Women’s tennis rusty in final individual tournament after rain delays practice
Senior Gabby Andrews competed in both singles and doubles at the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. UCLA women’s tennis will kick off dual matches next weekend. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Dylan Dsouza
Jan. 21, 2019 5:15 p.m.
The Bruins faced their final test before the start of dual matches.
Eight members of No. 8 UCLA women’s tennis traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, to participate in the Freeman Memorial Championships. Seven schools including five top-10 ranked programs competed in the event.
“The players needed to play a lot of matches and they had that opportunity,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “We were not able to play a whole lot last week due to the rain. A lot of the players hadn’t played since November.”
Senior Gabby Andrews won the singles flight two final against Pepperdine’s Anastasia Iamachikine 6-4, 6-4. She lost in the quarterfinals in doubles as the first seed with partner senior Ayan Broomfield to Stanford’s Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe 6-2.
“We had a tough one,” Andrews said. “We were probably a little tired from playing so many matches. We didn’t get to practice the past few days due to the rain so it was kind of tough. We could’ve went for it a bit more and been more aggressive with our stroke play.”
Freshman Elysia Bolton and redshirt junior Jada Hart made it to the doubles semifinals after downing Texas duo Tijana Spasojevic and Petra Granic 7-6.
The third-seeded duo had to pull out due to a strained hamstring that Hart suffered Saturday. Bolton and Hart are currently 11-3 on the season as a pair.
“We get along really well and have similar personalities,” Hart said. “(Bolton) is really good at the net and I’m pretty good at the baseline so we complement each other pretty well.”
Hart said she will be ready for the matches next weekend.
No. 11 Bolton, UCLA’s top-ranked player, was rested in singles according to Sampras Webster. She lost an added singles match Sunday against No. 49 Texas junior Ella Turati 6-3, 6-1.
“She played well today but lost against a great player,” Sampras Webster said. “Great having the freshmen with the team. They bring energy and are great team players.”
Freshman pair Taylor Johnson and Katie LaFrance made it to the round of 16 and round of 32, respectively. Johnson lost 6-3, 7-5 to Florida’s Marlee Zein in the round of 16.
Last year’s event featured an all-UCLA singles final as then-No. 16 sophomore Ena Shibahara defeated then-No. 119 redshirt sophomore Hart 6-2, 7-6. The duo played together in doubles too and took home the doubles crown.
The Bruins kick off their regular season next weekend against Minnesota at home for the International Tennis Association Kick-Off weekend.
