I’d give you an update on the invitational if I could, but Stanford seems dead set on not giving us any information on that. Nothing on social media, no online draws, no story on the website—just that ghastly “gameday” link that provides no new information.
I’d love to know if Gordon or Mossmer is playing, and if so, how they played. Did one of our players match up against one of the ranked Princeton/UCSB players that’s not at Fall Nationals? How’d that go? Did one of our players unexpectedly struggle against a less talented opponent?
Anyway, I think you get my point.
(11-06-2021, 08:07 AM)martyup Wrote: CT, how would you rate our performance in this tourney WRT expectations?
Against the ITA’s expectations, an unqualified success. Against mine, still a good couple days. Ma steamrolled over the 7 seed before gutting out a great win over Fiona Crawley, who should be a top 20-25 fixture this year. Losing to 2nd-seeded Frayman 6-4, 6-4, looks like a great result on paper—I’m just a little frustrated because I know Ma is good enough to beat her. That said, that’s hardly a bad loss to take, and Frayman is a particularly difficult opponent to play, not because her skill or athleticism overwhelms you, but because she’s so darn consistent and the extreme grunt can take you out of your rhythm. You’re gonna play folks like that, and you have to learn how to deal with the distractions, so that’s a useful, low-cost lesson. But overall, the tournament confirmed what we hoped was true about Ma: she can beat anyone, it was laughable she wasn’t seeded, and she might still be playing if she had been.
As for Yepifanova, I was a bit frustrated at her loss to Cayetano, but again, not because it’s a bad loss (it’s most certainly not), but because she was absolutely good enough to beat her and didn’t play as well as we’ve seen her play. And heck, she gave Cayetano her toughest match so far, and now Cayetano is in the semis. I’m disappointed she didn’t get to match up against Morra in the consolation draw, but she blew past preseason #114 Karine Marion Job with ease, and she gets an established collegiate tennis powerhouse in Subhash next. What a learning experience this has been and will be for her.
And the doubles? Meh, I dunno. We’ve been a relatively poor doubles team the last decade or so, so any doubles success is gravy to me. Blake/Ma got a win and competed against an excellent UNC pair, so that seems great to me. Madurawe/Yepifanova not getting a win is a bummer, but it’s not certain that’s a lasting pair anyway.
All in all, I’m pleased. A slight tinge of disappointment that Ma isn’t in the semis today, but she got pretty far not playing her best tennis. “Pleased” will turn to “pumped” if Yepifanova can beat Subhash today.
Yepifanova’s two collegiate losses so far are to Ma and Cayetano. That’s not a bad start for the freshman. And with how this team is rarely a fall juggernaut but is often a spring one with how much we improve over the course of the year compared to other teams, this was an exciting tournament for realizing we don’t have to tamp down expectations.
Another thought: because of school and her family’s commitment to a normal life for a junior tennis player, Connie Ma has never played as many matches in a 3-month period as she will this spring. Just think of how much she can
improve with as much as she’ll be practicing and playing!