Stanford Women Tennis

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Sureshot

Professional
nomalt said:
Ouch. Hui lost in 3 sets in the first round of qualifying.
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Yea quite a shock losing to a UCSB player after the high of winning the USO juniors. Welcome to college tennis!

Also quite a shame Connie Ma has to grind in the qualies considering her pedigree. She was the NCAA singles finalist in 2022. And she still has the game to match that
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Sureshot said:
Yea quite a shock losing to a UCSB player after the high of winning the USO juniors. Welcome to college tennis!

Also quite a shame Connie Ma has to grind in the qualies considering her pedigree. She was the NCAA singles finalist in 2022. And she still has the game to match that
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When you have a 32 main draw and there are 12 places from regional rankings, 8 qualifiers , 8 All Americans chosen by pre season rankings , 2 summer performance wild cards , 1 host wild card , it leaves only 1 ITA main draw wild card. Why there need to be 12 regional selections when the regional performances are already rewarded by entry into the National Fall Championships is beyond me.

Honer of UCSB is ranked #45 so not a terrible player. As we saw with Blokhina sometimes it takes a while to transition into college tennis from junior tennis no matter how good you are. I’m sure Hui will come good

incidentally I see that the main draw matches will be covered exclusively by Cracked Racquets which presumably means no play sight all courts coverage ?
 
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S

Sureshot

Professional
dannythomas said:
When you have a 32 main draw and there are 12 places from regional rankings, 8 qualifiers , 8 All Americans chosen by pre season rankings , 2 summer performance wild cards , 1 host wild card , it leaves only 1 ITA main draw wild card. Why there need to be 12 regional selections when the regional performances are already rewarded by entry into the National Fall Championships is beyond me.

Honer of UCSB is ranked #45 so not a terrible player. As we saw with Blokhina sometimes it takes a while to transition into college tennis from junior tennis no matter how good you are. I’m sure Hui will come good

incidentally I see that the main draw matches will be covered exclusively by Cracked Racquets which presumably means no play sight all courts coverage ?
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Agree there’s no merit in rewarding all the regional rankings when high caliber players are forced into qualies.

Not at all thrilled that CR will be simulcasting and will be the only option. Never was a fan of split screens and flitting around. Mind you, I like CR’s in season shows featuring John Parsons covering the women’s college game but I’d rather watch the entire match I am interested in
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Not the best day for Card . Straight sets losses for Ma and Blokhina in qualifying and for Hui in qualifying consolation.
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Better day for the Card in All American main draws today. Yepifanova wins in straights against NC State’s Renchell (#71) and Blake with a signature win in a marathon 3 setter over UNC Brantmeier ( 4 Seed and #5 ranked)

Blake / Blokhina with a convincing doubles win over UNC ‘s Forbes and Tran.
 
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dannythomas

Professional
But now 1 day later Stanford out of the tournament.

I R16 Yep lost to #3 seed Noel in 2 sets
Blake lost disappointingly to Alsola in 2 sets
Blake/ Blokhina lost dubs on match tiebreaker.

Back to the Farm….
 
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Sureshot

Professional
dannythomas said:
But now 1 day later Stanford out of the tournament.

I R16 Yep lost to #3 seed Noel in 2 sets
Blake lost disappointingly to Alsola in 2 sets
Blake/ Blokhina lost dubs on Mach tiebreaker.

Back to the Farm….
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…And to the drawing board. The ladies didn’t fare too well at the Cal invite either with Yu losing easily to Weirsholm (of the results I can recall). Some transition period will be needed for the frosh
 
nomalt

nomalt

Rookie
Def not what I expected. There's only one thing that comes to mind, the old saying, "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Sureshot said:
Yea quite a shock losing to a UCSB player after the high of winning the USO juniors. Welcome to college tennis!

Also quite a shame Connie Ma has to grind in the qualies considering her pedigree. She was the NCAA singles finalist in 2022. And she still has the game to match that
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Just a question on the rankings system. Is the purpose of the pre season rankings only for tournament selection and seeding ? Since it appears from the ITA website that players start from scratch each year does that mean that the pre season rankings will be completely disregarded for the Nov2 rankings calculation ? I’m certain Sureshot that you know more about this than me !
 
