Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season

Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Printable Version

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Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - ColoradoTree - 08-27-2024

With the knowledge that Lele has retired and we'll have Frankie Brennan as our interim head coach, we're getting started on a new year of college tennis.

As a reminder, here's what our roster looks like:

Seniors (3): Connie Ma, Alexandra Yepifanova, Valencia Xu
Juniors (2): Alexis Blokhina, Emma Sun
Sophomore (1): Katherine Hui
Freshman (1): Valerie Glozman

Notes: the new roster isn't out yet, so it's possible there's a walk-on or a transfer that's gone completely under the radar. And I think Okpara has another covid year left because her freshman year was cut short in Spring 2020 and the Ivy League took a firmer stance on competition during COVID than other conferences, so there was no Spring 2021 season for her. But I don't know her plans, and while I'd slot her above Sun, there are six players above her. And Houghton also might have another year left, though she's been playing pro tournaments all summer and I haven't seen a public statement to the effect that she's coming back. (Same goes for Geller, though it's been so long since she's played that I assume she has moved on from tennis.)

Preseason ITA Rankings:

The first rankings of the year came out today (just individual rankings--there won't be team rankings until January), so here's how Stanford's players rate:

4. Connie Ma
64. Alexis Blokhina
69. Valerie Glozman
73. Eleana Yu (?!)
76. Katherine Hui
77. Valencia Xu
85. India Houghton (?)

So, clearly some mistakes made as part of this set of rankings. We're still listed as being in the Pac-12 Conference. Yu doesn't play here anymore. Yepifanova isn't on there at ALL, and there's nothing online to indicate she's left school or quit tennis or gone pro, so hopefully that's an oversight.

In doubles, we have three teams listed: #19 Ma/Blokhina, #54 Xu/Glozman, and #57 Houghton/Hui. OK, now I'm starting to get a little concerned about Yepifanova. We'll have to see what the roster says when it comes out, but the existence of some pairs in the doubles rankings and the lack of Yepifanova makes me uncomfortable.

Glozman is also the #2 newcomer, FYI.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Lorcan - 08-27-2024

It is odd that Yepifanova is "missing" at the same time that Lele has retired. Hopefully, it's just an oversight rather than yet another high level departure from Stanford athletics. I would think that if she left, she would've come public with a story.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - BobK - 08-27-2024

She’s Stanford ‘25 still on instagram

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - cardfan77 - 08-28-2024

It looks like Basavareddy is also not on the IT rankings on the men's side. No way that there are 100 players better than Basavareddy. He is on the 2024-25 roster. Is this an oversight or is he turning pro?

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Jamesy - 08-28-2024

(08-28-2024, 03:04 PM)cardfan77 Wrote: It looks like Basavareddy is also not on the IT rankings on the men's side. No way that there are 100 players better than Basavareddy. He is on the 2024-25 roster. Is this an oversight or is he turning pro?

He is turning pro.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Lorcan - 08-29-2024

https://x.com/StanfordWTennis/status/1829236219445948554

In my mind, this seems to be confirmation that Yepifanova is either out for the year or she's moved on from Stanford tennis - such an odd moment that we've had absolutely no news around this. I would think that Stanford would include in a tweet that Yepifanova is still here given that she's expected to be on this team. I wonder what's going on - and wonder when we'll know more in the coming month as the season starts.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - ColoradoTree - 09-05-2024

And there's news on the recruiting front as well. FYI, here's what I wrote back in May:

Quote:Precisely who we'd be in on, recruit-wise, I have no idea. But one name that stands out is current #3 recruit Alyssa Ahn of San Diego, who won a girls' 16s national title in 2022 and who is the top college-bound recruit who hasn't verbally committed yet. We sometimes see that with Stanford, as folks wait to commit and want to see if they get in. But she said in 2022 that Stanford was her dream, so let's hope she still feels that way (and that we feel the same).

