaulted Shin, I wouldn't be shocked. Blake over Arbuthnott might be a reach, but Blake was so good at #3 this year as a freshman, and I think she's only going to get better. Of course, those leaps in form come from matches and tournaments and training. If you're stuck at home and can't practice or play tournaments, how much can you really improve?

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - BostonCard - 04-30-2020

(04-30-2020, 01:08 PM)ColoradoTree Wrote: If I'm Emma Higuchi, I think I call it a career (or grad transfer to have tennis pay for a grad program somewhere). If Arbuthnott comes back, the odds that Higuchi stays in the lineup are very slim with Houghton and Geller coming in. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to see Shin fall out of the lineup, with Choy, Madurawe, and Houghton all climbing above her.

If Arbuthnott comes back, I think we're looking at a singles lineup as follows: (1) Gordon; (2) Blake; (3) Arbuthnott; (4) Choy; (5) Houghton; and (6) Shin. That said, if Madurawe or Geller vaulted Shin, I wouldn't be shocked. Blake over Arbuthnott might be a reach, but Blake was so good at #3 this year as a freshman, and I think she's only going to get better. Of course, those leaps in form come from matches and tournaments and training. If you're stuck at home and can't practice or play tournaments, how much can you really improve?

At first glance a lineup that pushes Higuchi (and maybe even Shin) as the odd lady out would look pretty strong, especially at the bottom. My sense is that UNC's phenoms were pretty young so they would probably be the favorites(?) but the line-up you are quoting should be good for a top-4. I mean, we won a national title with Gordon at #1 as a sophomore, Arbuthnott at the 3 as a Junior, and Shin at 5 and Higuchi at 6. Not sure Blake is a better 2 than Lord, or that Choy is a better 4 than Arbuthnott, but 5 and 6 were already near automatic wins for us last year, so to see an upgrade at those two positions bodes well.

BC

RE: Women's Tennis: St. Mary's, USC, and UCLA - ColoradoTree - 05-01-2020

(04-30-2020, 01:50 PM)BostonCard Wrote:
(04-30-2020, 01:08 PM)ColoradoTree Wrote: If I'm Emma Higuchi, I think I call it a career (or grad transfer to have tennis pay for a grad program somewhere). If Arbuthnott comes back, the odds that Higuchi stays in the lineup are very slim with Houghton and Geller coming in. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to see Shin fall out of the lineup, with Choy, Madurawe, and Houghton all climbing above her.

If Arbuthnott comes back, I think we're looking at a singles lineup as follows: (1) Gordon; (2) Blake; (3) Arbuthnott; (4) Choy; (5) Houghton; and (6) Shin. That said, if Madurawe or Geller vaulted Shin, I wouldn't be shocked. Blake over Arbuthnott might be a reach, but Blake was so good at #3 this year as a freshman, and I think she's only going to get better. Of course, those leaps in form come from matches and tournaments and training. If you're stuck at home and can't practice or play tournaments, how much can you really improve?

At first glance a lineup that pushes Higuchi (and maybe even Shin) as the odd lady out would look pretty strong, especially at the bottom. My sense is that UNC's phenoms were pretty young so they would probably be the favorites(?) but the line-up you are quoting should be good for a top-4. I mean, we won a national title with Gordon at #1 as a sophomore, Arbuthnott at the 3 as a Junior, and Shin at 5 and Higuchi at 6. Not sure Blake is a better 2 than Lord, or that Choy is a better 4 than Arbuthnott, but 5 and 6 were already near automatic wins for us last year, so to see an upgrade at those two positions bodes well.

BC

Yeah, it's definitely a better lineup than this year's was. It's just hard to make an argument that Higuchi is the 6th-best singles player out of that group, so as much as I wish she'd gotten a proper send-off, I don't know that it makes sense for her to stay (assuming that she's even allowed to, of course, given budgetary decisions).

And while UNC's lineup has some good freshmen (Elizabeth Scotty, Kacie Harvey, and Anika Yarlagadda), but it's their seniors who were at the top of the lineup the last couple of years (Makenna Jones, Alexa Graham, Sara Daavettila). The other main contributor, Cameron Morra, is a sophomore this year. This was really UNC's year, and if some of those seniors don't come back, then the cancelled season hit UNC harder than anyone else. On the other side of things, Jada Hart was UCLA's only player who would've exhausted eligibility this year, so UCLA should be scary next year whether Hart comes back or not. Same thing with Cal--they don't lose much.