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Sureshot

Professional
dannythomas said:
Just a question on the rankings system. Is the purpose of the pre season rankings only for tournament selection and seeding ? Since it appears from the ITA website that players start from scratch each year does that mean that the pre season rankings will be completely disregarded for the Nov2 rankings calculation ? I’m certain Sureshot that you know more about this than me !
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Am really not a rankings person but have been told that actual performance in the fall is what carries over into the spring. Therefore the preseason rankings will mean less post All Americans and Fall Nats (and regionals and super regionals for that matter)
 
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andfor

Legend
Sureshot said:
Am really not a rankings person but have been told that actual performance in the fall is what carries over into the spring. Therefore the preseason rankings will mean less post All Americans and Fall Nats (and regionals and super regionals for that matter)
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Right. I believe the first fall rankings were based of the prior springs results. And all those who took this semester off will start out unranked in the spring.
 
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Sureshot

Professional
Don’t see Hui either. And is Geller not going to play again? Also interesting is Okpara. Didn’t know who she was so looked her up. She’s a grad transfer from Dartmouth. Played at the top there. Not sure if she’ll make the lineup but her experience can’t hurt even if coming off the bench
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Sureshot said:
Don’t see Hui either. And is Geller not going to play again? Also interesting is Okpara. Didn’t know who she was so looked her up. She’s a grad transfer from Dartmouth. Played at the top there. Not sure if she’ll make the lineup but her experience can’t hurt even if coming off the bench
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I’m sure Hui was in the draw yesterday. Must have withdrawn late. Still in doubles though .Geller is in singles draw.

I would think Okpara is a back up. Perhaps playing against weaker opposition when the top players need resting which is good.

I think the real question is who gets on the line up at 6- Xu or Yu ? Nice problem to have. Geller, Houghton, Sun , Okpara in reserve.
 
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Sureshot

Professional
dannythomas said:
I’m sure Hui was in the draw yesterday. Must have withdrawn late. Still in doubles though .Geller is in singles draw.

I would think Okpara is a back up. Perhaps playing against weaker opposition when the top players need resting which is good.

I think the real question is who gets on the line up at 6- Xu or Yu ? Nice problem to have. Geller, Houghton, Sun , Okpara in reserve.
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Ok I must have missed Geller. Yes the roster’s deep and with the recent vulnerabilities in the UNC lineup at AAs with Crawley, Brantmeier, Tanguilig falling short of expectations, it gives the Card and the Aggies more motivation to reach for the ultimate prize. As someone said, the Card start firing after Indoors. Will be waiting and watching
 
nomalt

nomalt

Rookie
Hui was originally in there...she was seeded 8, I believe. Too bad no longer playing singles.

Anybody still have the link to the live feed over there at the Stanford courts?
 
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nomalt

nomalt

Rookie
F8cmODsaMAADQMz
 
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dannythomas

Professional
So Ma makes it to the Regionals singles final where she plays Viller Moeller of Cal who surprisingly overcame Yepifanova. Ma came through in 3 sets against Xu ( who had a great tournament ) her 3rd win against her team mates.
Of the others Blokhina lost in the quarters to Ma , Houghton made R16 , Geller lost to Ma in a 1 sided R32 match , Yu , Sun and Okpara all lost in R32.
‘Yep will be disappointed having reached the semis after having what can only be described as an incredibly easy draw.
Pity that Blake and Hui missed the event with injury …..
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Sureshot said:
Ma, Xu and Yepifanova didn’t play the pro circuit this past summer. Wonder if that will hinder their performance in the bigger battles ahead
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I don’t think it will be a problem. In the spring we‘ll see a different Stanford . It’s the strongest group since 2019.
The line up order will be interesting. Last year 1-5 was strong though Blokhina remains up and down. But will Hui really be low at 5 or 6 ? And Blake has had 3 top 10 wins in her last 2 events and ended highest ranked so will she move up ?
 
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nomalt

nomalt

Rookie
Sureshot said:
Ma, Xu and Yepifanova didn’t play the pro circuit this past summer. Wonder if that will hinder their performance in the bigger battles ahead
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I believe the only player to enter pro tournaments over the summer was Blokina. Though not positive, I'm not sure anyone else has pro aspirations. (Not counting Hui or Yu)
 
nomalt

nomalt

Rookie
dannythomas said:
I don’t think it will be a problem. In the spring we‘ll see a different Stanford . It’s the strongest group since 2019.
The line up order will be interesting. Last year 1-5 was strong though Blokhina remains up and down. But will Hui really be low at 5 or 6 ? And Blake has had 3 top 10 wins in her last 2 events and ended highest ranked so will she move up ?
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Next season's lineup? Wow...that's a million-dollar question. We have a couple of months to speculate on this.

Here's my guess, subject to many changes: Yep, Blake, Ma, Blok, Hui, Xu.
 