A number of the top 10 are already committed, though as these players are high school juniors, a lot can change between now and then, and perhaps the prospect of playing in the lineup for Stanford right away is enough of an inducement to get them to switch from Harvard (as is the case for #5 recruit Tianmei Wang of San Marino, CA), Princeton (#4 recruit Monika Ekstrand of Delray Beach, FL), or UNC (#7 recruit Alanis Hamilton of Bentonville, AR).

* First, in late July, we got a commitment from Alyssa Ahn (currently the #3 recruit in the Class of 2025, but has risen as high as #2). She was the top uncommitted player then, and she'd already expressed her dream to play for us, so it made all the sense in the world.

* Then a week later, we got a commitment from Monika Ekstrand (currently the #5 recruit in the Class of 2025, but has been as high as #2). She apparently quietly decommitted from Princeton in the weeks prior, and publicly announced her commitment on Instagram on August 4.

* And now we've gotten a third verbal commitment for next year's freshman class, and it's another flip, this time from Harvard: Tianmei Wang from San Marino, CA, currently the #4 recruit nationally.

So we didn't just land Ahn, but we grabbed two other top 5 recruits, setting up a new superclass to come in and give us depth just as the last superclass ages out (unless we get Yepifanova next year):

Seniors (2): Alexis Blokhina, Emma Sun
Junior (1): Katherine Hui
Sophomore (1): Valerie Glozman
Freshmen (3): Alyssa Ahn, Monika Ekstrand, Tianmei Wang

That's six legit singles players plus Sun, so whether it's Yepifanova coming back or an incoming transfer, I'd feel better with at least one more threat on the roster.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - ColoradoTree - 09-05-2024

Other teams with at least 5 ranked players include:

* Texas (5): #19 Zeynalova; #67 Joint; #72 Meri; #96 Ovrootsky; and #104 Bowers
* Texas A&M (5): #1 Stoiana; #9 Khirin; #20 Kupres; #68 Perez; #88 Mireles
* Georgia (7): #2 Vidmanova; #13 Lopata; #22 Vecic; #25 Reasco; #47 Nirundorn; #75 Grant; #94 Mert
* Duke (5): #38 Kimchi; #41 Jackson; #49 Codd; #53 Coleman; and #73 Eleana Yu
* Florida (5): #7 Gailis; #29 De Oliveira; #61 Lopez; #103 Dudeney; and #122 Neilson-Gatenby
* UCLA (5): #17 Hance; #42 Jolie Fernandez; #83 Lutkemeyer; #97 Wagle; #110 Guichard
* Berkeley (5): #30 Alsola; #33 Wiersholm; #80 Mi; #106 Passola Folch; and #107 Mushika

Surprisingly, UNC has dropped off a bit, with just three ranked players: #6 Brantmeier; #26 Tanguilig; and #43 Rabman. And last year's behemoth, Oklahoma State, has just two: #5 Oby Kajuru and #11 Komar.

So, in our new conference lineup, we have the most with 6; then it's Duke and Cal with 5 each; UVA has 4; UNC, NC State, and FSU have 3; Georgia Tech has 2; Syracuse, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest each have 1; and Miami, Virginia Tech, BC, Louisville, and SMU each have none.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - VB Card - 09-05-2024

(08-28-2024, 09:01 PM)Jamesy Wrote:
(08-28-2024, 03:04 PM)cardfan77 Wrote: It looks like Basavareddy is also not on the IT rankings on the men's side. No way that there are 100 players better than Basavareddy. He is on the 2024-25 roster. Is this an oversight or is he turning pro?

He is turning pro.

This is actually not true. He is taking the Fall off from classes just as he did last year, so he is not eligible to be ranked by the ITA. He could very well turn pro after a successful Fall, but he has not done so yet. He's still on the 2024-25 roster.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - ColoradoTree - 09-06-2024

Well, I hope that Yepifanova is doing the same thing and we'll get to see her for the spring season!

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - ColoradoTree - 09-06-2024

The 2024-25 women's tennis roster is up (several hours after the men's team's roster was up), and Yepifanova is on it, so presumably she's just taking the fall season off?

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Jamesy - 09-06-2024

I would wager that we see neither Basavareddy nor Yepifanova playing this year.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - GK3 - 09-07-2024

(09-06-2024, 10:11 PM)Jamesy Wrote: I would wager that we see neither Basavareddy nor Yepifanova playing this year.

A question for Colorado Tree or anyone else who may know the answer.

I do not follow tennis and have no real idea of how deep the highschool talent pool is now days. So how much better is a top 5 talent versus say those ranked around 50 and those around 100? Is the pool deep enough that the 50th ranked player has a decent chance to beat a top 5 and so on. Thanks in advance for any insight.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Spiny_Norman - 09-07-2024

(09-07-2024, 08:20 AM)GK3 Wrote:
(09-06-2024, 10:11 PM)Jamesy Wrote: I would wager that we see neither Basavareddy nor Yepifanova playing this year.

A question for Colorado Tree or anyone else who may know the answer.

I do not follow tennis and have no real idea of how deep the highschool talent pool is now days. So how much better is a top 5 talent versus say those ranked around 50 and those around 100? Is the pool deep enough that the 50th ranked player has a decent chance to beat a top 5 and so on. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Many of the top tennis teams are barely recruiting US high school players. They are mostly recruiting outside the US. As an example, Georgia beat Stanford last year (and made it to the national championship match) with a line up of players from the Czech Republic, Germany, Ecuador, Ukraine, Uruguay and Thailand. North Carolina State beat Stanford in the NCAAs the year before with a team of players from Russia, Maryland, England, Florida, Tennessee and Germany. Oklahoma State went undefeated last year and was top ranked until a surprising Super Regional loss with a team of players from Belarus, Japan, Argentina, Florida, Japan and Slovenia.

I think you could also ask "How do the best players in the US match up against the best players from outside the US?"

In amateur golf, there is a worldwide ranking system so we can see objectively where US players stack up against non-US players. I don't know if there is a similar system for tennis.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - GK3 - 09-07-2024

(09-07-2024, 09:45 AM)Spiny_Norman Wrote:
(09-07-2024, 08:20 AM)GK3 Wrote:
(09-06-2024, 10:11 PM)Jamesy Wrote: I would wager that we see neither Basavareddy nor Yepifanova playing this year.

A question for Colorado Tree or anyone else who may know the answer.

I do not follow tennis and have no real idea of how deep the highschool talent pool is now days. So how much better is a top 5 talent versus say those ranked around 50 and those around 100? Is the pool deep enough that the 50th ranked player has a decent chance to beat a top 5 and so on. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Many of the top tennis teams are barely recruiting US high school players. They are mostly recruiting outside the US. As an example, Georgia beat Stanford last year (and made it to the national championship match) with a line up of players from the Czech Republic, Germany, Ecuador, Ukraine, Uruguay and Thailand. North Carolina State beat Stanford in the NCAAs the year before with a team of players from Russia, Maryland, England, Florida, Tennessee and Germany. Oklahoma State went undefeated last year and was top ranked until a surprising Super Regional loss with a team of players from Belarus, Japan, Argentina, Florida, Japan and Slovenia.

I think you could also ask "How do the best players in the US match up against the best players from outside the US?"

In amateur golf, there is a worldwide ranking system so we can see objectively where US players stack up against non-US players. I don't know if there is a similar system for tennis.

Thanks, I was unaware that Tennis and Golf handled things differently. International players are going to play a role in almost any sport nowdays outside of Football. If rankings do not include similar overseas players, then they are sort of worthless. Anne Walker has figured it out and recruits internationally. Sports like golf, tennis, soccer and probably swimming are pretty much international sports nowdays. If you want to field the best team you have to recruit internationally. I know Stanford has recruited many international tennis players, but one has to wonder how hard they work at it, when you look at the women's golf team. With the world as recruiting source versus just the USA you can see how hard it might be to stay competitive in many sports unless you join in the international effort in a big way.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Jamesy - 09-07-2024

(09-07-2024, 05:28 PM)GK3 Wrote:
(09-07-2024, 09:45 AM)Spiny_Norman Wrote:
(09-07-2024, 08:20 AM)GK3 Wrote:
(09-06-2024, 10:11 PM)Jamesy Wrote: I would wager that we see neither Basavareddy nor Yepifanova playing this year.