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Sureshot

Professional
dannythomas said:
I don’t think it will be a problem. In the spring we‘ll see a different Stanford . It’s the strongest group since 2019.
The line up order will be interesting. Last year 1-5 was strong though Blokhina remains up and down. But will Hui really be low at 5 or 6 ? And Blake has had 3 top 10 wins in her last 2 events and ended highest ranked so will she move up ?
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Wasn’t line 6 strong too with Choy winning at will? At least that’s what I remember. Based on her NCAA and AA showing Blake definitely challenges for the top spot. But Yepifanova was brilliant during the dual season last year before her bad loss to Shnaider in the team semis at NCAAs. So I’d start with her at the top and shuffle as necessary. It’s too early to make a call on Hui but given the lineup strength I’d be inclined to ease her in. So 5 (or even 6 with Xu holding on to the 5 spot) could be right for her
 
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94tenn

New User
Sureshot said:
Wasn’t line 6 strong too with Choy winning at will? At least that’s what I remember. Based on her NCAA and AA showing Blake definitely challenges for the top spot. But Yepifanova was brilliant during the dual season last year before her bad loss to Shnaider in the team semis at NCAAs. So I’d start with her at the top and shuffle as necessary. It’s too early to make a call on Hui but given the lineup strength I’d be inclined to ease her in. So 5 (or even 6 with Xu holding on to the 5 spot) could be right for her
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If healthy, I’d say Blake should begin this season at line 1. Both Ma and Yepifanova are certainly capable of reclaiming that top spot but would have to find their true level again. Overall, line 1 thru 3 looks great, all three are high caliber high ceiling players. Only UNC has a comparable trio this season. This season looks promising!

Hope the new US Open girl Hui can challenge Blokhina for line 4 as that was kind of a weak link last year. And yes Choy was awesome at line 6, hope someone can adequately substitute her.

Another interesting puzzle for Lele to solve is their doubles lineup. That doubles point was make it or break it moment in some key dual matches last season, especially in Orlando. Line 1 is solid, with many options for 2 and 3, which is a good problem to have. I am guessing that pairing Ma and Yepifanova at line 2 would give them two strong teams, and line 3 would have to be assembled from the remaining bunch, whoever plays together the best.

Go Ma in today’s final and GO CARD!!
 
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dannythomas

Professional
94tenn said:
The streams were operating yesterday (not sure about previous days), but with no score and no volume so it was impossible to follow. Just pathetic!!
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Do you have a link to the streams ? Usually there’s a direct link from the Stanford womens tennis schedule page
 
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dannythomas

Professional
I’m a little surprised that Viller Moeller defeated Yepifanova and made the final. She is a senior who played last year in the lower part of the Cal line up, positive win - loss record only at #6. But congrats to her . Qualifies with Ma for National Fall Championships. You have to think it should be Ma coming through today.
 
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dannythomas

Professional
I have to take it back. Unfortunately Ma lost in 3rd set breaker . Credit to Viller Moeller . I saw some of it but as 94tenn said it was very poor not to have sound or live scores.
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Sureshot said:
Quite unfortunate that Ma will be the sole Stanford rep in singles at fall nats. Would have been nice to see Blake and Yepifanova too
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Yes it’s unfortunate but 24 of the 32 selections are based on the regionals and there are 2 or 3 pretty weak regions. So you are not really getting enough of the best players in the country competing in it.
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Looking at the selections it’s so much weaker than the All American. Function of the selection criteria obviously. Only 4 of the top 20 are in the singles draw and only 1 amongst the 16 alternates. I don’t really understand the purpose of the Pre season rankings if they are not used for this Tournament and only a few chosen that way in the All American . Solution would be maybe keep with the 24 regional choices but make it a 64 draw with more at large selections.
 
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dannythomas

Professional
Nice for Ma to win consolation singles. Would be great if she can recapture her freshman year form this year and that hopefully gives her confidence.

interesting that Brantmeier of UNC won the singles main draw . Only a few weeks ago Blake beat her in All American first round. Hopefully Blake gets over her injury that has kept her out of the last 2 events …
 
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dannythomas

Professional
nomalt said:
sportslifemagazine.com

SAN DIEGO’S KATHERINE HUI OUSTS TOP-SEED

SAN DIEGO – (August 12, 2022) – San Diego’s Katherine Hui advanced to the 18s semifinals of the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships as she scored a hard-fought 4-6,...
sportslifemagazine.com sportslifemagazine.com
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I didn’t remember it because it was August 2022 not 2023 when both players were still playing junior tournaments. But a good win for Hui for sure …
 
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