A question for Colorado Tree or anyone else who may know the answer.

I do not follow tennis and have no real idea of how deep the highschool talent pool is now days. So how much better is a top 5 talent versus say those ranked around 50 and those around 100? Is the pool deep enough that the 50th ranked player has a decent chance to beat a top 5 and so on. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Many of the top tennis teams are barely recruiting US high school players. They are mostly recruiting outside the US. As an example, Georgia beat Stanford last year (and made it to the national championship match) with a line up of players from the Czech Republic, Germany, Ecuador, Ukraine, Uruguay and Thailand. North Carolina State beat Stanford in the NCAAs the year before with a team of players from Russia, Maryland, England, Florida, Tennessee and Germany. Oklahoma State went undefeated last year and was top ranked until a surprising Super Regional loss with a team of players from Belarus, Japan, Argentina, Florida, Japan and Slovenia.

I think you could also ask "How do the best players in the US match up against the best players from outside the US?"

In amateur golf, there is a worldwide ranking system so we can see objectively where US players stack up against non-US players. I don't know if there is a similar system for tennis.

Thanks, I was unaware that Tennis and Golf handled things differently. International players are going to play a role in almost any sport nowdays outside of Football. If rankings do not include similar overseas players, then they are sort of worthless. Anne Walker has figured it out and recruits internationally. Sports like golf, tennis, soccer and probably swimming are pretty much international sports nowdays. If you want to field the best team you have to recruit internationally. I know Stanford has recruited many international tennis players, but one has to wonder how hard they work at it, when you look at the women's golf team. With the world as recruiting source versus just the USA you can see how hard it might be to stay competitive in many sports unless you join in the international effort in a big way.

I think Stanford relies a lot less on international players than pretty much any other top teams. Both tennis teams usually have just 1-2 international players at most, same with the water polo and golf teams whereas most of the other top teams in those sports have majority or substantial numbers of international players. I think those Stanford teams have been very successful without a heavy international recruiting component to them.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - oldalum - 09-07-2024

(09-07-2024, 09:44 PM)Jamesy Wrote: Both tennis teams usually have just 1-2 international players at most, same with the water polo and golf teams whereas most of the other top teams in those sports have majority or substantial numbers of international players.

Stanford W Golf's freshman class has 3 international and 1 U.S. player, and has been termed "arguably the greatest recruiting class in college golf history" by Golf Channel. The overall team now has 5 international and 3 U.S. players. (plus a head coach from Scotland!)

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - cardfan77 - 09-07-2024

Men’s water polo has 5 international players. I think this is the most international players ever on a Stanford men’s water polo team and I like it.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - GK3 - 09-08-2024

(09-07-2024, 11:21 PM)cardfan77 Wrote: Men’s water polo has 5 international players. I think this is the most international players ever on a Stanford men’s water polo team and I like it.

The golf situation is not surprising considering Coach Walker's background. She has been recruiting internationally for a while now and doing it well. If you look at a LPGA tournament roster it is obvious there is a lot of golf talent from outside the USA.. You still have to have the academics and I would assume there is possibly some kind of ranking service for international players. Women's basketball now has several international players. The head coach has to decide how hard to work and whether to pursue international talent. Football is probably the only sport where there isn't much of an international talent pool, but we have had a few I think who were not kickers.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall 2024 Season - Spiny_Norman - 09-08-2024

My point in highlighting the international players on the rosters of other top tennis teams was that recruiting statements such as "Stanford has commitments from 3 of the top 5 recruits" may not be as meaningful as if the rankings included international players.

When Bernard Muir hires a new head women's tennis coach, I hope that he gives consideration to their experience recruiting internationally.